Charmed

by Catherine Hart

  “Where do you learn all this outlandish stuff?” Nikki wanted to know.

  “You know I’ve always had this passion for murder mysteries. Not everything of value is learned between the pages of a dusty old history tome or an encyclopedia, Nik. There are other books of worth.”

  “I stand corrected. All right, Sheree Drew, let’s see what we have so far,” Nikki suggested. She ticked them off on her fingers as she listed them aloud. “I fell madly in love with an archaeologist at first sight. Probably met him right there at the caves, which would account for leaving my car there. We would have left together in his. We rushed off to Mexico. Got married. Started a family. Couldn’t phone home.” Nikki paused and frowned. “No, that doesn’t play right. I would have called before I left so Mom and Dad wouldn’t worry. And I wouldn’t have left my car in a public parking lot for that long.”

  “You tried to phone your parents, but they weren’t home, and since they don’t have an answering machine you couldn’t leave a message,” Sheree invented. “You wrote a letter instead, and mailed it from . . .”

  Nikki filled in the blank. “From Cancun. But the postal service from Mexico is slow and unreliable, and they never got the letter. In fact,” Nikki said thoughtfully, “I don’t think they ever did get that postcard I mailed when I vacationed there two years ago. What about my car?”

  “You called me, got my answering machine, left a message about your sudden trip, and asked me to retrieve your car for you. Unfortunately, my answering machine went on the blink, and I never got the message.”

  Nikki’s eyes widened in appreciation. “Good grief, Sheree! You’re so good at this, it’s actually scary!”

  Sheree sketched a mock bow. “You can thank me by letting me change the first diaper. Now, we’ve taken you from being an irresponsible, spoiled brat without a concern for anyone but yourself and transformed you into a love-struck newlywed whose best-meant actions went awry. That should settle a few ruffled feathers among law enforcement officials who have been beating the bushes for your body, the news media who have been milking this case for all it’s worth, and certain nameless school officials who are nosier than either of the above. Have we missed anything?”

  “Just one or two points,” Nikki said. “How did I get to Mexico and back? Someone may check with the airlines.”

  “Private jet?” Sheree suggested. “And don’t forget. I came down today to pick you up at the airport.”

  “Very good,” Nikki approved. “One more thing. My husband has to have a name, and as his wife I need a new surname. Don’t you think Silver Thorn sounds a little odd for our times?”

  “I could go with Thorn for a last name.”

  “Yes, but I call him Thorn most of the time as a casual form of addressing him. Wouldn’t it sound strange if I tend to refer to my husband by his surname more than his given name? I’m sure I will, if only from habit.”

  “Then turn it around. Call him Thorn, and refer to yourself as Mrs. Silver from here out.”

  Nikki tried it out. “Thorn Silver. Mrs. Thorn Silver. Nichole Silver. Sage Silver.” She nodded. “I like it. It has sort of a continental ring to it, don’t you think?”

  “As in North American continent?” Sheree teased. “Yeah. By the way, who is Sage?”

  “The baby,” Nikki informed her. “Didn’t I tell you? Thorn says the we’re going to have a son this first time around.”

  “Nuts! I was hoping it would be a girl. Then you could name her after me.”

  Nikki shook her head. “If Thorn says its going to be a boy, you’d better bank on it. He’s rarely wrong in his predictions.”

  “Then you have nothing to worry about,” Sheree stated, sounding much more confident than she felt. “He’ll find a way to get here. Sooner or later.”

  Nikki took the hand Sheree extended, clasping it hard. “I hope it’s sooner. I don’t know how long I can go on without him, Sheree. I’ve never loved like this before. I’ve never ached like this before. It hurts. It hurts so terribly.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Nikki perched on the edge of her desk and stared at the neat towers of textbooks stacked against the classroom wall. One-hundred-and-fifty-five history texts ready to be handed out to as many unenthused students. School would be starting in three days, and Nikki had the weekend to rest up for the first-day havoc. No matter how prepared everyone was, or tried to be, the entire first week of a new school year was always chaos.

