Music in the Night (Logan 4)

Our eyes met and I felt a warm glow travel from my stomach to my heart. Was it possible to want to be with anyone more than I wanted to be with Robert? I didn't think so. Surely, this was what love was, and it had happened to me so soon after we had set our eyes on each other, it must be true love. Did that mean it was written in the stars like it had been for Romeo and Juliet? That was fine, as long as we didn't have the same destiny, I thought.

We started out of the gymnasium, gazing back only once to see Betty and Adam looking our way and laughing. It filled me with dread because it was as if they knew something I didn't.

There were some students huddled in the shadows and smoking outside, but I didn't see Cary anywhere. I released the breath I had held in my lungs and walked quickly across the front of the school toward the parking lot. We got into Robert's car and glanced at each other, both of us feeling nervous and excited. Robert took a deep breath and started the car. Then he turned to me.

"You all right with this?" he asked softly.

"Yes, Robert." I slid over to be closer to him and he smiled.

We drove out of the parking lot slowly. I looked back once and thought I saw a shadow scurrying away from a car. In a moment, the shadow disappeared in the darkness and was lost.

"You see something?"

"No," I said, shaking my head and turning back.

We drove quietly for a while, following the road out to the Point.

"I know the artist who lives down that road," I said, when we passed a beach road. "His name's Kenneth Childs. He's Judge Childs's son?'

"I've heard of him," Robert said. "In fact, I think we have one of his paintings in the hotel. It was there when we bought the place."

"Most likely. He is one of our most famous artists. He's a nice man, but keeps to himself. Some people call him a hermit."

"I'd still like to meet him. I like his painting in the hotel," Robert said, putting his arm around my shoulders as he slowed the car.

"I took a few exploratory rides down this way recently," he said.

"Oh? And for what reason?" I teased.

"Just to see the countryside," he claimed with an impish little smile.

Moments later he turned down a narrow beach road and then switched off the headlights as he continued a few yards farther. Darkness closed in behind us and on both sides, but before us was the ocean, with the dazzling sea of stars above it and the moonwalk that went to the end of the world.

Many times before, Cary and I had sat in the darkness and looked up at the vastness of space with all the stars twinkling, but it never set my heart pounding as it did this night while I leaned against Robert's shoulder, feeling his breath on my hair and then on my forehead before his lips gently touched my ears, my cheeks, and my eyes. I turned to bring my lips to his and we shared a long, soft kiss.

"Laura," he said, stroking my hair. He put his cheek to mine and whispered in my ear. "When I first saw you in school, I felt as if your face was

immediately printed in my mind. That first day, I looked for you everywhere, and if I changed classes and didn't see you, I was sick with disappointment."

"I noticed you, too, but I didn't think you were looking at me in a special way."

"That was because I was too shy to say anything. I thought you would take one good look at my face and know I had fallen head over heels. I was afraid you would laugh at me."

"I never would."

"I know that now," he said, putting the tips of his fingers on my lips. "But I didn't know it until I spoke to you and saw how wonderful you really were. I was walking around in a daydream, even at home. I remember I walked right into the kitchen door and bumped my forehead. My father thought I was taking drugs or something. Then my mother looked at me and said, 'He met a girl. I don't know anything else that would turn a boy his age into a clumsy, absentminded oaf."

"She said that?"

"My mother has a great sense of humor," Robert said. "I can't wait for you to meet her."

"Does she meet all your girlfriends?" I asked. He smiled.

"I haven't had many girlfriends, and never one like you," he replied. "Before you, what I felt for other girls was a schoolboy's crush, but when I look at you, Laura, I know it's for real. I hope you feel the same way."

"I do, Robert," I said. "I really do," I added, and we kissed again. This time he kept kissing me, moving his lips down to my neck. I closed my eyes and let my head rest against his shoulder. His hands moved along my ribs, over my dress, his fingers sliding over the material and then up to my breasts. At first, I

instinctively brought my hands up to stop him, but the tingle was so pleasant and warmed me so wonderfully, I let him continue.