Was the emphasis on the
“I don’t know,” Fiona whispered. “After everything that happened this morning, maybe we should lie low for a while.”
“If you never let yourself have any fun,” Mitch teased, “you’re going to end up as dried out as Miss Westin.”
He grinned. Fiona could never resist it and found herself smiling, too.
Besides, she’d never heard
But Miss Westin wasn’t there.
And Mitch’s smile could have lit a pitch-black room.
“Okay,” she said, ducking her head in a half nod. “Coffee it is.”
She was careful not to say this was a coffee
Jeremy angled toward them. “Aye, coffee with a wee nip o’ whiskey would hit the-”
Sarah and Amanda stepped in front of him, Sarah elbowing him in the ribs as the two of them jostled Jeremy back from Mitch and Fiona.
Sarah quickly whispered to her cousin.
Jeremy shrugged, then gave a conspiratorial nod to Mitch.
“We’re heading to the library,” Sarah said, a little too loud. “Must return a few books.”
She and Amanda pushed Jeremy. Fiona heard him muttering: “The library? Gods! Couldn’t you think up a better excuse?”
Fiona would have to thank Amanda and Sarah later. The last person she wanted tagging along was Jeremy Covington.
And Robert? She glanced back over shoulder.
Robert was gone.
She and Mitch crossed the silent campus, seeing only a few older students, who looked more harried than they did. Fiona didn’t want to think about what senior midterms were like.
Harlan Dells waited for them at the front gate as if he had never left his post. He nodded to Mitch and gave a tiny bow to Fiona.
“Congratulations,” he said as calmly as if they had just taken an ordinary paper-and-pencil test. “A-minus. Most impressive.” He added with a chuckle, “Mr. Ma will spend all week rebuilding his pet monstrosity obstacle course. I believe he is quite. . cross.”
Fiona wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, thanks,” she tried.
Mr. Dells’s laserlike gaze flickered over her head and then returned, his expression cooling a bit.
“You two have a wonderful time.” He opened the gate for them.
Fiona turned toward the direction he’d looked. In the shade of a cedar tree along the path to Bristlecone Hall sulked the unmistakable silhouette of Robert Farmington.
Mitch saw, too. “Did you want to ask him to join us?” His tone was polite, but he managed to say it such that it was clear he was
She couldn’t believe it. Robert following them? Was he jealous? Spying on them? Fiona thought they were getting over this.
She wandered through the gate and into the alley. “He’s
Fiona tried to smother her mounting anger. She didn’t want to show that side of herself to Mitch.
She couldn’t stop Robert from watching her. He was quick, and all Drivers were trained to track by the League. He’d be there in the shadows while she and Mitch sat and sipped coffee at the Cafe Eridanus.
He was going to ruin it for them.
“It’ll be fine,” she said.
Mitch read her expression and glanced back at Robert. His smile reappeared. “We can do much better than ‘fine’ today.” He held out his hand. “Trust me.”
Fiona forgot her anger, suddenly curious but also wary. Her hand hesitated halfway toward him. “What are you going to do?”
“Give us a little space,” he replied. “It doesn’t always work-only when things are perfect. . and only if I’m with the right person.”
He stared deep into her eyes and took her hand.
Mitch’s skin was soft and warm, but there was an underlying strength, as well. He pulled her gently along, three steps down the alley and around the corner-only it should’ve taken more than three steps to get there-and they turned onto the sidewalk.
There was the sensation of extra motion, like when you step on an escalator or moving sidewalk-then a sudden halt.
She stumbled. Mitch steadied her.
Fiona blinked. They weren’t near Presidio Park as they ought to be. They were still on a sidewalk, but the road now twisted and turned, switch-backing down a steep hill among picture-perfect gardens and houses.
This was Lombard Street. .
. . which was halfway across the city.
“How’d-?”
Mitch held up her hand, still twined within his. “Magic,” he whispered. “A gift a few in my family have. . which seems to be working much better with you along. At heart, I guess, I’m nothing but a show-off.”[42]
Fiona grinned, not completely understanding, but nonetheless thrilled at what had just happened.
It was more than just moving miles in a single step. And it was more than holding hands with Mitch (although that was nice). It was that she’d left Paxington and all the stress and worries behind. Not just physically. . but in her head, too.
Apparently, the universe had other plans: A counterbalance to her rare moments of happiness. . because a few blocks away, she heard the rumble of an all-too-familiar Harley Davidson racing toward them (a motorcycle crafted by Uncle Henry to go faster than the speed of sound).
Mitch cocked his head, also hearing. “Robert hasn’t given up.”
“In more ways than one,” she muttered to herself.
Mitch tugged on her arm. “Want to try again?”
“Can we?” Fiona replied.
Mitch gestured ahead, and they strolled together down stairs, past pots of Christmas poinsettias and ferns. His forehead creased with concentration as they crossed into shadow-
— and turned. The sun was brighter and higher overhead. The sidewalk was now paved with pink bricks, and on her right was a wide canal filled with sailboats. There were bridges and hotels and restaurants everywhere.
“We’re in Texas,” Mitch explained, exhaling as if he had just lifted a great weight. “Would you care to find someplace to sit?”
She squeezed his hand. “Let’s go farther.”
Mitch considered her a moment, his grin widened, and he squeezed her hand back. “Very well. Let’s tempt fate.”
He gripped her hand harder, as if he was afraid she’d slip free. Maybe there was some chance that this was dangerous-that if he let go, Fiona might land someplace between steps. Or maybe he just wanted to hold her.
She gripped his hand just as tight.
She wasn’t afraid. . although her blood pounded. . and it wasn’t her all-too-familiar anger, either. This was excitement and elation, and maybe a dash of infatuation.
Fiona leaned in closer to him as they turned into the shadows, stepped-
— through darkness for a moment, so cold and empty, she found it hard to breathe. Like she’d frozen solid. But then they stepped out-
— and the light had dimmed and turned gray. Skyscrapers reached for the clouds; there were six lanes of
