So why was he still dithering in his head? He was not the type of guy to get cold feet.
He was fed up with himself. He picked up the book and opened it with slight trepidation. He didn't know which kook had sent him the thing. He would just read a page or two and then he would linger some more with Della and then go home. A few pages in, he was intrigued enough to continue.
Brick Place supermarket? There was a cashier there that had a crush on me? He knitted his brow, trying to remember the cashiers there. To his shame he couldn't really remember any of them.
Yes, there had been a conversation about his eyes with one of the girls but she hadn’t done it in a creepy kind of way.
He had only started going to Brick Place almost the same time that his dog Keko had died. The supermarket he had gone to before had carried the brand of dog food for Keko.
When Keko died there was no need to go there anymore. He went to Brick Place because it was closer to where he lived and it had been easier to shop there on a Thursday evening after work than any other day.
He read through the pages and realized that the girl writing was literally pouring out her inner thoughts to him.
She was mute. She grew up in a children's home called Magnolia House. She had a scar, which she felt self-conscious about. She had a guy in her life, which she was not sure about, and she had dreams and headaches. It was fascinating and yet he felt a little bit like a voyeur, like he shouldn't be consuming this unabridged account of her life and the lives of her friends and her sisters.
When Patricia Benedict's name was mentioned he sat up straighter in his chair. He knew Patricia; she had been Tessa's favorite aunty. Patricia had taken Tessa's death badly. He now wished that he had kept in touch with the Benedicts. They had been a good, supportive family to be a part of.
He could find out who his admirer was right now. There were so many clues that all it would take would be a phone call to Patricia.
Dear Mystery Guy,
When you are alone in a loud world the silence in you can seem so deafening...
"Doctor Lawson," Nurse Griffith pushed her head through the door. "I got a message for her, on her cell phone."
"Who?" Luca looked up, a bit disoriented. He had been reading an account of a dream and water.
"The girl, Della," Nurse Griffith said hopefully.
"What does it say?" Luca asked. He wanted to go back to the book; it was getting interesting. She was practically accusing him of causing her headaches.
"It is from a PatB and the person asked: How is the holiday going? I miss you."
"Text back and tell the person that she is in the private clinic in a coma."
"I did. No response yet."
"Okay." Luca went back to reading the journal and then his heart picked up speed like a moving train without brakes.
Dear Luca,
I still can't believe we actually met. You approached me. I can't believe it. It is beyond my wildest dreams and believe me, I have had some wild ones. One week later and I am still pinching myself.
He read the rest of the entry and then got up and looked over at Della. It was her. He frowned.
The girl on the bed and the journal writer were one and the same. How on earth did this happen?
He moved the hospital gown covering her neck, and there was the scar. He sighed and sat down on the chair. He remembered he had gone to the express line. He couldn't remember who had cashed his groceries. He couldn't believe that he would miss seeing Della, though. She had quite an effect on him.
He opened up the journal again and went over the entry, this time reading it slowly.
Also, I can't ignore that you are with Josephine. I heard you call her Josephine. That's a pretty name. And I am saying this reluctantly. I mean, she is obviously your girlfriend and the thought of the two of you is genuinely giving me a headache. Besides that, she is constantly in my dreams. At the poolside every time I come out of the water. My subconscious keeps churning her out, dream after dream.
He sat and read through the whole diary, to the very last page. It was getting late. He opened the blinds and looked outside.
He couldn't ignore the fact that there was something afoot. The sequence of events leading up to now was too coincidental not to mean something.
He wondered why Della had sent him her journal. On some pages she repeatedly said she didn't want him to have it.
He walked out to the reception area, still mulling all of the information around in his head.
"Nurse Griffith, you are not going to believe this but I just found out who the girl on the bed really is."
Nurse Griffith inclined her head. "Really?"
"Yes," Luca said. He needed to finish reading the journal but from what he had read so far he knew all the players in Della's life.
"PatB is Patricia Benedict; she is a mentor/mother figure for Della. Her sisters, Hazel and Brigid, are not around; that's why you haven't gotten them on the phone. Keep on trying for Caitlin."
Nurse Griffith lifted the phone. "You really know their names. That's interesting."
Luca went back to the room and sat down, contemplating Della, a myriad of thoughts running through his head.
"Hey Mystery Girl," he whispered in the stillness of the room. "You do know that you are the mysterious one here, don't you?
"But I make you a promise, if you wake up soon enough. I can get Will Faulkner to look at your throat. He is here all week. And of course that scar that you are so self-conscious about is an easy fix for me."
He reached for her hand and gripped her fingers. "You are right. There is a reason why we are here right now, and no, I don't believe in randomness. Not when there is a God out there who says that he will direct our paths if we trust him."
Chapter Nineteen
Luca went to his parent's house after leaving the practice. Della had still not shifted, and the nurses were instructed to give him a call if she moved. He laughed softly to himself when heading into the driveway.
So Della had followed him, thinking that he lived here. What were the odds that on that particular day he was actually visiting his parents?
He liked to check in on them on Sundays; that particular Sunday Josephine had convinced him to go to Rizzle to the fundraiser. He had thought it was for a good cause and he had tagged along.
