A Twist in Time

by Donna Raider

  As they finished their dessert, the sheriff approached their table. “I wanted to congratulate you,” she said softly. “You deserve to be happy, Leah.”

  “I am.” The former queen smiled sincerely.

  Turning to Richie, Emily said, “I thought you might want to play some Mario with me this afternoon. I’m off. You could even spend the night if you want.”

  Richie much preferred spending time with his mother and Mika, but he could see the sadness in Emily’s eyes, so he looked at his mother. “Would that be okay, Mother?” he asked.

  Leah gasped. He had never addressed her as Mother before. It felt wonderful, so much more than Mom.

  “Of course, dear,” she said, smiling at him.

  “I’ll drop him by your place on my way to work tomorrow,” Emily said. “I work the late shift, so would four be okay? That will get him home before dinner.”

  “That’ll be fine.” Leah nodded, a slight scowl on her face as her son left the restaurant with the Samson family.

  “Have you decided who will be your best man?” Leah asked as Ruth refilled their coffee cups.

  “Well, I wanted Richie to be,” the priest said thoughtfully, “but he wants to walk you down the aisle and give you to me. I think that is the most important thing he can do. He’s so excited and proud of you.”

  “I know,” she laughed, “he keeps telling me how lucky we are to have you in our lives.”

  “I’m the lucky one,” Mika said sincerely. “How about you?” Mika took Leah’s hands in hers and kissed each of them. “Have you decided on a maid of honor yet?”

  “I think so,” she nodded, “I’m just not sure she will do it.”

  “Care to share?”

  “Not yet,” she frowned.

  “Thanks for the save on Richie asking to go on our honeymoon,” the priest grinned. “I was at a total loss for words.”

  “Seriously,” Leah grinned evilly, “accompanying us on our honeymoon would scar him for life. I intend to be very uninhibited. Believe me, Priest: you are going to pay for making me wait two years.”

  “I’m counting on it.” Mika blushed.

  They walked to the mansion snuggled up to each other for warmth. They talked and laughed softly about their wedding plans, something the former Wicked Queen thought she would never get to do.

  CHAPTER 13 - Their Secret

  It was their big secret. Whenever possible, Mika and Richie disappeared every Saturday after breakfast. The priest had cleared it with Leah, of course, telling her she could see the fruits of their labor when they finished with their project. They had started working on the project right after Mika had settled into the rectory. Leah assumed it was more restoration of the cathedral. She welcomed the time alone to shop, just relax, or enjoy a book and the solitude. After about eight hours, she found she craved the presence of the two loves of her life. She would call Mika, reminding her and Richie to shower and dress for dinner.

  They always showed up, showered and well groomed, at six o’clock. Both were usually exhausted, and the evening concluded early, as Richie usually went to bed right after dinner. He would kiss his mother lovingly on the cheek and hug Mika, reminding her that they had an early day tomorrow for church.

  This Saturday was no different. They laughed and talked about the past week and planned for next week over breakfast at the diner. Richie kissed her cheek and Mika gently kissed her lips as they left to work on their project. Leah stayed for a cup of coffee, content with the feel of their lips on her cheek and lips. Happiness is having someone to love, she thought. Her mother had been wrong.

  Sipping her coffee, Leah thought about Richie’s relief when she had told him that the priest knew who Leah was. Mika’s easy acceptance of her past and magic abilities had deeply impressed Richie. He had been afraid the truth would drive away the woman he had grown to love. The priest’s love and approval of his mother had made the boy realize even more what a wonderful woman she truly was.

  Leah pulled a pen and notepad from her purse then began making a grocery list. Her family had requested lasagna for dinner, so she had to pick up a few things before heading home.

  “Hey.” Emily slid into the seat vacated by Mika, pulling the mayor out of her happy moment.

  “Sheriff.” Leah frowned. “I don’t recall inviting you to join me.”

  Emily studied the woman for a long time. She fought to suppress the desire to kiss the lips that now obviously belonged solely to the priest.

