Midlife Strife: A Paranormal Women's fiction Novel (Bells and Spells - Book 1)

by M. L. Briers

  “You know me so well,” he teased back and placed the mug down on the counter as he walked to the door where he stopped and turned back to look at her. “Almost as well as I know you,” he said and winked – then he was off.

  Marilyn pulled her head back on her neck and raised her eyebrows at that remark. If her children knew her better than she knew herself then yes, she was in real trouble.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ~

  Marilyn had finally started to relax, and yes, she could still feel the tension in her neck and shoulders, but she wasn’t clenching every part of her body now, more a mild squeeze as she waited for her mother to pipe up with something from her past that she’d rather forget.

  Of course, her children always lapped up the horror stories that her mother told; the hair, the make-up from the eighties, the typical adolescent angst and attitude to society and the rules that every generation goes through, but they are always sure they are the first.

  She’d been going to change the world, and sadly, all she’d managed to achieve was being a wife and mother. It wasn’t that raising a family wasn’t a worthwhile achievement, it was, but nobody was going to give her a note in the history books for that.

  Marilyn often wondered when she’d become the person she’d rallied against in her teen years, and if she had to say a time then it was when life got real, and she’d become a parent. She leant her elbow on the arm of the dining room chair and propped her head against her hand as she watched Claudia dazzle the people at the table as she thrilled them with tales of the pro-golf circuit.

  Who knew hitting a ball with a club could be so eventful? They did now.

  Of course, Claudia was free and single. There were no children to take into account, no keeping them alive for the first few years, no school runs, snotty noses, hospital dashes, and trying to balance their dietary needs when all they wanted was to eat burgers and ice cream. She couldn’t help but wonder what life would have been like for her if she had been as free as a bird.

  Still, everybody makes choices, and nobody said life was going to be a walk in the park, at least, nobody had told that to her. Making it work was a daily slog with a little time off for good behaviour, and her mother trying to lead her children up the garden path where there was only anarchy and chaos hadn’t helped but hadn’t done permanent damage either.

  Her children had turned out just fine – even if they had driven her to insanity and back over the years, but wasn’t that karma for the nightmares that she’d put her mother through in her youth?

  Karma and fate could be cruel bedfellows, and it was better to be a good person where possible from early childhood rather than having it catch up to you in later life. Of course, with age comes wisdom and regret, and what child listens to warnings when they are young?

  She hadn’t, and neither had her children, so she planned to live to the same age as her mother and watch her kids get what karma thought they deserved with the added bonus of having the magic of her grandchildren running amok around her house and the satisfaction of handing them back again when they’d run her ragged.

  “And then he swung the club, it slipped out of his hands, and the whole wall of glass shelves and contents came crashing down like a waterfall,” Claudia said with enthusiasm, she could certainly tell a story and liven up the room.

  Marilyn didn’t begrudge her that. If anything, she had lived vicariously through her best friend’s adventures for as long as she could remember. In a way, they’d kept her sane during the humdrum years of her marriage.

  Amber chuckled behind her wine glass, her eyes full with happy tears from laughing so hard. “And what did the hotel management say to that?” she asked, eager for the answer.

  “Not a damn thing,” Claudia informed her. “He handed over his credit card and got a smile in return.”

  “And this is what you’ve been doing for the last year?” Lottie asked with a chuckle and a shake of her head. “It sounds like fun.”

  Claudia raised her glass and nodded. “Oh, it was,” she said enthusiastically, but there was also something in Claudia’s eyes that Marilyn recognised – a lie, or maybe an omission – Marilyn knew that look well, she’d been wearing it herself for years.

  Under normal circumstances, when Claudia wasn’t trying to razzle-dazzle the room, Marilyn might have expected a sigh from her friend and an extra part to her story. There was usually a ‘but’ in there somewhere – but she was on form tonight, and maybe that would come later when they were alone.

  Strangely enough, Marilyn noted that her mother didn’t seem to be paying attention, at least, there had been no sarcastic comments – either she was ill, or there was something on her mind. Now that would surely come out sooner or later; it always did, usually in a tantrum.

  “But not anymore?” Scott asked from the other end of the table.

  If anyone had the kind of life that Claudia had, it was probably him. They were kindred spirits, and he could probably see behind the mask she wore.

  “No,” Claudia said with a whimsical sigh as she placed her glass down on the table next to her empty plate – and there it was, what Marilyn had suspected, it hadn’t been all bright lights, great parties, and fun. “Time to move on to better things.”

  “Nobody you’re leaving behind?” Amber asked, and of course, Marilyn felt that twinge of nervousness that her daughter still seemed to be in love with the idea of love – the fairytale romance, the happily ever after that so seldom pans out in real life.

  If Amber could have found a real-life fairytale, she would have jumped at it and never have let go, and that was what worried Marilyn – blind faith could be a kick in the pants, and she didn’t want her daughter getting hurt.

  Then Marilyn remembered a blast from her past when a fairytale had met a nightmare, and she brushed it to the back of her mind where it belonged. It wasn’t to be, it certainly wasn’t the right time, and she’d missed her shot by choice – kind of.

