it’s a fairy tale that I’m meant to save you? It’s fate, Lawrence. It’s
destiny. We’re meant to be together. You need to believe that.”
“I want to believe.”
“You have to believe it. It’s the only chance we have.”
He exhales shakily. “Cassandra.”
His lips press mine, firmly, hungrily, desperately. I meet his
with equal force.
We stay there, locked in an embrace. Our kisses are a prayer
of hope and longing. A desperate prayer to whatever force has
brought us to this beach. A prayer to match the beauty and
certainty of the waves that crash against our feet.
Chapter 23
Lawrence
nother sleepless night. Perhaps plain old exhaustion is
A
what will kill me in four days.
But honestly, how am I supposed to lay my head on that
pillow and drift away as if I know nothing? I’m staring death in
the face. Sleep isn’t really an option.
Last night, however, it wasn’t despair and fear that kept me
awake. It was visions of Cassandra. In the black hours of predawn, I walked the empty halls of my uncle’s house, wondering how I deserved such an angel in my life. My delivering angel.
She can save me. I feel it in my very core—hope twisting
and thrumming and alive in my heart. Why else is all this
happening? I’ve never been one to think much about fate or
divine plans, but Cassandra’s theory is starting to seem more
and more plausible.
And so early morning finds me awake and dressed with no
place to go. Cassandra insisted she spend the day researching
Cooper Enterprises. I still can’t picture this “Internet” and
“microfilm” she talks about. Sounds like a bunch of horsefeathers, if you ask me. But she seems to think it can help. I suppose I have no other choice but to trust her.
After grabbing a quick breakfast, I hop in my car and go for a
long drive. It’s supposed to clear my head, but it doesn’t. All I can
think about is Cassandra. About what would happen if we cheat
death. Is it really possible that she could travel into my world, or
I into hers? Such thoughts seem almost ridiculous to entertain.
But what if?
As I whir past the rocky cliffs and ocean, I picture a future
with Cassandra. With her by my side, I’d keep writing. I’d tell
my old man that I don’t want to be a lawyer. I’d break free
from the carefully sculpted life that’s already been built for me
and seek some brilliant, gleaming, unknown horizon. With
Cassandra, I could do it.
I find myself on the overlook where Charles likes to take his
latest squeeze late at night. The thought makes me grin. Parking
my car, I step out to survey the view. It’s much more spectacular
in the daylight, but I suppose that’s not really the point.
Leaning against the craggy stone wall, I conjure up visions of
Cassandra. What would it be like to take her by the hand and
lead her off the beach? See what she looks like eating breakfast
in the sunny kitchen, her hair mussed from sleep? I want to
take her to the opera and hold her hand as the lovers sing their
final duet. I want to lie beside her in my bed and take her in my
arms as we fall asleep to the serenade of crickets.
My breath trembles at these yearnings I cannot quell. I watch
a pair of white gulls soaring high on the salty wind. They weave
together in the radiant sky, crying out to the eternities. How is
it that these birds can be together, but Cassandra and I can’t?
A determination, stronger than anything I’ve ever felt, overcomes me. I won’t live without her. By the time I get back to Ned’s house, my dreams have filled me with a wild, pure
energy. It channels into a single thought: the future.
Ned calls for me as I come inside, but I’m on a mission. I go
straight for my room and burst through the door. I drop to my knees
by my bureau. Hidden in folds of trousers in the bottom drawer, I
find it. A small wooden box. And inside that, my mother’s ring.