At Hidden Falls (Angel's Bay Novel) (24 page)

She scooted into a sitting position, pulling the sheet up over her breasts. “I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep.” She was amazed that she’d drifted off with Nick in her bed. Sex was one thing, but actually sleeping with a man wasn’t something she did very often.

“I must have worn you out,” he said huskily.

“You did.” She smiled. “You were amazing.”

“So were you. What were you dreaming about?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“You yelled my name.” He sat up against the headboard. “What’s going on, Isabella?”

“Nothing, it was just a nightmare.”

He stared at her for a moment. “When we first met that night on the cliff, you said you’d dreamed about me.”

She’d hoped he’d forgotten that. “I had a head injury. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

“How could you dream about someone you’d never met?”

“Well, I couldn’t, so there’s your answer. I’m thirsty. Do you want something to drink?”

“Hang on,” he said, grabbing her arm. “Why are you suddenly being evasive?”

“Why are you suddenly being persistent? What does it matter what I dreamed? I’m awake now. Just let it go, Nick.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you don’t want to get involved with me, and you’re not going to like my answer, and it’s going to ruin a perfectly wonderful afternoon!” She knew that as sure as she knew anything.

“Now I’m even more curious. Just tell me, Isabella. Please.”

He was asking her to trust him, and she wanted to. Because she liked him. She cared about him. She wanted nothing but truth between them. Could she take that risk?

“You’re scared,” Nick said in wonder. “I can see the fear in your eyes. What is it, Isabella?” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Talk to me.”

She drew in a breath for strength. “I told you that my grandmother believes I have a special gift, that I sometimes see things before they happen.”

“Like today, at the theater. You saw the light falling.”

“When I grabbed your arm, I saw the glass exploding.”

“Is that what you were dreaming about now?”

She shook her head. “No. It started weeks ago, when Joe sent me this necklace. He found it in my uncle’s house.”

“It’s pretty,” Nick said, his gaze dropping for a moment to the pendant.

“It was given to a relative of mine; her name was Leticia. She had eyes the same color as mine. And the person who gave it to her was your grandfather.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes. “No kidding. When was that?”

“About fifty years ago. After I got the pendant, I started dreaming about Angel’s Bay. I saw a man who was always in the shadows, and I began to worry that Joe was in trouble. I barely slept for two weeks. I finally decided to come here and see if I could figure out what was happening. That night, when you pulled me from the car, I knew the man I’d seen in my dreams was you. There’s trouble coming your way, Nick. And I don’t know how to stop it.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “What kind of trouble?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not very helpful.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I kept hoping I’d see something more clearly.”

“Maybe it was just the light falling on the stage.”

She shook her head. “My dreams always stop after whatever is going to happen happens.”

“You said you’re not always right, though.”

She could see the doubt in his eyes. She
had
to make him believe her. “I’m right enough of the time.”

“Like when?” he asked.

“Does it matter?”

“You want me to believe you. I need some proof.”

She sighed, then said, “Okay. When I was sixteen, I was in love with a boy named Tony Gallardi. He was everything to me. I had never felt such intense feelings for anyone, and it scared me, because getting emotionally connected to someone usually made my dreams worse. But I couldn’t stop myself; I fell head over heels.

One day, we got caught in the rain, and Tony lent me his jacket. I wore it to bed, because it felt like his arms were around me.” She paused for a breath, the memory still vivid. “I dreamed that he was going to be in a car crash. I called him up in the middle of the night to warn him, but he laughed and said I was being silly, that it was just a bad dream. I had the same dream the next two nights. I didn’t tell him again, since I knew he wouldn’t believe me, and he’d start thinking I was crazy. I’d already lost too many friends by talking about my visions.”

Nick’s jaw tightened. “He was in an accident, wasn’t he?”

Isabella nodded. “That weekend, he and two friends were driving home from a party and were hit head-on. He died on impact.” She blinked back tears. “I couldn’t forgive myself for not trying harder to make him believe me.”