  “I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry I wasn’t there for you when the mine thing went down,” the sheriff mumbled.

  Leah bit her tongue to keep from pointing out that Emily had never truly been there for her, in so many ways. She didn’t say it because it no longer mattered. She realized, with a start, that Emily no longer mattered to her at all.

  “Leah.” Emily touched her arm to pull her out of her thoughts.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Sheriff. The priest was there for me.”

  Ruth approached their table with the coffee pot, offering refills. Leah moved her cup toward the waitress, asking for more coffee. Emily did the same.

  “The sheriff won’t be staying at my table, Ruth.” Leah smiled at the waitress. “You can refill her cup at the counter.”

  Good for you, Your Majesty, Ruth thought as she picked up Emily’s cup and carried it to the counter before refilling it.

  Leah went back to studying her list as Emily moved to the counter, accepting her dismissal silently. She couldn’t take her eyes off the mayor. The woman seemed to get more beautiful every day. There was a glow of happiness and contentment about her.

  “Ruth,” Emily called the waitress over, “have they?”

  “Not yet.” Ruth grinned. “Mika has a lot more self-control than I.”

  Emily nodded. From experience, she knew the mayor had none when it came to the people she loved.

  “She looks extremely happy,” Ruth added. “I guess that comes from having a loving and respectful relationship.”

  Emily huffed. Respect. She had never respected Leah. She had always felt that she was doing the beautiful woman a favor by befriending her and then becoming her secret lover. Everyone in town feared and hated Leah. She’d had only Emily to turn to for friendship and comfort. Somehow, Leah had turned all of that around.

  Emily and Richie had insisted that Leah cease using her magic, essentially destroying the very essence of the woman. The one constant that had always been in her life. The friend to which she turned when everything was darkest. Trying to please her son and her lover, Leah had become a mere shell of the proud, powerful woman she once was. Giving up magic was the price they had extracted from her for their affection. A price she had gladly paid.

  Whenever the town ran to the mayor because something went wrong or some evil invaded their little paradise, Leah was always thankful to have the opportunity to call upon her magic. Emily couldn’t even count all the times the former queen had risen to the occasion, saving the town and everyone in it. Still, the sheriff couldn’t bring herself to tell the world that she loved the Wicked Queen.

  Her mother, Delilah, had always hated Leah. Her father, Samson, just went along with Delilah. Whenever Emily had admitted to them that she liked Leah and wanted to be friends with her, her parents had almost died from shock. Her mother hyperventilated, and her father filled the air with a string of expletives that would have blistered the paint off a car.

  With her mother hyperventilating and her father cursing every time she mentioned Leah’s name, Emily wasn’t about to tell them she was sleeping with the woman.

  She hadn’t meant to hurt Leah by sleeping with Ruth. She was just looking for some release from the constant pressure she felt from everyone. Emily would never forget the look on Leah’s face when she walked in on them having sex on the cot in the jail cell. Leah had brought her coffee because she was working the late shift. The mayor had dropped the coffee, shocked by the sight of Emily and Ruth. Emily knew that something
had snapped in Leah when she saw her on top of Ruth.

  “Oh! My mistake,” Leah had said quietly before transporting herself from the sheriff’s station.

  Leah took Richie and left the next day on a two-week cruise.

  When she returned, she was most definitely a different woman. She was cold and all business, except with Richie.

  Emily had called her, camped out on the mansion steps for hours, tried to see her in her office, but Leah wanted nothing to do with her. She no longer made up excuses to call the sheriff to her office. Now she simply had her secretary pass along any information or instructions the sheriff needed.

  “Oh! My mistake.” Those words and that look of total betrayal haunted Emily’s sleeping and waking hours.

  Now Leah had it all: a son who adored her and was in awe of her, a woman that obviously worshiped the ground she walked on, and a town that treated her as if she was a queen—a good queen.

