Paradox Love: Paradox Love Book 1 Read Online Free Page A

him.
    “I want to go back.”
    “It doesn’t work that way, Grace.”
    “Why not?”
    “Well, for about a million different reasons.  But it boils down to this.  Everybody who goes through transference into a human body, they’ve all got their schedules.  They go back based on a timeline completely appropriate for them.  There are no vacant human bodies waiting for someone like you who wants to go back.  They’re all spoken for. 
    Look, everybody holds on to a certain degree, even people who didn’t particularly enjoy their time on Earth.  That attachment, that’s something you’ll work through during your assessment.  You’ll be able to release it.  It’s all part of the process.”
    It seemed to finally be sinking in.  She’d stopped saying no.  He could see her mind still racing, still trying to come up with that better question, that better proposal for some way to get what she wanted.  And he could see that at last, finally, she might be coming to terms with it.  He relaxed a bit as he sat back in his chair.  Let her have a moment and when she was ready, she’d tell him. 
    And so they sat like that, while Grace was mentally listing all her arguments and one by one, scratching them off the page as unfeasible.  And Gabe sat quietly, expectantly, letting her process it. 
    Oh how he loved her, his dear friend Grace.  She was a beautiful soul and he hated to see her suffer.  At her retreat they would talk about this again and she would smile in recognition at her stubbornness.  It was just a matter of time.  Inevitable.  And then finally, he saw the look of resolution on her face.  She looked up at him and he knew she was finally ready.
    And then, “No.”
    That look of hers almost stung.  Not because there was anger there, but because he could see that this time around with Grace, it was going to be truly difficult to help her transition. 
    They danced another time with their words.  Him attempting to convince with clear, concise yet reassuring explanation.  And Grace finding only one word in her vocabulary.  “No.”
    Gabe folded his hands together and placed them on the table, letting the silence give them both a break.  And then finally he spoke.
    “Give me a minute, Grace.”  He stood and left before speaking further.
    Reason tugged her one way, but always, her love for Luke pulled her back.  She kept up her slow breathing while she waited for Gabe.  And it seemed he was gone for a very, very long time.
    Finally, he reentered the office and took his seat.  Then he spoke to Grace with a certainty that gave her no doubt that what he was saying was absolutely true.  No games.  Nothing but the truth.
    “There is one thing I can offer you, Grace.  You can take it or leave it.  But there’s just this one thing.  I can get you a body, but it’s not really what you want.”  He rested between words to let her fully absorb their meaning.  “It won’t be a human body.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I can provide you transference into the body of a dog.  There’s a real mix with canines – old and new souls.  And there are plenty of vacancies.  I can give you transference, but this is the only way.”
    “A dog ?”
    “Yes.  There’s no way, no matter how long you sat here, that I could give you human transference.  I can give you transference as a dog, if that’s what you want.  It’s the best I can do, Grace.”
    She knew he was being sincere.  Her mind was racing again.
    “Will I be me?”
    “In a way, yes, but not exactly.  This residual chest pain you’ve got, you’ll be taking that back.  Not so much as pain, but everything contained within that residual.  You’ll take back your love for Luke, every bit of it.  You won’t understand it exactly.  You’re not going back as a human.  You’re going back as a dog.  You won’t have the capacity to fully understand that love, but you will feel it. 
    Dogs are pretty much vessels of emotion.