Following Bliss (The Quest series) (7 page)

“I know, I had
the same thought. But this could be my big break, so I’m going for it.”

“God, that’s
really great Daniel. When do you leave?”

“I leave next Friday
morning. But honestly, I have to thank you Shelby. Our connection at the
writer’s conference allowed me to breeze through the meeting with Kaley
Hamilton and then land this opportunity.”

Shelby groaned
inside. Kaley Hamilton? She was notorious for bedding her authors. And while she
did have an eye for a good story, her true focus always seemed to be on
sleeping with her authors first. Did Daniel have any idea that she was most
likely on the hunt for him? Shelby knew one thing, she wasn’t going to be the
one to break the news to him. The last time she shared an intuition with him,
he avoided her for over two weeks.

Shelby looked into
Daniel’s eyes to give her best fake, blasé response. Just as she was about to
open her mouth, she felt a wave of heat pass through her body and into her pelvis.
It caught her so off guard that she wobbled a little. Daniel reached out to
steady her, placing both of his strong hands on her upper arms.

“Shelby, are you
okay? You looked like you were going to say something, but then it seemed like
you might fall over.”

Shelby began
fanning her face. First heart light energy and then this, she had no idea what
was going on.

“Oh, I’m fine,
I’m fine.” She feigned.

Daniel took her
by the hand, “C’mon, let’s get you outside into some fresh air.”

Shelby was
pleasantly surprised by his firm handle on the situation, and she happily
followed.

He led her to a
bench outside the store. He sat down with her and then turned to face her. This
time both of his hands were on hers.

“Okay, Shelby,
you have to know something. I’m crazy attracted to you, but I’m also crazy
terrified of you. When I turned around in the store back there, I had felt some
wild warmth and almost like a hot poker in my upper back. Then, just now, when
you went to say something and almost fainted, I felt this wave of warmth spread
through my whole body—so intensely I felt like
I
might fall over. I
don’t know what is going on with our connection, but it’s powerful. The
messages you got from my mom completely spun me out. I’ve been spending the
past 11 years feeling like a failure as her son and I don’t know what to make
of the information you’re receiving from her. Not to mention, I’m on my way to
Maui, for what will hopefully be a game-changer for my life and my career.”

Shelby looked
back at him in a state of shock. She was grateful he was being so honest with
her, but she also didn’t know how to respond. She looked down at her hands, the
hands he was holding. She loved the look of them, their fingers entwined, his
strong hands holding on to hers so firmly yet gently. She wished she had a
camera so she could take a photograph of their hands. It seemed like they
belonged together.

“Daniel, thank
you for being so honest with me. And I’m sorry that our connection is also
terrifying to you. I feel so drawn to you and I’ve been confused as to why it
seems to send you in the other direction. What I do know is that we don’t have
to make sense of it right now. Go on your trip and if when you get back, you
feel less crazy-terrified and more crazy-attracted, then let’s go from there.”

Tears welled up
in Shelby’s eyes as she said this. She didn’t know if she would ever see him
again after this trip. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Maui and a lucrative
writing career? Her heart chakra was pulsating so strongly, she was having
trouble catching her breath.

“Well, I don’t
leave for another week. Maybe we could spend a bit more time together until
then,” Daniel heard himself say. He didn’t know why, but that sense of urgency
was back. He had to spend more time with this girl.

And Shelby,
despite wanting to play it cool until he was back from Maui and the greedy arms
of Kaley Hamilton, eagerly shook her head yes.

Chapter 5

It was while
picnicking over Pinot Gris, goat cheese, rice crackers, olives and salami in
the Rose Gardens  that Daniel realized that part of him was falling in love
with Shelby. Part of him was also already in Maui having the best career of his
life. But, the part that was sitting in front of this gorgeous girl, just
wanted more time with her—as much time as he could have.

