Falling

by Meredith Bond

  In another time…

  Boundless blue skies. Oblivion. The pull of the sky through the wall of windows in Erin Freyn’s new apartment is as enticing as it is disturbing. It seems to call her to step out, to let go, to surrender herself into its terrifying embrace. But when she turns to a hypnotist for help, she never dreams it will uncover long-hidden secrets – of ageless magic and forbidden romance.

  In another place…

  David Elder is trying to live up to the memory of his brother, who died while working with inner-city kids. He couldn’t save his brother, but perhaps with his magic he can save another. When he hypnotizes Erin to seek a cure for her fears, they discover instead an ancient connection. In a past life, he was a medieval knight and her illicit lover… before things went very wrong.

  Today…

  Fate has given them a second chance. Will they take it and finally find happiness, or will they be doomed to replay history yet again?

  What Others Have Said About Falling

  “The past and present are interwoven perfectly… Serious and funny. I really wanted to know what happens next!” L.M. Warren

  “There was a big surprise towards the end of the book but I don’t want to say anything more – you’ll have to read it to find out. I started the book yesterday morning and finished it in one day. I would definitely recommend it to friends.” Mandy, Goodreads reader

  “I liked the way it went back and forth between time. I could relate to the characters and really felt where they were coming from… It was a book that kept me reading to see what was coming next.” Vickie

  “I read it in one sitting!! It is fantastic!” Darlene from Mousey Books

  “…Leaves the reader gasping for air and makes you wonder what’s gonna happen next. Makes you wonder if one can have a second chance to life!” Cherub

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  What Others Have Said

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty One

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Chapter Thirty Four

  Books by Meredith Bond

  About the Author

  Falling

  Meredith Bond

  Copyright, October, 2016, Meredith Bond.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Cover Art by Kim Killion

  Editing by The Editing Hall

  Published by Anessa Books, www.anessabooks.com.

  For more information, please visit www.meredithbond.com

  Dedication

  To those who you love me… even though: Arup, Robin and Nina.

  Chapter One

  Erin clenched her hands together and willed her stomach not to grumble. She had no idea why her boss, Congressman Tom Whitmeyer, had dragged her out to this apartment just off DuPont Circle. Instead of allowing her to take her lunch break, he’d insisted she accompany him here, and now they stood waiting for the concierge to open the door.

  The congressman had been particularly coy on their way over, refusing to tell her where they were going or why. Erin had just wanted to eat the ham and cheese sandwich with pickles that she’d brought with her and then get back to work. She had a stack of correspondence to get through that afternoon.

  Keys jangling in the empty hallway, the concierge in front of them flipped through the giant ring trying to find the right one. “No, not that one,” he mumbled to himself. “No… ah! Found it!” he said triumphantly to the congressman.

  “Excellent!” Congressman Whitmeyer said. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation like a child waiting for a special treat.

  The concierge fit the key into the lock, flipped his huge ring of keys around twice, and was rewarded with the satisfying click of the door opening. He stood back to allow the congressman to walk past him into the apartment and then nodded for Erin to follow.

  She gave him a smile of thanks for his trouble, but before she could even pass through the door, he called out, “Sir, if you’ll just stop by the front desk on your way out…”

  “Oh, not necessary,” the congressman called back, his voice sounding hollow as if he were speaking through a tunnel, “we’ll be going directly to the real estate office from here.”

  “Oh. Very good then, sir. Thank you,” the concierge said. He gave Erin a nod and then left them alone, retreating back down the hall toward the elevators.

  Erin walked through the door, but her head immediately began to reel as she stepped into the apartment. Somehow, her hand found the railing just inside the front door. She clung on to it as her vision was filled with nothing but endless pale blue and a few light clouds, so close she felt as if she could reach out and touch them.

  The sky called to her, pulling at her, whispering in her ear: come.

  She leaned back on trembling legs and readjusted her eyes. It was a window—or well, she supposed, a number of windows—but the framings around each one was so thin you could see beyond without noticing. The whole wall facing her—rising ten, maybe fifteen feet high—was just windows. Erin swallowed, now thankful that she hadn’t eaten after all. A cold sweat had sprouted on her forehead and upper lip.

  Still, her body swayed forward. It would be so easy, so easy to just take that step—and then she’d be gone. Tumbling down, falling eighteen stories to the pavement below.

  “Come in, come on in! Isn’t it fabulous? Have you ever seen such a view?” The booming voice of the congressman ricocheted throughout the empty apartment, cutting into Erin’s consciousness and bringing her back into the present… into this bright apartment with its terrifying windows.

