Lina couldn’t believe she was sitting opposite Brad in a restaurant like her life hadn’t taken a sudden, crazy detour down an obscure path. Even though Mom had hit her with a life-changing new set of rules, she hadn’t stopped thinking of Brad since they’d met.
He’d phoned her Sunday night, and they’d chatted about everyday things. While reading The Pinnacle the night before, she’d seen his image in her mind every time she closed her eyes to rest them for a sec. She had never felt so drawn to any other man. Opposites attracted, she supposed, but somehow she’d doubted he would want to see her again.
But, to her surprise, the next day, he called. After checking that she was, in fact, single and that Henk was not her boyfriend, he’d asked her on a date, and she’d agreed—just like that. She’d recklessly ignored all her doubts about entering a casual relationship at this time.
As she sat at a table near a window, her head swirled with intense thoughts and images and sounds. The trees outside craved rain, a gift spring hadn’t bestowed this year, and they didn’t like the severe wind that had picked up. She tried to cut off their voices and the whine of the wind and concentrate on her date, even though her mind buzzed, exhausted after reading The Pinnacle the whole previous day and late into the night.
Brad deserved all her attention. In fact, she wished she were normal and could give him everything. The way he looked at her and the warmth in his gaze stirred an even greater longing to be just an ordinary gal.
The muscles in his jaw twitched, revealing a sense of expectation for the evening ahead. He touched her hand across the table, feathering her knuckles with his calloused fingertips. A shiver of desire shot through her, and she sighed.
He smiled. “I’m about to travel. That’s why I asked to meet you.”
“Travel where?”
“My agent’s organizing a world tour. We’ll visit and race on the top rally tracks the world over.”
If she hadn’t liked him so much, she’d want to clout him. How unfair was that? “Are you competing?”
“I’ll just be trying to get a feel of things before I actually compete. Next year, I’ll take part in the World Rally Championship. I’m giving up my day job for this.”
She sucked in a breath. “That’s a brave move.”
“I know, but I have some sponsorship lined up. Part of me wants to stay behind. The other part can’t wait.”
“Why would you want to stay here?”
He grinned. “You’d enjoy traveling for months on end without a home?”
She nodded, her face heating. “I’d love it.”
“Really? You don’t seem the type.”
If only he knew how different she wanted to be.
“I need a secretary and a traveling companion. My agent also works full-time and can’t accompany me all the time. Maybe you can be…. I, um…. That’s the reason I don’t want to leave.” He swallowed. “I know this sounds crazy, and I’ve just met you, but I like you and want to discover more of you.”
Fire branded her arm while he continued to press on her knuckles. The guy sucked her in with his gaze.
Nothing about his appearance would be out of the ordinary for the average woman. He was tall and muscular and carried himself with cocky male confidence mixed with a gentle, controlled manner. His rough-and-tumble hairstyle just pushed him over the edge to the bad-boy look. Okay, maybe I’m wrong. The girls would flock. Especially tonight, when he wore a tight shirt that hugged his arm and chest muscles, defining each delicious ridge and mound.
Oh, hell! She’d lost it. She shouldn’t have come.
“Did you hear what I said?”
She blinked. “What? Sorry.” I was ogling your assets. Heat beat her neck and cheeks again. She hoped her tanned complexion hid her constant blushes.
“I’m offering you a job as my travel assistant.”
“Hold on. You want me to come with you all over the world?”
“Pretty much.” He clasped his hands together. “I’m sorry I’m jumping the gun here. What do you do?”
“I own a nursery. It’s a home business.”
“Oh, I should have known.”
“Why?” Her heart raced. What did he know about her?
“You have a way with plants and seem to fit into their world. I like that. Your gift is unique.”
“You noticed?”
“Check out that palm over there behind your chair.”
Before looking at it, she knew the leafy tree needed a soil change and hydration. She’d been pondering whether to order a glass of water since she’d arrived.
She craned her head to peer at the plant, and her heart wrenched at how the leaf edges had dried and how people had dumped cigarette butts and straw wrappers onto the soil. What type of restaurant…?
“It’s been reaching out to you since you arrived,” Brad said.
Her lips quivering, she rose and bent to pick all the litter from the tree’s home. She strode to the ladies’ toilet and dumped the rubbish in the receptacle. Then she marched to the counter and asked for someone to please water the plant and give it new soil.
“Seems like you take care of your customers but ignore your plants,” she told one of the waitresses, who blushed and mumbled a reply.
