Becoming (11 page)

“I think I’ll choose to thank the Jamisons
for their absurd conclusion,” he said at last, focusing on keeping
his voice light.

She turned and caught his gaze. “What?”

“Obviously, if they hadn’t been such moronic,
paranoid, narrow-minded idiots, you wouldn’t be sitting here with
me. So, yes, I’m going to thank them.”

Her eyebrows rose and then settled into
considering lines. “That’s an interesting way to look at it.”

“As Mrs. B always says, all things happen for
a reason. It sounds like you ended up better for that placement
ending.” When she shrugged agreeably and settled back against his
side, he figured at least some of the pain of the memory she had
shared had ebbed. “Okay. You thankfully disrupted the placement
with the creepy Jamisons. So, now we’re to the Incident that
happened about three years ago.”

“Yeah.”

By unspoken agreement, they hadn’t talked
about that Incident after that day—not at all until she experienced
her recent surge during his confrontation with Michelle. He hadn’t
wanted to cause an investigation that might result in her losing
her placement with Mrs. B, and he figured the same reasoning
applied to Amber’s silence on the matter.

“We were at Stone Mountain Park for the
picnic with Mrs. B’s church group,” he recalled. “The sun was about
to set, and I managed to convince you to go out with me in one of
the Riverboat Marina pedal boats.”

“I still don’t know how you convinced
me.”

He grinned over the dry tone of her voice. “I
have it on good authority that I can be rather charming when it
suits me.”

“Hmm.”

“So, I charmed you into going out onto the
water with me. Mrs. B signed the waiver and off we went. About ten
minutes in, you started shaking.”

Now she shifted agitatedly. “I don’t really
remember what happened after we set out.”

Rubbing her arm, he continued, “I felt you
shaking. At first, I thought you were just struggling to keep up
with the pedaling. It was tougher than I’d thought, so I started to
make a joke about it. Then I looked at you and saw your eyes. They
had changed to an almost solid gold color. The pupils were barely
visible.”

She shuddered. “Man.”

“I can’t explain why, but I just suddenly
knew that we needed to get out of the boat, and we needed to do it
fast. I pulled off our life jackets—again, I don’t know why, but I
did. Your shaking had gotten much more intense. You didn’t respond
when I tried to talk to you. And then I grabbed you and jumped off
the boat.”

Gripping his hand, she caught his gaze. She
looked embarrassed. “You sure picked a freak of a girlfriend.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

After studying him for another moment and
then giving him a small smile of appreciation, she asked, “What do
you remember after we went overboard?”

“Not much, actually. I remember hitting the
water with you and then I remember getting fished out by the marina
lifeguards. I remember Mrs. B getting all over us for having taken
off our life vests when we assured her we wouldn’t. We made it seem
as though we had been goofing around and fell into the water.”

“That part I remember.”

“And we never mentioned it again before
now.”

“Yeah.” She yawned widely.

“Come on,” he said, getting to his feet and
helping her up. “It’s way past time to crash.”

As they made their way to the bathroom to
brush their teeth, she asked, “Why didn’t you ever say
anything?”

He shrugged as they reached the bathroom,
handing her the travel-size tube of toothpaste they were sharing.
“You didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t.”

She squeezed some toothpaste on her
toothbrush and handed it back to him. “That’s it? Didn’t you think
there was something wrong with me?”

“No. I really can’t explain it. I somehow
sensed the danger was over when we were fished out of the marina
and your eyes looked, well, like they normally do. And,” he
admitted, “I didn’t want CPS coming to investigate and taking you
away.”

She grunted in response to that as she
rinsed.

They finished brushing their teeth. As they
left the bathroom, she stopped in the hallway, looking into her
bedroom. He could see her wrestling with something. Standing
patiently, he waited until her internal battle was over.

After another moment, she sighed and caught
his gaze. “Will you come in and keep me company tonight?” Another
pause. “I’m worried something might happen,” she finally
admitted.

“Of course.”

