The Dream Jumper's Secret

by Kim Hornsby

  Pops shook his head.

  “They had come to Maui with a rich heiress, but Hank’s engagement to her was called off. From what I can gather, they switched the con to Tina when they found out she had these paintings worth some money.” Jamey looked at the floor. “When I figured out what was going to happen, I felt sick for her. That information, and the dream of her dancing with the skeleton of Hank, told me Tina was in for some hard times.”

  Pops’ face was pinched, worried. “Must’ve been hard.”

  Jamey poured himself another cup of coffee. “I made a decision I’d rather save her heart, her grandmother’s paintings, and her dignity, than follow a promise I made to Don. A promise we didn’t even know was necessary.” He took a sip of coffee and added more milk. “I half-thought that Don made me promise to not meddle with the future because he didn’t want an eight year old kid getting mixed up in that. And I didn’t. I remained true to the promise. But then, I decided to do something before Hank stole the art her grandmother left in her will, and he ran off with another woman.” He looked at his father. “Did I break the promise that I wouldn’t try to alter the future as I saw it? Yes. The future, as I saw it, was that she’d end up with Hank at a wedding reception and he was going to die. How do we know that my letter wasn’t already factored into that scene?”

  Pops nodded. “That’s true. We don’t know.”

  Jamey sighed and then told his father about the dream, the dock, the letter materializing between them, the argument, him being left behind. When he finished, he asked the only person in the world who knew pretty much everything about dream jumps, whether he did the right thing.

  “I don’t know, son. Hank was destined to die on Tina, it looked like. Who knows about fate? What you did,” he looked convinced of his next words, “was simply look out for the woman you love. How could anyone blame you?”

  “It ended with Hank dying.”

  “But, was he already destined to die, and you were a pawn in this?”

  Jamey shook his head. “I don’t know, but Tina is hurt and confused. I’m surprised when you called her, she agreed to help get me out of the dream.” He hung his head. “I’ve never seen her so upset.”

  Pops nodded. “She loves you. Just give her the day. She’ll come around.”

  Chapter 15

  At the girls’ soccer game, Wyatt jumped around Carrie, dressed in a Spiderman raincoat swinging a plastic sword. The baby, Mango, was tucked in a stroller, or Jamey would’ve taken her in his arms. He missed holding babies. When Wyatt ran over, Jamey bent down and sang the Spiderman song to him, making the four-year-old laugh.

  “No, Jamey. The song goes like this.” Wyatt proceeded to sing the whole thing from the beginning, to the very last word.

  “Wow! You know that whole thing. Great job, Spider Wyatt.” Jamey held up his hand for a high five. The kid was such a cutie, always had been. When Carrie got pregnant and Kevin left town, Jamey envisioned he’d help raise all three kids together. He’d gotten used to the idea. Carrie did not want to take him back as a husband, and he didn’t offer, but he imagined he’d live at Pops’ house, stay available for Carrie and the kids. He even offered to get a real job or to get on the Force out in Carnation, but it wasn’t just his job as a police officer that stood between him and Carrie.

  For two months, Jamey was elated that another child was coming in to his life. When Carrie found out it was a boy, he couldn’t deny feeling joy at the thought of teaching the little guy how to play baseball, soccer, and take him fishing with Jade and Jasmine. His emotions about the baby went so far down the road of happiness, that when Chris came into her life, and quickly proposed marriage to Carrie, Jamey had a long fall back to reality. He had to step aside. Soon after that, his uncle Don died, and Jamey got caught up in that lifestyle where you’re drinking too much, and waking up every morning with a hangover, not sure how to turn your life around.

  When Wyatt was born, Jamey loved the kid immediately, but Chris was his father, and that’s the way it had to be. Chris was a full-time, live-in-the-house dad, and a great guy. In many ways, Carrie was lucky to have snagged him when she did. But Jamey would always have a real soft spot for the little dude with his reddish blonde hair and freckles. How Kevin had ever walked away from his duty as a father was beyond him. And now, the scum was back in town.