They were
sharing childhood stories over wine, while enjoying the spectacular views of
the city. Shelby felt more at ease than she ever had with a man and did
everything she could to brush thoughts of Kaley Hamilton and Maui out of her
mind. Two more days were left; she didn’t have to think about it yet.

“So, what’s your
favorite memory from childhood?” Shelby asked.

“Oh, that’s
easy—scrambled eggs.”

“Scrambled eggs?
I’m going to need more details on this.”

“Well, every
Sunday morning my mom would get up early and make us all a huge breakfast. It
was one of our favorite things to look forward to on the weekends. We didn’t
have a lot of money growing up, so it was the little things that mattered. Mom
would make bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, pancakes, biscuits—the works. We
literally only had to eat one meal on Sundays. But her scrambled eggs were
absolutely the best. She had this secret—she would fry up the bacon first in
the skillet and then add the bacon grease to the eggs.”

Shelby crinkled
her nose.

“And that was
good?”

“Yep, absolutely
the best,” Daniel said, as he took a sip of wine looking out over the Rose
Gardens. They were sitting in the amphitheater, giving them an outstanding view
of the gardens and some of the city.

Daniel put his
arm around Shelby and sighed. Life was very good. The past three days with
Shelby had flown by. They had gone on a hike in Forest Park, went to Working
Class acupuncture for a community session and had enjoyed Portland’s well-known
food cart scene on several occasions (giving Shelby the chance to finish up the
piece she had been working on when she saw Daniel at the Portland Luggage
store). Each day they did something different, and each day the connection felt
stronger. Their kiss after lunch weeks ago had now progressed into some of the
most passionate make-out sessions of his life. It took everything in his power
to not rip all of Shelby’s clothes off.

Shelby leaned
over and kissed his neck. Small, light kisses, trickling up to his ear. And
this is when Daniel got into trouble. She kissed around his ear, lightly
licking and biting around the edges. Daniel held her more tightly, feeling his erection
growing. Shelby must have felt it too, as she placed her hand discreetly on his
hardness, rubbing him gently.

“Shelby, you’re
driving me crazy,” Daniel whispered.

“That’s the
point,” she whispered back.

He chuckled.
“Well, you certainly know what you’re doing.”

Shelby smiled,
moving her hand over to his thigh as another couple walked through the
amphitheater.

“What, you’re
not an exhibitionist?” Daniel inquired.

“Not quite yet.
Although, I suppose I could be convinced,” she said as she winked.

“Damn people in
the Rose Garden.”

“I know, didn’t
they get the memo that it was all ours?” Shelby joked.

“Well, maybe
it’s a sign to head out. We’ve pretty much devoured this entire log of goat
cheese,” Daniel looked down at the few nibbles of goat cheese, crackers, and
grapes that were left.

They stood up
and began wrapping up their food and wine. Daniel went to get his keys.

“Oh shit. Do you
have the keys, babe?”

Daniel was
surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth. He hadn’t called a woman
babe in—well, never.

“Uh, no. Don’t
you?”

“I can’t find
them. Damn.”

They both stared
at each other. They had spent some time walking through the park, admiring the
flowers. Daniel had even picked Shelby up and carried her through one section
of roses. He wondered if he had dropped them then.

“I need to
retrace my steps to see if I can find them. You stay here and look around and
see if they fell out of my pocket and into the grass somewhere. I’ll be right
back.”

Daniel looked
stressed and Shelby wasn’t sure what she could do. The last time she saw him
with the keys was when they had gotten out of the car and were walking into the
Rose Garden. As she walked around where they had been sitting looking for his
keys, Shelby noticed that darkness was descending upon them and the park was
mostly empty.

“Shit, shit,
shit. Not a great way to end a perfectly romantic evening,” she muttered under
her breath.

Shelby had been
contemplating whether to sleep with Daniel before he left for Maui. Their
connection was so intense that it had been difficult to control herself. Just
thinking
about the possibility of having Daniel inside of her made her wet. Besides, they
had really only spent the past week together—could she really sleep with him so
soon? She also had to contend with her distrust of Kaley Hamilton. What if
Kaley seduced Daniel and things fell apart? She wasn’t sure she could risk it.

