Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 (12 page)

Nikki stopped walking. “You turned off the lights?”

Henry’s face burned now. “The other day when we were
leaving, I imagined them going off after we were gone.”

A moment passed in silence, then Nikki burst out
laughing. “Oh, my God. That is the stupidest thing ever! Why? Were you afraid
of wasting electricity?”

Henry shrugged in the darkness. “Habit, I guess.”

“Got news for you, River Rat. We don’t pay the power bill
for—” Nikki shrieked as thunder exploded.

Henry wanted to laugh but his heart kicked into
overdrive. That last blast shook the entire house. Lightning flashed again.

“There! I see it!” Nikki broke free and dashed before the
light faded. She flicked a switch and the hall brightened. She smiled proudly.
“See, they helped us that time.” Nikki raised her face to the ceiling. “Thanks,
Joseph! The lights are on now, you douche!”

Henry laughed again, watching her. The fact was, he also
knew this display meant nothing. It was all for show and he felt sure Joseph
and those with him knew the same. Their real power didn’t come from frightening
them. Just the opposite. It was when he and Nikki let their guard down that
they were in trouble. The storm outside was just their way of having fun.
Demons partying, was how he saw it.

“Come on. Let’s build another fire. That seemed to shut
them up last time.” Nikki walked toward the study, muttering to herself and
snickering. “River Rat turned off the lights. Love that.”

Henry built the fire, doing his best to ignore the
assault that continued outside. He didn’t want to say it out loud so he kept
the thought to himself. Still, he couldn’t help wonder what would happen if Rose
didn’t think of them again. He’d told Nikki about the things they’d discussed
when she’d left them on the beach but she hadn’t seen the look in Rose’s eyes
as the wheels had started to turn. Henry had touched a nerve. The deepest, most
sensitive nerve, and he wondered if, in doing so, he might have forced Rose to
block them out entirely. If that was the case, the sun was not going to rise
outside those windows. Only the wind, thunder and darkness would remain. From
there, who could say?

“You okay?”

Henry shook his head, startled. He’d been staring into
the fire while he thought, absently watching flames wrap around the wood. He
went to where she sat on the rug, her back resting against the sofa. The same
place where she’d sat the other night. Their place together here.

Henry lowered himself to the floor, uncertain if he
should sit as close to her as he had last time. If Nikki noticed his
hesitation, she didn’t show it. She slid over and closed the gap, her hip
against his.

“So, on a scale of one to ten,” Nikki said, “how scared
are you at being back?”

Henry thought for a moment. “I need some sort of
calibration. What was the first night?”

“Um, a six. That was pretty darned creepy.”

Henry noticed she didn’t give it a higher score and he
knew why. They’d both experienced the highest part of the scale. Not together,
but they both knew how bad it could get.

“I guess I’d give this a seven,” Henry said.

Nikki lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t seem anywhere near
as freaked out.”

“I don’t mean now,” Henry said. “I mean being back here
and what might or might not happen.”

Nikki nodded. “Yeah, got it. The stakes got raised a
little, didn’t they?”

“And we sort of know her now,” Henry said. “I mean, as
much as we can, all things considered.”

Nikki watched the flames jump and crackle for a few
moments. She spoke softly. “It’s weird, isn’t it? She seems like a nice
person.”

“You mean because she was rich?”

Nikki shrugged. “Kind of. I know I shouldn’t judge people
that way but I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

“It’s okay. I wondered about it too. Money can really
screw with people. But I get the feeling Rose didn’t spend much of her life thinking
about it.”

Nikki sighed. “Money didn’t really matter to her, did
it?”

“Exactly. I don’t think she cared about it. Only one
thing could fix her and she’s still trying to get it back.”

Henry wondered if the same elusive gift Rose had spent
her life—and now the decades since—searching for might for him be right by his
side. Had he stumbled upon that kind of treasure? Was it even possible,
especially under the circumstances? His pulse quickened again but with a
different kind of fear, part of him understanding why Rose kept clinging to
what she’d imagined losing. The thought of having it was overwhelming enough.
Losing it again was beyond Henry’s comprehension.

“You’re full of silences tonight,” Nikki said. “By the
way, there’s no one else to talk to. Just saying.”

