“Look," she told me. "A good kreda is very hard to find. I invested a lot of time and memory in you. I had no intention of giving all that up, just because you were going to be in a bad mood for a decade or two.”

“You are everything good in my life. Even when I thought all I had was the darkness, you were there. And you gave me something to live for. I couldn’t let you go. No matter how hard I tried. I know now that’s because to lose you would be losing the very best part of myself.”

“I just had a precognition, she told Anna silently,a stream of unspoken love and joy. You will be very happy. Your best friend says go for it.Annas face was bright, as if someone had set a candle behind it. You're giving me permission?I'm giving you an order!”

“What’s the matter, Rea?” he said, still sounding half asleep.“What makes you think . . .?”“You wouldn’t have called this late unless you need to talk. Give me a minute to pull my jeans on and I’ll go out in the hallway so I won’t wake the other guys.”Reagen heard several men moan or swear in the background. When times were good, Noah had a room to himself, but when times were bad in the road game he’d sometimes bunk on the floor in someone else’s room.“I’m listening,” he said after a minute.She wanted to hear his voice more than talk, but that would sound strange, so she told him about her dream and how frightened she’d been.“I wish I were there to hug you, Rea. We could cuddle up. You could tell me everything while I slept.”“I wish you were too.” Neither one said anything for a few breaths, and then she whispered, “I miss you so much sometimes. They’d probably never be as close as they’d been in high school. He was a different man and she’d changed as well, but she still missed the Noah who was half kid, half man.“What are you wearing?” he whispered, and for a moment she swore she could hear him smiling.“Shut up.”He laughed. “Just asking. Who knows, one night I might get lucky and you’d be just out of th shower.”“You never give up trying to make me blush.” Her bad mood had vanished.“Come on, Rea, give me a break. I’ve been wondering what you like naked for years. If I ever get too old to wonder, I hope you just shoot me.”“Go to bed, Noah.”“Good night, Rea. Maybe when you go back to dreaming, you’ll dream of me.”“Not likely.” She closed the phone, thinking how he always had enough magic in his pocket to change her mood even if he didn’t have enough to change his dreams.”

“Was that a bad lady, Papa?" she asked eagerly.No."But she looked bad."There are very few bad people. There are just a lot of people that are unlucky."But she was all painted and..."She was one who had seen better days.”

“So you just went in and told him to give you two Cokes and he gave them to you?" "No, I didn't just go in and tell him to give me two Cokes. I asked for a Coke for me and a Coke for the skinny thug sitting on the library steps.”