"Miranda...you don't know what it means to be able to see the beautiful young woman you've grown into. I just wish your mother could see you," Aimsley told her.
Miranda smiled again at Aimsley as she walked out the door. Walking to her car, she could see Kent across the street in the bakery through the front window chatting with Caroline. She didn't take notice of the silver sedan when she was leaving the bookstore, as there were more cars on the street for it to blend in with. She got into her car, and pulled down Eastway Avenue towards Aimsley's house.
Just as Mr. Skye turned the key in the ignition, Mr. Cain's phone began to ring.
"Yes?" Cain answered the phone. Mr. Skye pulled into the road and began to follow Miranda from a distance just after she pulled down Eastway.
"Yes, it is," Cain said to the caller. "Yes. I understand. We'll leave immediately." He pressed the END button on the phone.
Mr. Skye looked curiously at Mr. Cain.
"What is going on?" asked Mr. Skye.
"We have a new assignment," said Mr. Cain.
"More important than keeping track of the girl?" asked Mr. Skye.
"When we're given instructions by our employer, it's best to just do and not ask questions. Besides, the GPS locater is working perfectly. She won't be hard to find again. Don't be so concerned, my friend. I think you will enjoy our next task," said Mr. Cain. "Turn the car around."
"Where are we headed?" asked Mr. Skye.
"I will explain on the way. Just drive," said Cain.
Mr. Skye frowned. He turned the car around and drove in the opposite direction that they had taken when they came into town. He knew Mr. Cain was right. He had worked for a great many individuals and organizations over the years, and had done a lot of nasty things to both good and bad people. But this employer was unlike any he'd had in the past. It was best not to ask questions if the answers were not immediately necessary. Mr. Skye kept quiet and drove on.
Miranda easily found Aimsley's home on Hemlock, just as she described it. It was a quaint little home with a main level and an upper floor, one bedroom downstairs, and a second one on the floor above. The bedroom upstairs had to be Aimsley's; the one on the main floor had a roll top desk and chair with an older desktop computer on it. The rest of the room was cluttered with boxes and papers and various other items. She noticed a couple of boxes that had the word 'DONATE' written on them in black marker ink.
The kitchen was fairly small, which must have suited Aimsley just fine, but the living room was much larger in size, with a bookshelf that took up most of the wall at the far end of the room. Across the living room on the opposite side was a small fireplace with a 'U' shaped metal rack beside it filled with firewood. Above the mantelpiece over the fireplace was the only other modern looking thing in the whole house besides the old desktop computer - a 46-inch Sony flat panel television.
Miranda felt the home had a cozy and welcoming feeling throughout it. There were many items around the house that looked like homemade craft items. She noticed several quilts in different areas around the living room, as well as a boxed up quilt rack in the office/bedroom that was filled with the donation boxes and clutter downstairs. There were dream catchers hung on either side of the fireplace, and even the bathroom had crocheted decorations of fish and nautical designs.
She sat herself down on the couch and turned on the television, trying to pass the time until Aimsley came home from the bookstore. Aimsley had satellite TV service, which Miranda imagined that living up here, in what she considered close to the middle of no where, was probably the only way to have any TV stations at all. She flipped to the History Channel and came across a special on the history and origins of Halloween, which was coming up fast, and found herself engrossed in the documentary. Before long though, she could feel her eyelids getting heavier, and she drifted off.
The noise of her cell phone's ringer woke her from her mid-day nap. She looked at the phone, and the time was a little after 3 p.m. She saw that it was her mother’s cell number, and realized that she should have called her herself before now to check in. She may be a grown woman on her own now, but she was still her parent’s child, and they were entitled to worry about her, especially given the circumstances of the last few weeks.
"Hey Mom," she said to Lorri, trying not to sound as if she had just been asleep in the middle of the day. She was supposed to be with a friend having fun, not crashed out on a stranger’s couch somewhere.
"How is everything going up there? Have you been having a good time?" asked Lorri.
"Yeah, super. There's like nothing up here, so you have to make your own fun," said Miranda.
