Star by Danielle Steel Page B

the kind of voice that whether you liked her or not, you had to stop and listen. It was the only thing anyone ever said about her. She was sailing through the air on the swing, unconcerned with what people were saying, almost unaware of the party around her, singing to herself, as she saw his car drive up, and she recognized him instantly as he stepped out. She hadn't seen him in a year, but she would have known him anywhere. She hadn't forgotten him, and only now and then had she dared ask Boyd if he'd had a letter from Spencer. But he had come to the christening, and Crystal fell silent and let the swing slow as she watched him shake her father's hand, and then go to find Boyd and Hiroko. He was as handsome as he had been a year before, perhaps even more so. She hadn't forgotten Spencer Hill for a single moment and her heart stopped now as she saw him.
    He was wearing a summer suit and a straw hat. She thought he looked more dashing than he had the year before, and she saw him laughing as he said something to Hiroko. And then slowly, he looked around, past his friends, and as she sat silent on the swing, he saw her. Even from the distance, he knew that she was looking at him, and he could feel her eyes riveted to him, as he walked slowly toward her. His face was serious, and his eyes were a deep blue as he stopped very near her. And the air between them was electric with something neither of them understood. Something they had both remembered for a year could not be denied now as their eyes met. It was a kind of passion that went beyond words or simple understanding. And yet, as they both knew, they were strangers.
    Hello, Crystal. How've you been? He could feel his hands tremble as he slipped them into his pockets and leaned against the tree from which the swing was suspended, trying to sound normal, trying not to let her see all that he was feeling. But it wasn't easy. She wasn't moving, she was only looking at him, and for an instant, it was as though everyone else at the party had vanished. There was a magnolia bush nearby, and the air was heavy with its fragrance. And it was almost as though there were a drumbeat in the distance.
    I've been all right, I guess. She tried to sound normal, wanting to ask him why he hadn't come back again, but she didn't dare. Neither of them could put their feelings into words. All she could do was look at him, impeccably put together as he had been a year before, his dark hair perfectly groomed, his face tan, and his eyes searching for something she didn't yet understand, yet she knew she couldn't bring herself to move away from him. She wanted to stand near him for a lifetime, breathing his scent, and feeling his eyes on her. The sultry afternoon suddenly seemed much hotter. He felt as though his in-sides had just melted, and yet he had to remind himself that she was only a child. But they both knew what he wanted to tell her was that he loved her. Except he couldn't of course. He barely knew her. It was distressing to realize that the girl he'd fought to keep out of his mind all year was even more haunting than he had remembered.
    How's school? Her eyes seared him as she asked. She was part child, part siren, and now after only a year, she seemed to be all woman.
    I just finished my bar exams. She nodded, but her eyes asked him a thousand questions that neither of them would have been able to answer. And although he felt like molten lava inside, everything about him suggested strength, as though nothing could ever frighten him, nothing except what he felt for her, this child he barely knew. But she could see none of that on his face as he watched her hair floating in the gentle breeze of summer. What about you? He wanted more than anything to reach out and touch her.
    I'll be sixteen the day after tomorrow, she said quietly, and he felt his heart sink. For a moment, just a moment, he had hoped that he had remembered wrong, and she was older. And yet there had been a change in the past