by Lynn Ricci
After the incredible story Mason had shared, learning of her past and coming to believe in things she had thought only lived in children’s stories and Hollywood movies, and the harrowing and surreal night casting a spell she had found on the internet on sacred ground, Sarah had collapsed. Mason carried her three flights up to her room and let her sleep, standing guard in the living room. When her father arrived five hours later, Mason had greeted him at the door and found a very apologetic man. Ben had just hit a black cat who had run out from behind a snow bank in front of their house. He asked if it belonged to anyone that lived there and Mason had informed him that they don’t take pets and thought it was a stray. Ben had moved the cat to the sidewalk and Mason promised to call animal control.
Sarah thought about that morning, driving back to Connecticut with her father with him saying how horrible she looked and that it must have been the flu and then telling her the story of the cat. She almost laughed, giddy with the thought of how Mason had handled it and whether the cat could have been Selena or just another animal she conjured up.
Her mother doted on her for a few days and finally when it all began to feel like a strange, cold medicine-induced dream, she returned home to find the large round table moved to the back of the lobby and a floor length table cloth hiding the pentagon and candle stubs underneath. That moment made everything become real again.
Sarah drummed her fingers happily on the steering wheel as she remembered Mason coming to visit her when she got home. He had left roses for her in the apartment and she had been nervous to see him but as soon as she opened her door and saw the handsome man with the shiny black hair, eyes the green blue of the sea, and dimpled smile – and felt those muscular arms wrap around her – she knew she had fallen for him and that he would never hurt her.
As the residents returned to Dunhill Street they had questioned who this new stranger was. Mason simply introduced himself to all as Aiden Murphy, the great nephew to Mason Brown who unfortunately had health issues that caused him to go into a nursing home in upstate New York. Although hard to say if there was a family resemblance to the hunched and ugly man who stayed in shadows the unique sea colored eyes would have connected him. No one questioned it, and all seemed quite pleased to have a strapping young man around.
Mason came out of the brownstone and skipped lightly down the front steps. He had been in Sarah’s car several times since she drove back from Connecticut with it after Christmas, and each time he was thrilled. They had driven all over the city in January, to mixed reviews of what had been built and the beauty that had been lost. She realized part of his excitement today was that he had never left the city in all these years.
The highway was a new experience and in a few short hours she was pulling into her parent’s large, upscale colonial home in Berlin. Her mother was ecstatic that she was bringing a boy home to meet them and had a weekend of festivities planned.
She hopped out of her side and Mason got out of his and stood, dumfounded in the driveway. “Tis a grand house, Sarah.”
“Aye, ‘tis.” She teased him back with a wink and a bad accent as she grabbed her suitcase from the trunk. Mason took her bag from her and grabbed his own, following Sarah up to the front door.
“Nice to meet you again, Mr. Carter.”
"Yes, nice to see you again. I hope you had a good holiday, despite being called to Boston to help out with your uncle. Sad story – Sarah told us all about it.”
“It was actually a great Christmas, Mr. Carter. I am happy to be there and able to help out family."
“Well come in, come in. You made good time.”
Mason followed Sarah and Joanna into the foyer and whistled. “You have a grand house, Mrs. Carter. Thank you for having me.”
“Thank you, Aiden. We are glad to have you here.” Sarah’s mother smiled back approvingly and Sarah made a mental note to be careful not to call him Mason by mistake. She had thought it would be easier to introduce him as Aiden since that is what he was going by at the brownstone and she had mentioned her landlord’s name to her parents when she moved in.
Her father took the bags and set them at the bottom of the stairs. “We have the guest room set up for you upstairs.”
Mason smiled back and respectfully nodded agreement to Ben's silent statement. “Thank you, sir.” Ben smiled back at Aiden as they all entered living room.
Sarah saw someone slowly get up from the wing chair facing the room.
“Grandma! I didn’t know you would be here today!” Sarah hugged her grandmother tightly.
“Well I heard you were bringing a friend with you and you know how curious I can be!” Rose teased while tightly embracing Sarah and affectionately patting her granddaughters back. Sarah released her and turned, her arm still around her grandmothers' shoulders, and proudly introduced Aiden.
“Grandma, this is Aiden.”
As Aiden put out his hand, remembering Rose as a teenager in the 1940’s, Rose smiled and a slow flicker of recognition entered her eyes. “Aiden, so nice to meet you.” Rose tilted her head to the side. “But have we met before?”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn Ricci was born and raised in the Greater Boston area. Her professional background is in financial communications and she pursues her artistic endeavors of writing and painting while enjoying an active family life with her two children and dog, Fenway.
A writer of several published short stories including Daydreams, The Dating Intervention was her debut novel. More information on novels available and underway can be found at www.lynnricci.com.
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
ABOUT THE AUTHOR