Focus,
Shelby, focus.
She had to remind herself.

She crouched
down on the grass in front of where they had been sitting, feeling with her
hands and straining her eyes to see if the keys were hiding somewhere in the
grass. It was a few inches longer than usual, she thought, making it more
difficult to see. She leaned down further, as something sparkly caught her eye.

It was then that
she felt a breeze flow past her. She thought it odd, as it had been a quiet,
still night, but she dismissed the thought and went to pick up the silver item
in the grass. Unfortunately, it was only a bottle wrapper and not Daniel’s
keys. She felt the breeze again, only this time, it felt like it was coming
from the opposite direction. This time Shelby felt goosebumps rise up and down
her arms.

Shelby.

She heard a soft
woman’s voice say her name. She looked up quickly, hitting her head on the
cement edged benches that were built into the amphitheater. Grabbing her head,
Shelby jumped up.

“Is someone
there?” She hadn’t seen anyone in the garden since Daniel left.

Shelby. It’s
me. Over here, to your right.

The goosebumps
covered Shelby’s arms and up her neck. She looked to her right and saw a wispy
outline of what appeared to be a woman.

“Oh. My. God.”
Shelby had never seen a ghost like this before and felt a strong impulse to run,
screaming Daniel’s name. Instead she cupped her hands to her mouth.

Don’t be afraid,
my dear.
The woman said as her wispy outline swayed softly.
I’m here to
help you. I’m here to help Daniel too.

“Are, are, oh my
god, are you Daniel’s mother? The one who has been talking to me in my head??”

The wispy woman
chuckled gently.
Well, I’m not actually in your head when that happens. Your
auditory senses are merely translating my vibration into words in your mind.
I’m usually standing right next to you. But technicalities, right?

Shelby was
officially freaked out. Receiving messages from and connecting with the other
side was fine as long as she didn’t have to see anything. This was too much.

I understand
this is unusual dear, but tonight the lighting and situation were too perfect
to pass up. It’s easier to appear when it’s in a setting you aren’t normally accustomed
to. But, let’s not waste time with all of the semantics—it takes a lot of
energy for me to appear to you like this, so I want to make it quick. You need
to go to Maui with Daniel, dear. He needs you there.

Shelby laughed.
This woman was going to a lot of trouble to give her such preposterous messages.

“Don’t you need
to be saving a life or keeping our government or economy from imploding or
something? Is this really what we do after we die, try to hook up our loved
ones?”

Shelby didn’t
mean to be disrespectful, but this was becoming too much. She was having a hard
enough time processing her feelings for Daniel, especially with him leaving so
soon. Having to deal with a dead mother who wanted them together seemed a bit
to over the top to her. It was also making her seriously question her own
sanity.

Oh, Shelby.
The
woman sighed, her wispy figure swaying slightly.
There is so much you don’t
know about the non-physical when you are in your physical body. We have the
advantage of knowing so much more about the big picture of what’s happening in
the world. It’s a vantage point that is quite challenging to hold objectively
when in the body. I can assure you that this is about far more than Daniel and
you hooking up, as you say. To keep things simple, my assignment is not to save
the government or your silly economic system—don’t even get me started on all
of that nonsense. What I can tell you now is, I am here to save a life, and part
of that includes you going with Daniel to Maui.

“I would love to
go with Daniel to Maui, but there’s one little problem. He hasn’t invited me.
And we’ve only been technically spending time together for a week. Oh, and
perhaps you’ve noticed that he was invited there by Kaley Hamilton, an agent
who is almost more well known for seducing her authors than she is for her
professional work.”

Ah, yes,
length of time and seduction. I forgot how much humans worry about time and the
rightness of things. So busy worrying and judging, you miss out on all of the
fun.

