Occult Suspense for Mothers Boxset: The Nostalgia Effect by EJ Valson and Mother's by Michelle Read (2 ebooks for one price)

by EJ Valson

  “No thanks,” I say. She is so kind, just like Nancy. I wonder if they know each other and how my dad met her.

  The decor inside is more formal than I recall Nancy and my dad having in their home. Mary apparently likes the color red and she has antique lamps and furniture displayed throughout the small space. I notice a collection of figurines enclosed in a glass cabinet.

  “So, Kiddo, have a seat, take a load off,” Dad says, as he plops into his recliner and puts his feet up. I take a seat at the couch nearest his chair. Mary goes back to her kitchen duties. Dad and I make conversation about the heat and the garden and other minor topics. I listen and just enjoy his presence. He is thinner now than in the future. He looks like he is more active. I wonder what changed.

  I glance around the living room. The walls are full of picture frames of family and friends. Some I recognize, others I don’t. They must be on Mary’s side. My eye quickly moves back to a framed picture on the bottom shelf of the TV stand. It’s displayed in a beautiful glass frame with wings etched into the pattern. It is a picture of Nancy.

  I stop listening to my dad, get up from the couch and I move closer to the picture for inspection. Why would they have a picture of his former wife in their house? I bend down on my knees and pick up the frame. I know this picture. It was taken on Joe’s and my wedding day. She is laughing with her head tipped back, her beautiful sparkling blue eyes shining with delight.

  I notice a small silver plaque on the bottom. It is engraved, “Nancy Vasquez, 1954-2003. Heaven has another angel.” My heart sinks. I slump my head in my hands and I begin to cry without a sound. My stepmom Nancy has died.

  “Jen...Jen... Oh, hey, don’t cry,” my dad says from his chair, trying to comfort me. He doesn’t get up though. He has never been sure how to deal with me when I’m emotional.

  Mary comes around from the kitchen, curious as to what is going on. “Oh, Jenni, what happened?” she asks concerned and kneels beside me, stroking my hair. I let her. I’m full of tears today and I will take comfort anywhere I can get it. She rubs my back as I collect myself. I hate crying in front of people. “Oh, Sweetie, don’t cry,” she consoles.

  Dad finally sits up. “It’s OK, Jen. She’s not suffering anymore. She is at peace,” he assures me.

  “At peace from what?” I ask looking at them.

  They look at each other a bit confused. I can tell they are surprised by my question. Mary stands up and extends her hands down to help me off the floor. She leads me to the couch and puts an arm around me. I can’t look at them right now. I’m too embarrassed.

  “Well, her car accident, Honey,” Mary says.

  My agony swells inside of me, but I do my best to conceal it. What car accident? How did this happen? Did she suffer?

  “Thank God for Mary,” my dad chimes in. “If not for her help through that tough time I don’t know what I would have done,” he says.

  “Well, I’m a nurse, it was my job,” Mary says humbly.

  The bits of information that they are providing swirl in my head. I want to ask for more details, but I know it will concern and confuse them.

  I take a deep breath and nod in agreement, though I don’t know what I am really agreeing with. “Sorry guys, I don’t know where that came from,” I apologize.

  “It’s alright, Honey,” they both say in unison.

  I meet Mary’s gaze. “And you’re fine with having that picture here?” I ask her.

  A smile sweeps across her face and her eyes soften, “Of course, Jen. She will always be a part of your family. When I was taking care of her, I saw the love you all had for her and I would never try to interfere with that,” she explains.

  To some degree it is beginning to make sense. Mary must have been taking care of Nancy after some tragic accident. All I can assume is that it was bad, and she must have had injuries that required hospitalization and later they contributed to her death.

  I shake away the images my mind is generating. I can’t think about it any longer. In some small way, I’m grateful that I can’t remember it at all. Not having her here in this version of my life is painful enough.

  I shrug off my emotions and try to put my facade of normalcy back on. I stay another thirty minutes or so, observing their interactions with each other. It is friendly and loving. Mary is an attractive woman, with hair that’s almost white. She is a little plump and probably closer to sixty than my dad. She has a golfer tan and a visor line. The thought of them golfing together makes me happy.

  I give both of them hugs when I say goodbye. Then I drive towards the house. Anxiety butterflies began to flutter in my stomach when I see Joe’s truck in the drive. But the butterflies are followed by excitement from the realization that my little Olivia is inside and I get to see her again. I quickly check my face in the visor mirror for mascara streaks and tear tracks, then get out of the car and head towards the front door.

  I can hear Joe’s favorite country music album playing from inside the house. It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to that genre. When I open the door I smell freshly chopped onions. Joe is flattening hamburger patties and singing out loud, along with the music. This is a side of Joe that I occasionally saw at parties or when friends were over and he’d had a few beers. Tonight there isn’t a beer bottle or can in sight.

  “Hey Babe,” he says with a smile when I walk in.

