No matter what was going on in the world, the night was theirs.
CHAPTER 3
“Wow,” Karen’s red-headed and freckled image said from the computer monitor. “I’m not surprised about Sylvia or Chaz’s reaction, but he really turned down a promotion?” The news seemed to trouble her. “It sounds so odd, considering how much he loves law enforcement. Does that match up with your dreams?”
“Yes and no. I’m having a lot of dreams—more than ever. When they’re about Chaz, some are with him here doing normal things. But in the ones about his job, some are in the office I’ve been to, and some are in a livingroom that I don’t recognize. Others are with him having some type of strategy meeting or handling phone calls with information I can only guess relates to a case.” Stephanie looked in the distance, as if she was recalling specific details. “What bothers me is that in many of the dreams, he seems to be tense or worried.”
“Even the ones where he’s at home?”
“Yes.” Stephanie shrugged at her best friend. The two women were silent as they each had their own thoughts about what that might mean. “There’s something else,” Stephanie admitted. “I had gotten to a point where I could faintly see auras surrounding his friends and coworkers. Lately, I haven’t been able to do that. In fact, other than Chaz, I’m not sensing personalities. Can you come up with a blend of teas that might unblock that? I have a feeling of anxiety about it that I haven’t been able to shake.”
“Sure Steph.” Karen frowned and seemed distracted for a moment. “You’re having more dreams about your husband doing everyday things. You’re having dreams about his job with details you don’t understand. Your ability to sense personalities is blocked. And you’re pregnant.” She looked down as if she was writing on a notepad. “I’ll figure out something and put a package in the mail this weekend. But there’s something else you should do.”
“What’s that?”
“Meditate—not to keep calm but to visualize your dreams better. You’re missing something, Stephanie, and I don’t know what it is. But, if you can hone that gift, maybe you’ll see details that will help you to relax.”
“Maybe.” It was Stephanie’s turn to look pensive. “Could this be caused by hormone shifts? Could the baby be throwing off my abilities?”
“It’s possible. I really can’t see your auras from here. When you meditate, don’t use aromatherapy unless you’re going to heat some of the special teas Phailin or I made for you. I’m not sure whether anything else is safe this early in your pregnancy.” She paused. “Maybe I should come down for a couple of days. A mini vacation would do me good, and I miss you so much.” That brought a huge smile to her friend’s face.
“The feeling is mutual.” Stephanie sighed and touched the computer screen as if that would bring them closer. “Chaz should be home in about an hour. I’m going to take advantage of the solitude by trying to meditate. Call me tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure, sweetie. That’ll give me plenty of time to discuss the visit with Victor. You know how protective he is toward you; don’t be surprised if he wants to tag along.”
“But then, you won’t get a vacation from being a wife and mother.”
Karen laughed and said, “Maybe having a break with my husband is what we need. There’s no shortage of family members to watch Little Victor, but spending time in a different environment might be good for us as a couple.”
Those words made Stephanie frown. Had she missed some change in their relationship? “What’s wrong, Karen?”
“Nothing specific. I just feel a little off and he’s been worrying about me.”
“Okay. You’d let me know if something was really wrong, right?”
“Of course I would.” She touched the screen in the same way Stephanie had earlier. “Maybe I’ll be back to normal after I get to spend some time with you.” She took a deep breath. “Now, you need to take advantage of the quiet atmosphere in your house and meditate.”
“Yeah, I should. We’ll talk tomorrow—and I expect to see both of my men. I miss them, too.”
“Agreed.”
After ending the video-call with her best friend, Stephanie collected her iPod, put some loose tea leaves in a small hot pot, set the pot to turn off in 20 minutes, and made herself comfortable in one of the spare bedrooms. She stretched out on the bed with smells and sounds of nature around her and tried to focus on the pieces of dreams she remembered from the previous night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Hey,” Chaz smiled at her when she emerged from the room more than an hour later. He’d done his usual Saturday morning routine—jogging and practicing at the firing range. Since his wife was behind a closed door when he returned home, he’d decided to make a sandwich for lunch and marinate steaks and wash broccoli for dinner. He loved that the kitchen in this new home had an indoor grill. But, he wasn’t in the kitchen when Stephanie found him. He was sitting in the family room scrolling through channels with the television muted. He patted the space beside him on the oversized sofa.
“How was your morning?” she asked as she made herself comfortable by straddling him with her knees snug against his thighs.
“Same as always.” He kissed her and wrapped an arm around her back before resting his chin on her shoulder. “How are you?”
“Better.”
“Better than what?” One hand rubbed slowly up and down her arm. Stephanie took her time answering and he didn’t rush her.
“I’ve almost figured out something that has been bothering me about my dreams.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll be able to talk about it once everything is clearer. And, Karen is coming for a visit. She’ll let us know what day tomorrow.” She leaned away from him so that their bodies had to shift enough for her to see his face. “What’s on your mind, Chaz? Why are you sitting here like this?”