"Yeah, it can be like that up there," said Lorri. "And how is your friend? Tammy, is it?"
"She's good. She is glad that I am here though. I guess when she went on about this place to me before, she remembered there being more to do here when she was just a kid. We've been keeping busy exploring the town around here. I think it's good for me to be here, to help clear my head," said Miranda. She was almost scaring herself with the realization of how easy it was to lie to her mother. It wasn't entirely without guilt, but if anyone would have a hard time understanding what she was truly doing there, it would be her mother.
"You'll have to bring her by sometime for a visit. Maybe when they come back through on their way home she and her family can stop by and have dinner with us? As a thank you for having you come up and visit with them," said Lorri.
"That might be a nice idea, Mom. I will see if they will have time to do that when they head home," Miranda told her.
"Speaking of home, do you have any idea when you will be coming home?" asked Lorri.
"I will probably head back tomorrow...maybe even later tonight," she said.
"I don't want you driving at night if you don't have to. The deer are running here all over the place right now, and I would imagine it's even worse up there. If you were to get into an accident, there may not be anyone for miles, and the cell phone reception up there is really spotty," Lorri told Miranda.
Miranda heard a car outside the house, and looked out to see that Aimsley had pulled into the driveway.
"Mom, I have to go. I think we are going to head out to dinner. I will stay until morning, so you don't have to worry," said Miranda.
"That sounds good. And, I won't have to worry about you falling asleep at the wheel, either," said Lorri. "I have to go anyway honey. Looks like there is a man from the gas company at the door. We got a call earlier that apparently the meter hadn't been hooked up properly and we have been being overcharged since we moved in. I don't know why it has too be so hard getting things right moving to a new place," said Lorri. "At least we should be getting a big credit on the next bill."
"That's good Mom," said Miranda, as Aimsley stepped into the front door with an arm load of groceries. "Mom, I gotta go. I will see you tomorrow."
"Alright sweetie. Drive safe. Love you," said Lorri.
"Love you too, Mom," she said, and she hit the END button on her phone.
Miranda took one of the bags from Aimsley's arm, although Aimsley was pretty much already to her small kitchen table where she set the other bag down.
"Did you find everything that you needed here?" Aimsley asked, putting the cold items into the refrigerator.
"Yes. The TV, at least. I fell asleep watching it," she said.
"Do you like chicken? I picked up a rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes at the grocery store. I'm afraid I don't really cook a lot. Most of my time is spent at the store, and I spend a lot of time going to craft shows. I tend to eat on the run," said Aimsley. She seemed to be trying extra hard to seem casual, although it was obvious she was far from a relaxed state of mind.
"Chicken is fine, thank you. I really appreciate everything. Really. And I think I will take you up on crashing here tonight, if the offer is still on the table," said Miranda.
"Yes, of course it is," said Aimsley with much enthusiasm. "If you don't mind that pullout couch. You
are more than welcome."
Miranda gave Aimsley the space to get the kitchen in order so they could sit down and have their meal. Aimsley set out the dishes and sliced up the chicken, and the two of them sat across from each other at the table. Miranda watched as Aimsley started eating and noticed that, even though it was very subtle, her hands quivered as she held her dinner fork. Miranda tried not to appear as if she noticed it, until Aimsley dropped the fork onto the plate. The sound should have startled Miranda, but all she did was raise her eyes from her plate and looked across at Aimsley.
"Is something wrong?" asked Miranda, trying to ease Aimsley’s obvious tension.
"I'm sorry," said Aimsley, her eyes beginning to tear up once again.
"How was the book signing?" asked Miranda, attempting to shift the odd mood in the room to something more casual and mundane.
"It was...sniff...it was good. There was a really good turnout, actually. Kent sold probably more than 100 books today. He was happy with it, and just getting people into the store is great for me. It's the only bookstore within 50 miles, but there are still some people around that don't even know it's there. So I sold more than just Kent's book today, and that was a good thing as well," said Aimsley, getting herself back together.