  “Hi,” I reply, a little surprised by his chipper behavior. He continues with his burger preparation tasks. I put down my purse and take off my shoes. I hear the thump of little feet running quickly to approach me from behind. Two chubby little arms wrap themselves around my legs.

  I gently break free from Olivia’s grasp and turn around to pick her up. Her rosy cheeks are plumped from a big smile that graces her sweet face. She grabs both sides of my face with her toddler hands, looks into my eyes and exclaims, “Mommy, you’re home!”

  CHAPTER 14

  I awaken to the sound of a man singing in the alley two stories below, as he walks past our window. It is early morning. My head is heavy from the fun we had the night before. The room is gray and beige. Misty cloudy light from the Seattle sky is trying to squeeze into the room through the crack in the curtains. I don’t want it to. I don’t want to leave this room or the uncomfortable queen-size bed.

  I can smell cigarette smoke coming from underneath the door that connects to the adjoining room. This has to be the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. But it was cheap, and the point of coming to Seattle for the weekend wasn’t for us to stay in our room.

  I fight the urge to cough. I will my eyes to close and my body to fall back to sleep. I can feel the heat of his body radiating towards mine as we lay back-to-back -- respectfully maintaining just enough space to be just two friends sharing a bed, but still aware that we are in it together.

  Some people who know us think we are more than just friends. Others insinuate that we are sleeping together and that I have taken advantage of this young guy who will only be in the United States temporarily. But I wouldn’t do that. Either would he. We have never crossed the line of friendship by being physically intimate. We hadn’t intended on sharing a room, but circumstances with the friends we were traveling with changed our sleeping arrangements. Happy accident.

  We took a weekend getaway to see the sites Seattle had to offer. Neither Michael nor I had ever been there. He wanted to see a bigger city before he had to return to Sweden in two weeks. I wanted to share that with him.

  Olivia is at home. Her dad and his wife came into town, so I dropped her at his parents’ house, where they were staying, so he could see her -- and I could avoid seeing him. It worked out better than I could have planned.

  Now I lay here with someone I have only known for a short while, but feel like I have known my whole life -- and maybe even a few before this one. I stare at the wall, remembering the conversation we had yesterday afternoon when we were supposed to be resting before we headed out to dinner and dancing.

  Una
ble to nap, we ended up talking about him leaving and how grateful we were to have met and become good friends.

  “Jen, you need to stop trying to be so strong all the time,” he had observed. “You are a good person and you need put your guard down and let someone love you.”

  “So do you,” I retorted with a smile.

  He’d had a hard time making direct eye contact with me. I could tell he wasn’t used to being so honest with his feelings.

  “You’ve restored my faith in women,” he said. Then he sheepishly grinned. “But I’m not done with you yet...I am going to marry you one day,” he joked, laughing. I laughed too. Little did we know one day he would.

  CHAPTER 15

  Over the past few weeks I have spent most lunch breaks in my office reading the book Astrid gave me. It’s been fascinating to read about real past life regression sessions -- transcripts of men and women being put into an almost hypnotic state to open their soul to lives lived before the one they are currently living. I could relate to them.

  Luckily, the book doesn’t mention anything ridiculous about people finding out they were the King of England or a famous actor. It focuses on one’s spiritual purpose for being on earth and what their soul is supposed to achieve. There are also chapters about finding the common theme or scenario between lives. I wonder if there is a lesson to be learned or a goal to be met in my predicament. I begin to question my life with Joe and my life with Michael. There must be some parallel between the two that has brought me to the place I am currently in.

  I’m starting to feel more at ease here, in this new old life. We have a routine at the house and that helps me feel more grounded. Every day is pretty much the same. We get out the door, go to work, make dinner and play with Olivia before she goes to bed. Joe occupies himself with the television each night. He doesn’t seem to care that I retreat to the bedroom to read my book before bed. He has no knowledge of what the book is about, and hasn’t bothered to ask why I read it so much.

  He doesn’t ask much of me as far as being a partner either. We seem to be quite content with this. He was one who always liked to have time to himself after a hard day’s work. I don’t make a big deal about it if he wants to head to his brother’s or parents’ to work on their trucks or whatever project they are doing at the time. This makes it easy for me to go about this life.

  He hasn’t tried to be particularly physical with me since the first night I was here either. Joe gets a quick peck on the lips before he leaves each morning and that seems to be enough for him. I get through it by closing my eyes and imagining Michael. I hope Michael will forgive me in the future for this. I do it for Olivia. If I am stuck here for the rest of my life, then I want her to have a better example of loving parents than Joe and I gave her before.

  Though I do not want to be in this marriage in any way, I have decided not to rush to leave Joe. After all, what is the point? And I’m afraid to do anything that could disrupt my future life. What if I take the wrong path and veer off so far that I can never get back to where I belong?

  Some people say that you control your destiny while others say that fate will always have the same outcome regardless of your actions. No matter where you go or what you do, you will always arrive at the same destination. But I am not so sure about that.

