Veiled

by Silvina Niccum

  By now, both Valerie and Dane were sitting on the bench, pretending to arrange their papers, but they were no longer talking to each other.

  “Oh! You are bleeding!” Valerie exclaimed, breaking the silence.

  Dane examined his hands and found the inside of his palms to be slightly scratched from the fall. “I’ll survive.” He shrugged. “I’ve had worse.” He then inspected his pant legs. “See, I didn’t even rip my jeans!” Dane turned to face Valerie whose gaze was intently fixed on his face and not his jeans.

  They stared at each other for a long moment. Katie and I exchanged sappy smiles and then looked back at them.

  Valerie broke the long silence between them. “Do you want a Band-Aid?” she stammered.

  “No, I’ll be fine. So…you are an art major?”

  “What gave it away?” She bit her lip nervously.

  Dane chuckled. “They are very good, they are so detailed…I like them.”

  “Thank you,” Valerie said and turned pink. “I love to paint flowering landscapes for the most part, although I have some other paintings, my early stuff is more…out of this world.”

  Dane smiled. “Would you like to have lunch with me… right now?” he ventured as he checked his watch to make sure it was lunch time.

  Valerie checked her watch as well. “Sure, but my next class starts in one hour.”

  Dane swallowed the lump that was obviously in his throat. “Then we’ll just eat right here on campus if you don’t mind. I am new here and I don’t know my way around at all,” he said as he consulted the pamphlet with the campus map.

  “I know the way…I’m Valerie,” she said extending her hand.

  “Dane.” He stretched out his right hand to shake hers.

  “Are you a transfer student?” Valerie asked.

  “Well, sort of, I’m about to graduate and I would like to come here for Graduate School.” He didn’t mention that this school was but one of the many choices he had for graduate school—Valerie was making a strong case for Baylor at this point.

  “Where are you graduating from?”

  Dane blushed. “Harvard,” he said almost in a whisper.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Are you ashamed of Harvard?”

  “No.” Dane smiled sheepishly “Some people think it’s a big deal, but I don’t.”

  “That’s because it is a big deal.”

  Dane shrugged and Valerie was bewildered by his modesty. Most guys would brag about the fact that they were graduating from Harvard.

  “So, what are you going to study in Grad School?”

  “Psychiatry.” Now Dane squared his shoulders. He was proud of this choice, and felt very passionate about it, in spite of his father’s disappointment in it. His father, Senator Preston, wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and be a politician.

  Valerie, however, cringed at the word “Psychiatry” and looked rather crestfallen. Luckily Dane didn’t notice and he continued talking about his career choice.

  “You see, I’ve always been fascinated by the workings of the mind. I don’t care for the title of Doctor. I just want to help people. I believe that people with mental problems are heroes.”

  Valerie turned her piercing eyes to him, interested in this last comment. “Heroes, how?” she demanded.

  Dane, needing little encouragement on the subject, explained in great details all the reasons he had for his theory. Valerie could not deny that he felt very passionately about this career choice but felt rather sad by the fact that he was now out of the question for her.

  Holding their trays of cafeteria food they scanned the packed eating area for a place to sit and found none.

  “Go outside!” Katie commanded in Dane’s ear.

  “Let’s go outside, maybe we can find a shady spot,” Dane suggested.

  “I’ll go find them a good spot,” Alex suggested, and was off.

  As Dane and Valerie made their way outdoors again, Katie and I spotted Alex waving at us from underneath a secluded spot, perfect for a romantic picnic.

  “There, under that tree on the east side of the brick building,” Katie instructed in Dane’s ear.

  Dane looked at the spot, and quickly suggested it to Valerie.

  “Sure,” she said and her voice sounded sad.

  “Uh oh,” I warned. “She is feeling sad about something. I bet is the whole psychiatrist thing.” I explained to Katie.

  “Well, she’ll just have to get over that. These two need to get married or they’ll never be truly happy with anyone else.”