Within minutes, a couple of waitresses had attended to all the plants in the room, watering them and adding some potting soil. Feeling satisfied, Lina sat down at the table.
Brad shook his head and grinned at her. “See what I mean. You’re something else.”
“It’s unacceptable the way they’ve treated their plants in this restaurant. You’d think—”
He took her hand again, and some of the anger vanished. A peace enshrouded her. For a moment, all she could do was stare at him, drinking in his easy smile and calm demeanor. He perused the menu while she sipped her drink, still glued together by his hand on hers.
“I should have found out about you first.” He looked up. “I’m sorry. You belong in your nursery with your plants. Not on planes, buses, trains, and in hotel rooms.”
“I suppose.” Her response sounded weak, but she couldn’t fight her destiny as much as a part of her squirmed to rebel. Why had she met with him anyway? Brad had the world at his feet, and she had the unexciting task of finding a husband and having a kid.
“We can still keep in contact. There’s something magical between us.”
She nodded, swallowing past the lump of disappointment in her throat. “We should. You could give me a rundown of your tour.”
“Hey, don’t look so glum. I won’t be gone forever. We can still get to know one another via online chats.”
“That means nothing. You could find someone—”
“I have found someone. You.”
She wished he wasn’t so idealistic. “You’re kind, but—”
“No buts. Let’s enjoy the evening. I’d like to spend the whole night with you.”
Her face grew hot—not with embarrassment but with need. Visions of Brad writhing on the bed with her sent an ache right down to her toes. Where did this powerful attraction come from? He appeared to sense her response and pressed his leg against hers under the table. She gasped and smiled.
No, she couldn’t invite him over for the night. Not when her powers and her future daughter’s powers depended on her settling down with one man forever. Yeah, she longed to explore this man sexually—discover his delicious body and forget everything in the thrill of one night together—but it wouldn’t be good or safe. “When do you leave?”
“In four weeks.”
“That’s fast.”
“My agent’s been planning this trip for months. I think he expected me to win. I wasn’t so sure.”
Lina laughed. “You must be good.”
“Success is short-lived.”
“Why do you say that?”
He shrugged. “I’ll take the opportunity while I can before it all blows over.”
“You’ve dreamed of touring overseas for years?”
He nodded just as the waitress came to take their order. They continued with small talk and tucked into their meal.
“I envy you,” he said near the end of the evening.
“Why?” She took her last sip of wine, the slight burn easing through her.
“Having a gift for life. Your way with plants. It’s not something you could lose at any given moment. My sport is so competitive that only the best can stay on top, and nobody can win forever. After my peak, I’ll have to settle back into the daily grind again.”
“I have a daily grind.”
“You love what you do. The trees…they’re your passion.”
“To be honest, sometimes I wish I could move away, explore other worlds. I feel so trapped.” She’d burned to let it out, and there, she’d done it.
“Then come with me.”
She shook her head. “I-I can’t. I have obligations.”
“What?”
“I….”
He stroked her hand again. “Tell me.”
“Brad, I can’t.”
“Maybe I could help.”
She wished he could. If only his warm, caring words had the power to change her life.
He rose when the waitress brought them the bill. He came to her, pulled out her chair like a true gentleman, and she so wished things were different. After he paid at the counter, she turned to walk out the door.
“Don’t go yet.” He rested his chunky hand on her shoulder, and tingles ran down her arm at the simple contact. “Walk with me a while. Down the street. We just have tonight.”
“Just tonight?”
“I’m leaving Pretoria tomorrow to go back to my home in Polokwane.”
“I thought you lived here.”
“My agent has an office here. It’s complicated. I-I’ll write.”
She almost invited him to her apartment, but resisted, her conscience shouting at her. She didn’t want this to be the last time she saw him. His arm around her waist built up a hunger within her for more than a simple, sweet touch.
“May I come to your place?” he asked, seeming to have read her mind. “I need a couple of shrubs to fill up a hole in my garden. I’m doing up the place.”
“Tonight?” She imagined Brad kissing her, fondling her, pressing his masculine fingers onto her panties. Her heart raced. No!
He patted her and broke the spell. “If that’s okay. I won’t stay over.”
“Oh, right.” A good thing. “Of course. I have some lovely shrubs to choose from.”
They continued to walk, and she drank in his features while he looked around him, a small smile playing on his mouth. He knew she watched him, and he seemed to like that. How could such electricity pass between them from simple hand holding?
