by Anne Hagan
Contents
Healing Embrace
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
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Please Leave a Review
About the Author
Also Written by the Author
Healing Embrace
A Lesbian Love Story – Part 2
Anne Hagan
To Angela Turnerwray – Thanks for the title suggestion!
PUBLISHED BY:
Jug Run Press, USA
Copyright © 2017
https://annehaganauthor.com/
All rights reserved: No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without prior written consent of the author or the publisher except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages for review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are actual places used in an entirely fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Muddy Miser’s Café
Zanesville, Ohio
“Maybe we should eat,” Barb said to Janet. “They went to all this trouble to set us up and bring us together, after all.”
The two women tucked into plates of the house specialty steak. At the first bite, Barb moaned her pleasure, bringing a quick smile to Janet’s lips.
“So,” she whispered, “you moan when you eat too.”
Barb flipped a hand at her and kept eating.
When the dinner plates had been cleared and they were informed dessert and coffee were imminent, Janet found the courage to start talking about the future. Taking a deep breath, she asked, “So where do we go from here?”
“Good question,” Barb said. She thought about cracking a joke but decided against it. Too soon. “I think we should go slower than we, uh, started out; fall back a little bit and maybe date,” she said instead.
“Okay. That sounds good. Does this count?”
Barb grinned. She should have made the joke after all, she thought. “We’ll count this as a blind date, sort of. Neither one of us knew what we were getting into tonight. The next one, you get to plan and try to woo me.”
“Woo?”
“Yes,” Barb nodded, “woo.”
“When should this wooing commence? I’m off Friday. Does that work for you?”
“Mmm, Friday is a busy night at the bar. I’m usually in by 4:00 to help with the early after work crowd and…” At the look on Janet’s face, she stopped and changed course. “You know what? Friday it is. That’s what I have a GM and other managers for. I could use a night off.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at 8:00.”
“Where are we going?”
“You just let me work on that but I will say that it won’t be a bar and you might want to dress casual and maybe keep an eye on the weather.”
“All right then.”
Their server set layered chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream down in front of them. Barb’s eyes grew huge.
“One piece would have been enough for both of us,” she told him.
“Speak for yourself,” Janet said. “This looks too good to share.”
“Coffee?” the server offered.
After pouring for both of them, and taking his leave, Barb shot Janet a look. “You already don’t want to share with me? I can see where this relationship’s going,” she teased.
“Hey; it’s chocolate cake. You’re on your own.”
Barb changed the subject. “I really hate to be a downer but, if I can ask, what’s going on with you at home? I mean, are you handling everything okay?”
“I’m not going to lie. Mom passing hit me a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would. I’d been away for so long but we were getting close these last four or five months since I moved back home. I felt like we were becoming friends.”
Tears welled at the corners of Barb’s eyes. She dabbed at them impatiently with her napkin. “Sorry,” she said. “I get so emotional anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Janet told her. “We can talk about something else.”
“No, no. You know so much about me; at least, I feel like you do. I want to know about you. What you think, what makes you tick?”
Janet nodded. “You know more than you think. I’m pretty straight forward, no frills. I did four years in the Army, got out, became a cop, we met in Indy briefly when policing was my whole life and then I moved back here when my mom got sick.”
“What are you going to do now? I mean, are you going to stay in that house…is it the house you grew up in?”
“Yes, it’s where I grew up and no, I’m not going to stay there. Dana’s mom has been helping me sort stuff and pack everything up so I can get it on the market.”
“Chloe? She’s great. She decorated my house.”
“I remember you telling me that when I was there…back when those bikers were busting up your bar.”
Barb shuddered. “We have met repeatedly under some truly odd circumstances, haven’t we?”
“Well, a couple of times, yes.”
“Where will you go then; when the house sells?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t want to live right here in town. That’s not a good idea for a cop, uniformed or not. I really don’t want an apartment or condo somewhere either. I’d like to have a little bit of land out in the surrounding areas of the county. I could get to the station fast when I’m needed but I’m not right here in town.” She paused and took a bite of her dessert.
“I’m not that close to Zanesville but I have ten acres,” Barb said quietly.
Janet was silent for a beat and then asked, “What are you saying?”
“I don’t know; it was just a thought…maybe…”
“No,” Janet was firm. “We said we’re going to take this slow and we will. I know where you are, what you’ve been through. I realize how hard this must be for you. My mom owned that house free and clear. Whatever it sells for, it’s mine. There was a little bit of life insurance left after her funeral expenses too. I’ll be able to maybe rent a nice place somewhere just outside of Zanesville for a while and you and I, we’ll just take it slow like we talked about; a day at a time.”