Her shoulders relaxed at his simple
agreement. “Thanks.”

They climbed into the bed after drawing the
room-darkening shades. She tugged the quilt over so it only covered
her legs, knowing he would never use it. They settled under the
sheet in the relative dark on their sides, facing each other.

“So, I imagine you’ve been tested.”

She nodded. “Yeah. The convulsions during a
couple of Incidents resulted in me getting all kinds of tests and
imaging, especially of my brain. They never picked up anything
unusual.”

“Well…maybe you’re psychic or something. You
might have telekinetic abilities but don’t use them, so they kind
of…blow up. That seems kind of logical. Your body sort of recharges
the energy over three years or so and then has to, well, release
it.” He was warming to his theory. “And you have some kind of
intuition about it, because you always try and remove yourself from
the public when an Incident occurs.”

She hadn’t ever thought about it that way
before. But he was exactly right. Although she couldn’t say how she
felt during the very first Incident, she did remember playing
Freeze Tag with Julia just before she turned six and trying to get
away from her. And she left the school before the following
Incident, walked out of the church for the one after that, and
allowed Gabriel to paddle her onto the middle of a huge lake when
she otherwise never would have.

“Yeah. That actually might make some sense.
So, what can I do about it?”

“We’ll research it when we get home. There’s
bound to be someone who can help.”

“I guess.” She sounded uncertain.

“There’s no sense in dwelling on it during
our trip,” he reasoned.

“I suppose you’re right.” She leaned across
and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ve been waiting for this trip for as
long as I can remember. I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Right. So let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a
full day ahead of us.”

Amber was happy to comply. And when she did,
she slid back into The Dream…

“
I know this is a lot to absorb,” Saraqael
said. “I am so sorry to have kept it from you.”

She shook her head. She loved him too much
and had too little time left to dwell on apologies.

He seemed to understand. Bringing his hand
to the side of her face, he said, “I have the scroll with me now.
It…well, it involves more than just speaking a few words.”

Puzzled, she crinkled her brow to prompt an
explanation.

He cleared his throat, his face filling with
color, and held her gaze with quiet intensity. “We must join…in
both body and soul.”

She didn’t even have to think it over. Her
heart and her mind were as one on the matter.

Finding more strength than she thought she
had left, she said simply, “Please.”

Their first three full days in Anchorage were
filled with walking around and exploring the city. They went on a
glacier tour, took their time visiting the Alaska Native Heritage
Center and the Museum of History and Art, snapped some pictures in
front of the Crossroads of the World Signpost at the Log Cabin
Visitor Center and even panned for gold.

On the fourth morning of their trip, they
checked out of the Anchorage rental house and made their way by
taxi to the airport, where they boarded a forty-five minute flight
to Kodiak.

Their downtown Kodiak vacation rental was an
apartment in a small complex located a few minutes from the beach
and the closest grocery store, so it suited them nicely. It was
styled in a country theme with warm colors and oak accents, making
them think of home. This rental also had two bedrooms, one
bathroom, a kitchen and a living area complete with a
treadmill.

“Seriously?” Amber had asked, eyeing the
workout equipment balefully. “I don’t even want to look at that
thing after all the walking we’ve been doing.”

Gabriel had laughed at her expression, though
he was in complete agreement.

The change in their accommodations meant
another visit to the grocery store, so they took care of that after
settling in and then ate dinner in the apartment. The long-lit days
as well as the change in time zone played havoc with their internal
clocks, and by the end of their first day in Kodiak, they fell into
bed by 8:00 p.m.

Gabriel woke first the next morning. Slightly
groggy, he lifted his head and glanced at the clock. It read 7:31,
earlier than he would have ever dreamed of waking on a non-school
day if he’d had a choice in the matter. Ah, well.

His gaze shifted to Amber. Because her eyes
continued to fluctuate in color—something they couldn’t explain,
but he still didn’t think was dangerous—he continued to sleep in
the same room with her just in case something happened. He found
the experience of waking up beside her both foreign and oddly
comfortable. The sight of her sleeping now made him smile. She
rarely looked as peaceful when she was awake.

