The Stranger Inside (41 page)

Trying to find the right words, I looked across the restaurant. Then my heart jumped. I saw the lady from The Read Palm. She was sitting at a booth by the window. It kind of seemed like fate.

Sort of.

I stood and held out my hand to Jeremy. He looked up at me, tilting his head, his warm, sultry eyes full of question. But without a word, he took my hand and followed me over to Miss Read Palm.

“Hi,” I said.

The lady looked up at us. She gave me a withering look, but not a scared one. “I did what you asked. I told the police you got your palm read. You said you would leave me alone.”

“No, I said I wouldn’t go back to The Read Palm.”

I handed her my necklace, now holding the “J” and my dad’s ring. “What do you see?”

She looked reluctant, weary. But she took my necklace and held it tight in her hands, closing her eyes. A smile crept over her face and she sighed. A happy, easy sigh. “I see … love. Deep love.”

I looked up at Jeremy, into his soulful brown eyes. “Me too.”

NOVELS by Melanie Marks:

The Dating Deal

A Demon’s Kiss

His Kiss

When Kyle Came Back

More coming summer 2012

Note: If you would like to read more about the characters Hanna and Kyle from THE STRANGER INSIDE they are in Melanie’s novel, WHEN KYLE CAME BACK.

Author Bio:

Melanie Marks was born and raised in California. She is married to a naval nuclear submarine officer and blessed with three amazingly terrific kids.

Melanie has had over sixty short stories published in magazines such as
Highlights
and
Teen Magazine
as well as in various anthologies, many being
Chicken Soup for the Soul
books. She’s had six children’s books published and five teen novels,
THE DATING DEAL; WHEN KYLE CAME BACK; HIS KISS; A DEMON’S KISS;
and
THE STRANGER INSIDE.
More teen novels are forthcoming this summer, 2012.

Melanie enjoys reading in the bathtub, writing in bed, and living in a house longer than two years. Visit her website at
http://www.byMelanieMarks.com
or email her:
[email protected]
.