Twisted Echoes

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

  Oh, he was hooked all right, and what scared him the most was the growing fear that she wasn’t. So what was wrong with him? Why did she scurry to another room when he walked in on her talking on her phone? Why wouldn’t she meet his eyes when he asked what was going on?

  Worst of all? Why had she let the silence drag on? He could only think of one reason, and it broke his heart.

  And that pissed him off.

  Seriously, he was a big tough guy who played football in high school and college. He ran marathons and climbed mountains. Women were always interested in him. They called him and stopped by his house unannounced. He did not get teary eyed and sad because one woman ignored him. Another one would be by in five minutes. It had always worked that way for him. The cheerleaders, the beauty queens, and the pampered all loved him. They were drawn to him and he to them. Until now.

  Now all he wanted was Merry, and she was nowhere to be found. He had finally caught the golden ring and it was slipping through his fingers. He desperately needed to know why. It was impossible to fix whatever had gone wrong when he had no clue what it was.

  “What’s with the long face, bro?”

  At the sound of Lorna’s voice, he jumped and almost dropped the brand new smartphone, which really would have sucked considering it cost him way more than any reasonable person should have paid. He was pretty sure it hadn’t been worth the price since it wasn’t doing anything good for him at the moment. It was entirely possible it wouldn’t even work way out here in the sticks. Still, he was glad he’d caught it before it crashed to the floor.

  Lorna was standing in the doorway, her face shining and her hair damp. In jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of red Converse sneakers, even he had to admit she looked great. A little thin maybe, but more like the sister he’d been missing ever since Anna had left her.

  “I don’t have a long face. That’s just stupid.” Guys did not go around wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Or at least this guy didn’t. He hoped.

  “I beg to differ with you, pal. You look like somebody just sacked you.”

  Of the all the people who might understand and the only one who wouldn’t pass judgment, Lorna was the person he could lean on. She would get why he was feeling like crap. Still, he hesitated. He didn’t want to sound like he was sixteen and in the throes of his first relationship. Or, rather the way it felt right now, the shock of being dumped for the first time. Besides, Lorna already had enough emotional baggage after the ugly breakup with Anna. He didn’t need to add his troubles to the mix.

  Her eyes were steady on his face, and he knew that look. She wasn’t going to give it up. “Come on, Jeremy. Spit it out. I don’t need you moping around here like a sad puppy. I can do enough of that all by myself. Don’t need or want company in that department. Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll help you just like you’ve always done for me. We’re family, man. It’s what families do for each other.”

  Her point was well taken. They’d been each other’s support for years, even before Mom and Dad were gone. Empathy wasn’t a bad thing when he felt like he was in the dumps. He shoved the phone in his pocket and stepped over to the window. Outside, the ocean was dark and moody, the waves coming in hard and strong, spraying mist high into the air. The sight was incredible and almost hypnotic. Slowly, he began. “I think Merry is getting ready to dump me.” He silently congratulated himself on not choking up after the words left his lips.

  Lorna’s response was machine gun fast. “Bullshit. I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”

  He shook his head. There was so much she didn’t know. “You haven’t seen the way she looks at me lately.”

  “Meaning?”

  He closed his eyes, seeing her face and her beautiful gray eyes as they turned away from him. Until recently, her gaze was always steady on his, and in it he’d seen a reflection of his own heart. “Meaning she won’t look at me at all.”

  “So talk to her.”

  “I’ve tried.” Any harder and he’d be a begging mess. Not exactly the image he really wanted to portray.

  “Try harder.” Lorna abruptly left the room. He didn’t have to wonder why very long because she returned a couple minutes later with two bottles of beer she’d obviously snagged from the fridge. After twisting the top off one, she handed it to him. She opened the second bottle and took a long pull.

  The icy cold beer in one hand, he rubbed his eyes with the other, and sighed. “I don’t know what else to do. She’s not picking up my calls, I haven’t seen her in almost a week, and I haven’t talked to her in three days. We haven’t been apart this long since we met, and even then we talked every day. I’ve left messages, called about a bazillion of times, and driven by her office enough times I’m surprised they haven’t called the cops on me.” Still looking out the window at the ocean as the incoming storm made it rumble and roll, he took a drink of the beer.

  When Lorna didn’t immediately come back with another snappy response, he turned around. Her silence was unnerving. She stood watching him with one hand on a hip, the bottle of beer pointed at his chest. Her expression was bland, almost bored looking. “What?” he asked.

  “That’s it? That’s what you base this whole she’s dumping me scenario on?”

  “Yeah, well, that’s what it feels like.”

  Lorna laughed, a big rolling sound that was full of merriment. “Put on your big boy panties, bro, and call the woman. Trust me on this one; don’t let something little blow up into something huge. It’s not worth it. Swallow your man pride and call.”

  “I want to…” he muttered as he rolled the bottle between his hands. God, did he ever.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake.” Lorna smacked her beer on the fireplace mantle before shoving her hand into his pocket and ripping out his phone. She did it so fast he didn’t even have time to react before she was scrolling through numbers. The phone up to her ear, she said “Hey, Merry, it’s Lorna. How you doing? I’m great. Say, you got a couple minutes? My brother wants to talk to you.”

