Smooth, cushy warmth enveloped her. Anna stretched and rubbed her eyes as soft light filtered through her bedside window.
Someone stirred next to her. “She’s waking up!” a male voice called.
A guy?
She bolted upright, squinting in the light that now seemed a hell of a lot sharper. She lay in a queen-sized bed, the sheets gathered at her waist. Another queen-sized bed sat a few paces to her left, and a television sat on a table on the far wall.
She was in their hotel room. But…
A huge, dark shape loomed next to her, shrouded in the sunlight beaming through the window.
She blinked. “Who, where?”
The man grabbed her shoulder. “Take a deep breath. You’ve been through a lot.” His thick New Zealand accent seeped into her, putting her instantly at ease.
“Oh my God, Anna!” Sybil flew toward her from the hallway and gathered Anna in her arms. “You scared the shit out of me. Are you okay?”
“Umm.” Was she okay? Anna closed her eyes and breathed slowly. She was trembling, but she had no idea why. Anna leaned back. “What’s wrong? Was I sick?”
The man sat on the edge of her bed. “The doctor said you had an acute case of dragon fever.”
“Dragon fever?” She blinked a few more times, and his form finally took focus. Long, dark hair waved along the sides of an angular, solid face and eyes that felt like lances. “Who are you?” Anna asked.
Sybil rubbed her shoulder. “This is Connor, don’t you remember? We met in that bar.” Her hand stopped rubbing as her eyes met the stranger’s. “He’s been helping me through all this. It’s been scary, you being gone. He’s kept me occupied.”
Anna cringed at her emphasis on the word occupied. Sybil and Connor shared a soft smile before Anna glanced at the rustled blankets on the bed beside her.
Gross! Had they done it while she was asleep in the other bed?
Connor placed his hand over Sybil’s as he spoke to Anna. “The doctor said you’d be fine, and to let you rest.”
“What doctor?”
Sybil’s eyes widened. “It was the weirdest thing. Connor called for a doctor, and a second later the doorbell rang. You don’t get service like that in America.”
Connor massaged the back of his neck. “Doctor Pijeth said the condition needs to run its course, and it’s normal to have some short-term memory loss.” He leaned toward her. “What is the last thing you can remember?”
Anna twisted the white woven blanket in her fingers. Everything seemed so jumbled—like boxes of color scrambling through her head and trying to re-glue themselves.
“Last night, I guess. I remember going into the bar with Sybil.” She looked at her sister, and then Connor. “Is that where she met you?”
Connor released a breath before a small smile formed that melted away in a blink. “Yes, it was.”
Sybil’s brow rose. “But that was almost a week ago. You disappeared right after.”
A flash of heat swept over Anna’s skin. “What?”
“Yeah, we were talking to Connor and that cute platinum blond, and all of the sudden you were gone.” She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wait, that’s not right. Something else happened.”
Connor eased beside her and placed his arm around her shoulder. “Your sister had a bout with the fever as well, but it seems she only lost about an hour or two.”
Sybil shook her head. “Something else happened. I remember being scared.”
Connor rubbed her shoulder and spoke softly in Sybil’s ear. “Of course you were scared, darling. The drinking glasses fell from the ceiling. My friend Joe stopped them from falling on your sister.”
“Glasses?” Anna shivered. How could something like that happen without her remembering?
Sybil’s thoughts seemed miles away. “Yeah, the glasses. That must be it.” She raised her gaze to Anna. “Do you remember that? Do you remember Joe?”
“Joe?” The name felt familiar on her lips. A warmth spread over her, as if this person, Joe, was someone important to her. She reached into her mind, struggling to match the wonderful, sparkling feeling spreading through her to a face, but nothing appeared. “I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember.”
“You left with him.” Sybil glanced at Connor. “At least, that’s what Connor told me. I can’t really remember much more than being scared.”
“Joe was going to show you the mountains,” Connor said.
Anna narrowed her gaze. “I left with a guy I’d just met?” Bloody unlikely. But somehow, even with the huge void in her head, she knew that she’d go anywhere with Joe, that as long as she was with him, she’d be safe.
She pushed the thought from her head. This stinking fever must have affected her more than they all thought.
“Connor found you collapsed just outside of town and brought you back here.”
“After being gone a whole week?” Anna’s vision tunneled. She held her head. “That’s crazy. What day is it?”
“It’s Saturday.”
Anna stared at her, waiting for a punchline that didn’t come. “Are you telling me we’re leaving tomorrow? I feel like I just got here.”
Sybil looked at Connor. “About that.” She returned her gaze to her sister. “Doctor Pijeth said that you are clear for air travel as long as you wake up within twelve hours of your flight, and you did. So, you should be fine. And, umm…”
Why was she hesitating? Could there be anything Sybil could tell her that would be worse than losing a week of her life?
Sybil cleared her throat. “I’m not flying back to The States. I’m staying here, with Connor.”
Okay, maybe there was one thing. “Are you crazy?”
“A little, I guess.” Sybil wove her fingers through Connor’s. “But I think I’ve found something special here, and I want to give it a go.”
Sybil lifted her chin in that I’ve made up my mind and screw what everyone else thinks way.
“What am I supposed to tell Mom?”
“Tell her the party girl is finally considering settling down.”
In New Zealand.
A hundred gazillion miles away.
This wasn’t going to go over well.
But Anna had to admit, there was a little something different about her sister. She seemed more—what was it—relaxed, poised, calm, sure of herself?
Whatever it was, she had to admit, it looked good on Sybil. Anna wasn’t ready to trust this Connor guy, but she couldn’t discount his effect on flighty Sybil.
Maybe New Zealand was just what her sister needed to finally grow up.
Unfortunately, Sybil’s newfound adultism meant a fourteen-hour plane ride back to the USA, alone.
Maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe if Anna closed her eyes and thought long enough, she’d be able to remember all the time she’d lost.
Where in God’s name had she been for a week?
And who was this mysterious Joe?