He shrugged, but when Stephanie didn’t stop staring at him, he admitted, “Sylvia and I had another fight—if you can call it that. She again voiced her opinions about my priorities. I ignored her. She continued, adding her criticisms of you. I said I was done with her. End of friendship.” He slowly shook his head. “It was inevitable since Syl has never been a person to back down. I’m not surprised, just disappointed.”
“And hurt.”
He nodded. Stephanie leaned her forehead against his until he held her tighter and dropped his chin to her shoulder. They sat like that for as long as he needed, him drawing calming strength from his wife.
She wanted to assure him that everything would work out fine, but she wasn’t certain about that. For some reason, Sylvia hated the fact that Chaz loved Stephanie. She wanted to say that she was sorry about the loss of a long-time friend, but that wouldn’t have been true. From the day Stephanie had moved to Cincinnati, she had seen the way Sylvia’s caustic comments and blatant rejection bothered Chaz. Like he’d said, today’s culmination was inevitable. Maybe now there could be a period of mourning and Chaz would stop holding on to hope that the relationship between the two women would improve.
What worried her most was that Sylvia was in an administrative position above Chaz, although it wasn’t in the same Division. She hoped the woman wasn’t vindictive enough to cause problems on their job. Uneasiness settled in the pit of Stephanie’s stomach.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There didn’t seem to be any repercussions from the situation between Chaz and Sylvia. In fact, all was reasonably calm in his area. Steve McDaniels officially transferred in and several meetings were held to bring him up to speed on the previous analyses for the case he would be taking on immediately. As an analyst, Chaz would be one of the people to pass along information to the new undercover operation. Even though he would remain in the Cincinnati office, he would work closely with Steve who would be on site in Kentucky.
Of course, the newcomer had already read the reports; he wanted to get a feel for the personalities of the people he’d be relying on to feed him credible intelligence. After a few meetings, Steve invited Chaz
to lunch so that he could get the other man’s impression of their coworkers. Their time together was both professional and personal.
“So, how is Stephanie?” Steve asked as the men settled into a booth at the burger joint.
“She’s great. Beautifully pregnant—but that’s not common knowledge.” He took a sip from his glass of Pepsi.
“Hmm. That helps me to understand your decision. Congratulations.” Steve’s smile was sincere. “What about her gift?”
“She’s still having dreams. They just aren’t about life and death situations.”
Steve seemed to consider that answer as he slowly chewed a bite of his burger. Then, he asked a question that Chaz definitely could never have seen coming.
“If we gave her details about a case, do you think it would trigger her to dream about it?” Chaz’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Listen,” Steve continued. “She was an invaluable asset for us in Erie. I trust her dreams more than I trust my new team. Maybe that’s because I don’t know them and can’t gauge their reliability, but your wife could be my secret weapon. I mean totally secret. I’m still not ready to write a report saying we’re getting tips from a psychic, and I can’t pay her as a Confidential Informant because that would require us to disclose information about her to Roy and our superiors. But, I would feel comfortable relying on whatever information she could provide.”
“Wow.” Chaz shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s been able to connect to some of the cases I’ve been analyzing, but not in any detail. She only gets vague impressions of what’s going on. I’m not sure whether her gift can work in a way that would benefit you. I can ask what she thinks might happen, but you still need to understand that she can’t just call up a dream—the details come to her on their own.”
Steve nodded to indicate that he understood.
Chaz thought for a moment before bringing up a serious concern. “Did you read the notes I forwarded on this case—they went to Erie and Cleveland.”
“About Paul Watkins?”
“Have you figured out whether he’s going to become a part of this prostitution investigation? Because if there’s even a remote possibility that’s credible, Stephanie needs to know before she makes her decision. Watkins really shook her.”
“So far, there’s been nothing reliable. I’ll let you know the minute that changes, all right?”
“Yeah.” Chaz trusted Steve to keep his word.
The conversation stayed on Chaz’s mind all afternoon. Was his link to the case, by virtue of being an analyst, strong enough to provoke a connection that Stephanie could pick up on? Would she even be willing to try? He could still remember how traumatic her dreams had been when he was in danger—and not putting her through that again was his primary reason for not taking the promotion. It was his responsibility to protect her. Still, he had no choice except to pass along Steve’s request; the decision would have to be hers.
Stephanie listened carefully while her husband explained what was being asked of her as they sat on the sofa after dinner. She could sense his conflict. Had he made a huge career sacrifice for nothing if she decided to help his former team leader? And, if Paul Watkins was going to be an issue, how would Chaz feel about her psyche being exposed to that much evil again?
“What do you want me to do?” she asked quietly as she wove her fingers through his.
“I get the impression that Steve thought he would get a package deal if I had accepted this case as my first assignment; no one considered that I might say no. Listen sweetheart, I can’t tell you what your role should be, just as you didn’t make my decision for me.”
