She saw a young couple in a beautiful forties car. It was a convertible, black with white sidewall tires. He was driving, and they weren’t in Lachlan. In fact, they didn’t appear to be in Florida.
The man was beautifully dressed in a lightweight gray suit with a pale blue shirt and a wide tie. From his dress and the vehicle, he must be the young man who was riding a horse in her first dream. When he turned his head, she saw that he looked different. As a person who worked hard to maintain her weight, Sara knew that he’d lost about twenty pounds. His cheekbones were more pronounced, and the weight loss made his shoulders seem broader. He was more handsome than he had been. A 1940s heartthrob.
More important than a physical change was his look of anger, hatred, even.Something big has happened, Sara thought.
Beside him, at the end of the wide seat, was the young woman. She looked the same. Teeth, moles, nose. They hadn’t changed. It was Alish, Greer’s grandmother.
No. That wasn’t true. She was twisting a wedding ring on her left hand, twirling it round and round.
Please let there be sound,she thought.Please, please.
“It’s over,” he said angrily. “It’s done.”
Sara smiled.Yes!Sound!
“I know,” she said softly. “It’s just that Mr. Lachlan—”
“It’s his fault.” There was rage in the man’s voice. “If he’d been here, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Ah, Sara thought.The execution of the nephew. Oh no! The nephew was the one Alish loved. It was her husband who was executed. This young man must be James Lachlan’s son, Aran.
His face showed growing anger. “Why was the marriage so important to you?” He gave her a hard look. “You know you won’t get any money. I have my own life to live, and it won’t be in a backwater town but in a real city. What I’ve done there will live forever. When it’s seen...” He didn’t finish his sentence.
“I know.”
“You can’t tell anyone. You’re as guilty as I am.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that! If I had any sense, I’d...” When he came to a stoplight, he gave her a look that made Sara’s hair stand on end. The woman kept eye contact with him, and Sara could feel her fear.He’s threatening to kill her, she thought.Why? What are they talking about? What secret is he threatening her with?
When he drove forward, his face changed to a smirk, as though he knew something no one else did. “You think you tricked me, but you traded a murder for a marriage. Was it worth it?” He was taunting her.
She hesitated, and the way she put her hand to her stomach made Sara know she was going to have a baby. Whatever had happened, Sara knew it was for the child’s sake. She also sensed that the man didn’t know about the child.
Sara’s writer-mind thought,Did they play a part in sending the nephew to the gallows? How? And more importantly, why?
He pulled into the parking lot of a train station, got out, and opened the trunk of the car. With an imperious gesture, he motioned to a porter to come and get his stash of beautiful leather luggage. As it was unloaded, he put his hand to his neck, then adjusted his collar.
When the porter was gone, the young man went back to the front of the car, glaring at her over the closed door. “Remember! You don’t know where I am or what happened to me. I no longer exist. If I hear that you’ve betrayed me, I’ll come back for you. Do you know what I will do to you?”
Sara was beginning to understand. James Lachlan’s son disappeared and was never heard from again, but Alish knew where he went. She never told anyone.
He looked at her with more anger and hatred than Sara had ever seen before. She knew he was saying that he’d kill her. Sara gasped so loud that the woman flinched. It was as though she heard the sound—and knew she wasn’t alone. It seemed to give her courage.
Alish straightened her shoulders. “I know I won’t see you again, and I know that someone who loves you is waiting for you. But I also know about my life. I will stay in Lachlan forever. I will have a family and love and security. I will prosper throughyou.”
He was obviously startled by what she’d said—and not a little creeped out by it. But then he sneered in derision. “You and your stupid Second Sight. No one believes you. Everyone laughs at you. I will have a hundred women, all of them beautiful.” He gave her a look that told of her lack of beauty. “You may think you’ve won, but you will never get another thing from me.” He stepped away from the car. “Remember to keep your mouth shut.” He turned his back to her and went toward the train station.
“No women,” she whispered. “None at all.” She gave a little smile and moved over to get behind the steering wheel. As she drove away, she kept smiling.
Nineteen
When Sara woke, she had chills all over her body. They weren’t from cold but from what she’d seen and felt in the dream. In the first dream, she’d not liked the man on the horse, but this time she despised him. It was as though she’d seen pure evil.
She didn’t know why he’d felt he had to leave town, but the urgency was there. He appeared to have no regret at leaving behind parents who loved him. Sara knew they would never recover from their grief. Even when his mother died, he didn’t show himself.
She looked at the brooch that was still in her hand. Reid’s grandmother, Alish, had sent it to “the storyteller.” Had she also sent Sara the dream? Was it a mystical video of what really happened?
