now parked car.
«I thought you loved a man on a motorcycle,' Liz replied, referring indirectly to Michael.
«Not at the moment,' she answered in a huff.
Sill hoping to avoid getting involved in Michael and Maria's business, Max hopped out of the car to help Liz
with her bag, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
«My parents wanted you to come in so they could thank you for taking me to Artesia,' Liz said, smiling warmly.
Max dropped the bag into the backseat as a look of horror crossed his face. «Really… that's… not…»
«I told them that we wanted to get on the road as soon as possible so we wouldn't be late,' she quickly added, letting him off the hook.
«Don't want to have to deal with that crazy traffic between here and Artesia,' Maria added sarcastically, since the road they were taking was never that busy, especially late on a Friday morning.
«Then maybe we should leave before they come out here to thank me?» Max suggested, with an eagerness in his tone.
Liz moved around the car toward the passenger side. «Maria, you've got the number in case anything happens while we're gone?»
«In my purse,' she replied. «But what could possibly happen in this quiet little town?»
A flood of possibilities came to all three of their minds, but no one dared comment for risk of jinxing themselves.
«You two kids have fun,' Maria quickly added. «And don't worry about us back here in Roswell. We'll be fine.»
«Tell Michael I said good-bye,' Max said, starting the car. «And remind him not to stop by my house.»
«Yeah,' she replied.
«Bye,' Liz said as they drove off.
Maria watched them pull out into the street before heading back to work.
Making their way through Roswell, Max followed the familiar route to 285 South. The radio played softly, competing with the wind whipping past them in the convertible. The ride would take about an hour, but it would give them a chance to be alone in what seemed like the first time in a while.
«So, who exactly are we watching this weekend?» Max asked as they pulled onto the highway. «You never really explained who this kid is and how you know him.»
«My friend Jason,' Liz explained while putting on some sunscreen for the ride in the topless car. «He's about twelve now. Our moms were best friends in high school and got married around the same time. It was one of those things where I called his parents Aunt Jackie and Uncle Rob.»
«Yeah, I have a set of those,' Max commented.
«Jason was born when I was five,' Liz continued as they headed down the highway. «Since we were both only children, we kind of fell into a big sister-little brother thing.»
«Why is this the first time I've heard of him?» Max asked.
«We've been out of touch for over a year now,' she explained, rubbing the lotion onto her arms. «His parents got divorced when he was six, and his dad wound up moving to New York to take a job. About a year later, Aunt Jackie met a man from Artesia named George Lyles.»
«Uncle George?» Max anticipated where this was going.
«Well, no,' she corrected him. «I never really got to know him, since he lived down in Artesia. I mean, our families did spend some time together. I was even flower girl at their wedding. But I never really felt close enough to call him uncle. I usually call him Mr. Lyles.»
«So after the wedding, Aunt Jackie and Jason moved to Artesia?» Max asked.
«A little over four years ago»-she motioned to offer him the suntan lotion, but he shook his head to decline- «we would drive down there or they would come up to Roswell about once a month. Then the trips started getting less frequent. Mr. Lyles rarely joined us since his ranch kept him so busy.»
«Ranch?» Max asked while pulling aside to let a tailgater pass as the guy was intent on going thirty miles over the speed limit.
«They raise sheep,' Liz continued. «Cute, huh? They only have a few. Mr. Lyles inherited the ranch from his parents. He's actually some kind of important businessman who telecommutes and flies to Dallas once a month. His parents died long ago, and he moved onto the property and kept the sheep. Which means there will probably be a ranch hand or two around this weekend, but they probably won't come near the house.»
«Good to know,' he said, making a mental note to stay away from wherever the sheep were kept, so no one found out he had stayed the weekend.
«Eventually, the trips stopped entirely,' Liz said. «But Jason and I kept in touch with letters, phone calls, and eventually e-mails. Then, over a year ago, he stopped writing at all. I would send him little updates of what was going on in my life, glossing over any otherworldly happenings, of course, but he never responded.»
«I guess you were surprised when your parents asked you to take care of him for the weekend?»
«Well, Mom and Aunt Jackie kept in touch,' Liz said.
«But, yeah, it was a little out of the blue. Mom kind of implied that Jason's been having some… well, she wouldn't exactly say trouble, but something's going on. I guess Aunt Jackie thought he might like to see a friend.»
Max felt another pang of guilt about tagging along on the weekend sojourn. «Are you sure I won't be getting in the way? I can just drop you off, turn around, and go home like your parents already think I'm doing.»
«You're not getting out of this so easily,' Liz said, smiling at his reluctance. «You wanted to know what it was like taking care of a child. Well, here you have a child for the weekend. I'm sure nothing's seriously wrong with Jason. Besides, he's going to love meeting you.»
«If you say so,' Max said, although he was beginning to have a sense of foreboding about the coming weekend.
The pair drove along, enjoying the beautiful weather and shifting their conversation to the subject of absolutely nothing important for a while. Max couldn't help but enjoy spending time with Liz when there was no alien threat or their occasionally overbearing parents for the foreseeable future. He actually laughed out loud several times, which he knew he had not done for a long, long time, as they talked about their plans for senior year of high school and regular teenage stuff. But, before too long their ride was coming near the end as they passed a sign welcoming them to Artesia.
«The Lyleses' ranch is on the other side of town,' Liz explained as they drove past a huge oil refinery and into the city proper. «Just keep driving along this road and we'll come to a turnoff.»
«Gotcha,' he replied.
«I forgot what a nice town this is,' Liz said, admiring the view. «Have you ever been here before?»
«Just driving through,' Max replied. «Never stopped.»
«The town is named after the artesian wells that were discovered in 1903,' she explained. «The town thrives on its cattle and sheep ranches and its alfalfa, cotton, chili, and pecan fanning.»
«What? Did you memorize a tour guide?» Max smiled at her wealth of information. «Can you quote me facts on population and climate?»
«Population is around twelve thousand residents,' Liz answered. «The climate is dry, with around twelve inches of rain annually.»
Taking his eyes off the road for a second, Max looked at his girlfriend, both frightened and impressed by her geek-like knowledge of the town.
«When Jason moved here, I helped him pull together all this information so he wouldn't be so afraid to leave Roswell for some unknown place,' she explained. «He insisted that I keep a copy of it too so I would always remember where he lives. I found it this morning when I was going through some stuff.»
«And here I was just thinking that you were showing off how smart you are,' Max said, giving her a pat on the leg.
«I was.» Liz giggled. «There is one other interesting piece of information. In nineteen eighty-nine, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center opened here to educate people from all over the world in specialized law enforcement practices.»