  With effort, she pulled her eyes away from the sky and locked them on Whitmeyer. He moved further away from the short flight of stairs Erin was standing at the top of—unable to move. He cut across a huge expanse of beautiful pale wood floors toward those windows… her body swayed toward the sky once more, her stomach turning in a somersault.

  She couldn’t move. If she did, she would fall. She knew she would.

  No! This is ridiculous. It’s an apartment. It’s just an apartment with a huge window, that’s all. Get over it!

  The congressman stood in the center of the room bathed in sunlight like a messiah. A campaign-brilliant smile lit up his whole face. “Don’t you love it?” He leaned forward and added in a stage whisper, “It’s all yours!” He then pulled back and added in his normal voice, “Well, almost.” He laughed at his own joke, but Erin was confused and still feeling nauseated.

  “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t understand.” She kept her eyes on her boss, trying her hardest not to succumb to the pull of those windows.

  “It’s yours, Erin. You are going to rent this a
partment—for a fraction of the actual cost, I might add,” he said, giving his eyebrows a wiggle. Laughing, he added, “You could never afford the rent on your own, unless your parents helped you out—but they’ve never offered to do that, have they? Ha! Not with seven kids.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Well, I am.”

  His smile could have swallowed her whole, but the anxiety rolling off the man made Erin’s stomach give another twist inside her abdomen. She swallowed hard, pushing aside the congressman’s feelings. She had enough to deal with on her own.

  “I’m sorry, I still don’t understand. Would you mind explaining this a little further?”

  Congressman Whitmeyer sighed, his shoulders dropping. He plodded back over to the stairs. Propping one foot on the bottom step, he said, “You are going to rent this apartment. I’ll pay half since you really can’t afford it, but the lease will be in your name.”

  Erin hated being spoken to like a child, but she had to ask, “Why?”

  The congressman pushed off from the bottom step strolling away, forcing Erin to follow him with her eyes. The room swam before her, the sky beckoned.

  “I, er, need a place, Erin. And this is it. You live here, but every so often I’ll call and tell you that I’m coming. And then you skedaddle for a little bit—for the night.”

  For the night? Oh my God, the congressman was having an affair! And he wanted her to live here, in his pied-a-terre, until he needed it? Oh, my God, oh, my God! She couldn’t do that! That was…

  She had met the congressman’s wife, for goodness sake! They’d been over to her parent’s house for a barbecue last summer. Mrs. Whitmeyer had a great sense of humor and was even kind to her father’s many pets. Why in the world was the congressman cheating on his wife? And could she, Erin, abet him in this? No, no, no, a thousand times no!

  She tucked her long, blonde hair behind her ear and started to turn back toward the door.

  "Erin, let me put it this way," the congressman said, stopping her. "If you don't rent this apartment, I'm afraid I'm going to have to find someone else to take over your position in my office. And it would be such a shame if I had to do that because, naturally, I'd have to tell people why I had to replace you."

  He shook his head, his face set in practiced sincerity. "Your parents, all their friends and colleagues… They will all be so disappointed to learn that you'd been stealing funds from the government's coffers."

  Shock and hurt must have glared out from Erin's eyes because the congressman dropped the mask and continued in a more businesslike manner. “I don't have all the details worked out yet—and I sincerely hope that I won't need to. It shouldn't be so difficult, though, to prove that you've been pocketing money set aside for some good cause or other for which I'd appropriated the funding. Such a shame. You’ll never be trusted again. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Erin could feel a red burn begin to work its way up her throat. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming all of the obscenities that shot through her mind.

  This was beyond believable! How could this be happening to her? She'd been so good, working hard for this man for so many years—and this was how he repaid her?

  "Oh come on, Erin—where’s the problem? You are going to love this apartment! Susannah will have a great time furnishing it, you won’t need to do a thing. And you have to admit the location is fabulous—so close to Dupont Circle and the clubs, restaurants, bookstores... There's a gym in the building, a media center, a roof-top deck and, of course, you’ve met the concierge."

  "My parents are never going to believe that I could afford something like this even at half the rent," Erin said, grasping on to the first real argument she could come up with.

  They’d probably think Hugh was paying for it, she realized with an inward cringe. Her boyfriend had offered to help her rent a place only a month ago. Erin was not only unwilling to become indebted to him, she wasn’t even certain how much longer she was going to stay in the relationship. And besides, she liked sharing a house with four other people. It was comfortable. This wasn’t. Living alone wasn’t. And she really didn’t want to think about what Hugh might say when he found out about this.