  Perhaps the deepest cut of all was the way her parents now fawned over the mayor. The same two people who warned her continuously that Leah was evil and couldn’t be trusted now bemoaned the fact that Emily and Leah hadn’t gotten together.

  When Emily had called them on their hypocrisy, they simply said, “We were wrong about Leah. She has changed. She is a different woman now.”

  Yes! She is a different woman now, Emily thought, and she has a different lover—or soon-to-be wife. No, the priest isn’t her lover. She is saving her for their marriage bed. Mika respected Leah so much that she declared her love from the pulpit of her church, for Christ’s sake. She promised the congregation that there would be no use of carnal knowledge between her and Leah until their wedding night.

  “Christ,” Emily mumbled out loud, “who makes a promise like that?”

  The door chime pulled Emily from her thoughts as Leah left the diner.

  ##

  “Where is the all-weather stripping?” Richie yelled below deck to Mika.

  “Down here, son,” the priest called out. “Come on down and let’s take a break. I made some sandwiches.”

  The boy bounded down the stairs into the spacious galley kitchen. “Wow,” he exclaimed, “Mom is going to love this.”

  The priest beamed as she placed their sandwiches, cold drinks, and chips on the booth table. “I hope she does.” Mika grinned.

  Mika recalled the first time she saw her future wife. Hers was the highest bid on a Beneteau Oceanis 60 sailing yacht that went very cheap in an estate sale. She had sailed it into the bay of the tiny town located on the southernmost shore of New Brunswick. She had docked it right after sundown without drawing a single glance from the townspeople. They were at the diner celebrating some occasion. Leah had been standing in the center of the group, furiously berating them about something.

  ##

  Mika and Richie had been working hard completely renovating the yacht in time for Mika and Leah’s honeymoon. Mika had quietly leased a boat slip, with a lift, that was almost invisible from the main dock and drew little attention.

  Today, they had completed the interior and were going to begin on the exterior next week. They both admired their work as they ate a late lunch. “You know she’s going to redecorate everything.” Richie laughed.

  “Yes.” Mika grinned. “We might as well let her. I might not have a good honeymoon if she is stressing over whether the curtains and bedspread match or complement each other.”

  Richie giggled as he thought about his Mom’s obsessive tendencies. “Yeah,” he laughed. “You don’t want that.”

  “Let’s get this finished by Mother’s Day and we can take her sailing,” Mika said. “That will give her a month to decorate it as she wants.”

  “You know,” Richie smiled, thinking of his mother, “she might use magic to redecorate totally.”

  “Arrggg,” Mika growled the pirate sound, “we should have had her do all this hard work, mate.”

  Richie giggled as Mika swaggered like a pirate. The boy found that instead of being ashamed of his mother’s magic, he was proud of it and her. Both Mika and he encouraged her to use it.

  “Let’s finish weather-stripping the windows then head home early tonight.” The priest winked. “Surprise your Mom.”

  “You know she doesn’t like surprises, especially when she is trying to have dinner ready for us.”

  “You are right.” Mika nodded. “I will call her and let her know we will be home early tonight.”

  Richie gathered the weather-stripping materials and headed to the deck.

  Leah smiled as she saw Mika’s smiling face appear on her phone screen. “Hello, Mika,” she purred. “I’m missing the loves in my life. I hope you are calling to tell me you are heading home early.”

  “We are,” Mika chuckled. “Is it safe for me to be there?”

  “Umm, no,” she laughed, “but if you leave before Richie goes to bed, you’ll be okay.”

  “I love you so much.” Mika exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath from the time she first heard her voice. “We will be home around four. Okay?”

  “I was hoping for a little earlier, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers. I will be happy for whatever extra time I have with you two.”

  They had just finished the weather stripping when Richie got a panic-stricken look on his face. “Mika,” he whispered, “It’s my mom.”

  The priest was delighted to see her, although she was disappointed that their surprise would be spoiled. When Mika turned to greet her, she realized that it was Richie’s other mom, Emily.