  Thanks in large part to Sheree’s bulldog attitude, Nikki had retained her teaching position. Of course, her past teaching record, which was excellent, and her tenure had also helped. And once the furor of her return had died down, everyone had seemed willing to accept Nikki’s explanation of how matters had become so complicated and misconstrued.

  However, those first few days back home had been tough. Nikki repressed a shudder as she recalled just how difficult it had been for everyone, especially those persons closest to her.

  Sheree had been a blessing. On the way home from the caves, she’d remembered that Nikki needed a wedding ring. They’d stopped at a busy Columbus mall, where Nikki was no more than another anonymous Saturday shopper and wouldn’t be easily remembered. At a popular chain jewelers, Nikki purchased an attractively engraved wedding band of brushed gold, with no stones, for just under a hundred dollars. It took most of her remaining vacation funds, but she paid cash for it. Her name wasn’t even listed on the receipt, on the off chance that someone chose to check out a few details of Nikki’s fabricated story.

  With that out of the way, Sheree had driven straight to Nikki’s parents’ farm. They’d arrived at noon, when the Swans were inside eating their midday meal. So as not to startle anyone into a heart attack, Sheree had left Nikki outside while she went in first to break the news of Nikki’s return as gently as possible. Within seconds, Nikki’s parents and youngest brother were stampeding out the door, enveloping her in eager hugs and exclamations of joy.

  Amid all the hurried, necessary explanations came the expected disbelief, followed by stunned acceptance when Nikki presented proof of her incredible adventure and, finally, the agreement that an invented tale of a hasty marriage to an archaeologist was infinitely better than actual fact. Nikki’s other two brothers and their wives were promptly informed and included in the family conspiracy.

  Their jubilant family reunion was quickly cut short, however. As soon as the local sheriff’s office was notified of her return, the Swan farm was bombarded by deputies, detectives, and members of various news media. For hours, the place was a zoo, with everyone trying to talk at once and questions being fired right and left. Finally, it was over, but only temporarily. The next day it began again, with another visit from the detectives—“just to tidy up loose ends.” This was followed by another wave of news reporters from more distant corners of the state. Nikki awoke to find her face plastered on the front pages of several newspapers and practically her whole life story revealed to one and all. On top of everything else, there was the school board to deal with, more concerns to address, more pointed questions to field. It was not a comfortable few days.

  Then there were financial matters to untangle, the least of which was getting her cablevision reinstated, which her father had inadvertently forgotten to pay; getting a new, unlisted phone number to alleviate all those annoying calls from reporters and nosy acquaintances; applying for a new driver’s license and social security card under her married name; sneaking in a visit to her gynecologist to confirm her pregnancy. By the time she’d waded through all the inquiries and red tape, Nikki felt as if she’d been through the Inquisition and barely emerged with her skin intact. The only consolation was that her doctor had confirmed that Nikki was, indeed, pregnant, that everything appeared to be normal, and she could expect her baby sometime in March—just as Silver Thorn had predicted.

  It had been a relief to escape into the hectic-but-normal pre-school routine and deal with the business of preparing for fall classes. At school
and in her classroom, Nikki could immerse herself in the relatively trivial problems of class scheduling, missing supplies, outdated textbooks, and tedious teachers’ meetings.

  But as good as it felt to be getting her life back on track again, her work did not occupy enough of her time or attention to alleviate the loneliness, the nagging worry, or the heartache Nikki lived with daily. The nights were worst of all. She lay awake for long hours, reliving her short time with Silver Thorn, praying for his safety and his prompt arrival, even though she knew it would be weeks before he could even attempt to come to her. When she finally slept, her dreams were haunted by images of him, sometimes so real that she could feel the crisp texture of his hair sliding through her fingers, could smell the scent of his sun-kissed skin, could taste the tempting flavor of his lips on hers. Then she would awaken, alone and longing for him, and soak her pillow with her tears.

