going to send you back this morning.”
“You were?”
“Yes.”
“That’s strange,” he said. “I can usually read people pretty well. I was sure you’d wait till my head popped wide open before you called for help.”
She gasped. “What a horrible thing to think of me.”
“You’re angry.”
“Hell, yes, I’m angry. I don’t like being played for a fool any more than you do,” she said. “Get off of me.”
“No. Not until you ask me why I changed my mind about staying and why I just told you the truth.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Lay still and I’ll tell you.”
“Stop me and tell me,” she said, though she did stop squirming.
He scanned her face before he spoke. “The acoustics in that hallway are incredible. I heard you every time you came across to check on me last night; when you left to go downstairs; when you returned. I even snuck down the hall to see what you were reading.”
“So?”
“Were you worried about me because you thought I’d die and you’d go to jail again or were you really worried about me?”
“Both.”
“And you’re honest to a fault, aren’t you?”
“I don’t lie very well, so I either tell the truth or say nothing at all.”
“What would you say if I told you that I wanted to try your ... experiment, see if it really works.”
“I’d ask why.”
“And if I said my reasons were personal?”
“Then I’d only wonder why and hope that you’d tell me someday.”
“That’s it?” He looked surprised. “You wouldn’t nag me to tell you?”
“No. You’re entitled to your privacy.”
His tongue played with his back teeth as he contemplated her. He pinched the lapel of her shirt, pulled it slowly away from her skin, and craned his neck to peek underneath.
“What else am I entitled to?” he asked, meeting her gaze with a playful smile.
“Not me,” she said, slapping her hands to her chest.
“I thought that was the whole point, for me to want you.”
“And vice versa,” she pointed out.
“And vice versa,” he agreed.
“It is. But not sexually.”
“Not sexually?” He looked as if he’d just chewed and swallowed a lemon.
“Sexually, too, but later, when we know if we like each other well enough to spend more time together,” she said. “Get off.”
He did and watched her scramble off the bed.
“So, how do we go about this ... this falling in love stuff? Do we have to do something special or does the island take care of everything?”
She shrugged.
“I thought you knew all about the magic.”
“All I know is the history of it. If I’d experienced it firsthand already, I wouldn’t be testing it now,” she said.
“True.”
“And always before, it worked with chance meetings. I believe I’m the first to actually manufacture a situation in which to tempt the Fates. And we didn’t really meet on the island. I’m not sure it’ll work at all.”
He considered these departures from the tradition. “You know, you took an incredible gamble on this. Is it really so important to you?”
She flung her braid back where it belonged and nodded.
“Why?”
Why. How could she explain intangibles such as faith and hope without sounding like a dreamjunkie? Looking away, she wrapped her arms around her waist and moved aimlessly about the room.
“What happened to me? The worst part of it? Was the disillusionment,” she said haltingly. “I fought to prove my innocence with everything I could, and still I lost. It destroyed so many things that were very basic in me. Such as my faith in justice, in right and wrong, in love, in people ... in me. I wasn’t even too sure about God anymore. And if He did exist, I couldn’t understand why He’d turned his back on me. It was hard for me to believe in anything anymore.”
“You want to believe in the magic,” he said, knowing disillusionment, familiar with the need to believe. He couldn’t help but admire her perseverance, though it was probably still too early for her to
“You were?”
“Yes.”
“That’s strange,” he said. “I can usually read people pretty well. I was sure you’d wait till my head popped wide open before you called for help.”
She gasped. “What a horrible thing to think of me.”
“You’re angry.”
“Hell, yes, I’m angry. I don’t like being played for a fool any more than you do,” she said. “Get off of me.”
“No. Not until you ask me why I changed my mind about staying and why I just told you the truth.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Lay still and I’ll tell you.”
“Stop me and tell me,” she said, though she did stop squirming.
He scanned her face before he spoke. “The acoustics in that hallway are incredible. I heard you every time you came across to check on me last night; when you left to go downstairs; when you returned. I even snuck down the hall to see what you were reading.”
“So?”
“Were you worried about me because you thought I’d die and you’d go to jail again or were you really worried about me?”
“Both.”
“And you’re honest to a fault, aren’t you?”
“I don’t lie very well, so I either tell the truth or say nothing at all.”
“What would you say if I told you that I wanted to try your ... experiment, see if it really works.”
“I’d ask why.”
“And if I said my reasons were personal?”
“Then I’d only wonder why and hope that you’d tell me someday.”
“That’s it?” He looked surprised. “You wouldn’t nag me to tell you?”
“No. You’re entitled to your privacy.”
His tongue played with his back teeth as he contemplated her. He pinched the lapel of her shirt, pulled it slowly away from her skin, and craned his neck to peek underneath.
“What else am I entitled to?” he asked, meeting her gaze with a playful smile.
“Not me,” she said, slapping her hands to her chest.
“I thought that was the whole point, for me to want you.”
“And vice versa,” she pointed out.
“And vice versa,” he agreed.
“It is. But not sexually.”
“Not sexually?” He looked as if he’d just chewed and swallowed a lemon.
“Sexually, too, but later, when we know if we like each other well enough to spend more time together,” she said. “Get off.”
He did and watched her scramble off the bed.
“So, how do we go about this ... this falling in love stuff? Do we have to do something special or does the island take care of everything?”
She shrugged.
“I thought you knew all about the magic.”
“All I know is the history of it. If I’d experienced it firsthand already, I wouldn’t be testing it now,” she said.
“True.”
“And always before, it worked with chance meetings. I believe I’m the first to actually manufacture a situation in which to tempt the Fates. And we didn’t really meet on the island. I’m not sure it’ll work at all.”
He considered these departures from the tradition. “You know, you took an incredible gamble on this. Is it really so important to you?”
She flung her braid back where it belonged and nodded.
“Why?”
Why. How could she explain intangibles such as faith and hope without sounding like a dreamjunkie? Looking away, she wrapped her arms around her waist and moved aimlessly about the room.
“What happened to me? The worst part of it? Was the disillusionment,” she said haltingly. “I fought to prove my innocence with everything I could, and still I lost. It destroyed so many things that were very basic in me. Such as my faith in justice, in right and wrong, in love, in people ... in me. I wasn’t even too sure about God anymore. And if He did exist, I couldn’t understand why He’d turned his back on me. It was hard for me to believe in anything anymore.”
“You want to believe in the magic,” he said, knowing disillusionment, familiar with the need to believe. He couldn’t help but admire her perseverance, though it was probably still too early for her to
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