Free Stranger in the Mirror [Shades of Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) by Tina Wainscott Page A

“I can’t stay here. I mean, I can’t stay long.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I don’t belong here. I don’t even belong in this body, but I haven’t much choice about that. I can get used to that part, but not this town, this life. It’s not me, and inside I’m still Hallie DiBarto. I have to get back to California.”
    “I thought you had no one to go back to.”
    She swallowed hard. “I don’t. My friends—they weren’t really friends.” She couldn’t stop thinking about how empty her life had been. She’d been too busy partying to notice.
    “Then what are you going back for?”
    “I don’t know. All I know is I have to get out of here.”
    He drummed long fingers on the mat of leaves, looking out over the water before returning determined eyes back to her. “What I brought you out here to talk about was… what I wanted to say was that I want you to stay and have the baby.”
    “Jesse, that’s nice of you, but I can’t.”
    His lips thinned. “I’m not being nice.” He placed his palm on her still-flat stomach. “This little guy is mine, my responsibility, my blood. I can’t let you take off, never knowing what happened to him. I figured you’d go back where you came from, after the baby is born. Until then, I want you here with me.”
    He wanted her there. But not you, really. The baby . “I’m not going to do anything with the baby. Once I’m settled, I’ll let you know where I am. When the baby comes, I’ll call you.”
    She didn’t want to look at him, because she could see his expression of disbelief from the corner of her eye.
    “Marti, how are you going to get out of here without money? How are you going to support yourself?”
    “I’m going to work hard for a few months, save up, and drive my car out there.”
    He turned her chin so that she had to face him. “Why can’t you stay here so we can take care of you, and be with you when you have the baby? What’s so bad about this place?”
    Face to face with those green eyes, she groped. “I was attacked here. How do I know that the attacker was just passing through? Maybe he’s still here, lurking. I had a creepy feeling today, when the restaurant was packed. Like he was watching me. I know, everyone was watching me, waiting for me to crack or something. But this felt different. Evil.”
    His reaction surprised her. He got up on his knees leaning over her, taking her face in his hands. His eyes burned with a mixture of anger and determination. “No one will ever hurt you again, Marti.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I won’t let it happen.”
    She felt a strange squeezing in her heart as his fingers stroked her cheeks. At the same time, an alarm went off somewhere inside her. I’d be the one to hurt you, Jesse. I can’t stay here, not a minute longer than I have to. Please stop touching me . Yet she didn’t move away, couldn’t take her eyes from his.
    She found her voice. “Marti’s attack wasn’t your fault.”
    He sat back. “Yes, it was. I should have made sure you had gas in your car. I should have made you carry a weapon of some kind, I should have—” He punched at the ground. “I should have done something. It’s all I can do to keep from tearing up the entire town to find the son-of-a-bitch who did this.”
    “Jesse, stop blaming yourself. You weren’t responsible for the attack, and you’re not responsible for avenging it. I’m sure the sheriff and Lyle are doing the best they can to find out who did it, but—”
    “I’m not letting you leave until you have the baby.”
    She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “You can’t make me stay. What are you going to do, tie me up?”
    His expression was dead serious. “If I have to.”
    She remembered something he had said earlier. “I thought there was something mechanically wrong with my car. That’s why you didn’t want me to drive it this morning.”
    He avoided her gaze. “I’m not sure it was just lack