The Saving Angels Series: Books 1-3 (21 page)

I stood up and walked over to where she was sitting. Perching on the arm of the chair, I grabbed her hand. “Do you understand why I love him now? It’s just like you and daddy. Remember when you told me you were more in love with him than the day you met, and each day your love grew stronger? It’s the same way for us. We have been together forever. I love him because he is my past and my present, he is my life. These past few days were obviously a crucial test for us, and we now know that we can’t live without each other. None of us know why, but that’s what we’re trying to figure out. I know this is crazy, but you know I’ve never been normal. You and dad did the best you could, but I was a nut job from the beginning,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

My mom looked from me to Mark. “I understand, but I don’t know about everything else. This is a lot to accept, but I can’t deny what he did for you this morning. You looked like you needed to be hospitalized.”

“I guess I can’t keep you apart. Just understand that I’m your mother. I just want you to be safe and happy,” she said as she reached over and hugged me.

“I’ll let you guys stay and talk for awhile. I’m going to go finish my painting,” she said as she gave me one last quick hug.

“Mark, I’m sorry I called the school. I thought I was protecting Krista, it looks like I’ve lost that job,” she said a little sadly as she headed out the door.

“Mom wait,” I said, rising from my perch. “You will always be my mom and I will always need you. Just be happy that everything is going to work out,” I whispered in her ear as I gave her an out of the ordinary tight hug. I did not shy away from the emotions she was emitting; instead, I embraced them and cast them away. I was becoming quite proficient at fighting off the negative effects of mine and others emotions.

Sam and Shawn decided they were going to go for a walk when my mom retired to her art studio. Sam had most of her strength back and wanted some fresh air.

My recovery was a little slower. My body felt like it had been put through the ringer; the countless bouts of sickness this week had taken its toll. It was going to take me a little longer to recover.

Once we were by ourselves, Mark led me toward the couch and gently pulled me into his arms. He rained soft kisses along my jaw bone and up to my temple, leaving a heated trail where his lips had just been.

“I’m sorry you got so sick. I never imagined it would be like that if we were separated,” he said in my ear, making shivers of delight race up my spine as his breath tickled my ear.

He chuckled at my response. “Ahh, so you like that?” He said in a husky voice that could only be described as the sexiest thing ever.

I nuzzled my face into his neck; it felt so good to be in his arms again. I felt bad that we had hurt my mom by telling her the truth, but it was worth it for this. I could stay in his arms forever.

I sat up suddenly, just remembering something that I had been meaning to ask him. “What did you mean the other night when you said that the separation was also affecting you?”

He chuckled slightly, a little embarrassed. “Once our plane landed, and we were so far away from you, we would get these small bursts of rage. They weren’t directed at anyone, they would just come out of nowhere.”

“Shawn broke the door of our hotel room when it wouldn’t close right. He slammed it so hard that it split the wood down the door frame. I got mad for no reason and hit the rental car just before we left. It was hard to explain the dent to the rental company, but luckily I had bought the insurance for it. The rage didn’t fully leave me until I kissed you in your room. The separations are getting harder and harder. Shawn and I talked about it, and we don’t know why we could be separated all those years and not be affected. Yet now, we can’t seem to make it more than twenty-four hours without each other.”

I finally brought up what had been gnawing a hole through me over the past few days.

“The dreams have stopped,” I said quietly

“I know. I didn’t want to bring it up because I didn’t want to upset you, but I’ve had it on my mind also. For the first time in my life, I’m not dreaming about the Boardwalk at all.”

“Me either,” I said sadly as tears flooded my eyes, “I miss it already.”

Mark took my hand and lifted my chin so I could look in his eyes. He used his thumb to brush away a stray tear. “We may not have the dreams, but we have this,” he said as he leaned down and pressed the sweetest kiss on my lips. I felt a rush of heat flow through me and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. For a moment, we were one. Our hearts took on the same rhythm and beat as one.

We broke apart when we heard a throat being cleared behind us. Flushing slightly, I turned to see my mom standing in the doorway.

“Oops! Sorry mom,” I said.

“I was wondering if you could help me in the kitchen,” she asked.

“Sure,” I said, exchanging a look with Mark, she obviously wanted to talk to me alone. I sure hoped that she hadn’t changed her mind about letting me see Mark.

I followed her though the swinging kitchen door. We stood there for a minute, awkwardly.

“Why don’t we sit at the table for minute?” She eventually said.

The silence stretched in front of us.

“Mom, just say it,” I said, getting antsy from the silence as I patted her hand.

She finally plunged in. “I know you have these strong feelings for him and he seems to share those feelings, but I hope you decide to take it slow before you go too…” she trailed off.

Oh no, she was giving me the
sex
talk. I didn’t know whether to laugh or bury my head in embarrassment.

“I know you know about sex, but I don’t know if you know how personal it is. How sacred it is the first time….”

“Mom, I know it’s special, we’re not going to rush into anything. We have been so busy trying to figure out our past, we haven’t even made it to second base yet.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yet?” she asked.

I laughed. “Mom, I love him. Eventually, we’re going to make it to second base, or I hope we do,” I said, laughing again at the look on her face.

“I promise we will take it slow. Truthfully, I always imagined myself waiting for my wedding night. I know that sounds old fashioned, but I’ve always wanted to save it for that special day.”

Relieved, she reached over and hugged me. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“I’m sure it does,” I said wryly.

