The Dream Jumper's Promise

by Kim Hornsby

  “Can’t we just go to the marine supply store to buy a new serpentine belt,” Jamey offered.

  “Very funny. This is Molokai. There is no marine supply store.” Tina jumped back on the boat. “There aren’t even any traffic lights on this island.”

  “Then what are we doing here instead of Maui?” He watched her extract something from the engine compartment to ensure the boat wouldn’t start for anyone else.

  “Molokai was closest. This guy, Kalani, should have some stuff.

  If not, we’ll have it flown in.”

  Tina was in her element. He watched her move around the boat, securing it, locking up the dive gear. She pulled a T-shirt over her head and slipped on her board shorts.

  “Let’s see if we can find him,” she said.

  They strolled down the wharf like two friends on vacation. This was the closest to the real Tina that he’d seen in weeks. “And let’s grab some food.”

  The thought of teriyaki or a hamburger sounded better than the drinks and snacks they’d packed for the day trip. “We don’t worry about leaving the boat?” Jamey asked.

  Tina showed him the engine part she’d detached as Obi ran in and out of the bushes, sniffing at mongoose trails.

  One charmingly short street accommodated most of the shops in the town of Kaunakakai, making the downtown area resemble the main drag in a Western movie. Where Dodge would have had the saloon, the mercantile, and the blacksmith, Kaunakakai’s shops had names like Mango Mart and Kanemitsu Bakery.

  The first stop on their walking tour was Molokai Fish and Dive Shop, where it was determined that Kalani, the mechanic, was off island. Gone to Honolulu and not expected back until the morning.

  When Tina introduced herself as the owner of Tina’s Dive Shop the man behind the counter squinted. Probably remembering Hank’s mysterious death.

  “My boat broke an S belt in the channel. We’re tied up on the wharf until we get a new one.” She stared out the window in the direction of the ocean.

  “I’d say fly one over.”

  Tina nodded. “I agree. Thanks.” She looked at Jamey and they walked out the door.

  While eating lunch at a picnic table in front of the burger joint, Tina made calls to arrange to have the belt flown in from Maui to the Molokai airport. They’d either ask someone out there to bring it from the plane when it arrived, or they’d hitch a ride to pick up the package themselves.

  “Nothing to do now but eat.” She smiled at her burger. “What?” she asked, when Jamey chuckled.

  “It’s good to see you happy.”

  She took a bite and spoke with a full mouth. “Getting off Maui feels really good.”

  He picked the wilted lettuce from his burger and set the droopy leaf aside. Sitting at a picnic table on Molokai, watching Tina, the warm sun on his back, mynah birds calling from the trees, Jamey felt almost carefree. For the first time in a long time.

  “I haven’t gone off island for a while,” she said.

  When Tina’s nose crinkled, Jamey had an overwhelming urge to kiss her. At least her nose.

  “It’s nice here. Slow.” He doused his fries in ketchup and picked out a clump. “And even though,” he paused, searching for words that wouldn’t break the spell, “the boat broke down, I’m enjoying myself.” He chewed and swallowed. “Eating lunch on Molokai, like this.” He gestured to the town and then his plate. “Want fries?”

  She declined just as Jamey’s phone rang. Noting the number, he covered the mouthpiece and whispered “Kandahar” to Tina. He moved to the farthest empty picnic table for privacy.

  It was Pete Milton. “We believe that the new mix of sedatives had more to do with your headache than anything.” The connection with Afghanistan was not good but the message was clear. The autopsy report indicated that the dreamer had an allergic reaction from the sedatives hours before his demise. “We think what made your heart stop was the dreamer’s violent reaction to the drugs. We’re sending you to Honolulu for some tests related to this information. We’d like to know more.”

  Back at the picnic table, he polished off his fries and Root beer, watching Tina from the corner of his eye. The more he thought about her strange dreams, the more he believed that Hank was stuck between life and death, not necessarily because the body was still out there, but because Tina hadn’t completely given up the hope of his being alive. Maybe her tenacious nature was holding him to this world until she was absolutely sure he was dead.