  She was standing on the dock, looking admiringly at the sailboat. “This belongs to you?” she asked Mika.

  The priest nodded.

  “So, this is where you disappear with my son every Saturday.” She raised her eyebrows. “Just what is it you do with him for several unsupervised hours?” She snarled an ugly smile as she stepped onto the deck of the yacht.

  Fury hit Mika like a tornado twisting her insides. She immediately knew what the vile woman was insinuating. Before she knew realized it, Mika had Emily by the collar, dragging her to the boat rail, fully intending to throw her overboard.

  “No, Mika,” Richie screamed, grabbing the priest’s arm just as she lifted the sheriff off the ground.

  Mika instantly released Emily, letting her fall in a heap onto the deck.

  “What is wrong?” The boy stared at her, a confused look in his eyes. “Why are you angry at my mom?”

  “Why don’t you tell him why I am angry?” Mika glared at the woman. “Tell him about your sick, disgusting insinuation. Then you can explain it to his mother.”

  “Hey, Priest.” The sheriff held up her hands to calm her. “I was just teasing.” She grabbed the rail and pulled herself to her feet.

  “Richie is nothing to tease about.” The priest inhaled deeply to regain control of her temper. “That is nothing to tease about.”

  “Just kidding,” she glanced away, unwilling to meet Mika’s gaze, “it was just a joke. I know you two have been working on this boat every chance you get. He’s my kid. I check on him.”

  She looked down at the deck, “I know nothing is going on. I was just pushing your buttons.”

  “It’s a secret.” Richie rushed to stand in front of Emily. “Mika wants to surprise Mom with it for their honeymoon. Please don’t tell Mom.”

  “I won’t,” Emily promised sadly. “Look, Mika, I am sorry. That was cruel of me. I’m not that person.”

  “Son,” Mika turned to Richie, “take your shower and get dressed for dinner. Your mother will be expecting us soon.”

  After Richie’s head had disappeared below deck, Mika turned to Emily in full priest mode. “Are you drinking, Emily?” Mika asked kindly.

  “No more than usual.” The blonde shrugged. “Not enough to excuse my behavior just now.”

  “Emily,” she said, frowning, “I can help you. I can get you help.”

  “I’m good,” she said as she climbed back onto the dock. “I…I just miss
her. She wouldn’t even talk to me today. It’s hard.”

  Mika nodded, something inside her violently reacting as she thought how empty her life would be if she ever lost Leah. Suddenly, she couldn’t get home fast enough.

  Richie came onto the deck as Emily disappeared. “She hasn’t been happy since she and Mom stopped being friends,” the boy volunteered innocently. “They had a big fight, and nothing has been the same since.”

  The priest nodded then went below deck to shower and dress for dinner with the woman who held all their hearts in the palm of her hand.

  As they reached the front door of the mansion, Richie grabbed Mika’s hand. “I just want to thank you for making my mother so happy. She has been happier with you than I have ever seen in my life. Probably happier than she has ever been in her whole life.”

  “You and your mother make me happier than I have ever been in my life, too.” Mika smiled.

  “Listen, Mika,” the boy worried as they entered the mansion, “you have to help me figure out a name for each of my moms. It is very confusing to me and others to call them both Mom.”

  “Let’s discuss this with the authority on the subject.” Mika smiled as she gestured toward Leah.

  Richie ran to his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his head in her softness. “Can I play video games until dinner is ready?” he pleaded.

  “Of course, dear.” Leah smiled happily at his deep affection for her.

  She tiptoed to kiss Mika, intending to brush her lips, but Mika wrapped her arms around Leah and held her tightly. She kissed her as if she were a drink of cold water offered to a sun-parched woman.

  “Oh my, Priest,” Leah breathed huskily, “I’m not sure you are safe here at all.”

  Mika kissed her again, and then released her while she still could.

  “What can I do to help you?” Mika inquired.

  “Nothing, my love.” She grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen. “Just keep me company as I put the finishing touches on the bread.”

  ##