They rounded back to the car park. He followed her to her home in his Suzuki sedan. The air in her car seemed heated with her sexual thoughts and fantasies. What if one thing led to another in her home? War raged inside her mind. Duty or passion? Duty bound her. Passion offered to set her free. But the Sage Order? He would stay for just a quick visit, she kept assuring herself.
By the time she met him outside her place, she breathed a sigh of relief that her home’s outside light hadn’t come on for some reason. Her face would betray the heat her imagination had pumped into it and showered all over her body.
She led the way through the darkened nursery to her front door. The fresh breeze from the trees calmed her, and she couldn’t resist stopping by the dwarf coral trees with their scarlet trumpet flowers gathered onto tapered spikes.
“These are one of the most popular choices for gardens.” She sniffed a flower and caressed a silky leaf. “They’re hardy and grow fast, but don’t take up too much space.” Her nerves were making her babble.
Surprise shook her when his hand caressed the nape of her neck, his touch cool yet sending searing heat through her.
“You’re so gentle with them. Kiss me, Lina.”
She turned to find him inches from her. His breath smelled sweet like the rose or lavender bush, warm and fresh at the same time. She moved closer to kiss him, and as their lips met, shivers ran through her. Closing her eyes, she took in the full sensation of him surrounding her with solid arms. Joy and hunger for more mingled inside her.
If only she could have him.
“Let’s go inside,” he murmured, his voice husky. “I want to see you. The dim light coming from your front door doesn’t illuminate your beauty.”
For a first kiss, it was a little disappointing. Too quick, not enough savoring, little exploration.
“Don’t you want to look around?”
“Do you have a brochure I can look at?”
The trees nattered amongst themselves. Several of them seemed surprised she’d brought a man home. Smiling, she unlocked her front door, snapped on the lights, and directed Brad to her living room.
Immediately, her indoor ferns shimmered, and their leaves plumped up. Brad gaped at them.
No one had ever noticed the big part of her life—the way plants responded to her presence—before. Not even Henk had picked up on it.
“I feel it, too,” he whispered near her ear, sending spasms through her core.
“Feel what?” Her body moved toward unmistakable arousal. The disappointment from the hurried kiss faded in the brightness of his male aura. Could she resist?
“This power, this energy when you come into a room. The trees and plants pick it up. What sort of talent do you have?”
“I’m just like anyone else.” A lie, but she’d wished for normality her whole life.
“Oh, no you’re not. That’s what drives me crazy about you.” He ran sizzling hot fingers down her neck to the dip where her collar bones met. “Every time I see you, I get goose bumps on my arms. Tingles run up and down my legs. I struggle to breathe. It’s more than sexual attraction. I’m drawn to you, to your essence. I don’t think I could ever enjoy life without you.”
She pulled back. His words, so deep and sincere, shocked her. “Brad.”
“I’m sorry. I’m being swept away. I don’t normally say such things.” He grabbed her hands, pulling her close.
Her heart pounded. “I can’t.”
She looked away from him, her gaze landing on the dining room table. Oh no! The Pinnacle! The book lay wide open a mere meter from Brad. She’d never expected to bring him home. He couldn’t see it, couldn’t know what she was. The brochure. Get the brochure. Distraction will work.
She jerked away from him. “Excuse me.”
Slipping past The Pinnacle, she flipped it closed so the back cover faced upward then entered into her little home-based office to find a brochure. Without even switching on a light, she groped around on her desk for the top filing tray.
A bright flash shot before her eyes. She whirled around to see if Brad had flicked on the switch. The room spun. She fumbled for a chair and slumped down, dizziness turning to a burning sensation.
Power surged from her fingertips, streaming out into the room. Her mind became a television screen. Suburbs away, trees cried out in distress. Someone had dropped a cigarette butt nearby, and the wind had picked up. No! A forest fire. She had to put it out.
“What?” Brad asked from somewhere behind her. “Are you okay?”
The flame ignited, rising in a sudden burst of heat, scalding the trunk and branches of a tree. What to do? With her mind, she gathered up leaves and covered it. A temporary solution—not a good idea to feed the fire. She looked around the forest for anything, some clue for how to save them. Surely, if she had a vision, she was meant to do something.
She pressed her temples. “Think. Think.”