"Well that's fantastic. A hundred books, eh? That's gotta be great for him," said Miranda.
Aimsley didn't respond at first. Her eyes were looking down at her plate, and she set her fork down upon her napkin beside the plate.
"I appreciate what you are trying to do, Miranda. I am sorry I am so out of sorts. You're probably thinking to yourself, 'What kind of a crazy person is this?'” said Aimsley.
"No, not at all. Please, don't worry about that. I didn't mean to barge into your life and make you upset..." said Miranda.
"You didn't. You didn't barge anywhere. I led you here, whether I intended to or not. And I am not upset to see you. Quite the opposite, actually. I am so happy that you cannot possibly know. It's just that...well, seeing you brings back a lot of memories. Some very good memories...and some, very dark," said Aimsley, looking out the kitchen window and staring into the now darkening grey sky.
Neither of the two of them were really all too hungry, or if they were, it wasn't occurring to them to eat any more. Miranda put her silverware down and sipped from a glass of water.
"Would you like for us to talk now?" asked Miranda.
Aimsley looked back to her, and nodded her head. Miranda stood up from her chair, as did Aimsley, and she followed Aimsley into the living room. Miranda had left the television on from when Aimsley had gotten home. She turned the power off while Aimsley started a small fire in the fireplace to take the chill out of the room. The temperature dropped steadily over the past few evenings that Miranda had been in the area, especially during the late night hours.
After the fire was burning steadily, Aimsley sat across from Miranda, who had taken a seat on the couch she had slept on earlier. Aimsley sat on the edge of a recliner, her hands once again folded together as they were earlier at the bookstore.
"Miranda. I know that you don't know me at all. But I want you to please bear with me in some of what I am going to tell you. Even to me, some of it doesn't make a bit of sense, but I promise you, I have no reason to tell you anything but the truth as I have come to know it. Please don't think I am crazy. I am not, I assure you," said Aimsley. She paused for a brief moment. "Can you keep an open mind?" asked Aimsley.
"Of course. I mean, I would guess I can. We will just have to trust each other, and keep our minds open together," responded Miranda. She was eager to see where this was going, as well as a bit apprehensive. She did not want Aimsley to feel at all like she should hold anything back. She wanted her to feel at ease.
Aimsley eased into a smile after hearing Miranda tell her this. She felt some relief at the thought of Miranda putting her trust in her.
"Where would you like me to begin?" asked Aimsley.
Miranda thought for a moment. There was so much she wanted to know, but felt it was best to start at what was the beginning of this journey for her.
"How about we start with how you found me," she said.
The smile faded from Aimsley's face just as fast as it had found its way there.
"I guess that should be the part I get out of the way first, and then you can decide for yourself whether you want to listen to anything else I tell you after that," said Aimsley, with increasing hesitancy in her voice. Miranda sat quietly, anxious to hear what she had to say.
"It's alright. Please, go on," she told her, trying to encourage Aimsley to continue without the fear of ridicule or doubt on her part.
"I found you, at least this time, because of a dream."
CHAPTER 6
"A dream?" asked Miranda.
"Yes," said Aimsley. She looked to Miranda's face for some sign to give away disbelief in Miranda's face, but to her surprise, there was none evident. "I know how that might sound..."
"No. It doesn't sound crazy at all. Please, tell me about your dream," Miranda said.
"It started about a month and a half ago. You may have noticed all of the boxes that were in my 'office' when you first walked into the house. I had been putting off for a long time going through my attic upstairs to finally get rid of things that had been lying around for such a long time. Things that I just didn't need anymore, that I felt it was time to let go of. I have lived in this house since before I had worked for the Gales. It was my aunt's house before she passed away. She left it to me, and I have lived here ever since. Anyway, it's not a very big attic, but there were a few things that I wanted to go through up there, including some old things that my aunt had stored. Mostly, it was tea kettles. She collected them, and there were only a few that were her favorites that I could never part with. The rest, however, were still very collectible and I thought I could sell a few, and maybe donate the rest to a charity auction. I had completely forgotten that I had put the box up there."
