Page 108 of A Second Dawn

“Send a pigeon?” Rhia asks in disbelief. “Are we back in the Middle Ages?”

Ade and I both chuckle. “They do have a satellite phone, but it’s for emergencies. For day-to-day stuff, the pigeons are brilliant.”

“Too bad they can’t send a pigeon with our clothes. It would be nice to be able to change,” I say, realizing we’re not prepared for a sleepover.

Ade looks at me sternly. “Remember, this is only for one night.”

Both Rhia and I smile sweetly at him. We’ll see about that. I can’t let my bestie go after only one day. It took her longer than that to get here.

“You can have some of my clothes,” Rhia whispers, reading my mind.

“I heard that!” Aiden groans. “You really are trouble, aren’t you?”

“You can bet your sweet, delectable ass on it,” she replies cheekily.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Ade opens the door and steps out.

“I’ll be right back. Lock the door behind me. I can see the RV from Joseph’s and Mo’s and will keep an eye on it. Don’t get too distracted by your reunion. Stay alert.”

“Are you still thinking Tiero is going to show up here?” I ask, frowning. There’s no sign of him or any Italians.

“I haven’t ruled it out. We need to stay vigilant. The moment we let our guard down is the moment we fail.”

It’s a sobering thought. With that, he leaves.

“I love how protective Aiden is of you,” Rhia says as we watch him walk into the diner.

“Me too. He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to me.”

Rhia regards me with a sly smile. “Now that we’re alone, fill me in. What’s going on with the two of you?”

So, I do exactly that. I tell her how hard it’s been to stay away from him, and how I’ve succumbed to the sizzling chemistry between us only today.

I also tell her about the triple flame, Claudette and her insights.

“Wow. So that’s what drunken Gandalf was on about. That’s wild. Perhaps he wasn’t as creepy as I first thought.

“Your reactions to the guys make so much more sense now. And you find each other every single lifetime?” she asks, clearly liking the idea.

“Apparently. It’s kind of comforting knowing that. It would be great though if next time the circumstances were less dramatic, and I didn’t have to make such a tough choice. Leaving Tiero nearly killed me.”

And my heart still pangs every time I say his name. Will this ever go away?

“Hmm,” Rhia hums, taking a big bite out of my chocolate eclair and chewing absentmindedly.

“I think you and I meet every lifetime too,” she eventually says. “We wouldn’t be as close as we are if we hadn’t honed this in over a long time.”

I hope this is true and, if it is, continues in this way.

“I bet you and Lex find each other over and over again too. As Claudette said, birds of a feather…”

“Maybe next time I’m wiser and don’t mistake insta-love for insta-lust. I hope next time around, we’re going to be childhood sweethearts. I’d love to be with him for an entire life. From childhood to being old and grey together.”

“Yeah. I’d love something like that too. Maybe next time, one of the guys could be my beloved brother, so I wouldn’t have to decide between them.”

“You could take them both as lovers. Menage relationships are all the rage.”

There’s an idea.

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