Meant to Be (20 page)

She listened quietly the whole time, and
finally when I was done talking, she finally said something.

“You expect me to believe all that?” She
asked incredulously.

“Come on mom think about it, do you have a
better explanation for all of this?” “You saw how sick I was. Do
you think I was faking that or what about all those times my
emotions got out of control?” I said in a hurt voice.

“Of course not, it’s just that all of this
seems pretty farfetched; dreams about each other and getting sick
because you were apart? How come you were fine away from him In
Montana, but now you seem to have issues?”

“We don’t know, Mrs. Miller. Believe me, we
wish we did,” Mark finally interjected.

“I don’t like any of this,” she said to him.
“My daughter is only seventeen and you’re already acting like she’s
yours.”

“I realize we’re young, but that doesn’t seem
to matter to the dreams. We just want to get to the bottom of those
first. Everything else we can take slowly, one day at a time. I’m
not trying to steal her from you,” he said, finally zeroing in on
what was really bothering my mom. She had just lost my dad less
than a year ago, and now she thought she was on the verge of losing
me.

I stood up and walked over to where she was
sitting. Perching on the arm of the chair, I grabbed her hand. “Do
you understand why I love him now? It’s just like you and daddy.
Remember when you told me you were more in love with him than the
day you met, and each day your love grew stronger? It’s the same
way for us. We have been together forever. I love him because he is
my past and my present, he is my life. These past few days were
obviously a crucial test for us, and we now know that we can’t live
without each other. None of us know why, but that’s what we’re
trying to figure out. I know this is crazy, but you know I’ve never
been normal. You and dad did the best you could, but I was a nut
job from the beginning,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

My mom looked from me to Mark. “I understand,
but I don’t know about everything else. This is a lot to accept,
but I can’t deny what he did for you this morning. You looked like
you needed to be hospitalized.”

“I guess I can’t keep you apart. Just
understand that I’m your mother. I just want you to be safe and
happy,” she said as she reached over and hugged me.

“I’ll let you guys stay and talk for awhile.
I’m going to go finish my painting,” she said as she gave me one
last quick hug.

“Mark, I’m sorry I called the school. I
thought I was protecting Krista, it looks like I’ve lost that job,”
she said a little sadly as she headed out the door.

“Mom wait,” I said, rising from my perch.
“You will always be my mom and I will always need you. Just be
happy that everything is going to work out,” I whispered in her ear
as I gave her an out of the ordinary tight hug. I did not shy away
from the emotions she was emitting; instead, I embraced them and
cast them away. I was becoming quite proficient at fighting off the
negative effects of mine and others emotions.

Sam and Shawn decided they were going to go
for a walk when my mom retired to her art studio. Sam had most of
her strength back and wanted some fresh air.

My recovery was a little slower. My body felt
like it had been put through the ringer; the countless bouts of
sickness this week had taken its toll. It was going to take me a
little longer to recover.

Once we were by ourselves, Mark led me toward
the couch and gently pulled me into his arms. He rained soft kisses
along my jaw bone and up to my temple, leaving a heated trail where
his lips had just been.

“I’m sorry you got so sick. I never imagined
it would be like that if we were separated,” he said in my ear,
making shivers of delight race up my spine as his breath tickled my
ear.

He chuckled at my response. “Ahh, so you like
that?” He said in a husky voice that could only be described as the
sexiest thing ever.

I nuzzled my face into his neck; it felt so
good to be in his arms again. I felt bad that we had hurt my mom by
telling her the truth, but it was worth it for this. I could stay
in his arms forever.

I sat up suddenly, just remembering something
that I had been meaning to ask him. “What did you mean the other
night when you said that the separation was also affecting
you?”

He chuckled slightly, a little embarrassed.
“Once our plane landed, and we were so far away from you, we would
get these small bursts of rage. They weren’t directed at anyone,
they would just come out of nowhere.”

