dreamed about you, I thought I was dreaming about myself. I was at our cottage in Atlanta, and it was before I knew anything about you or your history. But I swear, I was feeling what you were feeling. Only I didn’t understand what I was thinking. It didn’t make sense.” She met Beth’s gaze. “Because I kept thinking about a hospital and someone named Billy.”
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
“I told you that sometimes you have to look beyond hard-and-fast reality for answers.” Eve looked away from her and up at the stars. “So you’re not alone in this particular weirdness. Does that make you feel better?”
Beth didn’t speak for a moment. “It makes me feel … not alone. It’s strange and warm and sad.”
“Sad?”
“Maybe I should have said scared. Because it means that we’re together in a special way and that if I don’t do something wrong, you might … want to be with me sometimes.” She lifted her chin. “Providing I want to be with you. I might not, you know.”
“Beth, dammit, stop being so defensive.” Because Beth’s defiant, touching words were breaking her heart.
“I should be defensive,” she said fiercely. “I want this. I like it so much, and what if it goes away? What if someone takes it away?”
Eve felt her throat tighten with emotion. What, indeed? Beth had had her entire life before her, and all those years had been stolen, taken away from her. Why wouldn’t she doubt that it could happen again? She reached out and took Beth’s hand. “Why, then we’ll find a way to take it back. We’re a team. No one can do that to us.”
Beth looked down at their joined hands, and a brilliant smile suddenly lit her face. Her gaze lifted to Eve’s. “You’re right, no one can beat us, can they?” Her hand closed tightly on Eve’s. “I knew that. I just wanted to hear you say it.” She released her grasp and gave a sigh of relief as she leaned back in the lawn chair. “Do you ski, Eve?”
“What?” The abrupt change of subject took her off guard. “No, I tried once, but Joe had to pick me up out of a drift three times. I decided he was enjoying himself a little too much.”
“I’ll teach you. I’m very good. I have an entire wall of trophies.” She stopped. “At least, I did have trophies. I wonder what happened to them…” She shrugged. “Oh, well, we’d have a great time on the slopes. You’ll really like it once you learn how. And you can teach me to—” She frowned, lost for a moment.
Eve’s lips quirked. “If this is supposed to be a reciprocal arrangement, you may be getting the short end. I hardly think you’d enjoy my teaching you how to reconstruct a skull.”
“No, what else do you do?”
“Not much. I’m a workaholic. That eliminates a hell of a lot of potential hobbies.”
Her frown vanished. “Then you need me. I’ll save you from yourself.”
“Heaven help me.”
Beth threw back her head and laughed. “No, that’s the point. I’ll help you. We’ll have such fun.”
“If you say so,” Eve said warily. “I’m not sure about all that snow, Beth.”
“We could try swimming. I was thinking of trying out for the Olympic team. But it required taking time off from—”
Eve’s phone rang. “It’s Joe.”
“Sorry I didn’t call before. Gelber’s home security system is state of the art and I was looking for a way to circumvent that damn alarm.”
“Did you do it?”
“No way. We’ll have to corner him tomorrow after the autographing. I’m heading for Gelber’s office to see if Newell had any luck breaking in there. He called and told me the security system at the office is much less sophisticated, and we may have a chance. Everything okay there?”
“Fine. Except that I appear to be destined to spend a number of uncomfortable days fighting icy snow and my own lack of equilibrium.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Her hand tightened on the phone. “Be careful, Joe.”
“Always.” He hung up.
“You lied to me.” Beth’s gaze was on Eve’s face. “You are worried.”
“I didn’t lie. I don’t have a bad feeling about this.” Her lips tightened. “But sometimes fate slips in a wild card. So distract me, Beth. Tell me about skiing and your competitions and all those trophies and your friends at school…”
* * *
“IT’S NOT BAD AT ALL,” Joe murmured as he bent over the security alarm on the wall beside the door of Gelber’s office. “It’s clear he must have