Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,65

and I’m arranging for Dr Milton to stop by.’ He hung up, a worried expression shadowing his features before he seemed to snap out of it.

‘Hello, Sabine. How are you today?’

‘Fine,’ I said, settling into my position, closing my eyes towards the sun.

He sighed. ‘I thought we were going to try to do some of that talking and listening today.’

I hiked my legs up onto the windowsill. ‘I talked to Ethan.’ ‘He mentioned that. But he’s not the only one you can talk to.’

‘Don’t see any point in treading trodden ground.’ ‘Well, judging from his report you didn’t say a great deal.’

I felt my heart skip a beat. Had Ethan kept our conversation last night private? It was hard to suppress the smile. I shrugged for Levi’s benefit.

His next words weren’t what I was expecting. ‘Want to play darts?’

I opened my eyes and looked at him. ‘Are you sure I can be trusted with sharp objects?’

‘Not entirely,’ he answered, even as he held the darts out to me.

I couldn’t stop the grin. I knew it was probably some therapy technique, but I’d always wanted to have a go at darts. Levi stood in the middle of the room, his dated suit and spectacles making him look older than he probably was – I guessed he was around forty-five. I could see why people liked him and would want to talk to him when they had problems. In some ways, I wished it were that simple for me. But I also knew Levi was a man of logic – it was how he brought people around. He needed that logic as the foundation of everything he did, and I wasn’t going to be the one to take that away from him. But darts …?

I stood up and took them from his outstretched hand. ‘What the hell.’

‘Indeed.’

I was edgy with anticipation. I’d always associated this level of anxiety with the Shift, but this wasn’t the same kind of fear. And yet, counting down the minutes to Ethan’s arrival seemed just as nerve-racking. It was hard to make sense of everything that had happened in the early-morning hours with him. I didn’t know if he would be happy to see me tonight or not. Mostly I just wanted to see his face.

When he finally opened my door, I’d been waiting so long I’d almost accepted he wasn’t coming. But then my eyes met his and something inside me relaxed. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought maybe something in him did too.

He held out a coat draped over his arm. ‘So you don’t get cold.’

I beamed. ‘Where are we going?’

‘To the park.’

‘At night?’ I took the coat and slipped it on. I could tell it was his. It had his wintergreen fragrance and I had to stop myself from nestling my face into the fabric.

‘It’s my favourite place, day or night.’

My heart leapt at the thought of Ethan taking me somewhere that was special to him. As if he wanted to share it with me.

Just like he had in the early hours of that morning, Ethan unlocked the window and we slipped outside. I was now grateful for my ground-floor room – and the easy access to the parking lot. Ethan walked straight up to a car, an old-model silver Jeep covered in dried leaves, and opened the passenger door.

‘Don’t drive much?’ I asked, looking at the state of the Jeep. He shrugged. ‘I live nearby, so I hardly use it. Levi lets me park it here.’

I jumped in and before I knew it we were driving through Boston. The relief was so immense, I actually groaned.

‘What is it?’ he asked, glancing between the road and me.

‘Oh, nothing. I just love driving – the freedom. I like the idea that you could put all of your stuff in a car one day and drive until you wanted to stop.’

He nodded, like he totally understood.

I wasn’t sure where we were going until he parked on Arlington Street. ‘The Public Gardens?’

He smiled, jumped out of the car and came round to open my door. The gardens were part of the central city parklands in Boston. I never went there; they were visited mostly by tourists or inner-city workers during their lunch break. But I followed Ethan as he led the way over the waist-high gate and into the park. He stopped near a large weeping willow by the lagoon and started to shake out a blanket.

‘Aren’t we prepared?’ I teased, noticing he had a whole