Raintree: Haunted (Raintree 2)

She laughed lightly. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Don’t the ghosts tell you anything?”

“Some things we’re not meant to understand.”

She nodded, oddly accepting. This conversation shouldn’t seem so normal. Shouldn’t she laugh? Or cry? Dance, or close herself away from the world that had just changed forever? Instead, this seemed very, very natural.

“Signs from above,” she said next.

“Be more specific.”

Hope lifted one hand and gestured in a casual way. “You see a rabbit cross the road, in a place where you’ve never seen a rabbit before. Maybe seeing a rabbit at a certain time of the day in a particular place is a sign. It’s good luck or bad luck, or an indication that you’re going to win the lottery or get hit by a bus.”

“You really haven’t studied this at all, have you?” Gideon teased.

“No. But I still want an answer.” She took a long sip of coffee and waited for one.

“There are signs all around us, but we don’t usually see them.”

She squirmed a little, trying to get more comfortable. “Not even you?”

“Not even me. We overlook miracles every day. Then again…” Gideon shrugged slightly. “Sometimes a rabbit is just a rabbit.”

The length of the day and waning adrenaline was making Hope’s eyelids heavy. They drooped, but she wasn’t ready to stop. Not yet. “Reincarnation.”

“Definitely.”

“You sound so sure.”

“That’s why I used the word definitely.”

She slapped him lightly and too comfortably on the arm. “Don’t tease me. I’m tired, and this is all new, and I still…” No, she couldn’t say she still wasn’t sure. She’d seen too much tonight not to be. Her hand remained on his arm, and it felt natural. Gideon was warm, and strong, and she liked the feel of his flesh right there, at least for now. It was soothing and spine-tingling at the same time. “If we come back again and again, and we meet the same people over and over, why don’t we remember?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Fun?” Had he lost his mind? Life wasn’t fun. Oh, there were occasional amusing moments, but for the most part, life was hard work.

“Yeah,” Gideon said. “Fun. We get to make mistakes, learn how to survive, discover beauty, discover the thrill of taking a risk. We experience emotions fresh, with new eyes that haven’t already been tainted or jaded by time. We face wonders with the excitement of something new and unknown, and fall in love with hearts that haven’t yet been broken and battered.”

“Talk about a risk,” she said. Hearing Gideon talk about falling in love made her antsy. She leaned forward, placed her mug on the coffee table, reached beneath the back of her blouse, muttered a low “excuse me,” unsnapped her bra and slid it off through her left sleeve.

“If you need help, all you have to do is ask,” Gideon said.

“I’m fine,” she said, wiggling back into place on the couch. And ever so much more comfortable. “Angels.”

Gideon leaned back and settled in, much as she had. “Yep.”

“Fairies?”

“I’ve never seen one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist somewhere. I’m not really sur

e.”

She reached out a finger to touch the silver talisman on Gideon’s chest. “Lucky charms?” she said softly.

He looked her in the eye, and her heart stuttered. Gideon did have amazing eyes. If she were in the market for a man, which she most certainly was not, he would do quite nicely. Not only was he beautiful in an entirely masculine way, he cared about his job. He fought for people who could no longer fight for themselves. He was justice and strength and sex…and occasionally he glowed in the dark.

“Sometimes,” he finally answered.

She removed her hand from his chest and flicked her own charm out from beneath her blouse. “When I was getting ready this morning, I felt like this thing was staring at me. I’m still not entirely sure why I put it on.”