Nick put his arms around her. “It wasn’t your fault, Isabella.”

“I know that logically, but I
saw
it, Nick. I saw it, and I didn’t stop it.”

“What were you supposed to do? Prevent him from getting into a car for the rest of his life? Besides, not all of your dreams come true,” he reminded her. “How could you know that one would?”

“But enough of them
do
come true. I’ve tried to talk myself out of this more times that I can count, Nick. I don’t want these visions!
No one
wants to know the future, especially when they can’t stop it. When I do try to stop it, things go haywire. A few years ago, I told a friend that I couldn’t meet her for dinner because I had a bad feeling. So she went home unexpectedly and found her fiancé in bed with another man. They broke up.”

“You did her a favor, then.”

“But she blamed me for ruining her life. Like I said, no one really wants to know the future. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.” She searched his eyes, wondering what he was thinking, but he wasn’t giving much away. “Now you know why I don’t get close to people—why I move around a lot, why I don’t make plans. I know better than anyone that sometimes you can’t change fate.”

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for anyone else’s life, Isabella,” Nick said gently.

“It’s hard not to, when you see something bad about to happen to someone you care about. You couldn’t stand by and do nothing, either. You ran down a slippery hillside in the pouring rain to save a stranger.”

“That was different. I could do something tangible to help you. I could get you out of the car. But there was nothing you could do to change what happened to Tony.”

“Maybe if I had been more open to my visions, I would have seen more. I would have known when it was going to happen, or how. But I was afraid to look. I still am. I exercise like a fiend so that I won’t dream when I sleep. I don’t have deep relationships, because love makes things worse.”

“It doesn’t sound like living your life on the surface has changed anything for you, not when a necklace can send you halfway up the state,” he pointed out.

“I tried to resist, but the pull was too strong. You and I were connected before we even met. I think it’s because the necklace is tied to Harrison and Leticia, and we’re connected to them.”

“What was going on between my grandfather and this woman?”

“He was in love with her, even though he was engaged to your grandmother.”

“Okay, but that was a long time ago. What does that matter now?”

“I think it just connects us. It’s not related to the danger in my dreams.”

“If I’m going to be in danger, then I’ll deal with it. Although I can’t imagine what that would entail. I’m not exactly living on the wild side anymore.”

“I wish I knew, Nick. I thought if we got closer, maybe the dreams would become more specific, and I would know what to do.”

“So you were using sex with me to clear your head?” he asked.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She saw the teasing light in his eyes, and her tension eased. “Do you think I’m crazy?” she asked, not sure she wanted to hear his answer.

“Aren’t we all a little crazy?” he countered, a warm look in his eyes.

“Whether you believe me or not, Nick, I’m not leaving until the dreams stop and I know you’re safe. You saved my life. I owe you that much.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Isabella. If you want to stay, stay. If you want to go . . .”

“Go?” she finished when his voice trailed away.

“Not yet,” he said. “Don’t go yet.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

He pushed her down on the bed. “All I want right now is you, all of you. And, if you want to shout out my name, feel free.”

She smiled. “Give me something to shout about, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Isabella gave a satisfied sigh as she got out of the shower for the third time that day. She felt almost scarily happy, because nothing this good could possibly last. She returned to her bedroom and quickly dressed, then picked up Nick’s T-shirt off the floor and tossed it onto her bed. He must have forgotten it when he’d reluctantly put on his muddy clothes and gone home to his daughter.

The front door opened and shut, and Joe called her name. She pulled a sweatshirt over her head as he appeared in the doorway.

“Hey,” he said. “I picked up a pizza. I didn’t know if you’d eaten.”

“I haven’t, thanks. You look tired,” she commented, noting the dark circles under his eyes.

“Long day of nothing,” he said with a sigh. “I went up into the hills, trying to find Annie’s father, but there was no sign of him. I have no leads to go on. I have no idea where Annie is.”

“You’re doing your best.”