Rocks. Find a rock. She journeyed around the area as if she were a spirit with free rein. Exhilaration mixed with fear pumped through her. There were rocks in a nearby field. She picked up a huge boulder in her mind and flew back to the flame, which had risen higher and begun to spread. But time seemed to slow. A fire would have spread quicker in this wind. She visualized pressing the rock onto the ember. With her mind, she forced it down to put out the treacherous flame.
Power surged back into her, and peace infused her.
Brad stood above her, a glass of water in his hand. She took it gratefully and gulped down the liquid. It seemed putting out fires built thirst.
He studied her, concern in his gaze. “What’s going on? Are you sick? What was that light around you?”
What did he mean? The room had been dark. “What light?”
“You were glowing. I came to see what was taking you so long, and you were all lit up like a lamp. You said the strangest things about a branch and a rock and a field.”
She laughed. “That’s never happened to me before. My mom said my powers would increase. I just stopped a fire. Without even being there.”
“I’m sorry?” He found a chair opposite her, his face betraying his turmoil.
She needed to tell him the truth. Somehow she believed she could trust him to keep her secret. Why had the Order allowed him to see her work her powers? She’d been so good at keeping things under wraps.
Brad took her hand and squeezed. “You had me worried.” He brushed a calloused hand along her cheek. In the darkened room, her exhaustion gave way to arousal. “Please tell me what powers you were talking about.”
“You need to keep it secret. I don’t know if I should….” She shrugged. “Well, many people don’t believe it, so I don’t tell them.”
Lifting her up, he led her to sit on the sofa in her lounge. In the light, some of the hunger burning inside her for his touch eased. She couldn’t relax, though. Her heartbeat hammered in her ears.
“I’m a tree sage.” The words tumbled out, unrestrained.
He looked at her, nodding, as if he’d suspected something strange.
“I suppose I should explain.”
“I’d like that.”
“Even my half-brother, Henk—the man I came to the rally with—even he doesn’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’m not supposed to tell anyone. For my safety.” Her shoulders sagged. “I can’t come with you to the tour. I’ve been given a few months to find a partner, a husband, actually, by the Order. I’m not allowed relations with any other man. I shouldn’t have gone out with you. I just didn’t want to listen.”
His pupils darkened.
“I’ve had relationships before, but now they want me to be serious. If I give birth to a daughter, she will become a sage, too. I can’t afford to get pregnant with just any person. He has to be the long-term, committed father of my daughter. She needs to be brought up safely with little complication and in one place. I’ve been forced to stay in this town my whole life.” She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice but failed. “I haven’t left this area—not even on a family vacation or to school camp. I could go within a few kilometers here and there, like the rally race, but that’s the farthest.”
“What is a tree sage?” His eyes held patience, and she smiled as she realized how disjointed her explanations must be to him.
“I have to look after the trees, to care for and heal them to preserve the planet.”
“I’ve never been one for believing in magic or superpowers. I always thought those things were for fantasy or science fiction stories, not real-life. But seeing you….” He gave her a warm smile and placed his hand on her leg. “What powers do you possess?”
Her cheeks flushed, and she pulled away from his contact. Oh my gosh. He believes me. Somehow, she’d expected him to think her a nut case or something. I shouldn’t have told him. What have I done? Did I betray the Order’s and Mom’s trust? But he needed to know why she longed to go with him but couldn’t. No one else knew the struggles inside her.
She twisted away from his tender scrutiny to face a bookcase packed with gardening and botanical books. Tears blurred her vision, and her throat ached from holding back a sob.
“It’s been hard, hasn’t it? Keeping this a secret?” He stroked her back. “I’m awed you would tell me.”
Her gut told her to trust him. She turned to him, not caring if he saw the tears flooding down her cheeks. “I….”
“You feel trapped?”
“I do. I hate being stuck here. I can break free. My mother told me yesterday that if I find a husband, I’m free to leave. But I have to stay in one place once the baby is conceived.”
“What powers do you have?”
“You’re the only person who’s ever noticed. I can heal sick trees, make them healthy again. Tonight, I discovered I can even save them from a forest fire by visualizing things in my mind.”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“The problem is I have to marry someone within six months.” She squeezed her eyes closed, unable to look at him. The words she spoke must sound crazy to him. “I’m not ready for marriage, for settling down. I want to see the world, yet I feel a duty to my gift. I love the trees. I can’t betray them.”
“You can heal them and bring them back to life?”
Opening her eyes again, she shrugged. To him it might seem otherworldly, but for her, it was just the norm.
