by Jill Sanders
She felt more powerful than she had in her entire life. Stronger. More sure, and most important, free. Free to finally be herself.
***
Mike finished setting up his guest room by moving the furniture from the garage into the room and making the bed with the new sheets he’d bought a few weeks back. Then he moved into the kitchen. He’d hardly gotten anything done in the room in the past few days other than the flooring.
His cupboards had been delivered a few weeks back and sat in the garage, so he spent the next few hours carrying them in and installing them. The process was slow and he sure could have used a second pair of hands.
When there was a knock at his door, he called out for them to enter, just as he slammed his thumb with a hammer.
“Son of a….” he exclaimed.
“I wouldn’t finish that if I were you. Not with the woman you’re speaking of standing in the same room,” his father said, smiling slightly.
“Hey.” He set the hammer down and walked over to shake his dad’s hand and receive a hug from his mother. He held on to her while she burst into tears. His eyes met his dad’s over her head and he knew he’d better hold on to her, that she needed it.
“I’m sorry,” she kept saying over and over. “I should have…” She cried into his shoulder as she continued to mumble into his chest.
“Mom.” He held her. “It’s okay. I think I understand.” He hadn’t realized that he was crying until his father handed him a napkin.
“Well, if you two are done sniffling about it,” his father said, using a napkin himself, “can we sit down and have that talk?”
Two hours later, after a long talk over cold sandwiches, his father changed into some work clothes and helped him finish installing the cupboards.
“The countertops are being installed next week, so we’ll have to deal with the boards.” He nodded towards the plywood they had set atop the cupboards.
“It’ll do,” his mother said when she came back from the local store with a car full of groceries. “Now, you two go clean up while I get to work.” She rolled up her sleeves and pushed them out of the room. “You stink.” She smiled and then reached up and kissed them both on the cheek.
He’d always loved how well his family could bounce back from things. He’d never had to question if he was loved. All he had to do was look into his parents’ faces.
He knew, after what Xtina had said, that they had been young and trusting. Too naive to really understand what they were doing, giving up a child at the tender age of sixteen or seventeen.
He took a deep breath. He’d never been in the position himself, but if he had… He thought about it as he showered. Would he have done the same?
He’d like to think no. But… children change things. Sure, he’d always thought that someday he would have a family. But after the military and the police force, he’d put all that aside. Especially when he’d thought he was going crazy.
Now… his mind conjured up an image of children with sea green eyes and blonde curls running around. He hadn’t realized he was smiling until he cut himself shaving and cursed under his breath.
Refocusing on the simple task, he finished his shower and put the thought of enjoying Xtina and his kids off to the future.
When he walked out, his house smelled better than it ever had. “My god!” he exclaimed as he walked into the room. His father was already sitting at the bar area, his elbows propped up on the plywood as he watched his wife cook. “I’d forgotten how wonderful your cooking smells.”
His mother turned and smiled at him. “Good, now go and get the rest of the groceries from the back of my car.” She winked at him. “I’m almost done here.”
He groaned as he walked out. When he pulled the two paper bags from his parents’ trunk, he noticed the white bouquet of flowers and smiled.
His mother thought of everything. He heard the barking first, then turned to see Xtina walk across the yard towards him. Rose made it to him first, so he bent down and spent a moment enjoying the dog kisses.
“She missed you,” Xtina said, walking directly into his arms. She smiled as she kissed him slowly. He easily lost himself in her soft lips and buried his fingers into her softer hips.
“There, that will answer some questions they have.” She nodded towards the house. He glanced over just in time to see both of his parents rush away from the window.
He laughed. “Here.” He bent down and pulled out the flowers. “My mother.” He nodded towards the house. “Not that I wouldn’t have gotten you flowers on my own, but I’ve been busy today.”
“Thank you.” She buried her face in the flowers and when she leaned back, he swore to himself that he would buy her flowers every day if she would continue to smile like that.
“You look beautiful.” He stepped back and took her hand. She was wearing a soft gray and coral sweater dress that reached to just above her knees.
She looked damn yummy. “Shall we go in?” he said after a moment.
She nodded, and he almost forgot the bags in the back of his parents’ car.
“I hope it’s okay that I brought Rose,” she said. He’d forgotten about the dog, who sat on his front porch like she belonged there.
“Sure, my folks have two shih tzus. Ricky and Lucy.”
Xtina smiled. She stopped outside the door and took a deep breath. “Okay, here we go.”
He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “They are going to love you.” He kissed her skin and felt her shiver. “Really.”
She nodded, then he opened the door.
Chapter Seventeen
An hour later, it was clear his parents did like her. She had yet to touch them, other than a brief handshake, during which she’d done everything in her power to block any visions.
She’d been impressed with how much work Mike and his father had gotten done in the kitchen. Even with plywood for countertops, the place was looking pretty amazing.
His mother had made some of the best chicken she’d had in years. There was a light crust of oats and each breast lay in a bed of potatoes, veggies, and herbs. She could have eaten the entire platter.