"The box with the video tape?" asked Miranda.
"Yes. It was an odd feeling finding it. In the back of my mind, I guess I knew I would come across it. I just put it out of my mind for so long. When I started going through things, there it was, like it had been there waiting for me to find it. I brought it down, and for the first time since...since I had it, I opened it to look at the tape inside. I knew you were right there on the tape, but I didn't watch it. I just couldn't. It was too hard. I left it in there, and put the box on the floor next to the fireplace. I considered throwing it into the fire, and leaving the past in the past, but I couldn't get myself to do it. I knew that you had a good life, with parents that loved you dearly, but still, something held me back from doing it..."
"How did you know who my parents were? How did you know where to find me at all?" Miranda asked her.
Aimsley looked down at the floor again and sighed.
"After the fire...after Suzanne's death, your grandmother, Victoria, was extremely distraught. She believed that there was a curse on the Gale family, and that they were all to blame for the deaths. Everyone knew within a few days that Daryl Grimes set the fire, but Victoria believed that there was something more. She wanted to protect you from it, whatever it was. I worked only a few months for the family as a housekeeper, trying to put myself through school, before Suzanne found herself pregnant. My job description changed rather quickly, at the insistence of Victoria, and I became Suzanne's personal handmaid. It's not what Suzanne wanted, but I didn't mind, and Suzanne was a very generous and caring person. Besides, the job came with a substantial raise, and Suzanne was well aware of what the Gales were paying me, so she chose to go along with it for my sake, if not for her own. We made the best of it, but it was not a real job to me. It became a labor of love. Did you want something to drink? Water? I might have a 7-Up."
"Not right now, thank you. Did you need something?" asked Miranda.
"No. I'm fine. I just know I tend to ramble on a bit, especially when I am feeling anxious,"
said Aimsley.
Miranda nodded her head to Aimsley with a smile. Aimsley took a deep breath, and went on.
"Anyhow, in the next three years that followed, I stayed on at the house. I had no expenses, I had no bills, and in that time I saved up enough money to pay for all of the schooling that I had already had, as well as more than enough money to finish when my time at the house would eventually come to an end. But the best part was of course not the money. Suzanne and I had become wonderful friends, and I looked at you like you were my very own daughter. In fact, just a few weeks before the fire..."
Aimsley stopped for a moment; there was a long pause like she was trying to find the words, or at least force them from herself.
"I'm sorry," Aimsley started again, softly. "Talking about this...I hadn't talked about it to anyone for years. It just brings it all back."
"It's alright," Miranda assured her. "Take your time...we have all night. You want some tea now?"
Aimsley coaxed a warm smile to her lips. "No, thank you. Suzanne - your mother - just a few weeks before the fire, made me make a promise to her. She told me that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted me to take care of you. She said that she wanted me to raise you like you were my own child. I told her she was being silly talking like that, and that nothing was going to happen to her. But she was deadly serious, more so than I had ever seen her be about anything. She made me say it to her. She wanted me to promise that not only would I take you as my own, but that I would take you as far away from the rest of the Gales as possible. I failed her on both promises."
"What happened? How did you fail?" asked Miranda.
"First, I failed by not being allowed to fulfill her first wish. After the fire, Victoria stayed out of the public eye until the trial was over. I tried to talk to her many times, but the closest I could get was to a lawyer that she had hired to be her public face during the time up until the trial, a man named Phillip Jessup. I just wanted to see you. I couldn't imagine how scared and confused you must have been. And, I wanted to tell her Suzanne's wishes. I had hoped that Suzanne had put it into a will or something, but there was never any evidence that she did. So I would stay as near as I could to you and your family. Even though I couldn't see you, I waited and I watched, until one day I saw Victoria and Jessup come out of the home where Victoria and David had been staying. She was carrying you, and I watched her hug you for the longest time. Victoria was crying..." Aimsley's emotions took hold again, and she took a moment as if to catch her breath.
In the Shadows of Fate Page 10