  Wyatt hit his hip with the plastic sword and stood back to see what Jamey would do.

  “Hey buddy,” he said. “That’s not a good thing to do to people because it hurts.” Jamey knelt down and grabbed the end of the sword. “I’ll take this away for two minutes if you hit me again, understand?”

  Wyatt’s face screwed up in a frown. “Okay.”

  Carrie looked sternly at her son and when he ran off to play with some other boys, she whispered to Jamey. “He’s acting out these days with Kevin letting him run around like a little hooligan at his place.”

  Jamey nodded. “Do you think Kevin is here to stay or will he move on eventually?”

  She shrugged. “I told him he couldn’t be a part of Wyatt’s life unless he was in it for the duration. Coming in to his life on a whim was not okay. He had to stick around if I was going to confuse Wyatt with another dad.”

  “A boy needs strong men to look up to.” Jamey didn’t know what to say about Kevin. He didn’t like the guy, but didn’t know anything against him. And condemning someone based on a hunch had cost him Tina. He’d keep his mouth shut on this one.

  ***

  Standing at the kitchen’s bay window that faced the backyard and Puget Sound, Tina thought about her parents’ marriage. They were devoted to each other. No matter what. And they’d been through some hard times. That’s what she wanted in a marriage partner, not someone who lied and then covered up his lies. And dream jumped. Jamey came with some crazy baggage, but how could she detach from him as long as they were sharing dreams and had this ability together? He was the reason she was jumping dreams, and he was her reference point. Maybe now that he was jumping on his own, she would lose anything she’d gained.

  Passing the day playing chess with her father and talking, Tina was momentarily distracted. She hadn’t talked to her dad this much, maybe ever, and by four o’clock when her mother suggested she let him take a nap, Tina figured her father knew almost everything about her life. Everything except about her dream jumping, and talking to ghosts.

  It was Millie’s night off, and Tina didn’t feel like cooking one of those elaborate meat and potato meals that her parents liked, even if she knew how to cook, which she didn’t. Her dad loved Chinese food. She’d get Cashew Chicken and Broccoli Beef from the takeout place a few miles away and everyone would be happy.

  Driving back to the house with the boxes of steaming food, Tina thought about Jamey. She couldn’t go through the pain again like when Hank disappeared. The months of crying, loss, heartache, loneliness. It was better to get out now than have to do that again somewhere down the road.

  Maybe she’d leave for Maui tomorrow and hear all his excuses from her house, where it was safe. Somehow she’d have to get past this heartbreak and recoup her life.

  ***

  Jamey had the twins’ birthday party to attend and had to get past the worry about Tina. She’d said she’d call that night but with the party later, he hoped to feel better. He didn’t much like this version of himself that moped around like he was slowly dying. If she called before, and there was a glimmer of hope, he’d have to accept that as good news. He considered calling her before the party. Pops suggested Jamey wait--let her call him, but Jamey was the one who needed to explain. He needed this phone call. Tina probably thought she knew enough to condemn him.

  Last night he’d jumped another dream. Jasmine’s dream about swimming. And gotten out just fine. No problems. When he jumped a dream without Tina, he seemed to be fine. The snowstorm dream had been freaky, and he still didn’t know why he hadn’t woken. Maybe it had something to do with Tina wanting to leave him there. The jumper
intentionally deserting the dreamer.

  According to Pops, he’d tried everything to wake Jamey, including throwing a glass of cold water on his face, which only ended up making Jamey colder in the snowy dream. He’d woken with hypothermia but didn’t blame Pops. Hell, he’d have done anything if the tables were turned and the sleeper had been Pops. Or Tina. Being the only dream jumper, aside from Tina--and she was ignorant of how it all worked--there was no one to ask about the particulars of the snow dream. Pops had the same information Jamey had about jumping and was as confused as him.

  For thirty years, Pops kept a journal for Jamey with all the quirks and intricacies of the gift but he had no idea why his son didn’t wake up yesterday. Calling Milton was out, now that Jamey wanted to keep his jumping a secret from Sixth Force.

