Counting Stars Read Online Free

step backward. “Jay, this would never work. Not now, not in a year—”
    “Great idea,” he said. “I’ll take no for an answer today if you’ll promise to think about going to lunch with me on my birthday next year.”
    She shook her head.
    “Just listen to my terms. A year from today you meet me on the morning ferry. If you’ve got a guy by then—from your personals or whatever—I’ll leave you alone, just walk away for good. But , if you’re still single I get to treat you to lunch at a restaurant of your choice. You can even bring someone with you—your parents, a bodyguard, your sister’s kids. Say yes and you’ve got nothing to lose.”
    “Except my sanity,” Jane muttered.
    He gave her a look filled with hope.
    “You’re a good-looking guy, Jay. And if you’re clean now, why not find some nice girl your age?”
    “Because I owe you.”
    Not this again. “You don’t.”
    He shrugged. “Easy for you to say, but from this vantage point, I’d have been six feet under a long time ago except for a nice girl with pretty brown eyes.” He tried to look into those eyes now, but Jane kept her gaze fixed on the toe of her shoe. “A really wonderful girl who didn’t give up on me.”
    She looked at him. “But I did give up on you.”
    His eyes met hers. “You gave up on yourself.”
    Awkward silence followed this comment. Jane gripped the shoulder strap of her purse, aware that an exit was only a few feet behind her. She closed her eyes, feeling a monstrous headache coming on. What a day this was going to be, and she wasn’t even at work yet.
    Jay stepped forward, took the smoothie from her numb hand, and set it on the seat. He rubbed her cold fingers in his own. “Ever hear of handfasting?” he asked in a quirky Scottish accent.
    Jane’s eyebrows shot up. “As in a year and a day—that medieval marriage thing?”
    Jay nodded, the serious look in his eyes giving her sudden chills.
    She tried to pull her hand away. Both the boy and his mother were staring at them. “I’ve heard of it. I read romance novels.”
    “I remember that,” Jay teased and held her hand firm. “But it’s not just in stories. I had an ancestor—a long time ago—actually get married that way. It’s quite a story.”
    “The ferry’s nearly docking,” Jane said. “And my car’s up front.”
    “So handfast with me then—for lunch only,” he added quickly, seeing her eyes grow large. “Agree that one year from today you’ll meet me on this same ferry, and if prince charming hasn’t swept you away by then, we’ll do lunch. Nothing more. I promise.”
    “You promise? You swear that after one lunch, you’ll leave me alone forever?”
    “Ouch. But if that’s what you want . . .”
    She looked at him skeptically. “And I won’t see you until then? Not even once?”
    “I’ll disappear completely.”
    “All right,” Jane said, feeling her hand pumped up and down, then finally released. “Bye,” she called, grabbing her mug and the paper as she headed for the door.
    * * *
    Jay picked up his guitar and walked the opposite direction. Best to start right away, he thought, keeping his promise to disappear. He climbed the stairs to the top deck and walked to the back of the ferry. A quick look around told him that he was alone—most everyone else was preparing to dock. Lucky for him, he’d sold his car last week.
    He set his guitar case down and knelt next to it, undoing the clips. Reaching inside, he ran his fingers down the inside of the case lid until he came to a slight swell in the fabric. His fingers located a transparent thread, and he pulled until the velvet puckered, then fell away. A clear plastic bag dropped into his hand. Jay closed his fingers around it, then shut the case and stood.
    A slow stroll along the deck convinced him he was still alone. Standing beside the rail, he opened his hand and stared at the tiny pouch in his palm. The white granules inside shimmered in the sunlight, and Jay