  She shoved the phone in his direction and mouthed “talk to her.” He took it and for a moment just stared at the display. “She answered?” It was unbelievable. He’d called her so many times he’d lost count and not once had she actually picked up.

  “Merry, my brother is a dork,” Lorna yelled as she spun and left the room, the beer once more in hand.

  He put the phone to his ear. “Merry?” Was that really his voice? Sounded more like a twelve-year-old.

  “Hey, baby,” she said softly.

  The sound of her familiar rich voice brought tears to his eyes. “Are you upset with me?”

  “No, baby,” she said firmly, though her words were still full of the sweetness that always made his heart happy. “But we have to talk…”

  Chapter Seven

  Lorna decided that sometimes when they were around each other it was like they were ten and twelve again. Lorna in her role as the big sister and bossing Jeremy around, little brother Jeremy wanting to resist but not able to defy the older sister he loved so much. And she loved him. They’d had each other’s back forever, and now as adults it was the same. No matter what, he would be there for her. She would always be there for him. Like right now because it was clear from the second he got here that he needed her. It was her turn to step up.

  A person would have to be deaf and blind not to see how much he loved Merry. She was glad too. All his previous girlfriends had been…well, fluffy for lack of a better description. Nice enough she supposed, but no substance to them. They just liked hanging on the arm of the pretty boy who was a football star. He’d loved the attention, but even way back when, Lorna had known he needed more. Jeremy was much deeper than the stereotypical handsome jock he appeared to be at first glance. That meant he wouldn’t survive the long haul on fluff.

  Merry was the more that he needed. She was cute and alive, smart and engaging. She made everyone around her feel the joy of life, and was exactly the person who could fill that empty plac
e inside of Jeremy. It was more than that though. Merry wasn’t the brief fling kind of woman for Jeremy; she was the forever kind, and Lorna wasn’t going to let him fuck that up. Guys could be, well…such guys! Her brother included.

  He might think he was big and tough, but that was just a well-crafted façade. Inside, he was all heart, and if he realized he wore that heart on his sleeve, he’d probably want to die. It made her love him all the more. God may have given her challenges in her life, but by giving her Jeremy, he’d put a giant plus in her column. Now it was up to her to keep him going down the right path, and that meant with Merry.

  His voice held a huge note of hope as she’d quietly closed the doors to the hallway. Let him have his call in peace. Obviously, the two of them had things to work out. They would. She felt that in her bones. They were, she was quite certain, going to make it for the long haul. All they’d needed was a little nudge, and she was more than happy to oblige. Of course in Jeremy’s case the nudge was more like a big fat kick in the ass.

  The sun was beginning to set when she left the house to take a walk outside. The air was cold and fresh with a hint of storm that was gathering to the west. Maybe coming here was running away from life and maybe not. Sometimes she had the feeling she was meant to be here all along. Everything about the place felt so natural that it made her wonder if coming here was her destiny.

  She walked to the edge of the bluff where the land dropped off sharply and stared down. Dangerous if one weren’t looking. Beautiful if one were paying attention. With her legs draped over the edge, she sat and stared out across the water. The scents so particular to the ocean shore wrapped her in their now familiarity. Yes, she still missed Anna, but it occurred to her that every minute she spent here, the ache eased away a little more and a little more. She wondered if there was magic in the water, the air, the land. Whatever it was, she liked it.

  “Can I join you?”

  Lorna jumped, and a shaft of fear shot through her as she wobbled on the precarious lip. Strong hands steadied her shoulders. Renee.

  “I’ve got you,” Renee said softly into her ear. “Sorry I startled you. I wasn’t trying to sneak up.”

  When her heartbeat returned to normal, Lorna looked up at Renee. “My fault. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts I didn’t hear you or Clancy.” She really must have been inside her own head because she hadn’t heard so much as a hint of two feet or four paws. She was normally quite aware of what was going on around her.

  “You looked a little lonely sitting out here so I took a chance you might want some company. Clancy and I have been out on a walk. I wanted to get him out for a good run before the storm hit. Looks like it’s going to be a zinger.”

  Lorna couldn’t help the smile even though by all rights she should be annoyed. After all, she’d come out here to be alone, but all of a sudden, she welcomed Renee’s presence. She didn’t even mind the damn dog, Clancy, who was right at the moment racing along the bluff, jumping into the air, and trying to catch leaves that were being tossed around by the stirring wind. Nope, she didn’t mind the dog one tiny bit.

  “Company is good. The solitude has been pretty nice all things considered, but having others around isn’t so bad either. Keeps me from becoming the local area hermit.”

  “I don’t see you ever being a hermit, local or otherwise. You know, it was lovely seeing your brother again after all these years. He was just a little guy the last time I saw him. Boy has he changed. Bet the ladies knock on his door at all hours of the day and night.”