Chapter 2
8:00 PM, Friday, March 13th, 2015
“When I suggested going out, I didn’t give a thought to it being Friday the 13th. You’re not superstitious are you?”
“No, not at all…at least, I don’t think so,” Barb said. “I guess it all depends on what you have in mind? A late dinner? A movie? What?”
“You’ll see. Let’s just say it’s a place where I’ll get to hold you tight.”
“Ooo, dancing! I love dancing.”
Janet’s face fell. “I’m not much of a dancer; sorry.”
“You do like music though, right?”
“Yes, most of it.”
“Good. So not dancing then huh?
Hold me tight, you said…” Barb wracked her brain. “A horror movie?”
“Do you like those?”
“Sometimes; the older ones and the ones with some sort of plot are okay. I’m not big on the slasher stuff with lots of blood and gore.”
“Good to know.”
“So we’re seeing a horror flick?”
“Not quite.”
“Are you trying to tell me we’re probably doomed?”
Janet just grinned.
“A haunted house, seriously? We are doomed, and in March, to boot! I can’t even believe it’s open.”
“Whenever there’s a Friday the 13th and on some other holidays.”
“How in the world did you find this place?”
“Dana told me about it. Her and her dad are big into these things. They came down here early in the last Halloween season to try and get some ideas for the one they have at the Fall Festival there in Morelville every year.”
“Fall Festival?”
Janet shook her head. “You really need to get out of town and out of your bar more. Come on, the line’s not too bad.”
“I haven’t been in one of these since I was in college out in California. It’s had to be 15 years or more.”
“Scared?”
Barb half smiled. “Maybe a little.”
“Don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”
“What?” Then it clicked for her. “Oh no you don’t! I’m behind you if we’re going in there!”
The lady at the ticket window was having a laugh at Barb’s expense as Janet moved up to pay. “Oh honey, you know it’s all fake, right? That’s what I tell all the kids, anyway.”
“Ha ha,” Barb said. “I’ll be just fine and show you both.”
After waiting in line and joking with the couple in front of them for about ten minutes, the young pair was let in, him hugging her tight from behind.
“See? He’s hugging around her, keeping her safe.”
“No he’s not. He was a bigger puss than her. That’s all to protect himself. He even pulled his hoodie up on his head like it’s somehow going to protect him too.”
The people behind them in line laughed and Barb did too at her own joke until she heard both the woman and man that had been in front of them scream from somewhere not far beyond the entry.
“Right on cue,” said the woman in the ugly witch costume manning the door. “Are you ready?” Janet nodded while Barb sucked in a deep breath.
The witch cackled and opened the door. “Stay on the path. See you in a couple of hours!”
“Hours?” Barb asked as she followed Janet through the door.
“She’s kidding.”
“Wow, it’s really dark in here. Arrg! Something touched my back!” A strobe lit up an actor that had seemingly materialized out of a wall to follow them as they entered. Barb latched onto Janet and hung on as the slightly taller woman drug her around a corner where things got even darker.
“What the hell was that?” Barb called from her position plastered against her date. Something was pelting her face and torso.
Janet turned her head slightly to say, “Just something hanging from the ceiling.”
They got through whatever the obstacle was into a more lighted area where they made another right. As they passed by a prop, it lit up and began to speak causing Barb to almost knock Janet over.
The younger woman stopped. “We’re not twenty feet inside the door and you’ve got me battered.”
“Sorry.” Barb stood up straight and let go of all but Janet’s hand.
The made a quick left and found themselves on a floor that moved. The more they moved, trying to get across it, the more it did. When Janet finally made it across and held Barb’s hand so she could come the rest of the way over it too, Barb called out over the creepy music, “I don’t know what made those other two scream so loud.”
She came back onto solid footing then and Janet pulled them forward into a mini-maze where they were met by another actor that seemed to come right out of the tight walls around them. The question answered, they both screamed loud and bolted through the dimly lit little maze and on.
Another scare led them up a narrow ramp into a tumbling vortex of light and color. Barb caught a glimpse out the other end of it of what she thought might be clowns. She hated clowns. Ducking her head to watch their feet instead of the moving walls, she just prayed that it would be a painless death by heart attack that she was about to have.
A half dozen clowns, some zombies, a room full of spiders, a butcher shop, a jail, a hospital and several other scenes later, Barb was nearly spent. Hoarse from screaming, she was ready to call it quits but then, in a black lit hallway, seemingly devoid of creatures from hell, Janet turned and gave her a quick kiss.