  Nikki was jerked from her current reverie as Sheree poked her head through the classroom door and hailed, “Hey! Are you ready to call it a day and get out of here? God knows we’ll be spending enough time inside this pile of bricks for the next nine months. We don’t need to rush it any more than we have to.”

  Nikki rose and dug her purse out of the desk drawer. “You’re right,” she replied snappily. “Let’s blow this pop stand, girlfriend!”

  “I got you something,” Sheree said, presenting Nikki with a small shopping bag. “It’s a welcome-home gift. Sorry, but I didn’t take time to wrap it.”

  “You’ve done enough already,” Nikki told her. “You didn’t need to buy me anything.”

  Sheree shrugged. “Too late. Go ahead. Open it.”

  Nikki did and drew out an oak wedge with a brass plate on the front. Engraved on the shiny surface was her name. Her new name. Mrs. Nichole Silver.

  “It’s for your desk,” Sheree informed her needlessly. “So the kids will remember to address you by your married name instead of your old one.”

  Nikki hugged her friend. “Thank you. I love it. I just hope Thorn doesn’t have a hissy when he finds out I’ve changed his name around. After all, it is a rather presumptuous thing to do and a person’s name is very important, private territory.”

  “I have a notion he’s going to be too busy chasing you around the bedroom to care if you’ve changed his name to Adolph Hitler,” Sheree commented on a laugh. “Besides, if he gives you any guff about it, just inform him that it’s a whole lot more convenient and less expensive than to have to change the monogram on all your luggage and linens.”

  The two friends walked together to the parking lot. “What are your plans for the weekend?” Sheree inquired.

  “I thought I’d go out to Mom and Dad’s and check the tree tomorrow.”

  Several days after arriving home, once the excitement had died down, Nikki remembered burying the message to her parents beneath the fallen oak near the river. Not really expecting to find anything, but curious nonetheless, Nikki had walked down to the creek to have a look. To her delight, the leather-bound package was actually there! Worn and dirty, but still intact. Inside, Nikki had found her letter.

  Oddly, the lottery tickets she’d also enclosed were nowhere to be found. Their peculiar absence had started Nikki thinking that perhaps Silver Thorn had returned to the tree and removed them for some reason she couldn’t readily deduce. Which also led her to believe that if Silver Thorn were to try to contact her prior to attempting his own leap into the future, he would probably leave a message for her at the tree, surmising that she would check the location at least once, if only to look for her own missive. On that assumption, false though it might turn out to be, Nikki had convinced her father not to remove the tree from the spot where it had fallen; and since that day, she’d made regular pilgrimages to check it.

  Now, Sheree rolled her eyes and groaned. “Not the tree again! You were just out there two days ago. This is getting ridiculous! Why don’t you just pitch a tent and erect a blasted shrine or something?”

  “I have to go. Thorn might try to contact me,” Nikki insisted stubbornly.

  Sheree sighed. “I give up.”

  “Do you want to drive out with me?” Nikki asked. “Or do you have a date with Dave?”

  Sheree was currently interested in one of the deputies she’d met at the Swan farm the day Nikki had first returned home. Dave Dawson had been one of the officers assigned to the case and had accompanied the detectives when they’d arrived to question Nikki. He and Sheree had shared an instantaneous attraction and had been dating steadily since that day. Had Sheree not been her best friend—had she been any one of Nikki’s numerous lesser friends, Nikki might have worried that Sheree would inadvertently “spill the beans.” But Sheree was that friend in a million Nikki could trust with her life—and her deepest, darkest secrets.

  “Dave has to work this weekend,” Sheree said. “I was thinking that you and I might do a little shopping. Maybe pick up something for the baby.”

  Nikki grinned. Sheree was really into her role as godmother-to-be. “Well, I was considering a stop at the paint store,” she confessed. “Just to snoop through the wallpaper patterns. If they have something I like, I thought I might order a couple of rolls for the nursery.”

  “Not without me along, you don’t.” Sheree was adamant. “No godson of mine is going to sleep in a room with a lot of sappy cartoon characters hovering over him like grinning gargoyles.”

  “So what did you have in mind?” Nikki teased. “Pictures of yourself, all decked out in wings and a halo, maybe?”

