Page 12 of Solstice

She lifted her head and her eyes as one. “Into what?”

“Into you. Into what you’ve been up to these past ten years in the big city.”

Her eyes narrowed and she tugged her hands from his, feeling as stunned as if he’d slapped her. “You investigated my past? Jason, why would you do something like that?”

Chapter Three

“Oh, come on, Dori, I was curious. You spring this Witch thing on me, tell me you’ve helped the police find missing people— I’ve never believed in any of that stuff. I had to know more.”

“Why? It’s not your business.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I want to make it my business.”

“You can’t—”

“I contacted a friend of mine. He did some checking, faxed me some information. Turns out you’ve located seven missing people. Seven.”

She shrugged. “So what?”

“I read the files. Figured it could be explained away. Coincidence. Lucky guesses. Inside info. But none of it fit. Then I spoke to Detective Hennessy.”

Dori blinked at the familiar name. She’d worked with Mike Hennessy on every one of those cases. He’d never ridiculed her, had always taken her seriously.

“He convinced me—this thing you have, it’s for real.”

She moistened her lips, lifted her eyes to his. “Again, I ask, so what?”

“So, I’d like to know why you’re suddenly questioning it. You just said labeling yourself a fraud wouldn’t be inaccurate. So, what happened?”

“What happened?” She lifted her hands, palms up. “Look around, Jason. Look at my life. I’ve lost everything.” She lowered her head, shaking it slowly, feeling bereft, empty. “I don’t know how many times I’ve thrown the cards, asking why this happened, what’s the purpose. But I get nothing. No answers. I didn’t see any of this coming, and I can’t see when it’s going to end. Or if it’s going to end. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, much less what I’m supposed to be doing about it.”

“Maybe you’re supposed to be doing...this.”

“What? Waiting tables? Taking people on Champ tours?”

“Why not?”

She sighed. “You just don’t understand.”

“Sure I do, Dori. I think you’re the one who’s confused here. It’s all about the journey, isn’t it?”

She blinked and lifted her head.

“That’s what you said in that letter you left me. ‘It’s all about the journey, and my journey is leading me somewhere else.’”

“I did not say anything like that,” she told him. Not because it was true—she didn’t remember what she’d written in that letter to Jason. But because it sounded far too wise for the girl she’d been when she’d set out to seek her fortune.

“You said something exactly like that.” Jason yanked something from his pocket as he spoke. And then Dori felt the breath leave her lungs in a rush, because he was unfolding the old piece of pink paper, smoothing it flat on the table, pointing at the lines she had written. “It’s right here.”

She didn’t say anything and after a heartbeat of silence, he looked up at her slowly. She was staring at the letter, her eyes filling. “You kept it,” she whispered.

He shrugged and lowered his head, quickly refolding the letter and tucking it back into his jacket pocket.

“All this time, you...you’ve been carrying that letter around with you like some kind of...”

“Memory,” he said softly. “It’s just a memory. That’s all.”

She met his eyes, not sure what to say.

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