A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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was with a vampire.

Reaching across the table, he took one of her hands in his and kissed her palm. "Farewell, my best beloved one."

"Maybe things will work out next time," she said, hoping to erase the sorrow in his eyes. "There will be no next time," he replied, and vanished from her sight.
Tracysighed. Breaking up was never easy.

She finished her drink and slid out of the booth.

It wasn't until she reached home that she wondered what he had meant when he said there would be no next time.

Chapter 20

Tracyfelt numb for the next few days. She went to bed early at night, spent her mornings painting, her afternoons doing housework and laundry and taking care of business.

She received a referral from Mr. Petersen and agreed to paint a country landscape for one of his clients.

She sawBryan at the beach every afternoon. It was refreshing to be in his presence. He made no demands on her and he was fun to be with. Though she didn't really feel like going out, when he asked her to go to dinner and a movie on Friday night, she agreed.

She refused to think about Dominic. With a supreme effort of will, she put him out of her mind. There had never been any future for them. No matter that she loved him. No matter that he had followed her through time. There was no place for them to come together. An eagle might love a whale, but there was no way for them to have a life together.

She had been afraid that Dominic wouldn't leave her alone, that she would hear his thoughts, that he would ask her to reconsider, but, true to his word, he didn't try to contact her in any way.

And that worried her.

There will be no next time.

His last words played and replayed in her mind, sounding more ominous each time. Had he meant that he would not pursue her in her next life? That had to be it. Surely he would not destroy himself because of her. Would he?

Time and again she was tempted to search him out, to go to the house below and see if he was there, but that would mean starting it all over again, and she wasn't sure she could do that. Until she could tell Dominic she loved him enough to share all of his life, it seemed better for them to stay apart.

And going out withBryan would only complicate things. She thought of calling him and telling him she couldn't make it and then decided a night out was just what she needed. There was nothing complicated