Page 62 of Memories of the Lost

“Venus ... or maybe Mars,” she said, and chuckled, leaning back as Paula embraced her from behind, her hands circling the mound of baby. “I’m really going to have to find out.”

“Mm.” They stood in the starlight a long time. Finally, Paula said, “Come to bed, sweetheart. You both need rest, no matter what the future holds.”

Sage allowed herself to be led, stopping to tuck the bread into the fridge to rise overnight, and allowed herself to be held. Allowed herself to let go of the past and future and just curl into the now.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

New York City

“I don’t want to sleep,” Liam said, nestling into her. “Let’s talk and talk. All night.”

She laughed. “You’ll never get up in the morning.”

“I don’t care. It’s my last day. I can wrap up, talk to people. They’ll be happy.”

“I hate to hearlast day.”

He kissed her fingertips. “Yeah.”

“I’m dying to see you in that world,” Tillie said.

“It’s not really me. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

He rolled onto his back. “It wasn’t supposed to be ... this. I like helping people, and I mean, I guess this does that, but I don’t like the celebrity aspect. That makes it more about me than about the meditation, and that’s exactly the wrong angle.”

She wanted to practice listening as he listened. She waited.

After a long moment, he continued. “I don’t think it’s good for me.”

“In what way?”

“I’m trying to be human and in the middle of humanness, and this gig takes me out of that.”

“Maybe you should stop.”

“Right.” He shoved hair behind his ear. “I mean, obviously. But there’s a whole team wrapped up in these appearances, and people have paid good money for the workshops. In some places, they’ve been waiting for three months to get to one.”

“I can see why that might cause some pressure.”

He looked so sad that she crawled up close and curled over his chest, forcing him to cradle her. “Do we have any time tomorrow?”

“A little.” He brushed hair away from her face, his fingers lingering near her ear.

“Are you going back to New Zealand?”

“No. The tour isn’t over. We head to England, then ...” A hand spread out into the room. “Europe.”

A pain pressed the air from her lungs. “I hate that.”

“Me, too.”

“Then let’s talk all night, and I will take you somewhere I love tomorrow. How about that?”

“Good.”

“I don’t know why, but this does feel—”