  CHAPTER 16

  It’s Friday, thank GOD! However, I’m feeling a little anxious about this weekend. We are going to the wedding of some high school friends. In fact, Joe is an usher and I am in charge of the guest book. The stress of having to greet a bunch of people who I seldom see in the future is adding to my nerves. We live in a small town, so everybody knows everybody. It will literally be like a mini high school reunion. In the future, before I go to these types of events, I do my best to prepare weeks in advance by tanning and exercising -- ah, vanity. In this current time, I guess I simply don’t care.

  It’s quiet in the office today as Ruth has headed to her lake cabin. Marketing is having their “Casual Friday”. This means they are all wearing jeans and will go to happy hour after work. I laugh to myself because I was the one who implemented this tradition later on. I guess it happened anyway without me.

  It’s almost 3:00 p.m., so I head to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Normally I don’t drink coffee in the afternoon, but I haven’t been sleeping well at night so I need the “pick me up” to get through the day. I often have dreams that cause me to wake up suddenly and I can’t go back to sleep. I just lay there trying to determine if I’m having memories, making things up or seeing my future.

  I lean against the counter while the fresh pot of coffee brews. I hear footsteps coming around the corner. Stacy appears from behind the side of the divider wall. “Hi!” she says, chipper.

  “Hi,” I say smiling back.

  She is dressed in a pair of sailor jeans with a cute blouse and colorful flats. She always had the best style. She is tall and curvy, with long blonde hair and very pretty. She opens the fridge and pulls out a bag of baby carrots. Though she’s right in front of me, I miss her. We always had a great time together.

  I fidget with my coffee cup, not sure how to keep the conversation going. “So, do you have any fun plans this weekend?” she inquires, making small talk. She was always good at that. This is why she later became the department director. Her networking skills were exceptional.

  I’m excited to chat with her. “Well, we are going to a wedding tomorrow night. I’m in serious need of something to wear, though,” I laugh.

  “Ohhhh...sounds like a good excuse for a shopping trip,” she says with a wink.

  I nod in agreement. “Wish I could, I just don’t know where the best place to shop is,” I respond.

  “Well, what are you looking for?” she asks, cocking her head to the side.

  I look down at my sad excuse for a summer outfit -- a long plain red floral skirt and a white t-shirt sweater. “Anything better than this,” I respond sarcastically.

  “There is a new store at the mall,” she suggests. “In fact, I’m heading there tonight. Do you want to go with?” she asks.

  I am thrilled at this prospect. I need a girlfriend, and more importantly, I need her. She was always my best shopping buddy.

  I light up. “Sure!” I say. We make a quick plan for her to swing by my place and pick me up around 5:30. I call Joe on his cell when I get back to my desk. I have no idea if he will be agreeable to this. Michael would be, but Joe might be tighter with the wallet. He was in my “other” past. The phone rings a few times, then he picks up. I can tell he is outside.

  “Hi, Joe,” I say formally.

  “Hey, what’s up?” he asks, sounding distracted. I can hear hammering in the background.

  “Would you mind if I go shopping with a friend from work tonight, around 5:30?” I ask.

  “Uh....sure, I guess.” he says hesitantly.

  I don’t like being at his mercy. I don’t know why I care what he thinks. Mostly I just don’t want to leave Olivia with him if he is going to be moody.

  He breaks the brief spell of silence on the line. “I was going to take you shopping on Sunday for your birthday, but if you want to go tonight I can just give you the money that I was going to spend on you,” he explains.

  My heart lifts a little. I look at the wall calendar. Holy crap! I am going to turn twenty-six on Sunday! This happened to be one of my favorite ages. Probably because it was the year I met Michael and my life changed for the better.

  “Are you sure?” I say hesitantly, secretly hoping he is.

  “Yeah, Babe, you know I’m not the best person to shop with,” he jokes.

  I say a big thank you and hang up.

  I hurry back down to Stacy’s office and peak my head in “OK, we are set!” I say, with a thumbs up.

  “Great!” she responds.

  I walk back to my office with a smile on my face. I am feeling my life in my bones again.

  CHAPTER 17

  The evening with Stacy is exactly what I need.
We make friendly small talk during the short twenty-minute drive to the mall. Everything Stacy is telling me about her life I have already heard before. But I act interested and respond accordingly. I tell her my short life summary, sans the trapped in time part, and we laugh at the same things.

  I am thrown even farther back into my past with her when a mutually favorite song comes on the radio. In the old days, or the days that haven’t happened...or never did, we used to blast this song on our way into town when we had a girl’s night. She introduced me to so many different types of music, and I’m forever appreciative of that.

  We have a quick bite to eat at a popular hamburger house, then head into the mall. We hurriedly make our way through the stores we loved to shop at together in the future, though she doesn’t know that. I stock up on shorts, shirts, jeans, shoes and better work attire, plus a nicer purse and a summer dress for the wedding, complete with espadrilles. My future life taste is influencing my past life look.