While I Was Away(17)

“Yeah, lucky. My oldest brother was like a second dad, next oldest would beat up my boyfriends, and the youngest took great joy in doing fun things like locking me in the basement – after he'd convinced me the boogeyman lived down there.”

“Sounds like a fun childhood.”

“There was this one time,” she started laughing. “I was learning how to drive, and August – he's only six years older than me – was home for a visit. I was pulling into the driveway and he acted like I ran over him. I mean, there was fake blood and everything. I started screaming, I threw up, a neighbor came running over. My dad was so pissed, but mainly because he got that red shit all over the car seats.”

“When I started this job, a couple of my coworkers decided to haze me. I was taking a shower and they hid all my clothing. I had to walk around with just a towel around my waist, searching for my clothes everywhere,” Jones chuckled.

Adele cleared her throat and glanced at him out the corner of her eye. She didn't want to picture him in just a towel. Jones was very good looking, but he was also her guardian angel – lusting after him in any capacity had to be wrong. He also wouldn't tell her anything about what was going on, or how she'd gotten transported to this magical place. Was he actually an angel? Was he an alien? He wouldn't say.

So no, he didn't deserve to be ogled.

Though it was happening more and more often.

“Coworkers, huh. Those people in that creepy little town, are those your coworkers?” she ventured another question.

“No. It's a complicated job.”

“Sounds like it. So I don't get it. You follow me around everywhere, that's your job? Are you assigned to me? Or do you just like stalking people?” she teased.

“Oops, you found me out. I just like stalking gorgeous girls everywhere they go.”

Gorgeous. He said I'm gorgeous. I think he's gorgeous.

“Huh. So what would happen if I got a restraining order?”

“Then I would be crushed. How else would I spend my days?”

“You'd have to find something else to occupy your mind,” she laughed, turning to look at him. She was a little surprised to find him already staring at her.

“That would be very difficult, seeing as how you occupy it almost constantly.”

Adele wasn't sure how to react to that, how to respond to the look in his eyes. There was no breeze, but she found herself shivering. And still, she didn't look away from him.

Even after all the time they'd spent together – sometimes it felt like an eternity had already passed – she was still mesmerized by his eyes. Their color wasn't really all that noticeable at first glance, but they were simply arresting on the second. And on top of the deep emerald green, they were also warm, and full of kindness. Just looking at him, she could see how much he cared about her, which was both unnerving and exhilarating.

Eternity almost doesn't seem scary, as long as I'm spending it with him.

“Why am I here, Jones?” she asked bluntly.

“Because you don't know how to leave,” he gave his standard answer.

“And you won't tell me.”

“I'm unable to tell you – there's a difference.”

“Will you always be here?”

That question seemed to finally throw him for a loop. His eyebrows lifted towards his hairline.

“Why? Would you miss me if I left?” he tried to joke, but Adele didn't laugh.

“I think I would. I think I would miss you very much,” she spoke softly. His smile drifted away, but he continued staring at her.

“I'll be here for as long as you need me, Adele. I promise.”

His words had weight, she could feel them on her chest, as if he'd just wrapped a security blanket around her. She could hear the truth in them and for the first time since she'd arrived in that place, she didn't feel homesick. In fact, she almost felt downright ... happy.

Happy. Happy. What is happiness anymore? Green eyes. Hockey games. Venice Beach. Soft smiles. Warm sun. Home. Jones. Jones? He's all I know – but I don't know him at all. Home. Home is happiness. Not some stranger you're facing eternity with. Home. Focus on home.

She finally tore her gaze away from his and stared up at the sky again. At the burning bright sun that threatened to blind her. Then she slowly let her eyes fall shut, and she wished with all her heart that she could go home.





8




August Reins hesitated at the door to Adele's hospital room. It seemed necessary to always take a moment of silence. To pause while observing Sleeping Beauty.

That's what she looked like to August. With her thick brown hair all around her and her lashes resting on her cheeks. She looked peaceful.

Almost, he would swear, happy.

“Sorry, I was just checking on her, I'll leave you two alone.”

It was Nurse Lund speaking, the RN who tended to Adele for eight hours a day, five days a week. Lund probably knew Adele better than her brothers by that point. August managed a smile as the nurse left.

Then he swallowed the lump in his throat and walked into the room, moving so he could stand beside her bed. Ocean may have been her best friend, and River may have been her protector, but she and August shared a special bond of their own, as well.