He leans closer, inhaling deeply.“Piña coladas.”
“And getting caught in the rain,” she teases, turning her head just enough for me to catch the tilt of her smile.
But then, something shifts.The man hesitates, his hands pausing on her thighs.The playful energy dims, replaced by something heavier.“Do you think we can really do this?”he asks, his voice quieter now, uncertain.
She doesn’t hesitate.“We can.”She reaches for his hand, threading her fingers through his.“We have to.”
Lifting her other hand, she flashes a stunning pear-cut diamond ring.The sun catches on its facets, sending a shimmer of light across her tanned skin.“Only six more months.”
His grip tightens as he lifts her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm.“Only six more months.”There’s something dark on his shoulder, and as he leans over his partner.I can see it’s a shield.It’s familiar.A shield with a yellow top half and red and white stripes going vertical on the bottom.Still, I can’t quite place where I’ve seen it before.
The woman turns over onto her stomach.“Do my back, please.”On her right shoulder is the twin of his tattoo.
The vision lingers a heartbeat longer before I’m yanked back to the present.
I sucked in a breath, lightheaded.Ezra’s arm brushed mine as he steadied me.His brow arched in a silent question.
I shook my head slightly, not wanting to explain in front of the strangers.I had thought the vision belonged to the couple, but their hair was different.Hair changes.No big deal.I glanced at the woman’s left hand.She had a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring in front of her wedding band, but I couldn’t be certain it was the same one from the memory.I looked at the man’s wrist for the tattoo, but it wasn’t there either.The memory must’ve been for someone who had passed them in the hall and smelled the coconut-pineapple combo.It wouldn’t be the first time a strong emotion clung to a scent after the originator was no longer around.
The elevator doors slid open, and the couple exited ahead of us.Ezra and I followed, only to realize we were all heading in the same direction down the long corridor.The pair stopped a few doors from ours at an interior room across the hall.
“See ya,” the woman said with a slight wave at us as they went inside.
I gave a slight wave back as Ezra opened the door to our room.
“So, what did you see,” he asked as we went inside.
I shrugged.“The usual,” I told him.“Just a slice of life.A couple on the beach somewhere warm and having a moment.Before marriage, if I had to guess, but maybe shortly after they were engaged.”
He narrowed his gaze at me.“Those slice-of-life visions don’t usually take it out of you.”
“This one packed a punch for sure.”I sighed.“The moment must have been really important to whoever they were.”
“You don’t think it was the couple in the elevator?”
I shrugged then shook my head.“Right builds, but everything else was wrong.”
“Hmm.”
“It happens.”But I couldn’t shake the intensity of the memory.
“Well, I’m happy it wasn’t something more nefarious.”Ezra put his arm around my shoulder and chuckled softly.“Usually, when you have an intense reaction to a vision, there’s a killer on the loose.”
I leaned against him.“Not this time,” I told him.“Just two people with big feelings for each other.”
He smiled, his green eyes softening as he met my gaze.“I understand that feeling.”
Out on the balcony, we beckoned Scott.“No crackers, but we got these.”I handed him the mints with an apologetic smile.“These are supposed to help with nausea, right?”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the bags and giving us a grateful smile.“It definitely won’t hurt.Pippa and Jordy beat you back,” Scott added.“They found both lemon-lime and ginger ale.Between the drinks, the mints, and the meclizine, hopefully, we’ll get our girl back in form.”
Gilly appeared in the doorway as if beckoned, wrapped in a light blanket, sipping a can of ginger ale through a straw.Some color had returned to her cheeks.
“You look a lot less green,” I observed.“That’s a good sign.”
“We’ll see,” she murmured, rubbing her temple before yawning.“I think the motion sickness pill has triggered my nap-reflex.”She crooked her head back, and the bones in her neck cracked.“The bed is calling me hard.”
“You should go lie down,” Scott suggested.“When you wake up, you’ll feel much better.”