The woman
started fading further away, it looked like she was drifting off. Shelby felt
relieved and frightened at the same time. How was she supposed to bridge this
subject with Daniel? He hadn’t exactly enjoyed her last messages from his
mother. And whose life needed to be saved anyway? Daniel’s? Kaley Hamilton’s?
Hers?

“Wait! Daniel totally
shuts down when I give him messages from you. How do I tell him this without
scaring him half to death?”

The wispy figure
disappeared. All Shelby heard was a faint,
Leave. That. To. Me.

And then she was
gone. Shelby looked around the amphitheater. It was completely empty, not a
soul was in sight. She looked where the woman had been floating and now there
was simply a small, motionless, bush. The breeze was completely gone. Shelby
sat down on one of the benches, dumbfounded. She didn’t know what to do. She
wanted to tell Daniel, but she needed to think things through before doing
that. Maybe Kathryn could help her with this dilemma. At least she wouldn’t
freak out on her. Kathryn loved stuff like this. She leaned over, placing her
hands on her temples, rubbing them softly. Where was Daniel anyway?

# # #

Daniel kicked
the gravel and cursed. He had been so immersed in Shelby that he hadn’t thought
to pay attention to something important like his keys. What was wrong with him?
In two days, he would be getting on a plane to Maui to meet with the highly
successful Kaley Hamilton, as well as potential publishers—why wasn’t he more
focused or nervous or something? When he was around Shelby, he felt peaceful
and calm, his mind unencumbered by details and deadlines and…well, apparently
his keys as well.

He had retraced
his steps, but to no avail. He even checked the spot where he had decided to
impulsively scoop Shelby up into his arms and twirl her around the gardens. He
was sure he would have heard them fall out of his sweatshirt, but maybe not.
She was so beautiful and so…easy to be with. She felt like his best friend
already and they barely knew one another.

Daniel decided
he would have to head back to where Shelby was and see about calling AAA or
someone to help. Perhaps if they could get back to her car, she could take him
to his place where his spare car keys were. But damn, that would require having
his house key, which of course, was on his car key set. A  rustling in the rose
bush over on his right interrupted his strategic planning process. It was
filled with beautiful purple roses, but it was also now swaying unnaturally. He
wondered if a possum or raccoon had gotten stuck in some of the brush inside of
it.

Invite Shelby
to go to Maui with you.

The thought randomly
popped into his mind. Daniel stopped walking and looked around. Where had that
come from? It wasn’t like a voice from someone else, but it also wasn’t his own
thought. Asking Shelby to go on what was essentially a business trip and quite
possibly the big break of his life was out of the question. He had no idea what
to expect and he certainly couldn’t ask her to come along when he himself
didn’t know what was going to take place. Besides, he wanted to appear as
though he were a professional to Kaley Hamilton, not some guy who brings a girl
he’s only known one week to Maui for the signing of his book deal (in Daniel’s
imagination, the entire deal would happen on this trip—he was visualizing his
intended outcome daily).

Daniel mentally
sorted through the pros and cons of the thought. Shelby was a really
spectacular girl. Going anywhere with her had been so much fun, he couldn’t
imagine that Maui would be any different.

But still, the
trip was only two days away. Impossible. She wouldn’t be able to get the time
off work or even have the money for a trip like that.

You have
enough money to pay for her. And she hates her job anyway.

He tossed these “thoughts”
aside and picked up his stride to make it back to where Shelby was. It was dark
now and he realized he had left her alone for quite some time—that was the
opposite of being a gentleman, lost keys or not.

Take Shelby
to Hawaii Daniel.

Again! Where was
that thought coming from? Hadn’t he decided that it was illogical to ask her at
this point in the game with everything that was going on? And why were thoughts
entering into his mind in the third person? He was stunned. Something unusual
was definitely happening. He looked down at his arm, noticing goosebumps
everywhere. Just then, he felt a slight breeze blow on the back of his neck.