They sat around the living room talking about Mike and Ethan’s childhood and how the two of them got into as much trouble as they could.
It was nice listening to how normal his life had been and she tried not to continually compare it with her own screwed-up childhood. But as the evening went on, she was even more sure that she wasn’t cut out to have any sort of “normal” anything. Her parents had seen to that.
Mike reached over and took her hand. He must have sensed her sadness, so she shifted her thoughts quickly.
“Michael tells me you two grew up around here?”
“Yes.” They both glanced at one another. “Rusty and I met in high school here. My parents moved here when I was fifteen. Rusty lived here his entire life.” She reached over and took her husband’s hand.
“I don’t know if Michael told you…”
“Dad,” Mike broke in. “Xtina is the one that told me about Jacob.”
Both of their eyes moved to hers.
And here it goes, she thought. All the normalcy in the evening would be gone. So much for ending the evening peacefully and happily.
She braced and Mike glanced over at her, feeling the tension in their joined hands.
“It’s not my story to tell,” he whispered. “It’s up to you.”
She slowly dropped his hand and leaned forward.
“Susan?” She held out her hand waiting. “If you’d be willing…”
Mike’s mother’s eyes moved to her hands, then back up towards Mike.
“Go ahead, Mom. I think you’ll enjoy this.” He smiled slightly.
His mother shrugged, then dropped her husband’s hand and placed a hand in Xtina’s.
Images flashed behind Xtina’s eyes. She focused and decided on looking at the positive, instead of all the emotions boiling around inside her currently.
�
��When you were twelve, you were given a brand new pink Schwinn bike from your parents.” She smiled at the memory. “You rode it everywhere and had a little custom license plate that had your name on it.” The memories turned. “The first time you saw Rusty, you told your friend Rachelle that you were going to marry him.”
Her hands dropped away from Xtina’s as she gasped. “How did…?” Her words fell away, then she leaned closer. “How amazing.”
The woman shocked Xtina by reaching out and taking her hands and turning them over as her eyes scanned them.
This time, Xtina let her mind wander over all the memories.
“You knew my parents.” Her voice shook. “Kelly and Roy Warren.”
Xtina watched Susan’s eyes turn sad. “Yes, I’d heard they passed away.”
“They were never right after…” Rusty broke in.
“After?” Mike asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.
His parents looked at one another.
“Can you see things?” Rusty asked. “If you…” He held out his hands.
Xtina hesitated for just one moment. Then she held out her hands and touched his. They were almost identical to Michael’s, only slightly smaller and not as strong.
Her eyes closed as the images flooded her mind.
“Where you going, Rusty?” Her father, Roy, was younger than she’d ever seen him, either in her memories or in photos. His hair was longer than ever before, as well. Roy rushed over to a much younger Rusty and slapped him on the back. “We were going to have ourselves a party tonight.”
“I don’t know, my folks…”
“Won’t find out. Come on.” Her father nudged him. “Bring Sue. Kelly and Rachelle are coming. Larry is too.”
She felt Rusty change his mind and figure out how he was going to get out of going to the church services he was supposed to be attending that evening with his family.
Then the scene changed. The three couples were walking in the dark, carrying old flashlights as they sipped beer and laughed. Someone stumbled, and the entire group laughed.
The next moment was full of screams, running, and terror, so much so that Xtina almost dropped his hands.
But then everything settled down and it was the next day. Rusty sat in class, his hands on the desk as Roy walked over to him.
“Hey, man,” Rusty said, trying to hide the fear.
Roy turned his nose up and walked away.
Then they flew to days later. Each time he tried to talk to Roy, he would shun him. He watched as Roy and Kelly stood in the hallway at school quietly whispering, then turning their backs away when friends walked by.
Rusty broke the connection.
“What happened?” she asked once all the memories had cleared from her mind. “What did you see that night? Where did you go?”
Sue reached over and took his hand. “Rusty?”
Just then there was a knock on the door, causing everyone to jump slightly. Mike glanced over at her, then frowned as he walked over to the door.
“Oh,” Jessie said when she saw all the people in the living room. “I didn’t know you had company. Xtina?”
“What is it?” Xtina stood up quickly. She noticed that her friend’s face was paler than normal.
“I thought you would want to see…” Jessie held a newspaper out, her eyes moving around the room. “I came as fast as I could.”
Xtina walked slowly over towards her friend, her eyes glued to the paper as her gut sank.
There, on the front cover of the county paper, was an image of her picking Rose up from the vet after her checkup. She glanced down at the dog now, who had been curled up by Mike’s feet the entire time.
Her eyes turned back to the paper. Its headline read, “Local woman, believing herself to be psychic, thinks she’s solved murder.”
She allowed Mike to take the paper from her and he read the article out loud. She didn’t really pay attention as Mike read the article detailing how Laura’s husband had been murdered, and how Laura had been a victim herself when she’d shown up for their date night. It talked in detail of how she’d been jumped and had been knocked unconscious, then had been immediately accused by Christina Warren. They went on to describe her as a local woman who was visiting Hidden Creek after both of her parents were killed in a mysterious accident.