  I agreed with her.

  Valerie and Dane ate in silence for a while. Dane couldn’t help stealing glances at Valerie’s eyes, which were a beautiful shade of violet. She tried not to look up at him, but found herself doing the same thing.

  “Your eyes are so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like them. They are a deep tanzanite color.”

  Valerie looked up at him, surprised once more at how observant he really was. She had been told that her eyes were the color of blue topaz before, but topaz was deep blue. Her eyes had indeed a tinge of purple to them, but she never imagined that anyone would ever look close enough to notice.

  “My dad bought me a tanzanite stone for my birthday last year. I had it turned into a necklace.”

  Dane didn’t respond, he still looked at her eyes and could not look away. She allowed herself a long look too—now that he was so shamelessly staring at her. As she did so she realized that she had seen him before, but she couldn’t remember when or where.

  “Turn your head,” she said as she touched his chin with the tips of her fingers. He obeyed and held this pose for a moment.

  Valerie squinted and studied his profile. “Mmm,” she murmured.

  Dane turned his head. “So, would I make a worthy picture?” he grinned.

  “Yes you would.” She smiled, but a chill ran through her frame in spite of the heat of the day. She had seen him before, in fact, she had drawn him before too. His profile lay on a pile of canvas in her room.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 35

  Lunch went by too quickly for Dane, so he secured a dinner date with Valerie and walked her to class. He then headed straight to the admissions office and enrolled for the next fall.

  Valerie could not concentrate for the rest of the day. She didn’t feel as sure as Dane did about this relationship. She could tell he liked her, but knew that that would be temporary. As soon as he figured out what she was, he would drop her like a hot potato.

  Still, she couldn’t deny the greedy curiosity she felt for him, and then there was the sketch. As soon as she got home, she rushed to her room and dug out the profile of the man she had seen in that dream or vision she had had four years ago at the mental hospital.

  Alex, Katie, and I clustered together to get a good look at it, and it was Dane! We were a little confused, because I had given her Alex’s image, but that sketch was unmistakably Dane, as he used to be of course. In heaven we all look about twenty something, the same age as he was now, but he had short hair and…transparent skin.

  “Wow!” Katie exclaimed. “How did she manage to do that?”

  “The dream,” both Alex and I answered.

  “What dream?”

  Alex and I explained the whole story to Katie. She listened attentively. “No wonder she is freaked out! She thinks she’s a nut job and that Dane will dump her as soon as he finds out.”

  Both Alex and I nodded. Katie crossed one arm and rested her elbow on it, then started tapping her finger against her forehead.

  “Uh oh, she is thinking…this could only mean more animals,” Alex whispered in my ear, and I sniggered.

  “I wonder how Nancy feels about having a heard of hippos running through her living room,” I whispered teasingly back and Katie grimaced.

  “Very funny, Tess, but this is serious. Valerie needs to understand how wrong she is. Dane would worship her! He was made to love her!”

  “We know,”
Alex and I said in unison once more.

  Valerie slouched back on her chair as she examined the sketch. She wondered why that particular face had stuck in her mind. She had seen an Angel and talked to him, but this face was the one she remembered. A soft knock on the door brought her out of her trance. “Come in,” she called.

  “What’s wrong?” Nancy inquired, with a sweet southern drawl.

  Valerie handed her mom the portrait. “I met him today,” she said matter-of-fact.

  Nancy raised her eyebrows with astonishment. “Him? Who is he?”

  “His name is Dane, he is moving here from Massachusetts.”

  “But you drew this in high school!”

  “I know.”

  Nancy looked at her daughter, mystified.

  “Remember that dream I had while I was at that…hospital?”

  “Yes…” Nancy mused. “You said it changed your life. You saw an Angel.”

  Valerie nodded.

  “Is this the Angel?”

  “No.”

  “Then who is he?”

  “That is exactly my question.”

