The Hidden - Jessica Verday [21]
“You’re the person I love,” I insisted. “All I need.”
“What about your shop? What about Abbey’s Hollow? The opportunities you’ll miss to go to Paris and study with the artists there. Or London, to go on shopping trips to buy new bottles or perfume supplies. Are you so ready to give up that dream?”
I didn’t know what to say. Did he have a point? There was still so much I wanted to do. To accomplish. Could that change? Would I change? What if I came to resent him for not having had any of the things I’d wanted in life?
“That’s not going to happen,” I said.
“Are you sure?”
His eyes seemed to see straight into my soul, down to my deepest thoughts, and I squirmed uncomfortably.
“I’m not saying that I won’t regret not having the chance to open Abbey’s Hollow,” I said slowly. “But how do you know what I will or won’t be able to experience once I’m with you? Maybe there’s a perfume shop somewhere on the other side that needs an owner.” I made a halfhearted attempt at a smile.
“For your sake, I hope so.” He smiled back. “But for now … just live the life you have, okay? Don’t become fatalistic. Don’t try to set everything up for your end days. Just enjoy the here and now.”
“I will,” I promised, and he looked relieved.
We sat in silence, the moon shining through the clouds and peeking into the bedroom as it played hide and seek behind them. “I don’t want to go back to sleep,” I finally murmured. “I don’t want to dream.”
“I can help with that.” The bed shifted and he got up, moving toward my bookshelf. A moment later he returned. In his hand was my battered copy of Jane Eyre.
“A book?” I said happily, moving the pillows behind me so that I could be propped up.
“Something else to think about.” He sat down and opened to the first page. “‘Chapter One. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering—’”
“You’re going to read to me?” I asked, interrupting him. I couldn’t help the giddy note that had crept into my voice.
“Yes, but be quiet now, my bella.”
“What does that mean?”
“‘Beautiful.’”
That word. The way he’d said it triggered a memory. “Did you speak to me in a different language? When I was in the hospital?”
Caspian nodded. “Something to keep the nightmares at bay. To let you know I was there. Tu sei una stella … la mia stella,” he said. “It means ‘You’re a star. My star.’”
“What language is that?”
“Italian.”
I leaned forward and propped my chin on my fist. “I didn’t know that you knew Italian. Are you holding out on me?”
“It was just something I remembered from middle school. I took Italian from sixth grade through eighth.” He looked at me sternly. “Now, are you going to let me finish?”
I zipped a finger across my lips and threw away the imaginary key.
“Chapter One,” he said. And he began to read.
Chapter Six
LAST FIRST DAY
The schoolhouse stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a woody hill …
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
I spent the next day working on Beth’s perfume, while Caspian sat at my desk, drawing. Mom came in after dinner, asking if she should make me a lunch for tomorrow.
“What are you talking about, Mom?” I said. “What’s tomorrow?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “The first day of school, silly. Are you feeling okay?” She frowned and reached out a hand to feel my forehead.
School. Crap. I ducked out of her way. “I’m fine, Mom. I just forgot. Whatever you want to make is fine.” I’d probably end up just buying something from the cafeteria, but if Mom wanted to make herself feel better by putting together a lunch, that was fine with me.
“I’ll make you a hoagie,” she decided. “Italian?”
“Sounds good.” I gave her a wide grin and kept the smile on my face until she left. As soon as she was gone, I dragged over a giant stuffed beanbag chair from my closet and sat