In this scene from DREAMER (the upcoming sequel to TRAVELER), Jessa has just had an argument with her mother, and a certain reality-traveling pirate tries to give her a dose of perspective . . .

“Don’t fault your mother for being concerned when you aren’t yourself,” Finn says.

“You don’t understand.”

“I do. But I think you’re inflating things a bit.”

“Inflating!” I pull away from him, raising my arms and slapping them down at my sides in frustration. “Look you don’t have a mother like that, so you can’t really understand–”

“No, I don’t have a mother like that,” he snaps, and I can see the hurt in his eyes. “I grew up without any mother at all, but I believe I can still offer some insight.”

My face reddens with chagrin. “I forget what it’s been like for you,” I say by way of apology. “Don’t you ever get to have a complete family?”

He smiles slightly. “Here and there. But never for very long. There always seems to be something to pull me away or pull them away somehow. The only real constant in the vast majority of the realities I’ve seen is you. So I presume you’re as close as I get.”

There it is again, that swelling warmth inside of me that no one else can seem to tap into. I don’t like the idea of him being alone. He’s been alone too long. And if I’m the one who makes him a little less that way, I’m glad.

Finn is a wonderful, wandering soul, and Jessa is a girl with a thirst for adventure. We only scratched the surface in TRAVELER – just wait till you see where DREAMER takes them!