Until I Die Again [On The Way To Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) (12 page)

“You’re just a little wench tonight, aren’t you?” he said after missing her.

“No, I’m just trying to have fun!” she yelled from a safe distance. “Don’t you ever have fun, Jamie DiBarto?”

He crossed his arms. “Not with you.”

She bit her lip, laughter dying in her throat. How right he was. She tucked her pillow under her arm and headed toward the front doors—and was caught completely off guard when the pillow came crashing against the back of her head. Before she had a chance to retaliate, or even turn around, he had slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his hard body.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered beside her ear. His breath felt soft and warm against her neck, but still she shivered. “I didn’t mean that. We did have fun once.”

She turned around in his embrace, and he moved backward. “We could have fun again, Jamie.”

He laughed softly, running his finger down her jawjaw line and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I bet we could. But I don’t want that anymore.”

“You think I’m talking about sex, don’t you? A romp in the hay. A sweaty, heavy breathing session in bed, a dance between the sheets.” She shook her head. She
wasn’t
talking about that, was she? No, no. “Fun, like we had tonight. Yes, even the opera part. Walks on the beach, skiing, shuffleboard, anything.”

“Only if you wear that dress.”

“Only if you wear that tuxedo.”

They stood in silence for a moment, a comforting aura settling around them. An orchestra of crickets started a stirring harmony nearby. He reached out and took her chin in his fingers.

“Shuffleboard? I’d like to see you play shuffleboard.”

“Name the time and the place, honey, and I’ll be there.”

“In that dress?”

“Or out of it. Uh, I mean, in something different.”

This time he stepped closer, and she had the urge to step back. My, but her Freudian slips were going to get her into trouble yet. Jamie’s fingers trailed down her throat and chest over the shiny fabric.

“Now that’s an interesting picture, you playing shuffleboard in the nude. I’ll bet even you haven’t done that.”

She tilted her face up to his, feeling a strange tightness swirling in her middle. “You’d win that bet. Of course, you’d have to play in the buff, too.”

He clucked his tongue. “Too bad we don’t have a shuffleboard court on the grounds. I’d take you up on that offer.”

“I made some other offers, too.”

He looked up thoughtfully, scratching his chin. “Oh, yes, a romp in the hay, or a sweaty, heavy breathing session in bed.”

“No, I believe those were walks on the beach and skiing. That other stuff comes later.” But that wasn’t what her body was saying, darn it.

With a swoop, his fingers twirled her hair up and held it pinned on top of her head. Her heart started beating faster, wondering if he would dare kiss her, hoping he would.

“I’m almost tempted to take you up on at least two of those offers, but I would hate myself in the morning, and I’d probably hate you, too.” He kissed her lightly on the nose. “Let’s just leave it as it is.”

He turned and dug in his pocket for the keys. She stood behind him and resisted the urge to run her fingers through that soft-looking hair, pull him back and tell him he was wrong. And ask him exactly which offers he was tempted to take her up on.

He opened the door and let her walk in first. It was past midnight, but she still wasn’t ready for the night to end. She had built a few steps over that great big chasm between them and was aching to close more of the distance.

“Good night, Hallie,” his soft voice called through the dark hallway. He took the stairs two at a time until he reached the top, closing the door firmly behind him.

“Good night,” she called to the emptiness. Then she slowly walked up the stairs and into the room she inhabited. The bags of clothes she had bought that afternoon were stacked against the wall by the dresser.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing her long hair, thinking. A stranger looked back at her, a beautiful stranger who moved as she did. When she closed her eyes, she still saw the girl with unruly curly-Q hair, brown eyes, and a figure no man would drool over. Especially not a man like Jamie. But she would never have hurt him like his wife did.

The sound of soft footsteps brought her attention to the hallway. It looked quiet. Jamie’s door was still closed. She couldn’t explain it, but his room felt empty. Curious, she stepped into the hallway and slipped down the stairs. There wasn’t a sound anywhere in the house, save for a faint ticking of a clock.

She crept through the family room to the French doors that lined the terrace. The door was unlocked, and she opened it and slipped through to the terrace that overlooked the pool. There she found him, swimming through the shimmering blue water. Jamie, fighting his demons in churning water. She hoped they would win and overpower that stone wall he had erected around his heart.