“That’s an incredible gift. You’re so lucky.”
“I can lose my gift if I don’t follow The Pinnacle. That book over there.” She flung her hand in the direction of the dining room table. “If I leave here before my time or if I don’t have a daughter soon enough, my gift will disappear, and any children I have will be fully normal.”
“You are the new normal.” Wonder swam in his gaze, and she turned away again.
“It’s unglamorous.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s like being a nurse. She spends her life healing people. Yes, in the beginning, she might think what she does is special, but then she soon realizes many people the world over do the same job, and some do it better than her. She grows weary of the same old routine.”
“Wait.” He pulled her to face him again. “There are others?”
She nodded, and, all of a sudden, she could sense them. She gasped.
“Oh.” Hunger steeped his gaze, drawing her in for a kiss.
Oh, wouldn’t it ease all the confusion if she filled her gnawing hunger for his touch?
His mouth rested on hers, and she closed her eyes, all tears forgotten. From relief to soaring conflict, her heart rate accelerated. The man in her living room had become the ultimate distraction.
But he couldn’t marry her. He hardly knew her. No, she shouldn’t be doing this. She couldn’t do casual anymore.
In a blink, she realized she couldn’t turn away from her calling. Her powers had increased, and so had her sense of duty, the pull toward her destiny. As hard as it would be, she had to follow—no, she had to lead at this stage of her life.
But Brad’s pressure on her lips glued her to him. She leaned in to him. I’ll just kiss him, nothing else.
Then his hands touched the back of her head, and he stroked her hair. He deepened the kiss, and his fingers pioneered new ground. She explored his tongue, the melding of their tips lighting a forest fire in her body. He opened the top buttons of her blouse. She waited for the touch on her breasts, craved it.
The Pinnacle!
Gasping, she yanked away, pressing her blouse closed to cover her skimpy bra. “Brad.”
“You’re so hot. When those powers flow from you, I feel drawn to you.” He reached for her again. “I can’t resist.”
“I can’t do this.” She moved away. “I’ve already told you why.”
His mouth formed a thin line. Standing, he walked to the palm in the corner, placing his hands on the leaves, fingering their flat, neat blades.
“That’s insane.” Brad’s voice came out harsh.
“That’s how I felt. I pretty near rebelled, but curiosity won me over. I had to see what the Celtic ancients had written in The Pinnacle. I spent the whole night reading it.”
“Why is this so important?” His gaze remained fixed on the palm, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “All these rules?”
“It’s for the human race, for the entire planet. We’re all part of a puzzle. If one piece is missing, the puzzle is incomplete, and the consequences can be dire. I’ve read of wars resulting from sages failing to complete their calling.”
He jerked his head toward her. “Which wars?”
“The Crusades, the Rwandan Genocide.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. How can trees…?” He marched toward the door. “You’re still not making sense—”
“Wait, Brad. Don’t go.” She ran to him.
“I need time to work this all out. I….” His eyes softened. “Lina, I like you a lot, but what I’m thinking has the ability to change our lives forever. I don’t know if I like you that much.”
Pain exploded in her heart.
Sure, she’d known she would never find true love. Her destiny belonged to the earth, not to love. Whatever he pondered, he wasn’t willing to do it for her.
Why did it hurt so much when they barely knew one another? Yet the special affinity they seemed to share, the way he’d picked up on who she was with such ease…. Maybe she’d imagined it.
He walked away, and she sighed, wishing her powers could affect the human heart.
“What is it you were considering?” she called after him.
He turned to her, his eyes pained. “I can’t tell you yet.” Shoulders slumped, he walked down her garden path into darkness, the gate clanking shut behind him.
“Okay.” She tapped the door shut with her foot. The silence of her home reminded her how close she’d come to losing everything. Even the palm and ferns were gobsmacked, taken aback by her impulsiveness. They had nothing more to say.
She deemed no man worth losing her destiny over. After reading The Pinnacle the night before, her eyes had been opened to the full extent of her influence. How had she let her desire to see Brad again distract her? She dare not give her duty up. After putting out the forest fire, she’d understood why her mom had kept the whole truth from her. If she’d known how much depended on her, she would have been petrified. She would have seen all the dangers and horrors lurking around her, seeking to destroy her at every turn. The powers at her fingertips and the responsibility that came with them would have terrified her.
Shivering despite the warm night, she buttoned up her top and went out the back door to her personal garden to talk to the plants.