Read Online A Gift of Time (Tassamara) by Sarah Wynde - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sarah Wynde
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sip, then a larger swallow. “I wish I knew.”
Grace tossed the towel into the trash and sat down at the table. “Talk,” she ordered. “What’s going on?”
Kenzi’s bowl was in front of the chair Natalya usually sat in, so with a sigh, Natalya slipped into the corner seat, back to the window. “Last night was the night I found Colin.”
Grace looked blank for a moment and then understanding and immediate sympathy darkened her eyes. She started to rise, reaching out to her sister, saying, “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry—”
Natalya waved her off before Grace could finish. “No, no, it didn’t—he didn’t—it went wrong. Or right. Or—I don’t know. I’m so confused.”
Grace sank back down in her seat. “You saved him?”
“No.” Natalya shook her head. She stared down at the black surface of her coffee. “No,” she repeated more quietly.
“Well, Nat, damn it, you should have called. You shouldn’t have had to go through that alone.” Grace was on her feet again. She reached across the table to put a hand on Natalya’s shoulder. “We would all have come, you know that. Did you let Lucas know? He’ll want to fly back from North Carolina today.”
“No, no,” Natalya protested again, putting her hand up and over her sister’s. “I’m sorry. I’m not explaining this right. Colin’s fine. He’s alive and well and based on the scan I did, in perfect health. Likely to live for years.”
Grace put her hands on her hips. “Okay, you’re not making any sense at all,” she said bluntly. “Was last night the night Colin died or wasn’t it?”
“Sit.” Natalya waved at Grace’s chair. “Let me tell it my way.”
Obediently, Grace took her seat as Natalya gathered her thoughts. Grace knew about her premonition, of course. The whole family did and probably half the town. Natalya and Colin’s break-up had been the hot topic of gossip in Tassamara for a solid six months, only diminishing with Natalya’s unexpected departure for medical school. So she started with the drive. “It was exactly like I’d seen it.”
She told Grace almost the whole story, skipping only a few details. Like that heated kiss by the side of the road. The rush of desire that filled her in the exam room. The question he’d asked and her angry response. The unimportant stuff.
“Why do I have the feeling you’re not telling me everything?” Grace mused when she’d almost finished.
Natalya could feel a prickle of heat along her cheekbones but she ignored the question. “And my vision is gone.”
“The vision of Colin?” Grace asked, puzzled.
“No, I mean my foresight. It’s gone.”
“Gone, how? Gone like you can’t see anything about Colin any more or gone like—”
“Like I’m blind,” Natalya interrupted her.
“Future blind.” Grace seemed to be turning the idea over in her head and not liking it.
“Actually, it feels more like I’d imagine amnesia feels. There are things I should know, things I used to know, that are just… gone. And I keep reaching for them. Trying to remember. But there’s nothing there.”
“That sounds unpleasant.” Grace’s eyes were worried, her brows drawn down.
“It’s different, anyway.” Natalya forced a chuckle. How many times in her life had she asked for just this? Knowing the future had never felt like a gift to her. She’d become practiced at not thinking about it, at living in the present moment and appreciating where she was while accepting that the future was not hers to control. She hadn’t realized how much she took her foreknowledge for granted. Serenity, it turned out, came easier when you knew exactly how your day would flow.
“So you don’t know anything about the little girl?”
Natalya glanced at the clock on her microwave. Almost ten. “Colin said they’d start a real search at daylight. They’re trying to track her path back through the forest, and the rangers are driving all the back roads, looking for an
Grace tossed the towel into the trash and sat down at the table. “Talk,” she ordered. “What’s going on?”
Kenzi’s bowl was in front of the chair Natalya usually sat in, so with a sigh, Natalya slipped into the corner seat, back to the window. “Last night was the night I found Colin.”
Grace looked blank for a moment and then understanding and immediate sympathy darkened her eyes. She started to rise, reaching out to her sister, saying, “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry—”
Natalya waved her off before Grace could finish. “No, no, it didn’t—he didn’t—it went wrong. Or right. Or—I don’t know. I’m so confused.”
Grace sank back down in her seat. “You saved him?”
“No.” Natalya shook her head. She stared down at the black surface of her coffee. “No,” she repeated more quietly.
“Well, Nat, damn it, you should have called. You shouldn’t have had to go through that alone.” Grace was on her feet again. She reached across the table to put a hand on Natalya’s shoulder. “We would all have come, you know that. Did you let Lucas know? He’ll want to fly back from North Carolina today.”
“No, no,” Natalya protested again, putting her hand up and over her sister’s. “I’m sorry. I’m not explaining this right. Colin’s fine. He’s alive and well and based on the scan I did, in perfect health. Likely to live for years.”
Grace put her hands on her hips. “Okay, you’re not making any sense at all,” she said bluntly. “Was last night the night Colin died or wasn’t it?”
“Sit.” Natalya waved at Grace’s chair. “Let me tell it my way.”
Obediently, Grace took her seat as Natalya gathered her thoughts. Grace knew about her premonition, of course. The whole family did and probably half the town. Natalya and Colin’s break-up had been the hot topic of gossip in Tassamara for a solid six months, only diminishing with Natalya’s unexpected departure for medical school. So she started with the drive. “It was exactly like I’d seen it.”
She told Grace almost the whole story, skipping only a few details. Like that heated kiss by the side of the road. The rush of desire that filled her in the exam room. The question he’d asked and her angry response. The unimportant stuff.
“Why do I have the feeling you’re not telling me everything?” Grace mused when she’d almost finished.
Natalya could feel a prickle of heat along her cheekbones but she ignored the question. “And my vision is gone.”
“The vision of Colin?” Grace asked, puzzled.
“No, I mean my foresight. It’s gone.”
“Gone, how? Gone like you can’t see anything about Colin any more or gone like—”
“Like I’m blind,” Natalya interrupted her.
“Future blind.” Grace seemed to be turning the idea over in her head and not liking it.
“Actually, it feels more like I’d imagine amnesia feels. There are things I should know, things I used to know, that are just… gone. And I keep reaching for them. Trying to remember. But there’s nothing there.”
“That sounds unpleasant.” Grace’s eyes were worried, her brows drawn down.
“It’s different, anyway.” Natalya forced a chuckle. How many times in her life had she asked for just this? Knowing the future had never felt like a gift to her. She’d become practiced at not thinking about it, at living in the present moment and appreciating where she was while accepting that the future was not hers to control. She hadn’t realized how much she took her foreknowledge for granted. Serenity, it turned out, came easier when you knew exactly how your day would flow.
“So you don’t know anything about the little girl?”
Natalya glanced at the clock on her microwave. Almost ten. “Colin said they’d start a real search at daylight. They’re trying to track her path back through the forest, and the rangers are driving all the back roads, looking for an
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