  “Why not?” Sheree countered with mock indignation. Then she groaned. “Oh, good grief! Didn’t you tell Mr. Hopeful to take a powder?”

  Nikki’s gaze followed Sheree’s. There, leaning against the door of her car, a bouquet of flowers in hand, was the man she’d been dating casually prior to meeting Thorn. Unfortunately, Brian was also a reporter, and just now anyone connected with the media was not high on Nikki’s list of people with whom she wanted to associate. In the past two-and-a-half weeks, he’d popped up unexpectedly several times, and Nikki wasn’t certain what his motives were. He always seemed friendly enough—sometimes too friendly—and didn’t seem at all discouraged by the fact that Nikki was now married to someone else.

  Nikki sighed. “Drat! When is he going to take the hint? I’ve told him as politely as I can that he’s a nice guy, but I’m married now, so please buzz off.”

  “What bugs me is that he’s a reporter,” Sheree stressed. “I can’t help but wonder if he’s still sniffing around for another twist to your story for a news article or if he’s simply sniffing around your skirts like a bird dog after a piece of quail tail.”

  “I’ve tried to tell him that hunting season is over, that this quail, or perhaps more appropriately this goose, has already been bagged and to go bark up someone else’s tree. Not only am I not available, I’m no longer interested. I’m beginning to wonder why I ever dated him in the first place.”

  “Apparently he’s not getting the message,” Sheree retorted dryly. “Seems to me he either needs a hearing aid or a swift kick in the pants.”

  “He seems to think that as long as Thorn isn’t around, I’m still fair game. Maybe if I told him I’m pregnant, he’d take me more seriously,” Nikki proposed.

  “I thought you didn’t want everyone to know that yet, just your family and close friends. If you tell old Brian, you might as well advertise the fact on the Internet.”

  “I know, but how else am I going to convince him that I don’t want him around?”

  Sheree smirked. “Tell him you caught some mysterious virus in the Yucatan. That ought to send him running with his tail tucked between his legs.”

  “And probably get me fired at the same time for exposing my students to some dread disease.”

  “Not if you say it’s only communicable through intimate contact.”

  Nikki shook her head. “Thanks, but no thanks, Sheree. In no time flat, the whole community would think I had AIDS. I’ll
just have to find another means of discouraging Brian.”

  “Yeah,” Sheree muttered as they neared the waiting reporter. “Like maybe voodoo. You grab him, and I’ll rip out a hank of his hair for the doll.”

  Nikki had to laugh at the ridiculous suggestion. She was still chuckling when Brian Sanders held out the bouquet to her.

  “What has you in such a wonderful mood today, gorgeous?” he inquired. “I haven’t heard you laugh like that in some time.”

  Before Nikki could reply, Sheree piped up. “Gee, that says a lot about the depressing effect you have on people, doesn’t it? Sure is a good thing you didn’t want to be a comedian.”

  Brian glowered at the diminutive blonde and offered a smart comeback. “Maybe I’ll give ventriloquism a go and let you be the dummy.”

  “Hey, you two!” Nikki intervened. “Let’s not have a donnybrook in the parking lot. The principal frowns on that sort of behavior.”

  “Sorry,” Brian grumbled. “Your little sidekick irritates me.” He waved the bouquet Nikki had yet to accept. “These are for you.”

  Nikki’s smile was polite, but cool. “They’re lovely, Brian, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for a married woman to accept flowers from another man, especially one she used to date. I’m sure you can find someone else who would appreciate them more.”

  “Probably, but I bought them for you. If you don’t take them, they’ll just go into the trash.”

  Sheree could see Nikki wavering. She reached forward and yanked the flowers from Brian’s grasp. “In that case, I’ll take them,” she said. “I was going to visit my grandpa’s grave this weekend, and this will save me a trip to the florist.”

  Appalled at her friend’s behavior, but amused as well, Nikki was at a loss. “Uh . . . it was a lovely gesture, anyway, Brian. I’ve got to go now.”