Nora Roberts - The Hollow

“I’m pretty happy about that myself. Good night.”

Fox carried the bottle of water back to the bedroom. There, he stood looking out the window that faced the street. The Hollow was quiet, and still as a photograph. Nothing stirred. The people he loved, the people he knew, were safe in their beds.

But he stood there, watchful in the dark, and thought about a kiss that had been cold as the grave. And still seductive.

"CAN YOU REMEMBER ANY OTHER DETAILS?” CYBIL wrote notes on Layla’s dream as Layla finished off her coffee.

“I think I gave you everything.”

“Okay.” Cybil leaned back in the kitchen chair, tapped her pencil. “The way it sounds, you and Fox had the same dream. It’ll be interesting to see if they were exact, or how the details vary.”

“Interesting.”

“And informative. You could’ve woke me, Layla. We all know what it’s like to have these nightmares.”

“I felt steadier after I’d spoken to Fox, and he wasn’t dead.” She managed a small smile. “Plus, I don’t need to be shrink-wrapped to figure out that part of the dream was rooted in what we talked about last night. My fear of hurting one of you.”

“Especially Fox.”

“Maybe especially. I’m working for him, for now. And I need to work with him. You and I and Quinn, we’re, well, fish in the same pool. I’m not as worried about the two of you. You’ll tell Quinn about the dream.”

“As soon as she’s back from her workout. Since I assume she dragged Cal to the gym with her, she’ll probably talk him into coming back here for coffee. I can tell them both, and someone will fill Gage in. Gage was a little rough on you last night.”

“He was.”

“You needed it.”

“Maybe I did.” No point in whining about it, Layla thought. “Let me ask you something. You and Gage are going to have to work together, too, at some point. How’s that going to work?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when. And I think we’ll figure out a way to handle it without shedding each other’s blood.”

“If you say so. I’m going to go up and get dressed, get to work.”

“Do you want a ride in?”

“No, thanks. The walk’ll do me good.”

Layla took her time. Alice Hawbaker would be manning the office, and there would be little to do. With Alice there, Layla didn’t think it would be wise to huddle with Fox over a shared dream. Nor would it be the best time to have a lesson on honing and, more important to her, controlling her ability.

She’d handle busywork for a couple of hours, run whatever errands Alice might have on tap. It had taken her only a few days to understand the rhythm of the office. If she had any interest or aspirations toward managing a law office, Fox’s practice would have been just fine.

As it was, it would bore her senseless within weeks.

Which wasn’t the point, Layla reminded herself as she deliberately headed to the Square. The point was to help Fox, to earn a paycheck, and to keep busy.

She stopped at the Square. And that was another point. She could stand here, she thought, she could look at the broken or boarded windows straight-on. She could tell herself to face what had happened to her the evening before, promise herself she would do all she could to stop it.

She turned, started down Main Street to cover the few blocks to Fox’s office.

It was a nice town if you just overlooked what happened to it, in it, every seven years. There were lovely old houses along Main, pretty little shops. It was busy in the way small towns were busy. Steady, with familiar faces running the errands and making the change at the cash registers. There was a comfort in that, she supposed.

She liked the wide porches, the awnings, the tidy front yards and bricked sidewalks. It was a pleasant, quaint place, at least on the surface, and not quite postcardy enough to make it annoying.

The town’s rhythm was another she’d tuned to quickly. People walked here, stopped to have a word with a neighbor or a friend. If she crossed the street to Ma’s Pantry, she’d be greeted by name, asked how she was doing.

Halfway down the block she stopped in front of the little gift shop where she’d picked up some odds and ends for the house. The owner stood out front, staring up at her broken windows. When she turned, Layla saw the tears.

“I’m sorry.” Layla walked to her. “Is there something-”

The woman shook her head. “It’s just glass, isn’t it? Just glass and things. A lot of broken things. A couple of those damn birds got through, wrecked half my stock. It was like they wanted to, like they were drunks at a party. I don’t know.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I tell myself, well, you’ve got insurance. And Mr. Hawkins’ll fix the windows. He’s a good landlord, and those windows will be fixed right away. But it doesn’t seem to matter.”

“I’d be heartbroken, too,” Layla told her, and laid a hand on her arm for comfort. “You had really pretty things.”

“Broken now. Seven years back a bunch of kids-we think-busted in and tore the place up. Broke everything they could, wrote obscenities on the walls. It was hard coming back from that, but we did it. I don’t know if I’ve got the heart to do it again. I don’t know if I have the heart.” The woman walked back to her shop, went inside behind the broken glass.

Not just broken glass and broken things, Layla thought as she walked on. Broken dreams, too. One vicious act could shatter so much.

Her own heart was heavy when she walked into the reception area. Mrs. Hawbaker sat at the desk, fingers clicking away at the keyboard. “Morning!” She stopped and gave Layla a smile. “Don’t you look nice.”

“Thanks.” Layla slipped off her jacket, hung it in the foyer closet. “A friend of mine in New York packed up my clothes, shipped them down for me. Can I get you some coffee, or is there anything you want me to get started on?”

“Fox said to ask you to go on back when you got in. He’s got about thirty minutes before an appointment, so you go ahead.”

“All right.”

“I’ll be leaving at one today. Be sure to remind Fox he’s in court in the morning. It’s on his calendar, and I sent him a memo, but it’s best to remind him at the end of the day, too.”

“No problem.”

From her observations, Layla thought as she walked down the hall, Fox wasn’t nearly as forgetful or absent-minded as he and Alice liked to think. Since the pocket doors to his office were open, she started to knock on the edge as she entered. Then she just stopped and stared.

He stood in back of his desk in front of the window in his no-court-today jeans and untucked shirt, juggling three red balls. His legs were spread, his face absolutely relaxed, and those tiger eyes of his following the circle as his hands caught and tossed, caught and tossed.

“You can juggle.”

She broke his rhythm, but he managed to catch two balls in one hand, one in the other before they went flying around the room. “Yeah. It helps me think.”

“You can juggle,” she repeated, dazed and delighted.

Because it was rare to see her smile just that way, he sent the balls circling again. “It’s all timing.” When she laughed, he shot them high, began to walk and turn as he tossed the balls. “Three objects, even four, same size and weight, not really a challenge. If I’m looking for a challenge I mix it up. This is just think juggling.”

“Think juggling,” she repeated as he caught the balls again.

“Yeah.” He opened his desk drawer, dropped them in. “Helps clear my head when I’m…” He got a good look at her. “Wow. You look… good.”

“Thanks.” She’d worn a skirt and a short, cinched jacket and now wondered if it was too upscale for her current position. “I got the rest of my clothes, and I thought since I had them… Anyway, you wanted to see me.”