“You’re doing great.”
That was all Barb needed to hear. She squared her shoulders and pushed on, that is, until the total blackout maze. Having no light at all was near total sensory deprivation. Her mind went crazy with the thought of what might be lurking, inches away.
She still had a hold of Janet’s hand and she could feel the walls around her with her other hand but, damn the people that ran this thing, there was gritty stuff and slimy stuff and all manner of who knows what on them. Just when she thought they were making some progress, her free hand touched the warm body of another human and she jumped and screamed, losing contact with Janet for a split second.
“Where are you? Don’t leave me! There’s someone in here!”
“I’m right here, probably a foot from you.”
Barb, her hands outstretched, felt another hand and screamed again.
“That’s me you goof!” Janet laughed. “Give me your hand and come on.”
“Do you have your cell phone with you? Turn it on,” Barb said.
“I wouldn’t do that,” a woman’s voice advised from somewhere up ahead of them, making Barb shudder. “That’ll ruin all the fun.”
“Says you!” Barb called back.
Janet tugged her along seemingly able to find her way without much trouble in the total darkness.
“How are you doing this?” Barb finally asked.
“Good night vision. Lots of practice in the Army. It comes in handy.”
The finally made it outside only to tangle with another surprise but then found themselves spent and back in the parking lot where they’d started.
Hearts pounding, they looked at each other.
“Well,” Janet asked, “What did you think?”
Barb was working to catch her breath but managed a chuckle. When she could talk she said, “Scary, I’m not gonna’ lie, but fun. I’d say let’s do it again but I really think I need to pee now and let my blood pressure and heart rate go down a bit.”
“I had a great time tonight,” Barb said as she turned half sideways to look at Janet. “I’d all but forgotten what dating was like.”
“My pleasure,” Janet smiled.
“Do you want to come in?”
“No ma’am. I have to work in the morning – not too early since its Saturday and all but work all the same. When can I see you again?”
“Soon, I hope. I owe you a date now though I don’t know how I could possibly top this.”
“Is that sarcasm?”
“No, not at all. I really did have fun. That haunted house brought back memories…not all good ones…scary dreams and stuff but it was fun and a great idea. Anyway, you know my schedule but I know yours varies.”
“Yeah, unfortunately. Shane and I trade working weekends but the other of us is always on call. Neither one of us has a family or a life…at least not till now, so it was never a big deal.”
“When are you off again?”
“Well, Wednesday. I actually have an appointment with a realtor about the house during the day to get it on the market but we could maybe do something that afternoon. I’m also off Saturday and Sunday this week but on-call on Sunday.”
“Not on call if something happens on Saturday
?”
“Nope. The Sheriff…Mel to you, I guess, takes a shift every other Saturday and she covers the extra call outs.”
“That’s right; I knew that.”
“I forget that you two are friends.”
“We weren’t always. Someday I’ll have to tell you that story,” Barb confided.
“Not tonight. I don’t need any strange pictures in my head about my boss tonight.”
“No, not tonight. Who do you want pictures of in your head?”
“Guess?” Janet said and then leaned across to Barb’s seat for a quick kiss.
Barb put a hand on Janet’s shoulder and tried to pull her closer and deepen the kiss but she was having none of it.
“No, no. No starting something, I can’t finish. I really do have to work in the morning, it’s getting late and it’s a bit of a drive home.”
Barb tried to make a pouty face but failed. Instead, she leaned the other way herself, gave Janet’s cheek a quick buss then pulled back and got out of the car. “Good night. I’ll call you in a couple of days with some sort of plan in mind for Saturday.”
“Great! Goodnight!”
Janet watched as Barb let herself into the house then she reversed to the turn-around in the long drive and was gone.
Chapter 3
Late Morning, Wednesday, March 18th, 2015
Mason Family Home
Zanesville, Ohio
Janet looked around the living room one last time. She was pleased with the way it looked now. Chloe Rossi had worked hard to help her get dozens of years’ worth of knickknacks and other bric-a-brac that her mother had accumulated boxed up and donated to charities that could resell it to people who cared about collecting those sorts of things. She’d even cataloged everything for Janet to itemize on her taxes, not that she, herself, cared about such things.
She was letting most of the furniture and other wares go with the house. The pieces she wanted that she wasn’t using, she’d already put in storage. As a result, she thought everything looked clean and inviting. She hoped the Realtor that was due any minute was happy with how the house looked as well.