  “You know it, sister. It started in junior high and he loved it. Now days, he might look like a big, strong man, but he’s still a little guy inside.”

  Renee’s laughter was a beautiful sound and made her all the more pleased to have accepted her offer of company. “Aren’t we all?”

  “Yeah, I suppose we are.” Wasn’t it the action of a little girl to pack up all her toys and run away? Couldn’t deny that’s exactly what she’d done. Could be that sometimes it was okay to be a little girl inside.

  The rays of the sun were beginning to slant down through the clouds, sending a shaft of light onto the beach. Something glinted in the increasing gloom, and Lorna squinted trying to bring it into focus. A necklace? “Do you see that?” She pointed.

  Renee leaned out a little and, like Lorna, squinted. Her hair floated around her face in a silky veil. It was beautiful, and it took a great deal of self-control not to reach out and run her fingers through it.

  “It looks like jewelry,” Renee said.

  Lorna’s gaze returned to the surf and the mystery treasure bobbing in and out of view. “That’s what I thought too. You up for a trek down to the beach?”

  Renee jumped to her feet, a smile on her face. “Absolutely,” she said and then reached out a hand to Lorna.

  *

  In the long shadows cast by the darkening clouds, the Watcher stood with his face turned up. Above him, the two women sat and talked, voices too low to make out the words. The day was growing shorter, the spring storms coming more often. Tonight, the air was turning brisk with the approach of rain and the threat of thunder. Soon darkness would fall.

  He was not discouraged by the encroaching darkness or the approaching storm. The glow that surrounded the women was the light he’d been seeking for a hundred years. It was the sign he’d waited and hoped for since he’d come to this place. Hope surged through him.

  The two women were the answer. One possessed the power of the spirit needed to cast aside the constrictions of the earthly world and look to the other side. There, and only there, would the truth reveal itself. When it did, what was wrong would once again be brought right.

  The other woman was the strength needed to keep her true. She was the believer, and through her, the other would embrace the truth. One could not do it without the other. Of that he was certain and there was not much time. If they did not heed the call soon, the chance would once again pass by. The gates would stay closed to his eternal entreaty to walk through, and those who were lost would not find their way to the light. Another year would pass him by, and another year he would stand in the shadows hoping for a chance at redemption.

  At the edge of the beach, pools of glistening water formed when the waves flowed to shore. He studied the whalebone necklace as it floated in the swirling pool where he had dropped it. The bone, so smooth and white, captured the light of the setting sun. To let it go for the first time in a century was a loss he felt to his soul. The beautiful piece had been in his hand since the awful night when two souls were denied love and worse, life. He’d always known the day would come when it would slip from his fingers and be lost to him forever, and yet he hadn’t understood how desolate it would make him feel.

  All he could hope for was the loss would bring him that much closer to bringing them home. If these two women failed to understand the significance of what he left for them, he’d lost it all for nothing. He prayed they would see, and more importantly, would understand. It started with a simple question, and that would be enough to drive them in the direction they needed to go.

  With the question, their minds would open even more. That’s all he needed to touch their spirits and their souls. Then together, they would make right the tragedy that had stained this ground for far too long.

  When the women rose and started down the bluff toward the shoreline, he nodded to himself and stepped deeper into the shadows. His work on this day was complete. He could do nothing more. Now it rested in the hands of the one with the sight, for she must touch the past and push aside the veil to see. When she did, it was up to the other to make her believe.

  *

  Bottom line? If this was her first girl crush, Renee liked it. Sitting side by side on the bluff with Lorna talking like they were old friends was wonderful in a way she didn’t even know she was missing until it happened. If it were possible, she could have sat next to her all night just talking.

  Then again, that shiny thing down in the s
wirling pool between the rocks was way interesting. It was the kind of treasure she’d loved to capture for her shop. If she still had a shop that is, but she didn’t want to dwell on that ugly fact at the moment. It was too pleasant out here in the fresh air with Lorna, and now they were climbing down the steep bank on the search and recovery mission.

  Once they hit the beach, Renee gave Lorna a sideways glance and then sprinted toward the swirling pools. Balanced on the slippery rocks, she reached down and grabbed what turned out to indeed be a necklace. An old necklace. Her victory complete, she held it up. The condition was amazing considering it had obviously been in the water for a while. How in the world did it stay in such pristine condition after being washed ashore and battered by the rocks? Spray from the crashing waves quickly soaked her, and she shivered as she tried not to slip into the whirling pool at her feet. It wasn’t deep, but she didn’t need to get any wetter than she was already.

  Carefully, she made it back to the beach and for a moment studied the lovely workmanship. It was a whalebone piece, which meant it had to have come from the Makah. Did someone accidentally lose it? The more she studied it, the more she was convinced her initial impression was dead on. It was old. The workmanship was exquisite and detailed. This was not a necklace one would find in a tourist shop. No, this was the real deal and no way should it have been floating around in the Pacific Ocean. It made her sad to think it had been lost this way.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said to Lorna as she turned it over, examining each bead. “And old. Someone spent a great deal of time making this necklace. It had to have been very special.”