Stephanie studied her husband’s eyes for what seemed like minutes before she said, “I won’t do it. You gave up a promotion to keep me safe; I won’t put you in a position to worry about me.” She shook her head when he started to speak. “That’s my decision, Chaz. The answer is no.” She was almost positive that she saw a spark of relief in his expression of acceptance. She gave a slight smile and said, “We’re always going to be a team.”
He understood clearly what his wife was telling him: she would never choose anything over him.
CHAPTER 4
Stephanie lay awake while Chaz slept with his front against her back. Her mind was on the conversations she’d had with Karen during the recent visit. While the men had gone bowling to give the women some time together, the women had sipped tea and tried to figure out what was going on with their auras and intuitions.
Karen’s problem was quickly figured out. She missed her best friend, and their link was strong enough that she was sensitive to whatever was wrong with Stephanie, even though the vibes had been so slight that neither of them had picked up on them. Even Victor, who was incredibly intuitive, hadn’t understood the sudden change in his wife and how that affected their relationship. As soon as they all agreed to see each other in person, Karen’s personality had shifted and everything was back to normal in her life.
That meant that Stephanie was driving everyone else’s reactions. It was a new development.
“Your gift is changing,” Karen deduced. “Your aura seems to have more green in it, which is one of the traits you share with Chaz. I think you should get Phailin to do new charts on the two of you.”
“Why can’t you do it?” Karen obviously hadn’t taken very long to gain a level of respect for the Asian woman’s superior ability to see, understand, and balance people’s auras using Eastern spiritual practices. After only slight hesitation, she’d even appreciated that Chaz had introduced his wife to his friend who shared similar philosophies.
“She’s more experienced than I am, and there is definitely something going on because you’re able to see Chaz in work settings that aren’t related to him being in danger.” She thought about that for a moment. “I wonder if Steve McDaniels is highly intuitive and has sensed the shift in your abilities. Maybe that’s why he wants to use you.”
“I don’t know.” Stephanie leaned her head back against the top of the sofa. “I’ve figured out what’s been bothering me about my dreams.” Her head turned to face her friend. “I’m feeling more than just Chaz. I can pick up on his tenseness, but I’m also feeling the atmosphere of the room—not anyone else’s emotions, just whether or not it’s a positive or threatening environment. It’s a subtle shift and I only figured it out after meditating repeatedly about the dreams, as you suggested. But I don’t have any details to connect those feelings to. I don’t know whether or not to trust them.”
Karen smiled. “If they have anything to do with your husband, you can trust them.”
Those words repeated over and over in Stephanie’s mind as she lay in bed with the man she loved. She pulled his arm more tightly, their entwined fingers resting against her thickening abdomen. So much in their lives was changing.
They were planning to have dinner with Phailin and her husband, David, in a few days. She would talk to her friend and would understand more after that. For now, she would try to get some rest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“You’re right,” Phailin nodded as she and Stephanie walked to their cars arm-in-arm after having dinner with their husbands. “You’ve changed. You’re stronger than you think you are, so stop doubting yourself. Chaz has changed, too. I’m not sure what this means; I’m definitely going to do new charts and cross reference them with your astrological tendencies. Honestly, I didn’t think the two of you could get much closer, but I might have been wrong.” She gave her friend a brief hug. “I’ll be able to tell you more in about a week.”
“Thank you.”
“In the meantime, do all that you can to relax. Worrying won’t change whatever life has in store for the two of you; it can only block your understanding. That might be what’s wrong with your ability to sense and see auras.”
Stephanie nodded.
“Plus, pretty soon, that baby is going to get big enough to make her presence obvious. You need to stay balanced for her—or him.” Phailin, who was a
few months farther along in her pregnancy than Stephanie was, placed both of her palms against the sides of her own stomach. “It’s amazing, Stephanie; you won’t want to miss a single second of anything significant because you’re too distracted. As Karen suggested, meditate and drink your teas. Have faith, and be grounded.”
As Stephanie rode home, she thought about the first time Phailin had discussed auras and astrology with her. They’d gone to the library and spent hours making what Stephanie understood were rudimentary assessments. The purpose was to help her see the complexities and interconnectedness of personalities, gifts, and life directions. Tonight, she knew by the expression in Phailin’s eyes that the woman wasn’t ready to share whatever conclusions she had formed by seeing Stephanie and Chaz together during their time at the restaurant. That was okay. Stephanie respected the fact that Phailin was always very careful about the spiritual advice she gave.
Chaz was also quiet during the drive home. When they arrived, he offered to light a fire in the family room and Stephanie stretched beside him on the chaise with all of the lights off except for the glow coming from the fireplace.
“I love nighttime,” Chaz admitted. “Most of the world is quiet. It’s the time to recharge, reflect, and be romantic.” His lips brushed his wife’s and she could tell that he was smiling. “It’s the time when I’m closest to you, sweetheart, because there is nothing to distract me from loving you.” He smoothed a curl away from her face. “I’ve never been able to explain the connection between us; I only know that I’m incomplete without you. And each night, when I’m holding you, there is nothing more peaceful or satisfying.”
“Nothing?” She playfully bit his lower lip.
Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 Page 3