That's when he had met Della Gold and had been sufficiently moved to say hi to her. He liked her. A piece of him was battling with the fact that he liked her more now that he had read her journal. A little bit too much perhaps.
It was heady to find out that a girl that you were attracted to felt the same way about you and then some. She couldn't hide it; she couldn't play games with him. Those were her words in stark black and white. He knew how she felt.
He parked the vehicle under the porte-cochere and the front door flew open. It was Othneil, an anxious Othneil.
"I slept and feel rested. How is the patient?"
"In a coma." Luca came out of the car. "But you are not going to believe this when I tell you."
"What?" Othneil ran his fingers through his curly hair and breathed through his nose shallowly. "Hit me with the bad news."
"Wrong choice of words." Luca grinned at him. "Hit me? Really, Othneil. Haven't you had enough hitting for the week?"
Othneil smirked. "Come on in and tell me, not hit me."
Luca chuckled and followed his brother. They headed through the stylish foyer and into the family room. Othneil was the same height as he was and the same build.
When they were growing up, though Othneil was the eldest, people used to ask if they were twins.
They still resembled quite a bit but these days Othneil was looking way older than he should. Lack of sleep and work stress was aging his brother.
He was shocked to see Josephine in the family room with Yasmin, their heads bent over a magazine. His mother was standing behind them and pointing out things.
His heart sank when he saw that it was a wedding book.
<
br /> "So this is where you are!" he said, interjecting some cheer in his voice.
Josephine looked up and smiled. "And like a homing pigeon you found me."
"How corny." Othneil sprawled out in the settee and yawned. "Young love."
"I still have corny things to say to you." Yasmin winked at Othneil.
"So, Luca you were saying something about the girl in a coma," Othneil said, sitting down with his hands between his legs and looking across at his brother.
Luca paused. He was not so sure he wanted to talk about Della with Josephine around. Della had dedicated quite a few of her posts to saying that she dreamt about Josephine and she was actually working on her account. He did not want to create any trouble.
"Tell us, Luca." Yasmin was looking at him earnestly now. "I am so concerned about her."
"There's nothing to tell," Luca said, getting up. "She is in a coma but her hands were twitching so I went to check it out."
Othneil looked at him oddly but didn't say anything. He had just declared that he had something to tell. He was happy when Othneil didn't pursue asking him anything.
"And what about that stalker's book?" Josephine asked. "Did you read it?"
"Yes I did." Luca smiled. "It's nothing really."
Then the thought hit him that in one of Della's entries she said she saw Josephine in a bridal dress when she was younger. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there could be a reason why she dreamt about Josephine.
Della thought she was hallucinating. As she put it, she had gone crazy but was she really?
He cleared his throat. "Hey Jose, can we talk in the kitchen?"
Josephine smiled and got up. She was in a pale green shift dress; her hair was combed in a side part. She looked cool and elegant.
"What is it?" she asked him, moving into his arms as soon as they were alone. "I missed you today. I feel as though you were avoiding me after our chat."
"I know." Luca eased himself away from her and looked her in the eyes. "I didn't know you were married twice. It was a bit disconcerting. Why did you break up the first time?"
Josephine sighed. "Oh, so we are back to that. He was older and he had a daughter, a little girl who hated my guts, and I was very immature and jealous of the kid at the time. Nothing I did could convince her to like me. In her eyes I was taking away her Dad..."
Luca froze. He actually felt his head growing bigger. That was why Della had headaches when she saw Josephine. It was not because she was jealous of him, as she thought. Josephine had been in her life. That's why she recalled dreams with her.
He inhaled and then exhaled slowly. "So what was the name of your first husband?"
"Dale Givens," Josephine said softly. "He's an international lawyer. He was heartbroken when Casey died."
"The name of the little girl was Casey?"
"Yes. The spoilt brat. Dale doled so much attention on that child that it was appalling. He was trying to make up for her mother's death, I guess. Her mother died in a car accident." Josephine shook her head. "To this day, I can't believe how attached Casey was to her father and how much hate a little person had for me.
"I didn't stand a chance with Casey. To Casey I was the wicked stepmother, and I wasn't even wicked. I tried really hard to be nice but she was not having it."
"How did she die?" Luca asked. His voice had a trembling quiver to it that was totally involuntary.
"Well, she...er...why is this important?" Josephine looked at him. "Why all the questions about this girl? She died nearly twelve years ago. It has nothing to do with us."
Luca shrugged. "Humor me."
"She was kidnapped while we were on a vacation in Jamaica. We were supposed to come to Jamaica for a family visit. I still had family here at the time. Dale was supposed to come with us but as usual work intruded and he came later. He had some enemies at that particular time. He was working on a gang ring case in the UK and was getting threats and all of that, but he ignored them. He is fearless that way but it cost him his daughter."
Luca exhaled on a rush. For a fanciful minute he had thought that Della was Casey.
"So where was she buried?" Luca asked. "Jamaica or was she shipped back to England?"
"Her body was never found." Josephine shrugged. "The gang who claimed responsibility for her death said they dumped her body at sea. They taunted Dale with it. He actually gave up the case after that. He had a nervous breakdown. The police never found her body."