Easing out of the bed as carefully as he
could, he managed to get to his feet without disturbing her. He
walked to the door and opened it quietly, then just as quietly
closed it behind him. After a quick trip to the bathroom to relieve
his bladder, wash his hands and face and brush his teeth, he
ventured out into the kitchen.

A guy didn’t live almost eighteen years with
Mrs. Clara Burke and not learn his way around a kitchen. Opening
and closing cupboards, he quickly found the pans he would need, a
mixing bowl and appropriate dishes. Humming a tune and wishing for
a radio, he began slicing the loaf of fresh-baked sourdough bread
they had purchased the evening before. Once that was done, he set
the bread to the side and then opened the fridge and pulled out
butter, eggs and milk, carrying them to the cooking island in the
center of the kitchen. He cut a pat of butter and slid it into the
pan on the stove, turning the heat on to get it melted. Then he got
to work cracking eggs, measuring milk and whipping them together
into a frothy liquid batter.

He had just soaked the first piece of bread
in the egg mixture and set it in the pan to fry when he heard the
bedroom door open. A moment later, the bathroom door closed. He
placed a couple more pieces of bread in the pan and then set the
table. After flipping the bread, he put the real maple syrup he had
insisted on buying onto the table.

Just as he slid the three finished pieces of
French toast onto a plate, Amber shuffled into the room. Her eyes
were still heavy-lidded from sleep and there were faint pillow
lines on her cheek. She might have tried to tame her hair, but no
one would know it. He grinned.

“Happy birthday, Sunshine,” he said
cheerfully. When she got close enough, he pulled her in for a quick
kiss. “Your birthday breakfast is ready and waiting.”

Giving him a sleepy smile, she took the plate
he handed her. “All this for me?”

“Hey, you’re old enough to vote and
everything. It’s a red-letter day.”

“Well, thanks. It smells amazing.”

When she sat at the table and reached for the
butter, he filled her glass with orange juice. She was just pouring
some syrup onto her plate when he joined her with his own.

“You ready for a full day?” he asked.

“I thought the only thing we had planned was
the Alutiiq Museum,” she said around a bite of French toast.

“It’s your birthday. This is the first year I
can do boyfriend-things for you on your birthday. I want to shower
you with attention and presents.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be
ridiculous. You’ve given me presents already. Those first class
tickets had to set you back quite a bit. I don’t want or need
anything else.”

He shook his head woefully at her. “I’ve
harbored my feelings for you for six years. So, I figured six
presents.”

“
What?
” She goggled at him. “You’ve
lost your mind, Gabriel Reid. Besides, you’ve given me presents
every year. Last year you gave me a new song book. The year before
that, you gave me a journal. The year before that was
the…what?”

He was grinning foolishly at her. “You
remember all of the gifts I’ve given you?”

Her face flushed and she fiddled with her
fork. “Yeah, so?”

“Why, Amber Hopkins, I think you’ve held a
torch for me for some time.”

Kicking him under the table, she grinned back
and ate another bite of French toast. “Fine. So you don’t have to
give me six presents. That is seriously over-the-top.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve already
given you three of the six gifts. Your bathing suit, the airline
tickets and the amazing breakfast.”

She drummed her fingers on the table. “You’re
out of control.”

“I’m going to treat you to a nice lunch—” he
glanced down at his plate of food, “—or dinner, or something in
between, out by the marina…gift four. And I’ll give you your last
two gifts when the time seems right.”

She tried to glare at him, but couldn’t
manage it. “Okay. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll try not to begrudge
your need to give me gifts if you don’t take me somewhere to eat
where they’ll stick moose ears on my head and make me stand up
while everyone sings to me.”

He burst out laughing. “You’ve got a
deal.”

Amber took more time than usual getting ready
for the day. While Gabriel finished cleaning up after breakfast,
she went into the bedroom and seriously weighed her wardrobe
options…something she had never done before.