  “What did you show her, Tess?” Alex asked with alarm.

  “She must have seen him sitting next to her at the special mission’s class,” I explained. “I just showed her my memories of that class. I remember that clearly because Valerie had been acting strangely during that class. So when the teacher asked us who wanted to volunteer, I made a point to look over at Valerie to see what she did. That’s why my memory of the event was so clear. I just gave her that same memory back.”

  “Wow…she could have seen all of us,” Katie said in awe.

  “Well, I don’t think it would do any harm. If anything, it will help her realize that Dane is important,” I said in my defense.

  “He was sitting next to me in a room that was filled with…spirits,” Valerie said, and looked at her mother’s reaction.

  “Spirits?” Nancy clarified.

  “I know…it was a dream,” Valerie said, as if that was a good excuse.

  “Vision,” Alex clarified as he floated above her.

  “Yet here he is in Texas!” Nancy looked back at the picture.

  “And taking me out to dinner tonight.”

  Nancy looked back at Valerie with a wide grin. “And taking you out to dinner? Well…there are lots of things that are hard to explain in this life. I will take this as one of them. In the meantime, what are you going to wear?”

  Dane was received warmly at Valerie’s home. Too warmly, Valerie thought. They will scare the guy away with how welcoming they are.

  “So what is your last name, Dane?” Valerie asked as they ate their dinner.

  “Preston,” he said as she swallowed a bite of salad.

  Valerie squinted. She had heard that name before, many, many times before. It was usually followed by a cuss word out of her father’s lips.

  “As in…Senator Dane Preston?” she asked.

  Dane’s face turned red. “The second,” he corrected dryly.

  Valerie nodded, but didn’t say anything else.

  Dane knew his father was well hated by most conservatives, especially Veterans, and he himself disagreed with his father on every point. “Don’t worry,” he said between bites. “I was almost disowned when I registered as an Independent.”

  Valerie laughed.

  “And I am pretty sure I will be disowned for good, the moment I tell my father that I just enrolled in a Texas Med School.”

  “Yeah?” Valerie said sarcastically. “I would be too!”

  Dane grinned. “I was looking for a school as far away from Boston as I could find. I was thinking California, but it’s too much of a destination. They would have come to visit too often—and I couldn’t have that. Texas now…well I think my dad is allergic to Texas. He might even get mugged if he came here,” he said, then they laughed some more.

  Dane wanted to know all about Valerie and her family, her art and her career dreams. The conversation went on smoothly all through dinner. Then they decided to skip dessert and went for a walk. We followed them as they strolled along through the well lit streets. It wasn’t until they entered a little coffee shop that disaster struck.

  They were making their way back to a secluded corner of the coffee shop with steaming cups in their hands. Valerie tripped over somebody’s purse that had fallen to the floor, and the hot liquid spilled on her left hand. She yelped and Dane hurriedly grabbed her cup from her hands. As he did so the thick bracelet that she wore to cover up her scar slipped a little up her arm. She saw Dane’s expression, and she would have cried right then and there if she could.

  Dane saw the previously well-hidden scar on Valerie’s wrist and he felt a thick lump in his throat. In one instant he realized that this beautiful girl had suffered more than he could ever imagine and he wanted whatever pain she felt to be forever banished. But he couldn’t find a tactful way to say this.

  He finally settled on trying to avoid the subject all together, but this proved to be even more disastrous. Valerie hardly said two words to him for the rest of the evening, and when he pulled up to her driveway she was opening her screen door before he was even out of the car. All he could do was wave lamely as she closed the door and turned the porch light off.

  He cursed under his breath. “Well!” Katie said, indignant. “I have never heard him swear. What has come over him?” She flew around him in a circle trying to take stock of this new creature. “You are in the company of Angels, Dane. Watch your tongue!”

  Alex chuckled, “Poor guy, he got one of the bossiest Angels around.”