“Effort doesn’t matter. It’s results that count.” His gaze fell on Nick’s T-shirt and the rumpled bed, and Isabella could see him adding it all up in his head, his investigative mind not missing a detail.

“Who does this belong to?” he asked, picking up the shirt.

“Nick,” she said unapologetically.

“You seem to be ending up with a lot of his clothes,” he said. “What’s going on with you and him?”

“We’re . . . friends.”

“Looks like more than that.”

“It’s not a big deal, Joe.”

He gave her a thoughtful look. “Nick has a kid, and from what I understand, he’s planning to live here permanently. You’re not going to stay. Your life is in Los Angeles.”

“Are you done pointing out the obvious?” she asked, not at all happy with the direction of the conversation.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know what I’m doing,” she said, although deep down, she wasn’t at all certain of that.

“I hope you do. I’m going to take a shower.”

As he left the room, she blew out a breath, feeling a little disturbed by his pragmatic questions. She didn’t want to think about the future—not when the moment was so nice. Maybe this afternoon was all they’d have, or maybe not. But she wasn’t going to regret what had happened between them.

Still, part of her wanted today to be the start of something, not the end. And as for him having a kid, she liked Megan. She liked the idea of helping Nick and Megan find their way back to each other. Stitching broken threads together was what she did best.

But what about
her
thread? When was she going to take a chance and put herself in the picture? She had no idea; she never had visions about her own future. Those remained completely out of reach. Why?

Her grandmother’s words echoed through her mind.
Because you’re not connected to yourself, Isabella. You only look out, you don’t look in. You don’t take care of what means the most: your own soul.

Maybe her grandmother was right, but she didn’t know how to accept this part of herself. To date, all it had ever brought her was pain. Shrugging the dismal thought out of her mind, she headed to the kitchen.

She was just putting some pizza on a plate when the buzz of Joe’s cell phone drew her attention. The shower was still running, but she knew how eager he was to get information on Annie, so she picked up the phone. It was an L.A. number that she recognized. For a split second, she thought about letting it go to voice-mail, but curiosity got the best of her.

“Hello,” she said. “Is that you, Rachel? It’s Isabella.”

“Oh, it’s you,” Rachel said with some relief. “Teresa told me you’d gone to visit Joe. Is he there?”

“He’s taking a shower. Do you want me to have him call you?”

“Yes. Tell him it’s important. I really want to talk to him.”

There was an urgency in Rachel’s voice that made Isabella worry. “Is there anything I can do? You sound upset.”

“I need to talk to Joe. I think—I think I might have made a mistake.”

Isabella’s stomach flipped over.

“Make him call me, Isabella. I know he won’t want to, but he needs to. We have a lot of history together.”

“I’ll do what I can.” She put the cell phone down. Did Rachel want to get back together with Joe?

Joe walked into the kitchen, saw her with her hand on his phone, and shot her an inquiring look.

“Your phone was ringing. I thought it might be the station, but it wasn’t.”

“Who was it?”

“Rachel. She wants you to call her back. She was very emphatic about it.” Isabella saw the stiffening of his jaw. “Rachel said she thought she made a mistake.”

He drew in a breath and let it out, then opened the fridge and grabbed a beer.

“Are you going to call her?” she couldn’t help asking.

“I don’t know. Right now, I’m going to have some pizza.”

“Joe—”

“This isn’t your business, Izzy,” he warned.

“Rachel wants you to remember how much time you have invested in your relationship with her.”

“And you think I’ve forgotten?” he challenged. “Believe me when I say I remember everything. Every last thing.”

Charlotte couldn’t remember what she used to do at night before she’d stepped into Annie’s motherhood shoes. Now her life was all about the baby. She propped her feet up on the living-room coffee table as she fed him and flipped through the television channels. As usual, there was nothing worth watching on Saturday night, so she settled on a reality show about housewives who looked nothing like any housewives she knew.

Her mother was out with her friend Peter again. Charlotte had no idea where that friendship was going, but she was trying not to think about her mother being with a man. It was too weird.