Josephine sighed. "Dale could not forgive me for it happening. He blamed himself for going up against the criminals. He blamed me for taking her here. It mattered not that they were targeting her and that she would have died anywhere. I was the scapegoat. Our marriage could not have survived the bitterness and accusations. A few months after Casey died he gave me the boot. I fought for a settlement with him…I tell you, that experience made me hard; I grew up fast after that.
"I came back here to live after that, met Ray and he was husband number two. Is that enough details, Luca? Because seriously, I didn't know that me being married before would have been such a big deal."
"Ah." Luca walked to the window and looked over the back garden. He remembered something from Della's diary. She had been excited that she remembered something. A dog, a Chow-Chow.
"Did Casey have a dog named Barnes?" Luca asked, turning to Josephine. "A Chow-Chow?"
Josephine nodded jerkily. "How'd you know that she had a dog named Barnes?" Her eyes widened. "How on earth would you know this?"
Luca smiled grimly. "Because Casey Givens is in my practice, right now--unconscious. She can't remember the first nine years of her life. She has a slash on her throat and she is mute."
He didn't anticipate that Josephine would slide soundlessly to the ground in a shocked faint.
Chapter Twenty
"I want to see her," Josephine said weakly for the umpteenth time after she revived. She was lying on the settee, with all of Luca's family surrounding her anxiously.
"No," Luca said from somewhere to the left of her. "She is comatose. When she wakes up, she has a lot to learn. It will take her by surprise. She has to be prepared, especially about you."
"How did you know about her dog?" Josephine asked weakly.
Luca moved into her line of vision while the rest of his family moved away.
"She wrote about it in a journal," Luca said. "After seeing me in the supermarket she started having dreams. Her counselor told her to write down her thoughts in a book. She addressed it to me, instead of her diary."
"You? But why?" Josephine sat up in the settee and straightened her clothes.
Luca shook his head. "She had a crush on me. I triggered her dreams…I don't know. Then she followed me around and saw you and then her memories started coming back in patches."
"What a coincidence!" Yasmin breathed. "That's a serious coincidence."
"No. It's too amazing for coincidence." Othneil said. "This feels like a heavenly collusion. Like God orchestrated things this way."
"God did not make you hit that girl down, Othneil," Jennifer Lawson said sarcastically. "You did it because you were sleeping at the wheel of your car. I hope she doesn't sue us."
"I'll have to tell Dale." Josephine said, getting up. Not a drop of color was in her face. "I mean, if it is really Casey. He has to know."
"Our lab can run a DNA test when he gets here," Luca volunteered.
"But she has been here in Jamaica all this time?" Josephine couldn't wrap her head around it. "How on earth did she survive?"
"The good people at Magnolia House," Luca said, "and especially Patricia Benedict. Pat has always been a Good Samaritan. According to Della...er, Casey...Patricia wanted children who were really in need for their newest bungalow. She saw her picture in a file and decided that she was a worst case scenario. She had a slash at her throat which affected her larynx. She has been mute for twelve years, with no memory of her past."
Josephine put her hand to her mouth; tears were in
her eyes. "Excuse me. I am going to use the bathroom."
She got up and left them, grabbing her bag with her.
"It is a small world," Luca said, looking at Othneil, "and yeah, I agree with you. God had a hand in this. Did you know that Casey works for Benedict and Associates and her first account was Josephine's?"
"You don't say," Yasmin gasped.
"And she spoke to Liam Benedict about her throat and he suggested that his wife was almost deaf and was worked on by a Doctor Miracle? Remember that case that I collaborated on with Will Faulkner?"
"Yes." Othneil nodded. "How could I forget? Will drove us all crazy. He has a big ego. I can't stand him, though, seriously."
"But Dr. Miracle is here; he will be working on a patient of mine on Tuesday. Which means that he could work on Casey when she wakes up. Her throat can be fixed. If there is anybody who can do it, it's Will. He's the best."
"The problem is, he knows it." Othneil snorted. And he doesn't let you forget."
Luca shrugged and then shook his head. "This whole thing is giving me goose pimples. You know, she asked me if I believed in random coincidence. I definitely don't."
*****
"I called Dale," Josephine said, coming back into the room. Her eyes were bloodshot.
"He'll be here by Sunday morning. He doesn't believe me that it's her but he'll be here. She was his whole world; he'll grasp at straws. Luca, I hope you are sure, because this would be bringing up fresh pain."
"Are his eyes golden with a brown ring around them?" Luca asked.
"Yes." Josephine slumped inelegantly in her chair. "That's the first thing I noticed about him when we met. Casey got his eyes."
"I know," Luca said. "In one of her entries she said she looked for eyes like hers wherever she goes and I've seen them. They are pretty unique."
"Oh God." Josephine groaned. "All of this is overwhelming. I left Jamaica as soon as the police searched the coast for her body and didn't find her. She was kidnapped from the west side of Jamaica; we got the call the morning after the kidnapping that she was dead.
Dear Mystery Guy (Magnolia Sisters Book 1) Page 12