“We're taking a road trip tomorrow,” she said. “I think you should come.”

The idea seemed to snap him out of his troubled mind. “Where are we going?”

Blythe grinned. “To see an old friend.”

“Who?”

“Someone you haven't met. But he'll recognize you all the same.”

“And you said I speak in riddles.” He sprouted a cute, lopsided grin that reminded her of how young he truly was, or how young the man whose form he'd taken had been when he'd died in the fire all those years ago. “It must be important,” he added.

“It is. I think it's part of why you're here. I'm starting to think this was all meant to be.”

“The touch of destiny?” he mused.

“If it's true that everything happens for a reason, then it's going to happen whether we want it to or not, right?”

“I suppose.”

“Then we've got a day to find out where this path leads. Let's make it count.”

“And if we don't find our answer by tomorrow night?” he asked.

“I don't know. But if it's not looking good, promise me one thing.”

“What's that?”

“That you won't break Rose's heart. Whatever it takes, you'll find a way to make her forget that you ever existed.”

“I promise, I'll do everything in my power to not break her heart.”

“Whatever it takes?”

“As God is my witness.”

Blythe pointed a stern finger at him. “Good. That's good. Now, where were we?” She rummaged around in the bag hanging from the stand next to her chair and retrieved a deck of cards. “Crazy eights. Your deal.”

He erected the small, fold-away wooden table they'd used last night and stood it between them. “What say we up the stakes?”

“Okay. Five years a hand?”

“Five minutes, yes.” He shook his head. “Years, huh? I'm going to miss you, Blythe.”

“Me too, Bellamy. I mean that. Whatever happens, I'm glad it was you.”

He shuffled expertly, dealt the cards like a pro. Then he gave an uncharacteristically huge sigh as he lifted his own hand of cards to his face. “Here we go.”

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Crammed in the back of Andy’s souped-up red Camaro wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to be during a three-and-a-half hour road trip, but Rose wasn't complaining. She had Bellamy with her on the back seat. When they weren't holding hands or she wasn't nestling her head on his shoulder, he was swiveling this way and that, trying to take in as much as he could of the Nova Scotia countryside, its truck-stops, roadside diners, farms, and pretty much anything they came across. Honestly, the guy was the most unworldly person she'd ever met. He knew all about people, history, how the world worked, but he seemed to have experienced almost none of it. Like some cloistered scholar allowed out in the wide world for the weekend, he was happier than a child on his birthday.