“Caspian.”
The voice startles me. Fingers drift across my cheek, one brown-eyed gaze exchanged for another as light assaults my eyes, the twinkling of stars overtaken by the sun high in the sky. It’s such an abrupt shock, I roll over, blinking down at the ground as I find my bearings.
Lee checks in again. “Caspian?”
“Fine,” I tell him, the grass beneath me soft. Far softer than the deck boards. I clear my throat, the lump there left over from before. “Was I out long?”
“A few minutes. Longer than the other times.”
I nod, sitting up, a dried leaf crunching beneath my palm. Lee’s rake is lying on the grass now, the wheelbarrow I’d been using to haul away the first of fall’s dead leaves resting on its side nearby. “Sorry if I scared you.”
A small smile graces his lips, even as concern lingers in his gaze. “I’m used to it. Snack break?”
I nod again, and Lee helps me to stand. Shelly greets us when we walk inside, scaling my chest to wrap around behind my head, her whiskered cheek butting against my own. Lee chuckles, even as I rub the small scratch left behind from Shelly’s climb.
He pours me a glass of juice first, passing it over as I take a seat at the table. Then he sets to work making us a bite. “Want to tell me about it?”
I hum, considering how much to say. “There was…a meteor shower. It was gorgeous.”
Lee raises an eyebrow. “Why do I get the feeling you’re leaving a lot out?”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not sure you’re ready to hear it.”
He walks over, setting a plate of crackers and grapes in front of me. I appreciatively eat some of both.
“Let’s recap, shall we?” Lee holds up his hand to tick off his fingers, and my lips twitch. “In the past month, I’ve learned I have a daughter on the way. Congratulations to me. I’ve found out you’re a freaking genius who also happens to have visions of the future. I’ve spent nearly every day apart from my working hours with you because apparently I can’t stand it when you go back to your place. And my cat now loves you more than she loves me. I’m fairly certain at this point, nothing you say could shock me.”
I lick my finger clean, holding Lee’s gaze. “It’s not only the future I see.”
His mouth falls open. “The fuck, Caspian.”
“Told you,” I mutter, downing the last of my juice. Lee follows me when I stand, his hand on my arm halting me in the hall outside the kitchen.
“Explain.”
I bark a laugh, and Shelly goes scrambling off my shoulders. I wince at the tiny claw massage over my back.
Lee isn’t smiling, and I deflate with a heavy breath.
“I see the past, too,” I confirm.
He never lets my arm go, although his grip isn’t remotely tight. “But… You said you have to be there. That’s how it works.”
I nod once.
I can see his gears turning, and I wait, the clock in the hallway ticking quietly. “When you say the past…are you talking about your childhood?”
“No.”
“Okay… You’re talking about before you were alive?”
“In a way.”
“Oh, fuck.”
