Fallen (37 page)

By
the end of my chatter,
Miranda’s face was frozen in awe, her jaw slightly dro
pped, her eyes glassed over.
“You really don’t do this for the money, do you?”

“
I needed it at first
,
but
the
truth is
,
I can live on very little – and
I
have. The money now…
it
makes my customers feel better
.
I get the sense they need an insurance policy to ensure their message will be delivered.
”

She
laughed at that,
making notes
on her pad
, and smiled warmly at me.

“Maggie, thank you so much for the opportunity to get to know you a little better.”

“
Sure.
Are we done?” I asked, watching a man shifting from foot to foot, eagerly waiting to be my next customer.

“
Yes, we are.”

She held out her hand, which
I shook, and a moment later she was gone.

Although I didn’t regret having taken the interview, I did start to wonder later if she’d keep her word and let me review the article before it was published – my skepticism mostly caused by having found very few heartfelt people at the Academy of the Immaculate Heart.
But, what was done…was done. If she chose to run her own version that decision was now
hers
. I
was
never good at judging others
and
I couldn’t tell if she was trustworthy, so
I just had to have faith.

By the end of the day, my concern
s
over whether Miranda would portray me in an honest
,
positive light
had been
chased away
by my eagerness to see Eran.
As dusk fell across New Orlea
ns
,
shadows rose
up
and Cajun music began filtering out from neighborhood bars, I
was preparing
myself for what I was about to learn – who I
was
before.

At the house, I
rushed through dinner, polishing off
Felix’s Sprout and Eggplant Egg White Crepe Special
which
boosted his pride and surprised Rufus and Ezra.
Rufus
had been
busy
preparing hamburgers and steak fries when I refused to wait
so
I’m certain they
thought
something was up.
To
assuage their suspicions, I explained I had a lot of work to do
…
which was true. I
did have
quite a few messages to deliver since
The Square was really busy
today
.
I’d already determined I would tackle those
first,
before I could see Eran
,
or I was
convinced
I’d never get around to delivering at all.

A few minutes later
,
I was upstairs
hastily brushing my teeth. I splashed some water on my face, in place of a good scrub, and hopped into bed, finishing my nightly routine in less than a quarter
of the time
it typically takes me.

Just as
I had hoped,
keeping busy at The Square today helped
put me to sle
ep quickly. The next moment
I was waking up on
the
stone bench in the middle of the Hall of Records, only this time I wasn’t alone.

With my eyes closed, I didn’t see him,
but I felt a surge of
elation
run through me
, reaching
fro
m the top of my head to
the tips of
my toes.

“
Pleasant trip back
?”
Eran’s
sensual, deep accent was lined with
enthusiasm
and
made my heart
beat faster.

Sitting up, I opened my eyes
and found him standing over me
.

“
Far too
overdue
,
” I
said
, taking him in
while
trying not to show it.

“You were counting the minutes until you saw me next, weren’t you?” he asked
,
playfully.

I rolled my eyes at him, trying
not to show how close to the truth he
actually
was
. “No one
will ever
accuse you of modesty.”

“Never,” he grinned, brazenly
.

I noted that h
e smelled of
f
resh earth, spring air, and
warm
sun. In fact,
he looked like he’d just walked off a vineyard during harvest time.
The
flannel and
jeans
he’d worn last time I’d seen him
had been replaced with
khakis and a white cotton tank top,
helping his dark tan skin stand out.
I could see his
carved
muscles lining the inside of
his
shirt
, making it very hard for me to look away.

“When you arrived, y
ou were smiling
.
N
o
,
beaming is more like it
,” he stated.

I
shrugged
,
intentionally
not explaining. There was no
reason
I could give without
letting him know
I was thrilled to see him.

I stood giving myself something to do before my attention
could be
drawn back to the
enticing
curvature of his muscles.

“So, what are you doing here? Looking for a record?”

“No…” he replied, offhandedly
. “I was waiting for you.”

“Me?”
I asked, stunned.

“I said I’d show you the record with your
past lives
on it.”

“Oh, that…”
So, he had only come to fulfill a promise and nothing more.

He chuckled. “For some reason, I thought you’d be more excited.”

“I am! I am. I just
…
I need to deliver a few messages first.”

“Okay,” he said, turning
to walk
toward
the wall closest to us. “I’m here.
I might as well help.
”

I was surprised at his
offer
. I’d never had help before
,
and his enthusiasm
caught me off-guard
.
Still, I was glad he suggested it. Company would be a welcomed benefit
on this visit,
especially
his
company.

“So
,
who is first,” he asked, walking
toward
the wall
,
anticipating the search for our first scroll.

It struck me while watching him
,
either he was natural
ly
intuitive at using
the scrolls
or he had done this before. I had never seen Eran in the hall
,
but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here during my off-hours.

“
Tipper McNeal
is first
…died last
in
Omaha
,
Nebraska
on December 14, 2000.”

He nodded and then poin
ted down the wall
toward
the “O
’s”.

Reaching
the spot where I needed to climb the wall, I grabbed hold and began to lift myself up.

“What are you doing?” he asked, holding back laughter.

“I’m climbing,
”
I told him, my voice tinged with defensiveness
.

This time he released a
hearty laugh
and said, “I’m happy to carry you.”
He moved slightly up and down in the air
, boasting his ability to float.

I
scoffed at the proposal
. “
Show off.
No thank you.”

His response was a
mere
glimmer in his eyes
, the meaning of which
was unmistakable. He was going to race me.

I
sprang upward,
carrying
myself
faster than I’d ever moved to reach a record.

Less than a second later
,
I was several stories high when I heard him clear his throat.

“You passed it,” he
called out
,
not bothering to hold back his
laughter
.

I
felt
the flush
creep
over my cheeks as
I turned
and
found him floating a few feet down from me, next to the scroll for
Omaha
.