“Shawn broke the door of our hotel room when
it wouldn’t close right. He slammed it so hard that it split the
wood down the door frame. I got mad for no reason and hit the
rental car just before we left. It was hard to explain the dent to
the rental company, but luckily I had bought the insurance for it.
The rage didn’t fully leave me until I kissed you in your room. The
separations are getting harder and harder. Shawn and I talked about
it, and we don’t know why we could be separated all those years and
not be affected. Yet now, we can’t seem to make it more than
twenty-four hours without each other.”

I finally brought up what had been gnawing a
hole through me over the past few days.

“The dreams have stopped,” I said quietly

“I know. I didn’t want to bring it up because
I didn’t want to upset you, but I’ve had it on my mind also. For
the first time in my life, I’m not dreaming about the Boardwalk at
all.”

“Me either,” I said sadly as tears flooded my
eyes, “I miss it already.”

Mark took my hand and lifted my chin so I
could look in his eyes. He used his thumb to brush away a stray
tear. “We may not have the dreams, but we have this,” he said as he
leaned down and pressed the sweetest kiss on my lips. I felt a rush
of heat flow through me and I wrapped my arms tightly around his
neck. For a moment, we were one. Our hearts took on the same rhythm
and beat as one.

We broke apart when we heard a throat being
cleared behind us. Flushing slightly, I turned to see my mom
standing in the doorway.

“Oops! Sorry mom,” I said.

“I was wondering if you could help me in the
kitchen,” she asked.

“Sure,” I said, exchanging a look with Mark,
she obviously wanted to talk to me alone. I sure hoped that she
hadn’t changed her mind about letting me see Mark.

I followed her though the swinging kitchen
door. We stood there for a minute, awkwardly.

“Why don’t we sit at the table for minute?”
She eventually said.

The silence stretched in front of us.

“Mom, just say it,” I said, getting antsy
from the silence as I patted her hand.

She finally plunged in. “I know you have
these strong feelings for him and he seems to share those feelings,
but I hope you decide to take it slow before you go too…” she
trailed off.

Oh no, she was giving me the
sex
talk.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or bury my head in
embarrassment.

“I know you know about sex, but I don’t know
if you know how personal it is. How sacred it is the first
time….”

“Mom, I know it’s special, we’re not going to
rush into anything. We have been so busy trying to figure out our
past, we haven’t even made it to second base yet.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yet?” she
asked.

I laughed. “Mom, I love him. Eventually,
we’re going to make it to second base, or I hope we do,” I said,
laughing again at the look on her face.

“I promise we will take it slow. Truthfully,
I always imagined myself waiting for my wedding night. I know that
sounds old fashioned, but I’ve always wanted to save it for that
special day.”

Relieved, she reached over and hugged me.
“That sounds like a great idea.”

“I’m sure it does,” I said wryly.

She chuckled. “I’m your mom. You can’t blame
me for wanting you to wait.”

I laughed with her, more out of relief that
she was finally accepting Mark. I suddenly felt lighthearted. I
hugged her for good measure and headed back to the living room. I
found Mark lounging on the couch reading one of my favorite books.
He set the book aside when I came back in the room.

“Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. She gave me the sex
talk,” I whispered with humor.

“Oh!” Mark said, flushing slightly.

“What did you tell her?” he asked, pretending
indifference.

“I told her it was too late. We had already
done it,” I said mischievously.

“What?” Mark said in shock, jumping to his
feet.

“Got you!” I said giggling, while I backed
away as he began to advance toward me.

“You think you’re funny don’t you?” He asked
as he reached out and caught me. I giggled as he carried me back to
the couch.

“You almost gave me a stroke. I didn’t know
if I should hit the door running in case your mom was coming after
me with a shotgun.”

I giggled again still tickled from the look
he had on his face. “You should have seen the look on your face,” I
said between my merriment.

“You are so beautiful when you laugh, your
whole face lights up, it makes me happy just to see it,” he said as
he stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand.