  Obi stared at Tina’s burger with the same intensity Jamey stared at Tina. He hoped he wasn’t drooling like the dog. “Because you’re jumping on your own, I need to tell you everything I know about the logistics of it, but you have to swear to keep this a secret.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Tina gave Obi a piece of burger and popped the last bite into her mouth. “Why would I tell anyone something as crazy as this?”

  “Someday you might want to. Believe me. And it seems crazy to you now, but remember, magic is only science we don’t understand yet.”

  Tina made a face. “I’m extremely opposed to having this ability.”

  “Your new talent might not stay,” Jamey said, trying to reassure her. “It probably has something to do with me, and when I leave, it may leave with me.” For her sake, he hoped he was right.

  “When are you leaving?” Tina’s face fell.

  “Soon.”

  ***

  When the serpentine belt finally came in on the 5:30 flight, Tina was sure they’d have to find a place to stay on Molokai overnight. Even if they got the boat fixed and got out of the harbor, sunset would be upon them and there wouldn’t be enough light to dive at the cliffs. “Don’t you need the boat on Maui?” Jamey asked.

  “I’ll tell Katie to reschedule.” The customers would just have to wait.

  Jamey found them a room at one of the only hotels on the island—Hotel Molokai. In all her twelve years in Hawaii, Tina had never stayed overnight on this island. When they arrived at the circular drive in a taxi, she was surprised she’d never made the effort. The hotel was much smaller than the Maui monstrosities she was used to, built in the old Polynesian style with all rooms facing the ocean to catch the trade winds. The only available room had a king-size bed and couch, which made Tina first laugh, and then worry. As they walked to the room, Jamey put his arm around her shoulders and reassured her that he’d take the couch.

  “Stop reading my mind, Jamey.” She added just the right amount of anger to her voice, but he laughed and professed it didn’t take a psychic to figure out she was worried about sleeping arrangements.

  The room was lovely, reminiscent of old Hawaii. With wooden beams running across a high ceiling, palm tree–printed fabrics, and pineapple lamps, the charm was not lost on Jamey. He threw his backpack on the couch and whistled. “Hawaiiana.”

  Tina was suddenly appreciative of everything—the distance from Maui, and being here with a friend. Tears came to her eyes. She’d been so consumed with her problems in the last few months, she’d lost sight of the fact that the world existed outside of her worries. The relief that resulted from this respite was suddenly overwhelming. Leaving Maui felt great. Seattle might be a good idea except for the fact that Jamey wouldn’t be on Maui when she returned. He’d taken a call from Kandahar at lunch and then mentioned he was going soon.

  Opening the door to the lanai, she walked out on the deck and stared at the beach in front. The sun had set, only a peachy glow remaining in the sky, and soon the light would fade. An urge to bolt down that beach, tire herself out, and then jump into the ocean and swim was barely suppressed. She could hear Jamey running the water in the bathroom and listened to the soft noise mixed with the rolling surf below.

  “Thirsty, boy?” Jamey said.

  She smiled at his thoughtfulness. The least she could do was offer to take the couch tonight.

  After walking Obi on the beach, they ambled over to the poolside restaurant, drawn in by the Hawaiian music. They agreed it would be fun to sta
y and listen. Order a beer or cocktail. What else did they have to do? They laughed.

  When the waiter came over, they ordered a papaya salad to share and a plate of fresh opakapaka, baked in a lime-cilantro sauce.

  “I haven’t eaten fish in so long,” Tina said. Jamey looked at her strangely.

  “What? You think because I live near the ocean, I should eat fish?” Truth was she’d had no interest in eating anything from the ocean since Hank died.

  They ordered more cocktails and talk came easily, even if they were only approaching safe subjects like diving, how she found Obi,

  Jamey’s retirement from the police force, and his daughters.

  When the waiter brought the food, he set it between them. “Just let me know if there’s anything else you need,” he said. For some reason, that struck Tina as funny, and she had to suppress her laughter. She needed so much these days.

  Jamey ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and handed the wine list to the waiter. “One bottle, two glasses.”

  With miles between them and Maui, the lingering sadness that shadowed her was now easily shed. She smiled at Jamey and picked up her fork. “This looks appetizing.”