She had been wrong that day he had run up to this very terrace to see if she was all right. Wrong when she had yelled that he didn’t have a heart. He did, and she had felt it that night in the dark, surrounded by laser beams and love songs. Oh, how she wanted to tell him the truth, that she wasn’t Hallie at all, or anything like her. He would never believe her, of course. He would send her to the Sharp Rehabilitation Center where they would electrocute Chris from her soul. Would Jamie tell the orderlies to keep Mick away again?

She shivered at the thought of the man who scared her so much. Never before had she seen such intensity in a man’s eyes. Except maybe in Jamie’s, but that was a different kind of intensity. His was a determination to keep himself clear and far from her. Mick’s was a fierce desire to hold her close and crush her. His threat also floated back to her in the cool breeze.
Remember what I did to that other guy who thought he could steal you away!

She imagined Mick appearing out of the shadows and dropping some electrical appliance into the pool. Or maybe jumping in, taking Jamie by surprise and drowning him. This time the shiver that shook her was violent.

She watched the shadows, now seeing them move and shift like a man’s shadow would. Fearing for Jamie’s safety, she remained watching over him. Not until he lifted himself, exhausted, from the pool did she back up toward the doors and slip inside. Then she waited in her room until she heard him walk up the stairs, his breathing heavy. Only then did she fall back on her pillow and close her eyes, willing sleep to take her away.

Jamie took a hot shower, then sat down in the upstairs living room, knowing sleep was miles away. He turned on the television, but his thoughts were far from the images on the screen. Two things bothered him about that evening. Actually three, and the last one bothered him immensely.

First, Hallie had said that she’d gone to the planetarium when she lived in Oceanview. On the way out he’d noticed a brass dedication plaque citing a date of two years earlier. One year past the time she had lived there. He saw no reason for her to lie about it. His frown deepened. Unless she had gone there with Mick, or whoever else caught her fancy. But why did she take him there? And why did she remember that place when she’d forgotten most everything else about her past?

The second thing that bothered him was the distinct feeling that he was being watched while he was in the pool. His state of mind had been far from normal, but the feeling of another presence was strong. Even with the full moon, there were enough trees and shrubs for someone to hide behind. The word paranoia came to mind.

The third thing, the one that bothered him most, was that he’d actually had a good time. Dinner was strange, what with her choosing things she never liked before. The opera was, well, better than he thought it would be. But the laser show, that was something special.

He could have kicked himself for holding her hand. Worse yet, he’d wanted to kiss her out front, her standing there talking about romps in the hay and nude shuffleboard. God, he could have stripped that dress off right there. She was toying with him again.

He reached for the remote control and turned on the VCR, then hit the play button. The miscellaneous tape was still in. Hallie, gorgeous, uninhibited. A flirt. An empty shell looking for a good time and someone to support her. He hit the stop button and turned everything off before heading to bed. When he looked at her bedroom door, he stopped for a moment.

The woman in that room was not the same Hallie he’d seen on that tape. In fact, if he didn’t know better, he’d guess someone else had taken over her body, maybe an alien. But the change was temporary, and he knew it. Her health was fine, her memory returning slowly. The time to say goodbye would come sooner than he thought.

CHAPTER 7

Hallie woke with a start, clenching sheets and screaming out Alan’s name. She remembered a bizarre image of Alan peeling his face off like a mask, revealing some horrible monster beneath. And suddenly she had become very small in front of him, feeling afraid and angry at the same time, powerless to act on either one. The monster had begged her for mercy, taking her hand gently in his.

She shook off the icky feelings surrounding the dream and hoped Jamie hadn’t heard her call another man’s name. She was already in enough trouble as it was.

A hot shower only slightly dispelled the strange feeling her nightmare had left behind. Watching the drops of water slide down the white marble, her thoughts were still on Alan. Dark, handsome. Yet the way she had felt about him didn’t begin to reach the heights her feelings for Jamie took her. It was infatuation, she knew that now. She couldn’t possibly have loved Alan and then fallen for Jamie, even under these strange circumstances. Jamie had to be an infatuation, because she couldn’t feel that strongly about him after knowing him for just a few days.

