Page 75 of Chasing Dreams
“You’re right. This is our only chance now.”
“Not the only one. Just the best one.” He opened a trade magazine, but seemed to grow tired. He hadn’t slept much at all. He probably couldn’t wait to get home to his quiet haven and his view of the heavens.
“Why don’t you lean back and close your eyes?” she suggested.
He did. And before long, his breathing grew deep and even. Shaine had never watched him sleep before. He was such a light sleeper, and she just the opposite. She was careful not to wake him, and he slept the rest of the flight.
“We’ll be landing soon.” The attendant stopped beside him and laid her hand on his.
Austin’s eyes opened.
The attendant’s eyes widened and she jerked her hand away like she’d been pricked with a needle.
They stared at one another until the flustered young woman straightened and hurried away without another word or a backward glance.
He rolled his head and his dark eyes met Shaine’s.
“What just happened?” she asked.
“My perceptions are a little unguarded when I’m asleep. I’m not always able to make sure the switch is off.”
“You saw something?”
“Yeah.”
“What about her? Why did she look so funny?”
“I’m not sure. It’s kind of an electrical impulse, like when one of us touches an object. But I don’t know if people’s minds are able to sort through the impulses and recognize what’s happened or not. They must know something, because the experience gives them the willies.”
Another painful reason why Austin Allen had closed himself off from the world. Another reason why she disliked herself for bringing him away from his place of safety and opening him up to the very things he’d determinedly left behind.
Another reason she’d never be able to repay him.
They refastened their seat belts and prepared for landing. The attendant who’d touched Austin stayed at the back of the cabin until they disembarked.
Shaine realized he was used to the avoidance. He accepted it without obvious concern. But that didn’t mean he liked it. He simply knew it was something he couldn’t change and dealt with it in the best way he could.
Now that she knew, now that she’d seen firsthand the emotional trauma and the physical toll his ability wreaked, Shaine understood him. She knew a person couldn’t endure the experiences he had without eventually cracking under the strain. Self-preservation had driven him to Colorado.
His home was a lot like him. It was rustic on the outside, but high tech on the inside. To all appearances, Austin was a closed-off man with little ability to have feelings for others. In reality, feeling too much had brought him considerable suffering.
Austin hailed a cab so they wouldn’t have to call the Pruitts, and they said little on the drive home. Reaching the inn at last, Shaine unlocked her door and dropped her purse on the counter.
Austin placed their bags on the floor.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
He shook his head.
She kicked her shoes off. “It feels so good to get home.”
She met his eyes. He said nothing.
He was ready to leave. This time there was no mistake.
The thing she’d wanted for so long, finding Jack, would be the thing that released him to go home and end their time together. She still wanted Jack. There was no question about that. But she’d discovered something else she wanted in the process.
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