Embrace the Night

Page 190



She dreamed of him that night, odd, fragmented dreams that made no sense upon awaking, but then, dreams never made sense in the cold light of day.

For a little while, she stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember what the dreams had been about, but all she could remember was the sound of his voice, lost and alone, whispering her name, and the sadness in his eyes, a sorrow that went beyond grief, beyond pain. An endless eternity of sadness, she thought.

Sarah glanced at the window, saw that it was almost dawn, and drew the covers up over her head, shutting out the light, turning her back on the memories that crowded in on her.

She went back to the park that night. Sitting on the hard stone bench, she stared at the swings, wondering why she did this to herself. On one level, she told herself she didn't want to remember, yet she came here every night and stared at the swing, remembering the sound of Natalie's laughter as her grandmother pushed her in the swing, higher and higher…

She knew he was there even before he appeared beside the bench. Looking up at him, she refused to admit that she had come to the park that night hoping to see him again.

"Good evening," Gabriel said. He gestured at the bench. "May I?"
She shrugged. "It's a free country."

He was wearing black again. Black T-shirt, black jeans, black cowboy boots. Somehow, she couldn't imagine him in any other color. He was dark and mysterious, like the night, she thought fancifully, and black suited him very well.

"How are you this evening, Sarah?" he asked, and his voice was warm and thick, like sun-baked honey. "I'm all right."

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't think so." "You don't know anything about me," she snapped.
"I know you're grieving."

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel your pain, Sarah, your sorrow." "That's impossible."

"Is it? You've lost loved ones who were very dear to you. A husband, a child."

She stared at him, her dark brown eyes mirroring her confusion, her anxiety. "How can you possibly know that?"

He smiled faintly. "I have a talent for reading minds."