Both men were a challenge, distant and deep. But while Alan made her think of a dark cave full of mystery and danger, Jamie reminded her of a towering mountain beckoning her to climb its steep, stony incline to reach for the sun.

She brushed her wet hair out and let it hang in loose curls over her shoulders. The blue jeans she’d bought at the mall were looser than Hallie’s old selection, and the blue shirt covered her chest, yet still managed to show just a bit of her flat stomach. She could live with that, she thought with a nod, and turned to go downstairs.

“Where is Jamie this morning?” she asked Elena.

“He’s out by the pool. With a guest.”

“Thank you,” Hallie said before turning away. A friend? A woman perhaps? The thought actually created a little pain somewhere near her stomach. She was relieved to find him sitting in a lounger by the pool talking to another man. She made her way down the concrete stairs that led to the deck, and Jamie glanced her way, looking surprised to find her there.

The other man stood with a smile and extended his hand to her. Ah, someone who knew Jamie, yet was still friendly toward her. He was tall, with a stocky build, blond hair and blue eyes. She took his hand.

“Hallie, it’s good to see you doing so well! Beautiful and vibrant as ever.”

Jamie stepped in, to her relief. “Hallie, this is Dave Wainthorpe. Do you remember him?”

She shook her head. “No, but it’s very nice to meet you.” She smiled sheepishly. “Again.”

Dave’s expression took on a look of surprise, and he turned to Jamie. “You’re right. She has changed. You mean I can’t antagonize her anymore by being nice?”

Jamie laughed, then looked at Hallie. “What he means is, you used to be pretty hostile toward Dave, for no apparent reason. But no matter what you did or said, he always came off friendly and courteous. The way he usually is. And that used to piss you off to no end. Most women fall over their feet for a chance to spend time with Dave, and you were the exact opposite.”

“Oh. Sorry about that. I’m different now.”

“Until she gets her full memory back,” Jamie added as he leaned back in his chair.

She ignored his jibe and sat down on Dave’s nonverbal request.

“So you’re feeling good?” Dave asked, turning to face her.

“Yes, thank you. Back—” She stopped herself from saying back to her old self, remembering Jamie’s reaction the last time she said it. Instead she finished, “to one hundred percent healthy.”

“That’s great,” Dave said.

“Yes, it was quite a miracle,” Jamie said, and she couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or not. “One minute she’s deep in a coma, the next she’s awake and perfectly normal. Except for not remembering a lot of people and acting strange.”

Dave crinkled his eyebrows. “Strange?” He gave Hallie a sidelong glance with an exaggerated lift of an eyebrow.

“Well, not strange in any particular way. Just not like her old self.”

Dave laughed genuinely. “Her old self was strange.” Turning to her, he said, “I hope you stay the way you are.”

“I will. I don’t remember being any other way.”

“She’ll go back to the way she was. I guarantee it.” Jamie was looking at her in that stern way of his.

She stiffened. “How do you know? You’re not a doctor.” She was guessing on that one. Actually, she had no idea what he did.

“No, but I’ve been married to you for three years and I know you.”

She sat up straight. “Well, you don’t know me now.”

“Whoa.” Dave said, his hands up. “I didn’t come here to talk about your problems. I came to talk about mine.” He smiled, and she saw Jamie’s expression soften.

“Sorry, Dave. Go on.”

Glad for the respite, she leaned forward with interest, eager to hear about someone else’s problems for a change.

“You probably don’t remember, Hallie, but right before your collapse, I had a very valuable gem stolen from my home. It was called the Manderlay, an oval cut alexandrite. It originally came from the Ural Mountains in Takovaya.”

“Alexandrite?” Hallie asked. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s quite rare. What makes it so special is the fact that it changes colors. In artificial light it’s red. In natural light it’s green. And twenty-seven carats of it makes the effect spectacular. Besides being an architect, I happen to be an amateur gemologist, and searched for the Manderlay for ten years. The man who owned it lived in Saudi Arabia, and with all the problems over there, found himself in need of some cash flow. The Manderlay was a bargain at fifteen million dollars.”