His kiss was hot and possessive, and after a few minutes he pulled away, staring at me. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but then he gave a little shake of his head before standing with me still in his arms. He carried me into his bedroom and made the sweetest love to me, as if I were a precious treasure.
When he fell asleep, I lay there, listening to him breathe. Although I rarely allowed myself to think of the night Natalie died, I let the memory come back. I needed to do it to strengthen my resolve to keep my promise to her.
I knew the end was close, and I spent every second with my twin. I’d crawl in bed with her at night and hold her in my arms. Sometimes we’d cry, other times we’d talk of our dream to travel as soon as she was well. Although I knew better, I desperately wanted her to believe she would. To have hope for a future.
“When we get to Scotland, I want to sneak into a haunted castle,” I said one night, snuggling in bed with her.
“Who’s haunting it?” she asked.
“A sexy, kilt-wearing Highlander lost in time, trying to find his lover. He stands on the castle wall every evening playing his sad song on his bagpipes, hoping she will hear and come to him.” I held a cup of hot chocolate to her lips, letting her sip. “The minute he sees you, though, he’ll forget all about her.”
She laughed, then began to choke. I scooted behind her and massaged her back and shoulders. I’d gotten certified soon after we’d learned she was sick so I would know how to ease the pain in her failing body with soothing massages. “Take a deep breath,” I whispered, moving my hands to her head and neck.
“Maybe we can be ghosts together, him and I.”
I squeezed my eyes shut against the burn of tears. “No, he’s going to take you back in time with him, where you’ll become a hearty Highland lass.”
“Jenn?”
“Yeah?” I didn’t like the sadness I heard in her voice.
“Promise me you’ll travel the world for me, see all the things we’ve talked about. Promise you’ll make our dream come true.”
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back against my chest. “I swear it, Nat. I’ll make our dream come true if you’ll promise you’ll be with me.”
“I swear it,” she said. “We’re a part of each other. No matter what happens, I’ll always be with you. You’ll feel my spirit with you in all those places you’re going to go. I just know it.”
My identical twin died that night in my arms. I’d made her a deathbed promise, one I had to keep because she’d promised in return that I’d feel her with me in all those places we were supposed to go together.
Vincennes was busy. Many of the tourists who’d come for the festival had stayed on for a few days. Naomi Reeves and Gloria Davenport were seated at the bar, having a glass of wine while waiting for a table. Naomi ownedThe Valley News, our town’s little weekly newspaper. Mostly it was a gossip rag—who had dinner at the country club, who was getting married or divorced, who died. Gloria was Naomi’s only reporter at-large. No bigger gossips existed east of the Mississippi River than those two.
“I hear you and the new police chief are an item,” Gloria said when I refilled her wineglass.
Twenty years from now, Dylan would still be thenewpolice chief. “We’ve gone out a few times.” That was common knowledge, so no use denying it. I wasn’t about to admit we were an item, or she’d have our wedding announcement in next week’s paper. Gloria nor Naomi worried too much about whether the gossip they reported was true.
Gloria nudged Naomi’s arm. “I got a good picture of them on Sunday. He had his arm around her, and she’s looking up at him like a woman in love. It can be the lead-in to the festival recap.”
Oh God. Just shoot me now. If I tried to talk them out of doing that, it would only make it worse. Leaving them to their plotting, I turned to greet the man sitting next to them.
“What… what can I get for you?” I hoped the man I’d seen staring at Dylan at the festival hadn’t noticed my stutter. He leaned back on the stool and studied me. It made me feel like I was a bug under a microscope. There was something very off about him.
“Whatever you have on draft,” he finally said.
“Sure, coming right up.” The man was handsome—blond hair, blue eyes, built similar to Dylan—but I didn’t like him. His eyes were cold, soulless, and they stayed on me as I filled his mug. He was seriously creeping me out. I put the beer in front of him, hoping he wasn’t staying for dinner.
“What’s your name?”
“Jenn.” The last thing I wanted to do was tell him my name, but he hadn’t actually done anything wrong.
“So, Jenn, you and Dylan Conrad? Are you his girlfriend?” He took a swallow of his beer, his eyes on me over the rim of the mug.
“What’s it to you?” I took a step back, not liking this man at all.
Gloria leaned toward him. “They’re an item. I have the pictures to prove it.”
I shot her a death glare, but she was oblivious, lapping up the chance to dish out the latest gossip. I darted a glance around the bar and wanted to groan. Gloria didn’t have a quiet voice, and our conversation had caught everyone’s interest.
Naomi leaned her head around Gloria. “Do you know our new police chief?”