The laughter stuck in my throat as a new heat
began to fill me. When he looked at me like that, I felt like the
most special person in the world.

Chapter 11

Once Sam and Shawn came back from their walk,
we decided to enjoy my newfound freedom and go out to dinner.

We picked a local pizza place downtown that
Mark swore was the best around. Now that he was no longer working
at my school, there was no reason we needed to avoid the
restaurants around our school.

The pizza place was loud and crowded with
students when we arrived. A hush seemed to fall on the place when
we pushed through the doors. It ended quickly, as the gossip hounds
turned away, trying to act like they weren’t staring.

I spied Matt in a corner booth with a bunch
of his cronies. Mark spotted him at the same time, I had to swallow
a laugh when he pulled me close and planted a sensual kiss on my
lips, leaving no question that we were together.

Sam snickered beside me. She knew exactly
what Mark was doing. Shawn looked a little confused, so we filled
him after we claimed a table in the back. He slapped Mark
appreciatively on the back as they got up to place our order at the
old fashioned counter with swivel stools.

“You look so much better,” Sam said, studying
me.

“I feel better, and now that I can do your
breathing trick, I feel like I’m finally turning a corner.”

“I’m glad. We all need to be in tip top
shape. I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to
happen.”

The guys came back and I was happy for their
intrusion. I was sick of worrying about all the doom and gloom. I
just wanted to bask in the moment like any other teenager. Soon, we
were all laughing at more of Shawn’s anecdotes and the conversation
flowed lightly around our table. It was hard not to notice the
envious stares directed at us from the gossip hounds, probably
wondering how we had gotten so close and at ease with each other.
Their conversations seemed superficial compared to the ones that
our group was sharing.

The bell rang for our pizza and the guys went
and grabbed it along with a pitcher of soda. The pizza was
excellent. The cheese was melted a golden brown and oozed over the
sides with each bite we took. I ate until I was filled to the brim.
The guys ate us under the table; we teased them about how much
pizza they had consumed.

“Hey we’re men. We need lots of food for our
bodies,” Shawn said, sticking up for him and Mark.

Once we had our fill, Mark and Shawn told us
about their trip.

“We think one of the couples is headed this
way,” Mark said.

“Why do you think that?” Sam asked.

“Well, when we got to New Mexico, we were
able to trace the girl to her adoptive parents. She was found at a
gas station right outside of a small town. It was easy to track her
after that. After she was found, she was adopted by a couple that
was in their mid forties and had no other children.”

“We went to their house, but she was no
longer there. We pieced together that they were afraid she had gone
crazy and took off. Something about her meeting some guy that she
claimed she had dreamt about her whole life. They didn’t believe
her and tried to check her into the psych ward at the hospital. Her
adoptive parents didn’t seem overly compassionate, and it was clear
that they thought she was off her rocker. Once she discovered their
plans, she took off with the guy. They seemed almost relieved that
she was gone. They did say that she would probably head to
California. She had always wanted to move here. She even had a map
of California tacked over her bed. It’s the only thing she took
when she left.”

The draw of Santa Cruz obviously had a power
over all of us.

“What are their names?” Sam asked.

“Lynn and Robert,” Shawn answered.

“Did you get a picture of her?” I asked,
curious about what they looked like. “Was the girl Mark’s long lost
sister? Did she have his warm molasses colored eyes?”

“Unfortunately no, like we said, her parents
weren’t the friendliest, as a matter of fact, I would say they were
downright frigid.” Shawn said.

“Well, all we can do is wait,” Sam piped in.
“After all, we wound up here, so if their half as smart as us, they
will too.”

We decided to hang out at my house once we
left the pizza parlor. Sam and I wanted to go to our park, but the
boys vetoed that. “It was just this morning that both of you were
deathly ill. Just because Shawn and I have prince like reviving
kisses, doesn’t mean you two shouldn’t take it easy,” Mark said
glibly.