She chuckled. “I’m your mom. You can’t blame me for wanting you to wait.”

I laughed with her, more out of relief that she was finally accepting Mark. I suddenly felt lighthearted. I hugged her for good measure and headed back to the living room. I found Mark lounging on the couch reading one of my favorite books. He set the book aside when I came back in the room.

“Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. She gave me the sex talk,” I whispered with humor.

“Oh!” Mark said, flushing slightly.

“What did you tell her?” he asked, pretending indifference.

“I told her it was too late. We had already done it,” I said mischievously.

“What?” Mark said in shock, jumping to his feet.

“Got you!”
I said giggling, while I backed away as he began to advance toward me.

“You think you’re funny don’t you?” He asked as he reached out and caught me. I giggled as he carried me back to the couch.

“You almost gave me a stroke. I didn’t know if I should hit the door running in case your mom was coming after me with a shotgun.”

I giggled again still tickled from the look he had on his face. “You should have seen the look on your face,” I said between my merriment.

“You are so beautiful when you laugh, your whole face lights up, it makes me happy just to see it,” he said as he stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.

The laughter stuck in my throat as a new heat began to fill me. When he looked at me like that, I felt like the most special person in the world.

Once Sam and Shawn came back from their walk, we decided to enjoy my newfound freedom and go out to dinner.

We picked a local pizza place downtown that Mark swore was the best around. Now that he was no longer working at my school, there was no reason we needed to avoid the restaurants around our school.

The pizza place was loud and crowded with students when we arrived. A hush seemed to fall on the place when we pushed through the doors. It ended quickly, as the gossip hounds turned away, trying to act like they weren’t staring.

I spied Matt in a corner booth with a bunch of his cronies. Mark spotted him at the same time, I had to swallow a laugh when he pulled me close and planted a sensual kiss on my lips, leaving no question that we were together.

Sam snickered beside me. She knew exactly what Mark was doing. Shawn looked a little confused, so we filled him after we claimed a table in the back. He slapped Mark appreciatively on the back as they got up to place our order at the old fashioned counter with swivel stools.

“You look so much better,” Sam said, studying me.

“I feel better, and now that I can do your breathing trick, I feel like I’m finally turning a corner.”

“I’m glad. We all need to be in tip top shape. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

The guys came back and I was happy for their intrusion. I was sick of worrying about all the doom and gloom. I just wanted to bask in the moment like any other teenager. Soon, we were all laughing at more of Shawn’s anecdotes and the conversation flowed lightly around our table. It was hard not to notice the envious stares directed at us from the gossip hounds, probably wondering how we had gotten so close and at ease with each other. Their conversations seemed superficial compared to the ones that our group was sharing.

The bell rang for our pizza and the guys went and grabbed it along with a pitcher of soda. The pizza was excellent. The cheese was melted a golden brown and oozed over the sides with each bite we took. I ate until I was filled to the brim. The guys ate us under the table; we teased them about how much pizza they had consumed.

“Hey we’re men. We need lots of food for our bodies,” Shawn said, sticking up for him and Mark.

Once we had our fill, Mark and Shawn told us about their trip.

“We think one of the couples is headed this way,” Mark said.

“Why do you think that?” Sam asked.

“Well, when we got to New Mexico, we were able to trace the girl to her adoptive parents. She was found at a gas station right outside of a small town. It was easy to track her after that. After she was found, she was adopted by a couple that was in their mid forties and had no other children.”

“We went to their house, but she was no longer there. We pieced together that they were afraid she had gone crazy and took off. Something about her meeting some guy that she claimed she had dreamt about her whole life. They didn’t believe her and tried to
check her into the psych ward at the hospital. Her adoptive parents didn’t seem overly compassionate, and it was clear that they thought she was off her rocker. Once she discovered their plans, she took off with the guy. They seemed almost relieved that she was gone. They did say that she would probably head to California. She had always wanted to move here. She even had a map of California tacked over her bed. It’s the only thing she took when she left.”

The draw of Santa Cruz obviously had a power over all of us.

“What are their names?” Sam asked.

“Lynn and Robert,” Shawn answered.

“Did you get a picture of her?” I asked, curious about what they looked like. “Was the girl Mark’s long lost sister? Did she have his warm molasses colored eyes?”

“Unfortunately no, like we said, her parents weren’t the friendliest, as a matter of fact, I would say they were downright frigid.” Shawn said.

“Well, all we can do is wait,” Sam piped in. “After all, we wound up here, so if their half as smart as us, they will too.”

We decided to hang out at my house once we left the pizza parlor. Sam and I wanted to go to our park, but the boys vetoed that. “It was just this morning that both of you were deathly ill. Just because Shawn and I have prince like reviving kisses, doesn’t mean you two shouldn’t take it easy,” Mark said glibly.

He didn’t fool us, something was going on. We let it rest though until we were all comfortably situated in my sitting room with bowls of ice cream.

“Okay, out with it. In case you forgot, Krista and I can practically read the emotions of anyone, and we can definitely tell when we’re being lied to,” Sam said.

Shawn looked at Mark, who shrugged his shoulders. “We may as well tell them, they need to be on the lookout anyway,” Mark said.

“We noticed on the way to the airport before we left, that someone was following us. We tried to pull over a couple of times to get a look at the driver, but every time we did, the car would speed by us. Neither one of us got a good enough look, but we could tell that it was a guy. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to be walking around a park at night,” Mark explained.

“Who do you think it is?” Sam asked intrigued.