  There was little point in missing what you could never have. But still, somewhere within, she found she missed it every day.

  Claudia snorted a chuckle. “People who play golf – professionally – aren’t exactly the most exciting people to hang around with on the whole,” she replied.

  Amber shrugged. “But they hang around with famous people who are.”

  “Famous people might look good because they are paid to and managed that way, but when the cameras are off, they’re still just regular people – with money and nice houses, and sometimes nasty habits,” she informed her like the cautionary tale that it was.

  “And usually an attitude problem,” Lottie snorted a chuckle. She elbowed Louann, who was seated beside her and was as quiet as a mouse for a change. The elder jumped in her seat.

  “What?” Louann snapped.

  “I said an attitude problem,” Lottie offered back and winked at Amber from behind her wine glass, and the young witch ate up the mischief in the air.

  “I don’t have an attitude problem; it’s everybody else who is wrong,” Louann said and folded her arms.

  “If the cap fits,” Lottie said, looking around the happy faces as she joined in with the laughter.

  Marilyn had enjoyed herself. The food that she’d been slaving over in the kitchen all day was perfect, even if she did say so herself, and it was worth the effort. The company was good, and her mother was unusually muted, which was always one of life’s little bonuses.

  What wasn’t to like?

  It had been a pleasant diversion from ordinary life and one that Marilyn would embrace while she could. She pushed up and reached for her mother’s empty plate before grabbing her own. “Who wants chocolate cake, and who wants pie and ice cream?” she asked, and all eyes turned to her.

  “I want chocolate cake,” Claudia said, raising her hand like she was back in class – not that she’d ever raised her hand in class – except to go to the bathroom.

  “One chocolate cake,” Marilyn noted.

 
; “And pie and ice cream,” Claudia added with a teasing grin.

  “That sounds good, me too,” Amber said, following Claudia’s lead.

  “Me three,” Lottie said, nudging Louann again.

  “Sure,” Louann said, trying to shake the bad feeling she’d been tussling with all night. It was like a big black crow had lodged itself just under her ribs and was nesting there, and that wasn’t a good sign.

  “I’ll help,” Amber said, getting to her feet.

  Scott joined them, reaching for Lottie’s plate and his own. “And of course, trust it to be me who is the only person at this table with any self-control,” he announced. “It must be a warlock thing.”

  “That’ll be the day,” Amber teased him with a smile.

  “Nope, I’m only going to have pie and ice cream,” Scott informed her, and she screwed up her face in return and offered him a curious look. “But I will be sampling your chocolate cake…”

  “Ah, there it is,” Amber said, nudging him with her elbow to move when he offered her a smug grin. “My little brother, always stealing…”

  “Sharing,” he cut in with a cheeky grin.

  “Stealing my treats,” Amber corrected him.

  “Why have a dog and bark yourself?” he offered back, and felt a quick flash of an invisible bee sting, and knew it was magic.

  Scott knew it hadn’t come from his sister; Amber had never been comfortable with her magical powers when it came to using them on a person, and probably never would be, and she preferred a good slap to a magical sting. He looked to Claudia, who didn’t even try to hide her guilt, and he cocked a curious eyebrow at her.

  “Striking a blow for feminism,” Claudia informed him. “And because I knew your sister wouldn’t.”

  “Double-double all round,” Marilyn said, patting herself on the back for having the foresight to double up on everything she’d prepared that day. But as she walked through the arch to the kitchen, she felt like something just wasn’t right.

  The fine hairs on the back of Maaarilyn’s neck stood to attention, and a creepy feeling swept over her body in a rush of heat as she ground to a halt, and snapped a look at the window to her right.

  Marilyn’s heart stalled, there was a rushing sound in her ears, her hands shook, and her knees felt – soft, and to say that a million thoughts flashed through her mind probably wouldn’t have been an understatement.

  It was akin to watching her life flash before her eyes, and she knew that she was either dying, having a stroke, or there truly was a face at the window from her past looking back at her.

  Suddenly, a second wave of heat rushed through her body; her heart kicked her ribs as it sprang back to life with a vengeance, the plates slipped from her useless hands, and she let out one hell of a shout.

  “Holy crap!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  ~

  “Mum!” Amber yelled.

  The footfall that Marilyn heard coming up behind her made her snap to attention; it dragged her back to the real world with startling clarity. She’d been more of a lame duck before, but now she was right back in the game again, and what a game it was.

  One big, bright smile from that face at the window and then it was gone. Oh, she was used to that.

  Marilyn moved her feet to see if her legs still worked and kicked a fork clattering across the floor. She cursed again under her breath as her family rushed in behind her, and they all demanded answers to questions at once.

  “I slipped, new shoes,” she lied, double-checking the window just to make sure he wasn’t still there. “Dropped everything,” she said, dismissing the mess at her feet with a wave of her hand, and the questions that sounded like chattering geese to her ears as she desperately tried to get a handle on her emotions.

  The broken plates were easy to dismiss, and she found that lying to them was more simplistic than telling the truth would have been. But the one thing she couldn’t shake off was the past, not when she’d just come face-to-face with it again.

