He shrugged out of his shirt, but she didn’t let go. He finally pulled her up so he could kiss her again. She pushed and he fell on his back to the ground, but they never broke the kiss. He was lying on some herb, thyme maybe, and his weight was crushing it, its scent exploding around them. This all was faintly familiar to him somehow, but he couldn’t quite place it.

Claire finally pulled up for a breath. She was straddling him, her hands flat against his chest, sending erotic pulses into him. Tears were still running down her cheeks.

“God, please don’t cry. Please. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Will you not remember this tomorrow? Will you forget everything tomorrow?”

He hesitated. “Are you asking me to?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes.”

She pulled her gown over her head, and suddenly it was hard to breathe again. His hands went up to touch her breasts, and she cried out at the surge the contact caused.

He immediately pulled back. He felt like a teenager again. “I don’t know what to do,” he whispered.

She lowered herself to his chest, flattening her breasts against him. “Just don’t let go.”

He wound his arms around her and reversed their positions, rolling her over onto some sage. Again, it was so familiar. He kissed her hard, and she grabbed his hair and wound her legs around him. He couldn’t make love to her, not right now. She wasn’t thinking straight, and she didn’t want consequences tomorrow. That’s why she wanted him to forget.

“No, don’t stop,” she said when he broke the kiss.

“I’m not stopping,” he said, kissing her neck as his thumbs hooked into the sides of her plain white underwear. Her abdominal muscles jumped nervously as he pulled them down. He kissed her breasts, took one nipple in his mouth. He could almost remember doing this to her once, but he didn’t understand. He’d never been with Claire before.

Then he remembered.

It was that dream.

He’d dreamed this all before.

He knew exactly what was going to happen, the smell around them, how she would taste.

Everything about Claire screamed fate. And everything that had brought him here to Bascom, following dreams that never came true, led him to this.

The one dream that did.

The next morning, Claire felt a swish of air and heard a thud echo in her ear, coming from the ground beside her.

She opened her eyes, and there was a small apple about six inches from her face. Another thud, and another apple appeared beside it.

She’d fallen asleep outside again. She’d done it so many times before that she didn’t even think. She just sat up, shaking dirt out of her hair, and automatically reached for her gardening tools.