  When the wine arrived, Jamey poured them each a glass. She recalled that only two days earlier, she’d ended up in a drunken blackout. Or she was drugged against her knowledge?

  Jamey raised his glass for a toast. “To Molokai.”

  They clicked wine glasses gently and, as thoughts and worries abandoned them, Tina vowed that the next few hours would not be filled with heavy thoughts.

  By the time she reached the bottom of her glass, she could almost believe that she was on a charming vacation. Obi sat dutifully under the table as Jamey talked about his life in Carnation.

  “It’s a little town with a lot of heart and a great place to raise kids.” Jamey didn’t ask her to talk, maybe sensing she couldn’t. Tina was thankful to simply stay in the moment.

  Staring at Jamey was a good distraction, the softness in his eyes, his smile, sweetly familiar. She rubbed Obi with her bare toes and listened to Jamey brag about his daughters, Jade and Jasmine. “I know every parent says this but, honest to God, those two are brilliant in everything they do. And they do a lot. Soccer, art classes, dance classes, basketball, swimming.” Over the last few weeks, Tina hadn’t heard him talk about himself, probably because she hadn’t asked. Her own problems had occupied her constant thoughts, but now Jamey was talking. Hearing him say he knew when to step aside and let another man help raise his children on a daily basis tugged at Tina’s heart. “Doesn’t it hurt your feelings?”

  “The stability that Carrie and her husband provide is golden,” he said. A large family had been formed in Carnation, where the twins had two dads, one mother and a mixture of grandparents, cousins, and uncles. One dad was present on a daily basis, while their real father flew in and out of their lives but loved them as much as anyone.

  “Jade and Jasmine are what keeps me going, when things get tough. They’re the reason I want to make the world a better place.” His eyes were soft, loving. “To keep the Al Qaeda from crossing that ocean.”

  “I bet.” The familiar pang of longing for a child, the need to feel the weight in her empty arms, took over Tina’s thoughts. When Jamey turned around to applaud the musical duo, she noticed small lines fanning from his blue eyes, an indicator that not only was he now in his forties, but that he smiled regularly. Then it hit her. Jamey was back in her life and she had barely noticed. Even though their new relationship was more of a friendship, he’d returned nonetheless. Something she’d wanted so badly for years. “How old are you, Jamey?” She felt buzzy from the wine, enough to make her bold.

  “I’ll be forty-two next month.” He took a sip of the scotch he’d ordered when the wine was gone and crunched an ice cube in his mouth. “You’re what? Thirty-four?”

  “Just turned thirty-five.”

  They smiled at each other, remembering their age difference. The twinkling reflection off the pool danced on a divider screen behind Jamey. The scent of the gardenias in the center of their table was heady. Tina took a deep breath.

  Jamey tilted his head, his eyes mysterious. “You look pretty tonight.”

  Absently, her hand flew to her cheek. She hadn’t looked in a mirror for days and had hardly slept one good hour in the last few nights. “I can’t imagine.” A heated blush had returned to her cheeks. “Thanks for thinking that, though.” She paused. “Can I ask you something?”

  Jamey nodded.

  “Before you discovered that Carrie was pregnant, did you hope to ever see me again?” She fished for reassurance that he’d intended to return to Maui.

  Jamey rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You and I had a pretty good thing.”

  She lowered her voice so that the next table couldn’t hear. “But it wasn’t just…you know…the physical thing for me. I really, really liked you. As a person.”

  “Me too.” He took a sip. Crunched another ice cube. Stared at her.

  “When you were with me, did you think you might reconcile with Carrie?” The answer mattered more than she wanted it to.

  “No. Carrie and I were done. We both wanted that. At least I thought so, but I found out later that Carrie didn’t. Ultimately, what she wanted was for me to marry her and give up my life in the police force. And, it’s hard to love me with all the psychic shit.” He hesitated, shifted in his chair, and continued. “There’s something I never told you.” His hands fidgeted with the unused cutlery on the table. “But now that you’re dream jumping, you deserve this information.”

  Tina tensed.