  "True,” the congressman said, bringing her mind back to the matter at hand. “But, since you have been such a loyal employee, I am, of course, going to give you a raise." The congressman’s smile was so innocent, and he seemed genuinely proud of her for her hard work. "To celebrate, you’ll splurge a bit and take advantage of an incredible offer from..." he waved his hand in the air randomly, "oh, I don't know, some diplomat I know—a friend of mine—who had to return suddenly to his country and was willing to rent this place to you dirt cheap because we're so close, yada, yada, yada. You can figure out those details later. Be creative."

  "Me? You want me to make up the story?"

  "Why not? I trust that you’ll do a good job of it, just like everything else you do.” His campaign smile flashed on and off. “This will do wonders for your career, Erin, you know that." He started to turn away, but then stopped. “But honestly, Erin, if you’re going to be a politician, you’ve got to stop letting your every thought show so clearly on your face.”

  Erin clamped her teeth together so that her mouth wouldn’t fall open. Instead, she forced her lips up into a smile and tried to ignore the feelings of victorious glee that had slowly replaced the anxiety coming from the congressman. His own expression could have easily said, “Gotcha!”

  “Thank you so much for the advice, sir. I appreciate it.”

  He gave a small nod of his head then turned away and walked to the other end of the room and toward a hallway Erin hadn’t noticed earlier. “The lease is here for you to sign.”

  If only he hadn’t moved toward those windows again! Erin’s knees almost collapsed under her as her gaze was pulled toward the sky once more. She clamped her eyes shut.

  She could do this. She had to do this.

  She couldn’t believe she was going to do this!

  ###

  Erin leaned against the side of the building, hoping her stomach would settle quickly. The congressman had already gone off to tell his mistress the good news.

  With her pulse still elevated and sweat beading on her forehead, Erin knew she had to do something. Was it too late to go back in and rip up the contract she’d just signed? Maybe if the check she’d written to the management company bounced she wouldn’t have to take the apartment. And maybe she’d get her ass fired and never work on the Hill again.

  She gently knocked her head against the brick front of the building. How in the world was she—

  The ringing of her phone interrupted her depressing thoughts.

  She stole a glance at the caller ID before answering. Hugh.

  She’d never put in a special ring tone for him. For her parents, yes. Her best friend, Lanie, had one. She’d even put one in for each of her siblings, but not for Hugh. She shook off the distracting thought.

  Maybe her boyfriend would give her a little comfort, although she didn’t have any great expectations. He just wasn’t that kind of guy.

  “Hey,” she answered.

  “Hi, Erin. Are you busy?”

  “Nope. I was just holding up the side of a building,” she joked.

  There was silence at the other end of the line. “I’m sorry? Where are you?”

  Erin swallowed her disappointment. She should have learned by now—her boyfriend had absolutely no sense of humor. None. It was the strangest thing. What he thought was funny, she just thought was weird, and vice-versa.

  “Sorry,” she apologized, as she always did whenever she tried to make a joke. “I’m outside my new apartment building in Dupont Circle.”

  It suddenly hit her that she couldn’t tell Hugh the truth. He was the ultimate networker. He spoke to everyone, and Erin had no idea whether he could keep a secret or not. Considering that he loved to chat, it would be safest to assume that he couldn’t—or wouldn’t. The fact that Congressman Whi
tmeyer was having an affair was just too juicy for a gossip—or networker—to keep to themselves.

  She had to come up with that story Whitmeyer had alluded to earlier—fast!

  “What do you mean your new apartment building? You took an apartment?”

  “Um... Actually, Congressman Whitmeyer arranged it for me. He’s so thoughtful. You wouldn’t believe it. A friend of his—um, a diplomat—was suddenly reassigned back to his home country and needed to find someone to rent his apartment. The congressman got it for me at an incredibly low rent. He had to do it fast before this guy reconsidered, so here I am with a new apartment!”

  “Wow! That was really nice of him. Really nice!”

  “I know! There’s only one small problem…” She forced out a little laugh. “One entire wall of the place is all windows, and I’m terrified of falling. I can barely walk into the apartment. I’ve no idea how I’m going to live here. But, I mean, I wasn’t going to turn him down…”

  A siren wailed, coming toward her. Hugh said something, but she didn’t catch it. She waited a moment until the police car sped past and then said, “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said, no, you absolutely couldn’t do that,” he repeated.

  “So I just signed the lease on an apartment I can’t stand to enter.”

  “Wow, Erin, that’s incredible. It was amazingly nice of the congressman to get this place for you. You’d better get over this fear of yours fast.”

  “Yeah, I just don’t know how.”

  “Just suck it up. Close your eyes or something. You cannot turn this down.” Hugh’s voice was beginning to sound clipped.

  Erin sighed. She hated it when she was right. Soft and comforting her boyfriend was not! Supportive? Nope. Not unless it came to furthering her career, then he was gold mine.