Henry met her eyes, behind which lay another mystery. In
that moment, it occurred to him there might be no greater mystery. Or, at least
none that mattered more.

“I was just thinking,” Henry said, but it wasn’t like he
could tell her what he’d been thinking about. Not yet, anyway. Maybe someday.
“Just before Martha told us that Lysrus wanted to talk to us, before all of
this started, there was something you wanted to talk about. Remember?”

Nikki relaxed more against the sofa, her shoulder touching
his. “I’m sure you probably know.”

Henry settled in more too, although his heart kept
beating faster than normal. “About maybe jumping in again?”

Nikki sighed. She spoke softly. “Yeah. I mean, I’ve just
been thinking about it. More lately than usual for some reason, though. What
about you?”

Even as she asked, Henry suspected that somehow Nikki
guessed he’d been thinking about it more lately too. For the longest time, he’d
imagined staying on in this realm until his family in the other had also
crossed over. He’d pictured them all, at some point in the future, deciding it
was time to begin again together. But just lately he’d started to wonder if it
wasn’t always that simple. That other forces could come into play and change
the direction you’d originally envisioned. What would it mean if he decided to
jump in again sooner? Martha had assured them that people often shared many
lives together, that they kept finding each other time after time. Henry had no
doubt, regardless of how things became ordered, that they would do the same.

“What do you imagine?” Henry asked. “I mean, is there
something that’s been making you want to go back again?”

“Not fair.” Nikki nudged him with her elbow. “I asked you
first.”

“You asked me if I thought about it.”

“Whatever, River Rat. You know what I mean.”

Henry smiled and watched the fire for a few moments. “Not
exactly.”

Nikki pretended to sigh. “A technicality. It’s not like I
have all night. Just go with it.”

“You kind of suck.”

Nikki kept her eyes on the fire but smiled too. “Yeah, I
get that. I’m waiting.”

“Okay, sure.” Henry thought for a moment. “It’s funny
because when I first got here—well, not here. I mean, in the time right after I
died, I used to think I hadn’t really experienced very much in life. That I’d
only known what it was like to be a kid. And in my past life, that was
definitely true. But sometimes I feel like I’ve experienced way more. I mean, a
lot more.”

“You can feel it,” Nikki said.

“Yeah, sometimes I can. It’s like I can almost remember
it.”

“Like when you wake up from a dream.”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, and for a few seconds it’s totally
clear. You remember every detail. Then you take a shower, or you go downstairs,
or you check your phone. When you try to remember the dream again it’s just
gone. Completely. You know you experienced it but now it’s somehow vanished and
you can’t make it come back.”

Nikki rested her head against his shoulder. Henry’s heart
wasn’t beating fast anymore. Somehow, the two of them sitting next to each
other that way felt totally natural again. Like it had the other night when
they’d managed to tune out the hostile world beyond these walls, creating an
insulated world of their own. Outside, the wind still gusted but the other
noises had all but stopped. As if those out there knew their efforts were
useless. For now, they’d been defeated and pulled back.

“I never thought it would be that way,” Nikki said. “Not
that I pictured anything quite like how it’s been either. Not even close.”

“Like you thought you’d have at least those answers,”
Henry said.

Nikki sighed, this time for real. “Yeah, I did. I thought
I’d know a lot more than I do. But I think it’s okay. For some reason, I think
right now it may still be better just wondering about it.”

Henry thought he knew what she meant. He wasn’t sure but
he wondered that if you could see all of it—if you could look all the way back
to the beginning—that might be the time when you went on to something else
entirely. Like reaching the end of a game and unlocking all the secrets. Time
for a new game, or at least a new level you hadn’t even known was there to
begin with. He supposed that might be the point Lysrus and those like him had
reached. At least, that was how he pictured it. Henry knew he was a very long
time from reaching a similar point. The same for Naomi, Simon and Jamie. And Nikki,
of course. In the scheme of things, despite these much greater things they’d
come to know, they were still young. Just kids, basically.

“When you think about the next life, what do you
imagine?” Henry said. “Why do you think you might be ready to go back again?”

Nikki lifted her head from his shoulder and hunched
forward to gaze into the fire. She spoke softly. “It’s more just a feeling.
That there’s something waiting, something that has to happen.”

Henry turned to her and looked into her eyes. “What is
it?” he said. But he leaned toward her, already knowing the answer.

