Loved by Morgan Rice Page A

pocket, took out his phone, and logged onto Facebook.
    As he did, she cuddled up next to him, leaned her shoulder into his, and looked at his phone with him. His heart started racing. He loved the feeling of her shoulder touching his. It was so soft, and fit perfectly. He could smell her hair, and it was overwhelming. He was getting really distracted. He had forgotten, for a second, why he had taken out his phone.
    Then he saw the new message light, and opened it.
    There it was. Another new message from him.
    It read: Sam, I would love to see you. We do need to get together. I know that you are busy in school and all, but what does your schedule look like? It’s hard for me to travel, because of my bad leg, but I’m wondering if you could come up here and visit me? I live in Connecticut .
    Samantha smiled. “There you go,” she said.
    “What should I say?” Sam asked.
    “Say yes. Tomorrow’s Saturday. It’s the weekend. What better time?”
    She was right. Saturday was the best day. Wow. This girl was not only really hot, she was really smart.
    Sam typed back: OK. Sounds good. How about this weekend? What’s your address?
    He hesitated for a second. Then he clicked send. He already felt better.
    “I’m so excited for you,” Samantha said, smiling. “Wow, it’s so cool that I could meet you at such an exciting time.”
    Sam suddenly felt her smooth fingers reach out and stroke his face, then slowly run through his hair. The feeling was intense. Amazing. His heart was slamming, and he could barely think.
    He turned and looked at her, and saw that she was facing him, both of her hands now, caressing his face, his neck, his hair. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her large, glowing green eyes. He could hardly breathe.
    “I really like you,” she said.
    Sam opened his mouth to speak, but it was too dry. It took him a couple of tries. “I really like you, too.”
    He knew he should lean in for a kiss, but he was too nervous. He was relieved when she leaned in, and planted her lips on his.
    It was amazing. The blood rushed to his brain, and he prayed this would never end.
     

 
     
    NINE
     
     
    As Caitlin flew with Caleb, arms wrapped around him, loving the feel of his body, she thought of how lucky she was. Just the day before, she’d been worried that Caleb would say goodbye. And now, for once, her luck had changed.
    Thank God for that necklace , she thought.
    It was late afternoon by the time they arrived in Salem. He set them down inconspicuously in an empty field on the outskirts of town, so no one would notice.
    They walked a few blocks, and arrived right on the Main Street of Salem.
    Caitlin was surprised. She had expected something more. She’d heard about Salem her whole life, from textbooks mostly, always in connection with the witches. But to see it as a real, living place, as an everyday town, she found quite strange. She had imagined it as a perfectly preserved, historic place in her head, almost like a stage set. To see normal, modern, everyday people living their lives, driving, hurrying to and fro, caught her off guard.
    Salem looked almost like any small, New England, suburban town. There were a few chain stores, the typical pharmacies, everything modern, and almost no sign that this town had so much history. The town was also a lot bigger than she had imagined. She had absolutely no idea where to even begin to look for her Dad.
    Caleb must’ve been thinking the same thing at the same time, because he looked over at her with an expression: what now ?
    “Well,” she began, “I guess we didn’t expect him to be standing on Main Street and waiting to give us a big hug.”
    Caleb smiled.
    “No, I didn’t think it would be that easy, either.”
    “So? Now what?” she asked.
    Caleb looked at her. “I don’t know,” he finally said.
    Caitlin stood there, thinking. Several people passed them on the street, and some of them gave Caitlin and Caleb a strange look. She looked at them in