  Marilyn hopped over the mess and reached for the kitchen towel. “I’ve got this,” she said, motioning for everyone to disperse – nothing to see here – at least, not anymore, she thought it but didn’t dare say it.

  Scott placed the plates he’d been carrying down on the counter and snatched the towel from her hand. “I’ve got this; you look a little … white,” he said, and Marilyn didn’t see how that was possible, her cheeks were burning hot like she’d stood over the hob for too long.

  “Let’s get a drink,” Claudia said. She’d stood back and watched since she’d entered the room, allowing everyone else to fuss while she took in the whole picture, and she’d seen how Marilyn’s nervous gaze had kept flicking back to the window over the sink.

  New shoes and slipped her backside, there was a story there, and she’d like nothing better than to get to the bottom of it. But Marilyn was lying for a reason – her friend was too straight-laced to do it for the fun of it – so, she guessed that whatever she didn’t want the family to know about was going to be interesting.

  That was fine by her – a little wine, a chat by the fireside when nobody else was around, and she’d get it out of her. She wasn’t going anywhere; it could wait.

  ~

  Marilyn was sure that she’d seen what she’d thought she saw but was hoping that she hadn’t seen it and was having a midlife strife episode or maybe all that reminiscing about the past had given her some kind of wine-induced hallucination.

  Apparently, middle-age could do strange things to people, and as she was weird to start with – being magical – and she hoped it was that. Either way, she wasn’t about to share with the family.

  Marilyn played nice for the rest of the night, being her usual self, host, mother, daughter, best friend, and yet, deep inside she was fighting a battle where one part of her wanted to go outside and investigate, while the other part wanted to get blind drunk, crawl under the duvet, and become a crazy cat lady hermit for the rest of her life.

  Marilyn never thought she’d be that confused about anything at the ripening age of fifty-two. She thought she had all of her bases covered and was more than capable of knocking one out of the park when necessary.

  How wrong could one middle-aged woman be? Life was still full of surprises that could knock you on your backside if you weren’t paying attention, and she’d long since forgotten to pay attention.

  As any mother would at the first sign of danger, she’d insisted her children stay over, and Scott was staying anyway, but Amber was quite happy to take her up on the offer after the amount of alcohol she’d consumed. They were now in the other room watching Netflix, eating popcorn, and catching up on life, sibling-to-sibling.

  Lottie had decided to stay the night with her mother in the summer house, and Claudia had been visiting for the weekend – a crowded house – and she didn’t know whether she was grateful to have all of her loved ones home and safe or to run for the hills.

  Marilyn stared into the dancing flames of the fire and cuddled the throw cushion against her chest. “Here,” Claudia said, bringing her back to reality when she wasn’t sure she wanted that either.

  The dark glass of liquor on offer was a welcome sight, and she reached for it. “What is it?”

  “Rum and coke,” Claudia said with whimsical innocence and noted the bemused look on her friend’s face as she sat down at the other end of the couch and pulled her legs beneath her.

  Marilyn sniffed it. “I didn’t see your time machine parked on the driveway.”

  “Nothing like revisiting the eighties whenever possible.” Claudia countered with a little knowing grin.

  Marilyn snorted a chuckle. “As long as I don’t have to two-tone my hair colour, wrap a bandana and pin it, and wear those awful string vests again,” she said, remembering the bold and colourful look of her teen years and pulling a face at the memory.

  “What? No one hundred bangles per arm and fifty necklaces?” Claudia teased.

  “And leg
warmers,” Marilyn screwed up her face again. “What were we thinking?”

  “Legwarmers and six-inch heels – classy,” Claudia shot back chuckling.

  “But we did have fun,” Marilyn said, sniffing the liquid in the glass again like she was checking for poison, and the scent reminded her of times forgotten.

  “And we danced our asses off,” Claudia said chuckling.

  Marilyn sipped the drink expecting to hate it now that she’d discovered what good wine was, but the coke fizzed on her tongue, and the rum warmed her, and she embraced the mixture of flavours. “What happened to us? We were going to save the world, change mankind for the better, and be revolutionaries – not to mention putting our magic to good use.”

  Claudia took a breath and considered it. “We grew up and found out that the powers that be were pulling all the strings, and we were just the cogs in the machine that they controlled.”

  “Amen to that,” Marilyn said and toasted her before taking another sip, and then another. “I could get used to this again.”

  “We could make it popular again,” Claudia tossed back. “Along with Malibu and lemonade…”

  “I had a better palate back then than you; I liked my Malibu with pineapple.”

  “Radical,” Claudia replied, grinning.

  “So, what wickedly witchy things have you been getting up to, and why is your tour of the golfing world over?” Marilyn asked, hitting her between the eyes with her questions and pinning her to the spot with her gaze.

  “Do not look at me with those accusing motherly eyes,” Claudia tossed back.

  “I am a mother,” Marilyn said grinning.

  “Yes, but not my mother, thank the Goddess, she was bat-shit crazy enough for three people,” Claudia said.

  “Answer the question…”

  “There was a question?” Claudia replied with a teasing grin. When she got a glare in return, she sighed. “Life moves on – and so does the betting scam before it’s discovered…”