Chapter 18

• Leland stood there and watched her stumble into the cabin. Exhaling slowly, he turned and looked at the trees on the other side of the dirt driveway. He knew the lake was on the other side and he knew what might happen when he took her there later. Kale had warned him last night that once she was on sacred ground her magic was going to break free and connect with whatever part of Alana’s that was left in the mystical space. Clearly, if she had just dreamed the event from so long ago with such clarity that she recognized Alana from the description in the journal, he was out of time. Prepare her, Kale had said. How exactly he was going to do that without her storming out and driving home, he had no idea.
• He could just take her to the lake and let it happen without forewarning her, but that didn’t seem right. He could also take her there and hold her against his body and kiss her to stir her magic. Looking down at how his jeans tightened to that thought, he decided that probably wasn’t the way to do it either. The only way he could see would be to let her read the rest of the journal, and follow the family tree for her connection in all of it. And if she didn’t laugh her ass off after reading it, he might just figure out a way to prove it to her without any explosive scenes.
• Closing the binder, she turned to look around for him. He stood a few feet away, hands tucked in his pockets, clearly waiting for her thoughts. Had he watched her all day as she read and re-read through the endless pages? “This is your explanation for my dreams? I’m connected to these girls in the record?”