  He looked almost unsure whether to continue, and then took a deep breath. “The morning I left you ten years ago, I’d had a precognitive dream. I jumped into your wedding.”

  She set her wine glass on the table and stared at him. “You knew I’d marry Hank?”

  Jamey nodded. “I knew another man would end up with you. I left Maui knowing I couldn’t change it. I wanted to. Believe me.” He looked out at the beach. “Remember I told you that my Uncle Don was my dream mentor. When I was a kid, he taught me everything about jumping, including how to stay safe.” He chuckled. “One day, after my dad figured out I was jumping, my uncle sat me down at the picnic table in his backyard. I thought he was going to chew me out about teasing my cousin who had new boobs, but he wanted to talk about jumping. He said he’d been jumping all his life. He suspected his grandmother was a jumper too. You can’t imagine what a relief it was to hear that someone else had weird dreams.” Tina nodded and smiled. She could imagine.

  “We talked about the responsibility that came with this. ‘Like Spiderman,’ Don said. It was a serious talk. I was just glad to know I wasn’t a freak. Well, that I wasn’t the only freak.” Jamey smiled at her. “That day he got me to promise him two things.” He held up one finger. “One, never intentionally jump for my own personal gain. After that, I really tried not to. I never jumped to influence anyone to give me anything, even though I wanted to plenty of times.” He held up his second finger. “And the second promise was the one that I had to keep because the consequences might be fatal. Worse. And that was not to mess with the future. If I had one of the dreams with fuzzy edges, faint colors, I couldn’t try to change things.”

  Tina hadn’t heard him talk this much in a long time. She nodded, hoping he’d continue.

  “That day, I vowed to never willingly change anything from one of those dreams.” Jamey looked at her, and the impact that promise made on a boy’s life was evident in his expression.

  “Don died during a jump many years later. Technically, he died the day after the jump, but his brain never recovered. We weren’t sure what he was doing in the dream. We suspected he was in the mind of a serial killer. I developed my own theory about what killed him.”

  Tina reached across the table and took his hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “When I dreamed of your wedding day with another man, Uncle Don was still alive
and told me to walk away from you. I went home to Seattle knowing you weren’t mine to have. When Carrie told me she was pregnant, I asked her to marry me, but she wasn’t sure. Then we found out it was twins and knew we had to do it. What else was I going to do? You’d marry someone else.”

  The wedding dream was faintly familiar to Tina. It was only a wisp of recognition, like a scent in the air, and then gone in a second. Why would she remember it? It hadn’t been hers. “You left me knowing we were done.” She took a deep breath and thought about how Jamey had to give her up. He hadn’t wanted to but he did the right thing for her sake.

  The small band took the stage for the next set and played one of her favorite Hawaiian songs. Tina gulped what was left in her wine glass. “I appreciate your honesty.” She stood. “Come on, Mr. Dunn, let’s test out the dance floor.” She wanted to be held. By Jamey. By the man who surrendered her to the man in her future, and then went home and married his pregnant girlfriend.

  The small floor filled with couples. Fitting into Jamey’s arms, she breathed in his musky scent which brought back memories of their sexy dream in the bed over the ocean. Now she knew that dream hadn’t been hers. She’d only been the jumper into Jamey’s fantasy. His hand was warm on the small of her back.

  “No fancy twirls or dips please, Tina,” he warned. “I’m not a great dancer.”

  “I’ll try to keep my moves simple, but you accepted the invitation, Twinkle Toes.” She grinned.

  “I just wanted to hold you, not dance.” He pulled her closer and sighed into her hair. “Ah, Tina.”

  They’d never make it to morning without something happening between them. Even if he wasn’t psychic, Jamey had to know that too.

  Chapter 25

  Entering the hotel room had its own special form of nervousness after the implications and innuendos at the restaurant. Dawn was still eight hours away. Time to either get a good night’s sleep, or not.

  Tina pulled the drapes shut and opened the sliding door a crack, letting the sound of the surf drift into the room. Even if Jamey wasn’t looking sexy and smelling so good, this moment was pure romance. His skin had taken on a golden bronze recently that made his blue eyes twinkle.