Now and for Never by Lesley Livingston Page A

and I promise I don’t have cooties.”
    â€œFine,” Al muttered and glared at her thumb as if it were treasonous.
    Piper stifled a grin. “I’ll go get the sewing kit and rubbing alcohol.”
    Once the pricking, binding, and band-aiding was accomplished, Clare headed to the back room where Milo had been wrapping her digital camera in layers of foil. He held up a roll of heavy tape and Clare tentatively lifted her shirt high enough for him to attach the little silver packet to her abdomen.
    â€œYou … uh … you could probably just carry it in your bag,” Milo said, a faint hint of pink colouring his cheeks. “I mean … I already took out the batteries and wrapped it up pretty well and—”
    â€œSure,” Clare said. “I could. But better safe than sorry, right— Eep!” she yelped at the chill touch of the foil against her skin. A shiver ran up her spine as Milo pressed the tape along the sides of her ribs.
    â€œAre you going to be okay with this?” he asked. “I mean, when you get there?”
    â€œSure.” Clare grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. “It’ll be justlike ripping off a band-aid. I’ll make Al do it. I’ll bite down on a stick.”
    â€œI meant with all of it.” He stared down at Clare over the rim of his glasses as she tugged her shirt back down.
    â€œI’ll apply the same principle to all situations.”
    â€œâ€˜Make Al do it and bite down on a stick?’” Milo raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s your strategy?”
    â€œYup!”
    â€œI can’t argue with sound reasoning.” Milo sighed and held up a small, neatly folded piece of paper. “Here,” he said. “I drew a rudimentary map of Norfolk and the approximate area near Snettisham where Celtic treasure hoards have been found—including the one that contained the Great Torc. In case the opportunity arises to return it there.”
    Clare nodded and tucked the map into a pocket of her jacket. “It will,” she said.
    A long moment of silence passed between them, and then Milo shuffled back a step or two and reached into the back pocket of his jeans.
    â€œI didn’t have time to wrap this or anything,” he said, “but I wanted to give you something before you left. A … a good luck charm, I guess.”
    He held up a delicate silver boxchain and a little silver pendant in the shape of a traditional Celtic knot. An unending, twisty spiral that could very well represent Clare’s entire summer vacation to that point.
    â€œPiper helped me pick it out from the shop’s collection.”
    â€œI … oh.” Clare blinked at the necklace through a sudden spangle of wetness on her lashes. “It’s perfect,” she said and smiled up at him as he fastened it around her neck.
    Clare hesitated for a moment then stood on tiptoes and kissed him, only to find herself suddenly tangled in a fierce embrace that made the foil taped to her body crinkle. Milokissed her back with such intensity that she could feel her lips start to tingle. When he finally let go of her they both staggered back a step, dizzy and gasping. Clare reached up and closed her fingers around the pendant.
    â€œFor luck,” she said.
    â€œNot that you’ll need it.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œYou’ll be fine,” Milo said. “You always are. And you’ll have Allie with you.”
    â€œRight. And you’ll have Piper.” Clare paused and bit her lip. “Um. I mean, Goggles. She’ll be with you, I mean …”
    Milo tilted his head and took another step back so that he could look into Clare’s eyes. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. “You trust me, don’t you?”
    She nodded.
    â€œYou should,” he said gently. “And you should maybe give a bit of thought to trusting Piper, too. She’s got just as much at stake