Only their fingertips were touching, but it was like a current of high voltage electricity was going from Jared to her. It wasn’t just that they were touching, they were connected. Mind, body, souls seemed to be flowing one to the other. It was almost as though she could read his thoughts and she could see, well, the future. It was the two of them. Designing, arguing, traveling. Years together. Joy shared and laughter. A great, great deal of laughter. There was more but she was almost afraid to look.
“I feel like I know you, that I know us,” she whispered.
“I feel the same way,” Jared said as he stood up, took her hand, and pulled her to him.
She wanted to slide her arms around his neck, but she knew that if she did she wouldn’t be able to stop. They’d end up rolling about in the bushes on a public beach. Not a good start to forever, she thought.
Jared seemed to understand. He stepped away, breaking contact. “Let’s go home.”
Alix started down the beach to the road that led to the stairs, Jared behind her. Twice she stumbled, but then her legs weren’t stable. “I think maybe I saw our future,” she managed to say when they reached the stairs.
“I can believe that. Was it good?”
She nodded. “Very good.”
“Odd things happen to people who hang around the Kingsleys.”
“Are you talking about ghosts?” She was trying to sound light but it wasn’t easy.
“I think maybe we should talk before we go any farther.”
Alix stopped on the stairs and turned to look at him. His face was even with hers. “If it’s all right with you, I’d just as soon not talk any more right now. Tell me the awful things later, after we—you know.”
Jared laughed. “Okay, let’s go home and, uh … later, we’ll talk about our future. You know, goals and that sort of thing.”
“That sounds exactly like what I’d like to do.” Their eyes were laughing.
Chapter Fourteen
When they got within sight of the crowd, they dropped hands. Touching or not, Alix knew that everything had changed. She stood back as Jared told Lexie they wanted to leave right now.
“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” Lexie said. “Toby and I have that big SUV with us and we have to get all this into it, and then what do we do with that old truck?”
“One of you can drive the SUV and one of you can take the truck back to Polpis.” Jared’s voice was of exaggerated patience.
“Great idea,” Lexie said, smiling. “I assume it’s an automatic, as I’ve never driven a manual, and I can hardly wait to take it down Nantucket’s wide lanes. I saw Mrs. Ferris a few minutes ago. Think she’s driving today?”
“Lexie …” Jared began but didn’t finish his sentence. He turned back to Alix with a helpless look on his face.
“Who’s Mrs. Ferris?” Alix asked.
Lexie answered. “She’s our neighbor, lives right on Kingsley Lane, and what’s especially great about her is that she drives smack down the middle of every road. Even tourists get out of her way. Hope I don’t pass her in your fancy old truck. Wouldn’t want to scratch it, but then I’ll probably tear the transmission out when I try to shift gears, so what do scratches matter?” She turned toward the food, but as she passed Jared she said, “Hate to mess up your afternoon, but you know what they say about anticipation.”
“That it’s a useless waste of energy?”
Laughing, Lexie kept walking.
Jared went to Alix. “Sorry, but I think I—”
“I know,” she said. “You and I should take the truck back.”
He smiled at her, his eyes thanking her for understanding.
They were sta
nding close together and she reached out to touch his fingertips. “Why don’t you go talk to your friends while I help clean up?” The truth was that she didn’t think she could stand being around him without making a fool of herself. They’d already been on the receiving end of Lexie’s sharp tongue and she didn’t want to go there again.
“Good idea,” he said, and in an instant he was gone.