When you hear the words “deep sleep,” you will come to this place of relaxation and open your mind . . .
Out of respect for the process, Paige kept her eyes firmly shut, but inwardly resisted opening her mind to . . . to her. To a videotape.
But she wanted, oh, how dearly she wanted, to give Zach what he must need. A name. A lead. Find this evil bastard. Give justice to a man who’d dedicated his life to it.
Sue Ellen began to question her, and finally opening her hands on her tummy, Paige relaxed a little, trying unaccountably to open her mind to herself only.
“Deep sleep . . . deep sleep . . . Think back, Paige,” the balmy voice urged, but Paige now only half listened to what she said. Her body singularly limp and heavy, she was delving into that big black nothingness, surprised to no longer feel the accompanying anxiety. “First, let us go back to a moment of your life you remember fondly.”
Hmm. So easy. Lying awake last night. Feeling wonderful. With her body tucked into the immense, sculptured form of Zachary’s.
“Deep sleep, Paige . . .”
And he had lain awake with her. With those large, safe arms around her waist. Every once in a while resting his lips on her temple, her cheek, her shoulder.
For the longest time you just stared at me. And I stared back and thought, “God, is there a prettier sight than this girl . . .”
Wondrously, magically, a thought fluttered down on her in response to his. It was like being hit by a raindrop, wet and spreading across your skin until you were soaked.
In that instant she knew exactly what she’d thought as she stared across the hall at that bronzed, dark-haired boy. And then dozens of thoughts were raining down on her. Her mind was giving her these gifts, beautiful, surreal, so incredibly vivid she gasped with the wonder of reliving them.
Her first kiss. Her first real kiss. Zach’s kiss.
She’d been robbed of it, too. Now it was hers. Her kiss once more.
Fiery. Passionate. A kiss after days and days of wanting, days of covert glances, of brushing shoulders as they passed the halls, of catching each other watching.
She’d been on a hall pass and the corridor had been empty when he appeared, coming the opposite way. They stared. Their paces slowed. They halted. Then he grabbed her wrists, pinned her against Penny Morgan’s locker, and kissed her heart out.
Her eyes stung at the memory. Her throat worked to dislodge the clog of emotion in her trachea, because God, yes, she remembered it all. She remembered love. Being loved by him. Loving him innocently. Completely.
“Tell us where you are, Paige. Tell us . . .”
Paige scarcely heard, because it had been years since her memories talked to her, and the sound of them was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard.
This was not the reason she was here. She knew they wanted something else from her, and yet she was drowning in her own memories, thoughts and thoughts swirling in places that had been empty before.
“Zachary Rivers is staring at you, Paige.”
“Well, well, look at that blush when you tell her!”
“What are you guys talking about? Paige can’t even talk to Zach Rivers, Francine.”
“Trista, seriously. Get real. And Paige, swear to God, if Zach bumps your shoulder one more time as some lame excuse to touch you and straighten you up and you go all blushy like you do I’m going to slap the both of you!”
Her friends, Paige thought tenderly. What were they doing now? She hadn’t told them then that every day, she and Zach kissed their mouths red. She couldn’t tell them that Zach was everything— everything—to her.
And she’d just about had it with hiding.
The halls were bustling with students, but suddenly determined, Paige squared her shoulders and walked up to Zach as he shut his locker. To his broad back, she whispered, “I love you.”
He stiffened. It took him forever to turn around, and then he stared at her as though she were a bizarre creature from an
other planet. It seemed that everyone else stared, too.
“What are you doing?” he asked. Just a whisper. In his eyes, she could see storms, she could see he wanted to grab her and say the words back to her. But he was far more careful lately than she.
The bell rang.