“Us,” Nikki whispered.

She closed her eyes as their lips met. Henry closed his
eyes too, so he’d remember the softness of her lips and the warmth of her
breath mingling with his own. They drew even closer together, holding tightly
to this future being created, this dream that would remain with them when they
woke up again.

Almost Like It
Couldn’t Happen

Where was she? What was this dark place? Who were those
people she heard?

Part of Rose knew this was her house while another sensed
that somehow it wasn’t anymore. How could it be that there were others here
now, sleeping in rooms that didn’t belong to them? What were these people doing
in her house? Why was it so dark? Always so dark. When had she last seen
sunlight?

Rose took another step in the hall, a floorboard creaking
beneath her feet. She wanted to scream, “Why are you here? Get out of my
house!” But her breath caught in her throat as she remembered once again. She
clenched her eyes and told herself it was all a dream. A nightmare. She wanted
it to be just that. So badly, she wanted that. Please, let it just be that. But
her pulse started to escalate, her heart hammering inside her chest. She
dropped to her knees and covered her face with her hands as the tears came. She
bent over, starting to moan. She held her head and felt the scream coming, this
cry she couldn’t hold back. Joseph, Linda, the car. What had she done? No, she
couldn’t have done that! But she had, she knew. That very act that had sent her
to hell. She placed her palms against the floor and arched her back. She closed
her eyes. She raised her face to the ceiling and wailed, howling her misery
into the darkness surrounding her.

Rose’s eyes flew open and she lay in bed listening to the
pounding of her heart. It had just been a dream, she told herself. As she’d
desperately hoped within the dream itself. Another horrible dream. Her eyes
drifted to the window, where clouds just now drifted away from the sun. A moment
ago she could have sworn it was night, the world dark beyond her window, but
even when she closed her eyes briefly the light penetrated her eyelids.
Sunlight poured into the room and Rose knew it would be a gorgeous day in
complete contrast to the darkness she’d just experienced.

She showered, dressed and went downstairs, suspecting
she’d find Olivia sitting outside on the patio. Olivia wasn’t one to waste a
beautiful morning and Rose couldn’t help feel a little guilty for having slept
in. The kitchen clock showed it to be closing in on ten already. Wasn’t she
supposed to do something today? Oh, yes! She and Joseph were going to the
florist to finalize the arrangements. It was so sweet of him to indulge her
that way.

Rose opened the French doors and stepped outside,
breathing in scents from the garden—roses, zinnias and wisteria. So lovely. She
heard voices and a glance brought a  dazzling flash of Linda’s red hair
reflecting sunlight. Linda and Olivia leaned in toward each other, speaking
quietly, and something tugged at Rose’s memory. Something about a beach and
words spoken there that had brought her pain, something dredged up from the
past. But Rose couldn’t quite remember now. Almost like a dream that had
slipped away upon awakening. And maybe that was it. Maybe it had just been
another one of her dreams.

As Rose descended the steps, Olivia and Linda stopped
talking and turned in her direction. Both offered smiles.

“Are you two sharing secrets?” Rose said. “You looked
thick as thieves over there for a moment.”

Linda laughed, tossing a curtain of fiery hair over her
shoulder. “You caught us gossiping again. Did you know that the Campbells are
both on their second marriage? In fact, two of their three boys are from his
first marriage. I always thought she looked a little young to have teenage
sons. Not to mention her figure. No way she popped out three kids.”

Olivia chuckled and fanned away cigarette smoke.

The Campbells. It took a moment but then Rose remembered.
Of course, they lived two blocks over. Mr. Campbell was in his forties and
drove a tan Jaguar convertible. Mrs. Campbell looked to be at least ten years
younger. It was true, what Linda said about Natalie Campbell’s figure. She
always drew stares at the country club pool, from men and women alike. Not
being very curvy herself, Rose had to admit she’d felt envious a few times. As
she’d also felt envy at Linda for possessing a silk curtain of red hair when
her own was mousy and frizzy. If Joseph only knew how many hours she spent with
her hair rolled in curlers he’d probably run for the hills. Rose still wasn’t
sure how she’d manage to keep that from him after they got married.

 Rose took a seat at the table. “It’s funny. I haven’t
seen them around for a while. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I even
thought about them. I wondered if they might have moved.”

Olivia and Linda exchanged a quick glance.

“No, they still live in the neighborhood,” Olivia said.
“Nothing’s changed.”

For no reason she could think of, that image of a beach
flashed in Rose’s mind again. She’d gotten upset about something but what was
it? She remembered Joseph being there, sitting across from her on a blanket.
Then two other people came to mind. She imagined an Asian girl, pretty, just a
little older than herself. Rose pictured her standing alone at the water’s
edge. There’d been a boy too, about Joseph’s age, with warm brown eyes. All of a
sudden, the names came back to her. How could she possibly have forgotten?

“Well, there have been
some
changes,” Rose said.
“There’s the new couple down the street.” She turned to Linda. “Henry and
Nikki. I can’t believe I haven’t told you about them yet. I think you’d really
like them.”

When she expected Linda to become instantly riveted with
curiosity, instead she briefly glanced at Olivia before returning her attention
to Rose. “New couple?”

Rose looked at Olivia. “You didn’t tell her either?”

Olivia cocked her head but didn’t say anything.

“Henry and Nikki,” Rose said.

Olivia shook her head. She took a puff of her cigarette.

“They bought the Morgan’s old house,” Rose said. “Well, I
don’t know if they bought it themselves or if it might have been a wedding
gift. It’s not like I’m about to ask, but they moved in this week. Honestly,
Grandmother, you must remember them. How could you not?”

Olivia exchanged eye contact with Linda again. She took a
sip of coffee and stubbed out her cigarette, fanning smoke away. “New couple,”
she said. “I’m sorry, dear.”

“They came over the other day!” Rose said. “Remember? The
new couple. I nearly hit their car backing out of the driveway. I told you all
about it.”

Finally, Olivia nodded. “You did mention nearly causing
an accident. But that was just some people driving through the neighborhood.”
She turned back to Linda. “Probably just some nosey Parkers, if you ask me.”

Rose’s heart started beating faster. Her face grew hot as
her eyes flicked back and forth between Linda and Olivia.

“I heard the Sutherlands had relatives visiting,” Linda
said. “Rose, do you think maybe—”

“No! It was Henry and Nikki!” Rose hadn’t anticipated how
loud she’d be and now it was too late. She’d virtually screamed and no wonder
Olivia’s eyes shot to the neighboring property. It really was quite possible
that Rose’s protest had been heard within surround houses. The fact was, she’d
sounded insane.

Rose parted her lips to speak again but nothing came out.
Was she possibly coming undone? Had Henry and Nikki been just another one of
her vivid dreams, one that hadn’t been remembered as such the following day?
No, that wasn’t it. Rose felt entirely certain she’d—

“Rose, dear, did you get enough sleep last night? You
look rather tired today.”

Rose found herself looking into Olivia’s concerned eyes,
the same eyes that had measured her well-being for as long as she could
remember. In fact, Rose could barely recall what looking into her parent’s eyes
had felt like. A dim memory, more imagined than anything else, when she studied
old photos that hung on walls upstairs.

Linda reached out and touched the back of her hand. “Is
everything okay? It’s true, you do have dark circles under your eyes. Don’t
worry, we’ll patch you up with a bit of concealer as soon as we finish having
coffee.”

This time, Rose’s voice came out little more than a
mumble. “I did have a bad dream last night.” She’d so hoped to forget that
nasty dream but now recalled it perfectly. “There were other people living in
our house. I don’t know who they were. And it was dark. I thought…” She
couldn’t bring herself to describe any more. She couldn’t bear thinking about
it.

Olivia turned her attention to Linda. “Rose has never
slept well when she’s nervous. It runs in the family. I’m the exact same way.
If I have something on my mind, my brain is like a dog with a bone.”

“Weddings do that to people,” Linda said. “I recently
read an article in Mademoiselle that said planning a wedding can be one of the
most stressful experiences of a woman’s life. There are just so many changes to
consider. I bet that’s what that dream was about.”

“I’m starting to wonder if maybe we should take her to
see Doctor Myers,” Olivia said. “Maybe he could prescribe something to settle
her nerves a bit. The last thing I’d want is for Joseph to see her acting this
way. Especially so close to the wedding. It’s not at all uncommon for men to
have second thoughts as the day draws—”

The doorbell rang and Rose shot out of her seat. “That
must be him now.”

Olivia and Linda got up from the table.

“It’s fine,” Rose said. “We’ll come back out in a
minute.”

She desperately wanted to see Joseph right now, to look
into the eyes of the man who loved her. She needed someone who didn’t treat her
as if she was losing touch with reality. She didn’t appreciate Olivia and Linda
discussing her as if she wasn’t even there, although part of her wondered if
her own recent behavior warranted concern. As she walked toward the French
doors, Olivia spoke softly, but not so softly that Rose couldn’t hear.
“Suddenly, she starts talking about this new young couple. It’s very odd.”

Rose crossed through the kitchen and entered the hall to
hear knocking on the door this time. She stopped when a woman spoke. “Hello? Is
anyone home?”

Rose didn’t recognize the voice and made no move to
answer the door. But why? Why did she feel fearful? It dawned on her that she
couldn’t recall the last time anyone they didn’t know had come to the door. For
that matter, when was the last time it had been someone other than Joseph or
Linda? Was that possible? It couldn’t be.

Whoever it was knocked again and Rose wondered if she’d
been heard coming down the hall.

“Hello? I’m looking for Rose Boland. Do I have the right
address? I have something that belongs to her.”

Rose’s heart pounded for no reason she could understand.
Her anxiety made no sense. In that moment, it seemed to her that almost nothing
made sense lately. Something told her—a feeling she couldn’t possibly
explain—that she really needed to answer the door. Now, before it was too late.
Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob. She hesitated one last time,
then opened the door.

The woman smiled at her. She looked to be in her late
thirties, with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She had the most
strikingly blue eyes. “I’m so glad you’re home,” she said. “I was just about to
give up. Are you Rose Boland?”

“Yes, I’m Rose.”

The woman opened her purse and withdrew a postcard. Rose
glanced at it to see a beach scene—dunes and grass, waves rolling beneath a
sunny sky. She looked back at the woman. “This is for me?”

The woman smiled again. “I guess it must be if you’re
Rose Boland. I have no idea how it got delivered to my house. I live clear
across town. It doesn’t seem to make any sense.”

Rose hesitated, then took the postcard. “No, it really
doesn’t.”

“Almost like it couldn’t happen at all,” the woman said.
“Which is exactly why I didn’t ignore it. I just had a feeling about it. Have
you ever had the feeling you shouldn’t ignore something?”

Rose heard the doors open off the kitchen. Olivia and
Linda murmured to each other. It wasn’t hard to guess what they were talking
about. Why she felt a chill run up the back of her neck was another thing that
made no sense but Rose couldn’t quite ignore it. She glanced again at the shiny
postcard in her hand. She hadn’t noticed the first time but it showed the
silhouette of a young woman standing at the water’s edge.

“Is everything okay? You seem very…thoughtful.” The woman
stood watching, her blue eyes concerned. “Did I come at a bad time?”

Rose shook her head. “I’m sorry. No. I mean, yes. I mean,
everything’s fine.” She held up the postcard. “Thank you for bringing this
here.”

The woman nodded. “My pleasure. I don’t imagine it will
happen again. As I said, it seemed very unlikely to begin with.”

Rose reached out and offered her hand. “I’m sorry. What’s
your name?”

“Martha,” the woman said. “It was a pleasure meeting
you.”

She turned and walked down the steps. Rose closed the
door and flipped the postcard over to see flowing cursive in a feminine hand,
blue ink on a white background.
We had a nice time the other day. Let’s do
it again soon. By the way, Henry found his Beatles album. Your friend, Nikki.

Rose stood in the hallway, her eyes riveted to that
simple message that had just changed her entire world. Suddenly, she felt cold.
Images flashed through her mind. Her dream this morning—this same house, dark
as she wandered the halls. The other dream—the cliff, the falling—the one she
kept having but only now acknowledged. The beach! She remembered now. They went
for lunch and Joseph had been there too. Something had happened. She’d gotten
upset about something. When had that taken place? The other day, she’d been at
the cemetery. She had been, right? That hadn’t been just another—

“Rose? Aren’t you two going to join us out back?”
Olivia’s voice sounded muted, distant.

Rose’s head snapped up. She stared down the hall at
kitchen doorway.