“Mysterious?” she piped in, not caring too much about the rest. “What do they mean…” She took the paper from Mike’s hand and scanned the print until she found the part about her parents. “What do they mean by mysterious?” Her eyes moved to Mike’s. “No one talked to me about this.” She shook the paper. “The police chief said…” She felt her eyes tear up.
“Oh, honey.” Susan was beside her, her arms around her shoulders before she could prepare herself.
The images that flooded her were that of pain so deep that she hunched over and cried out.
It was a week before Susan’s seventeenth birthday. She should be at the lake with her friends. Instead, she was in a stale stark white room. Her legs were high above her head in stirrups and she was in more pain than she had ever been in her life. Her parents stood outside the glass, looking disapprovingly at her. Hours later, as the baby finally slid out of her, she cried out even though she was too tired to move and was covered in sweat.
She heard a cry, but then nothing as it was rushed from the room without her being able to even see it.
“I want…” she called out. “Nooo!” She tried to fight them. She wanted her baby.
“Shhh, it’s okay. Your son will have a wonderful life,” a nurse said, just before there was a slight prick and then darkness.
Xtina was jerked into reality by Mike’s hands shaking her slightly. “Damn it, get some water,” he called out.
Moments later, there was a glass put up to her lips and she drank, then coughed.
“Sorry, I though whiskey would be better,” his father said.
It did the job more quickly than water normally did. “I’m fine.” She coughed again. “Thanks.” Her eyes watered as she looked up at Rusty. “No.” She stopped the man from reaching down and helping her up. “Mike will…”
Mike pulled her up until she stood next to him. “She can’t read me.” He gave his mom a slight smile.
“Oh,” Susan said, “honey, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She tried to smile. “I should have told you… about…” She shook her head and closed her eyes, almost a little embarrassed. Then she remembered the article. “What do they mean, mysterious?”
“I wanted to talk to you about… I did a little digging and if I felt there was something funny, it was only a matter of time before the police would find it too.” He took her shoulders and led her to the sofa, then nudged until she sat down. Rose jumped up and snuggled next to her. Her hands dug into the dog’s soft fur.
She waited until Mike walked over and downed a few fingers of the honey liquid his father had supplied. “Better?” Rusty asked her from his spot across the room.
“Yes, thank you.” Her eyes moved back to Mike as everyone gained their seats again. She felt like her heart had refused to beat until he started speaking again.
***
Mike took a deep breath and started going over his findings. The lack of tire marks on the road, the angle that the car had taken the turn. From his experience as an investigator, he knew there was more to the story.
“Actually, I was going to go into the station and talk to Jacob about it later this week.” His eyes moved to his parents.
“We’ll go together.” Xtina started to stand up.
“Now?” he asked, his eyes going again to his folks.
“I don’t know if you finished reading that…” She glanced over at the paper. “But, in a roundabout way, I’ve just been accused of murdering my parents and accusing an innocent woman of murdering her husband. They’re making me out to be…”
“Crazy,” Jessie supplied, earning her a glare from almost every eye in the room. “What?�
� she said, crossing her arms over her head. “It’s not like I believe them. I’ve been her friend for longer than most…”
Xtina chuckled. “It’s not the first time I’ve been called crazy. Nor will it be the last.” She sighed and turned to Mike. “I’m going in to talk to Jacob about this tonight. If you don’t want to come”—her eyes moved slightly to his parents— “I’ll understand.”
At that moment he didn’t give a damn what his parents wanted. There was no way he was going to leave her alone in this.
“No, we’ll all go.” His father stood up and took his mother’s hand. “It’s high time we met our son.”
They climbed into two different cars. Xtina insisted she ride with Jessie, who was still visibly upset about everything, while he drove his parents’ car into town. He didn’t trust his parents to drive in the dark in the emotional state they were in.
When he parked the car at the station, he helped his mother out just as Xtina and Jessie parked next to them.
When she got out of the car, there was a bright flash, which caused him to blink several times before he could respond. The next minute he was on the guy with the camera.
“Who the hell…” He had the guy by the jacket, his camera in the other hand.
“Son,” he heard his father calling to him, “it’s not a crime to take pictures.” Suddenly his mind cleared. His father was right. Quickly he dropped his hands and stepped back.
“I ought to sue you,” the man said, straightening his jacket. Then his eyes moved to Xtina, who had moved closer to them. Her chin was held up high.
“Since you’re taking pictures, how about a quote?” she said. He walked over and tugged on her arm.
“Let’s go inside,” he said under his breath.
“No, I’d like to have my say.” Her eyes moved back to the cameraman.
“I don’t take quotes, lady. Just pictures.” He snapped a few more of her, then had the balls to turn his camera on him and snap off a few shots. He turned with a smile on his lips and walked away.
“Let’s go inside,” Xtina said softly as she took his hand. He was still vibrating with anger but knew there was nothing, legally, he could do at this point.