  At noon, Jamey and Pops sat at the kitchen table eating beef barley soup, talking about the dream.

  “You arrived in the forest, then paddled across the bay to the dock, and Tina was already there?” Pops asked.

  “She said she’d flown in, landed on the dock.” He added salt to his soup. “At first, I thought it was my jump, but then I learned she made it sunny too. I wasn’t able to conjure up anything. I couldn’t even make the letter go away. God knows, I tried when I saw what it was.” Jamey looked at his hands. “And I wasn’t wearing metal.”

  “That would be the logical explanation that you had metal on, and lost control of your own dream.” Pops slurped his soup. “Maybe Tina had metal on.”

  “No. She knows better now.” Jamey almost laughed at the idea of a logical explanation in all this dream jumping. “If it was Tina’s dream, and I jumped in on my own, why couldn’t I get out when she woke up? The jumper always wakes with the dreamer.” He looked at his cell phone again, wondering why she hadn’t called. “That’s another reason I need to talk to her. At the very least, I have to ask her some important questions about that dream. I never want that to happen again. I don’t even think she had control of the dream, although she conjured up a nice fire at the end.”

  Yesterday, on the phone, Tina had sounded disinterested, like she couldn’t care less about what he wanted to say. That worried him. He had to speak to her before more dead space rushed between them.

  “I think I’ll pass on roller skating and just meet up with you all back at Carrie’s house later,” Pops said.

  The twins’ birthday party was at a roller skating rink in Bellevue, and Jamey had wanted to take Tina, have some fun with her, but that was not going to happen. “The roller rink will be crazy.”

  Pops slurped his soup and Jamey looked over. His father hadn’t been using the oxygen today. Maybe things were looking better in some areas of his life. If Pops had given up smoking, Jamey would have to consider that as a huge accomplishment--something to be happy about. Not obsess about how he wanted forgiveness from Tina. She’d said she’d never know if he was with her because of genuine love, or guilt for what he’d done. But how did anyone really know motives. Everyone has motives for their actions.

  If Tina didn’t get back to him soon, he’d probably have to follow her back to Maui.

  ***

  Tina booked a ticket for Maui. Her dad was out of bed and walking around now. They’d eaten Millie’s dinner of chicken cordon bleu at the dining room table. When her parents went upstairs after dinner, she sat staring at the phone on her father’s desk. Knowing that Jamey would be waiting for her call didn’t make Tina any more interested in dialing his number. There was nothing she could say that made this situation any better. She was so sick of being played for a fool and used again.

  She laid her head on her father’s desk and thought about her life. It hadn’t been so long ago that she’d suffered PTSD and denied what happened to Noble. Her emotional health was still fragile. Was she able to see things clearly after everything she’d been through recently?

  Tomorrow her flight left for Maui, where she’d settle back into her life and just take one day at a time. If she never saw Jamey again, she’d have to get through it. She’d just add Jamey’s betrayal to the list of things to talk about at her shrink sessions with Doc Chan.

  Punching in Jamey’s cell number, Tina still wasn’t sure what to say except that she didn’t want to see him. Standing in front of Jamey would be complicated. He had such a physical effect on her, and it would muddle things. Whatever needed to be said would have to be said over the phone. Getting back to her own turf to think this out was important for her survival.

  “Tina.” His voice sounded desperate, and she had to remind herself that Jamey sent that letter.

  “Hi.” The silence hung between them. Just knowing he was listening, waiting, left her wanting to reach out to him. Go back to how it was. Would he sense that through the phone? His intuition with her wasn’t always good, he’d said. She wasn’t sure about the telephone.

  “I know you’re very upset. I don’t blame you.” His words were clipped. He knew his time was limited. “Please let me see you tonight. I can be there in forty minutes. Please, honey.”

  “No. I don’t want to.”

  “Baby, I need to look you in the eyes and tell you I’m sorry that it turned out like this. I feel like you blame me for Hank’s death. And, I’ll take responsibility for some of that, but I was just one of the people caught up in this. Noble and your mother had a role too. And don’t forget Hank.”

  “I haven’t forgiven my mother completely.”