  “She’s not that bad. Can you imagine having Celeste as your Guardian Angel? I feel pity for whoever gets her,” I said, suddenly remembering the pinky promise.

  Alex burst out laughing, “Yeah, poor soul. And the funny thing is, it might just be you who gets her!”

  I groaned in reply.

  We watched as Katie got in the car with Dane. I waved at her and she waved back. She was talking as Dane pulled away and I felt sorry for the guy. It was a good thing that he wasn’t Clairaudient like me. Then I panicked—I was! If I got Celeste I would be able to hear her constant chatter! How would that affect me? She’s going to drive me nuts!

  For some reason I thought of my pendant and looked down at it. It wasn’t glowing, but I had a weird feeling.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex asked. He had forgotten that I was not assigned to be here.

  “I don’t know…I don’t want to leave…but I left Robyn all alone up there.”

  “You’d be called if you were needed. Besides we sort of need you right now,” Alex rationalized, and I went along with him because I really didn’t want to leave.

  “You don’t need me, but thanks for saying that anyway,” I told him, and decided to tag along.

  Back in her room, Valerie held the sketch of Dane and let out a sigh.

  “What’s she thinking?” Alex asked as she stared at the profile of Dane in spirit form.

  “She’s wondering who he is. Why she saw him in that dream, what he is to her, if anything.”

  “See…I told you we needed you,” Alex smiled back at me while he approached Valerie and spoke softly in her ear. “He is your destiny. He will love you. He is for you, mom.”

  “I wonder what happens if…” I was going to say “…if they don’t get married.” but didn’t want to finish.

  Alex shrugged, knowing what I meant. “I don’t know…but I want them as my parents and I want Russell for a grandfather, so it’ll have to work out. What’s she thinking now?”

  I concentrated, this was obviously very important for him. “It’s weird…” I started and watched as Valerie’s eyes were tearing up.

  “What! Tess, what is she thinking?” Alex demanded.

  “I think she just heard what you said, and is wondering if she really just heard that or if she made it up.”

  Alex turned back to her. “It’s true Val, you—” He started, but then st
opped abruptly. “Come on, Tess. Let’s go to Boston to see what Katie is up to.”

  “What happened?” I asked, bewildered by his sudden change.

  “I said too much,” he said curtly.

  “Are you in trouble with the Eternals?”

  “Not yet, but I will be if I don’t leave her alone for a while. She needs to make her own decisions.”

  Once we got to Dane’s apartment we found him with Alicia—his nanny and mother for all intents and purposes—busy at work. There were boxes and store bags strewn all over the place, and they had several boxes all lined up in a row and in each box they were putting one item.

  “OK, the perishables go first. But not all, I don’t want her to think that I did it like this, all at once,” Dane ordered the little woman, who looked a bit overwhelmed.

  “I agree,” Alicia said with a thick Spanish accent.

  Katie was in the balcony cooing at the pigeons.

  “Hey Katie!” Alex called. “What’s this all about?”

  “It was his idea, I swear! And it might just work!” she said. “He has finals for the next three weeks, so he can’t go back to Texas, but he’s going to send her a package every day for the next three weeks, so she won’t forget him. Oh, but get this!” she added with enthusiasm. “There’s a theme!”

  “A theme?” I asked

  “Everything he sends her is violet like her eyes.”

  Alex sniggered and shook his head, but I knew he was pleased with Dane’s persistence.

  “Well, with any luck this will help Valerie get over her insecurities,” I said with hope.

  When the first package was sent, we followed it all the way to Valerie’s front door. We wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost or ruined in any way.

  It sat on the Wilson’s kitchen table all afternoon, Nancy, giving it mysterious looks now and then. As soon as Valerie walked through the front door, she was handed the package and told to open it right away, because they were tired of guessing what it could be.

  Valerie gave the package a half-hearted effort, but got it opened at last. It was a Jimmy Hendrix record, “Purple Haze”. Inside the box was a note that read: