Before Sunrise Read Online Free PDF Page A

throbbing as the kiss went on and on until her mouth was swollen and her heart raced like a wild thing. He lifted his head reluctantly. But then he let her go abruptly and drew back.
    He looked as unsettled as she felt. “We’ve got things in common already. We’ll probably find more. At least you aren’t totally ignorant of indigenous customs and rituals.”
    She smiled gently. “I studied hard.”
    He sighed. “Okay. We’ll see what happens. I’ll write you when I get back to D.C. Don’t expect long letters. I don’t have the time.”
    â€œI won’t,” she promised.
    He touched her chin with his thumb. “You were right about one thing,” he said unexpectedly.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou said that if I missed your graduation I’d regret it for the rest of my life,” he recalled, smiling. “I would have.”
    Her fingers slid over his long mouth, tingling at the touch. “Me, too,” she agreed, with her heart in her eyes as they met his.
    He bent and kissed her one last time before he reached across her and opened the door. “I’ll write.”
    She got out, nodding at him. “So will I.” She closed the door and stared down into the car. “I hope things work out for you at home,” she added.
    â€œThey will, one way or the other,” he replied. He studied her with turbulent eyes and an uncanny sense of catastrophe ahead. His father and uncles and the medicine men who were his ancestors would have found that perception a blessing. To him, it was a nuisance.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” she asked, because the look on his face was eloquent.
    He shifted. “Nothing,” he lied, trying to ignore the feeling. “I was just thinking. You take care, Phoebe.”
    â€œYou do the same. I enjoyed my graduation.”
    He smiled. “I enjoyed it, too. This isn’t goodbye,” he added when she looked devastated.
    â€œI know.” She felt uneasy, though, and she couldn’t understand why.He gave her one last look. His eyes were dark and shadowed and full of misgiving. Before she could ask why he looked that way, he rolled the window up.
    He waved, and pulled out of the parking space. She watched him until he was out of sight. Her mouth still tingled from the press of his lips, and her body was aching with new sensations. With a sense of excitement and wonder, she turned and went slowly back into the hotel. The future looked rosy and bright.

CHAPTER TWO
    Three years later
    T HE SMALL N ATIVE A MERICAN museum in Chenocetah, North Carolina, was crowded for a Saturday. Phoebe smiled at a group of children as they passed her in the hall. Two of them jostled each other and the teacher called them down, with an apologetic smile at Phoebe.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Phoebe whispered to the teacher. “There’s nothing breakable that isn’t behind glass or a velvet rope!”
    The teacher chuckled and walked on.
    Phoebe glanced at the board that translated Cherokee words into English. It wasn’t exact, but it was an improvement on the board that had hung there previously.The museum had been so ragged and unappealing that the county was thinking of shutting it down. But Phoebe had taken on the job of curator, and she’d put new life into the project. At the top of the board was the name of the town, Chenocetah, and its Cherokee translation: “See all around.” You really could, she thought, considering the tall, stately mountains that ringed the small town.
    Phoebe had completed her master’s degree in anthropology by doing distance education and spending the required few weeks on campus during the summer in order to graduate. She was given the curator’s job in the Chenocetah Museum on the poviso that she was to obtain her master’s in the meantime.
    Here, only a few minutes away from Cherokee, North Carolina, land was at a premium. The Yonah Indian