  “But, you’re working it out with her. All I ask is for the same consideration. Please, Tina. You know I’m not the bad guy. There doesn’t have to be a bad guy. Hank’s death was an accident. The blame game is a slippery slope.”

  “I don’t need to blame someone. I’m wondering why you lied about knowing Hank mostly. And then let me go through all this without saying you were involved.” She sighed. “Maybe it was too soon to think I could have this. Maybe I just wanted someone to love me so much, and you were there.”

  “No-- ”

  “And, how do I know that you don’t feel obligated now? You feel so badly and decided to slip in and take over?” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “I won’t ever know, and neither will you, consciously. You see Jamey, after all I’ve been through, I want to be loved for me. Not out of some obligation to make amends. Or for my grandmother’s paintings. I want to meet a man who loves me for who I am.”

  “I do.” There was a long silence between them until Jamey spoke. “How do I know you aren’t with me because I helped you find Hank’s body? Gratitude? Tina, it’s the same thing and it’s all part of this thing between us.” There was a long pause. “I need to talk to you about dream jumping, at the very least.”

  “No. Not yet. I’m thinking I won’t dream jump any more. Please don’t contact me, Jamey. I need to think, to heal from this.” She hung up and turned off her phone.

  Chapter 16

  Carrie’s house was pandemonium at its familial finest. Kids running around chasing each other, the dogs, Scooter and Bento barking at the ring of children circling the interior of their house, and from somewhere, baby Mango crying. Jamey was barely in the front door and already he had a job. “Can you grab Mango from the crib in our room?” Carrie flung the question at him like he was the babysitter.

  He didn’t mind. There hadn’t been enough moments of holding the baby who was fast approaching twenty pounds of chubby love.

  Walking in to Chris and Carrie’s bedroom, Jamey couldn’t help but take a look at the marital bed. Although he was glad to be out of Carrie’s crazy world where kids ruled, and husbands took a seat at the back of the bus, something in him yearned for the family life. Little Mango’s face was pink and angry when Jamey looked over the side of the wooden crib and smiled at her.

  “Hello Mango! Uncle Jamey is here to rescue you and take you to your Mama.” All the kids called Carrie ‘Mama’. Even friends visiting on play dates called her Mama Carrie, like she owned some pizza franchise. Carrie had been born to have a brood of children. Jamey was s
ure she and Chris had plans for at least two more babies before they were done. Carrie was only thirty-five and she’d come from a family of nine kids. When Jamey met her fresh out of college, she’d divulged on the second date that lots of children were in her future. He’d been a cop, and she’d just finished a degree in sociology, and was unsure of what to do with it.

  Jamey lifted Mango from the colorful crib sheets, grabbed a fleece blanket to wrap around her little shoulders and smiled at her sweet face. She stopped crying immediately. “All you wanted was someone to come get you, wasn’t that it, Cutie Pie?” He kissed the chubby folds in her neck and made her giggle. Jamey had loved the baby stage with his girls. And, the toddler stage, and preschooler stage. Thinking about it, as he carried the little bundle down the stairs to Carrie in the kitchen, Jamey loved every stage.

  His girls were so much fun right now at ten years old. Maybe the teenage years would be what he would have trouble with, but then he didn’t live with his daughters on a daily basis. That was something that troubled him every hour of every day. Maybe because of that, it was easier to adore his children every moment they were together.

  In the ranch-style kitchen, Carrie was at the stove making stew for dinner, and fixing Wyatt’s Power Ranger toy. “Is it time for Mango to eat?” Jamey asked.

  Carrie pointed to a bottle on the counter. “Thirty seconds in the microwave to take the edge off,” Carrie called over her shoulder as she almost tripped on Wyatt, who clung to her leg like a barnacle on a pier.

  Wyatt’s attachment to Carrie was a source of jokes in the family, jokes that included the words “mama’s boy”. He’d come out of the womb wanting to be closest to his mother, and had never changed in four years. The little guy was desperate to be Mama’s favorite, cherished one. More so since Mango arrived on the scene.