Finding Me (Love's Not Easy Series Book 1)

by Rickman, Nicole

  “Who is Brad?” Piper was learning more about Aimee and her mom tonight.

  “He is Mrs. Opal’s son. You remember, I told you about her, she lives on the plantation.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “I actually need to call her. Hey, how about I do that now on speaker, she loved to hear that you and James are with me?”

  “Oh, yes. Put her on speaker.” Tessa grinned.

  Opal was so glad Aimee was not alone tonight. She was with people who knew her mom and could share her memories and know how hurtful today was. She talked to them until their meeting began.

  The group planned to have a Spring Festival on the second weekend of May. They had ten weeks to get it organized. Aimee decided she and Aiden could put their marketing skill to the test. They would make up a slide show that Tessa and the lady's aide could take to local venders to see if they would donate or like to participate. Piper and James was all over the advertising. When they left the meeting, everyone was encouraged to come back next Tuesday with five booth ideas. Everything needed to be Christian a theme.

  Aiden was glad to help Aimee put the slide show together. He knew a few vendors who may help. Lexi wanted to help; she said she would talk to Tessa to see what she can do.

  That night, when Aimee went to bed, it was on such a better note. God helped her through two big things. Now, all she had to do was study for her provisional license {learners permit) and study for school. She fell asleep after she thought about the Festival. God help her not to take on too much.

  The next morning, Aimee read her Bible and then went to make coffee before Aiden got up. She poured his cup and placed a sticky on it that read: Romans 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. I will be on the back patio.

  Aiden took the sticky note off his cup and read it. He had to smile. He asked her what the Bible said and she is showing him. He would put it in his tablet with the other two he wrote down yesterday when she left. He was serious about studying up on this. He was seeing where Aimee came from on this issue. Last night, he asked Lexi about the church service she went to Sunday and she went on forever about how God used that message to help Aimee.

  Saturday morning, Aimee started loading her laundry basket. Two weeks without going down to the laundry area in the rec room has caught up with her. She stripped her bed and checked the restroom for anything needing to be laundered. She put her liquid detergent and fabric softener in one of her baskets. The last thing she grabbed was her mom’s diary and her laptop. That would give her something to do. The rec room was pretty much empty on Saturday mornings.

  Everyone but Aimee and Aiden was out for the day. So she stopped in to let him know she would be at the rec room doing her laundry if anyone needed her. She looked at his basket, it was horribly overloaded. Aimee was shocked.

  “Do you have any clean clothes?”

  “Two outfits. My mom said she was no longer sending someone to clean after me or my brother.”

  “So, what did you think? The laundry would do itself?”

  “No, I thought she would cave in. I took a picture last night and text it to her.”

  “And?”

  “And she text back that she knew how I should spend my Saturday.”

  Aimee couldn’t help but to laugh. “Do you even know how to do laundry?”

  “No. She told me to do research on it.”

  “Grab your laundry and come on. I will show you how.”

  “Really? Thanks.”

  “Believe me, I am not doing this for you. I am not sitting beside you in class with those stinky clothes on.”

  Aiden had no clue how to even start the washing machine, let alone sort his clothes. Aimee taught him, just as her Gran had taught her. The Rec Room was totally empty, so they took two machines a piece, leaving one empty, in case someone else needed it.

  After they started the machines, they went to a table in the rec room to wait for the machines to buzz.

  Aimee took out her tablet and her mom’s diary. I thought I would read some more. We go to Mystique Paradise in two weeks. She handed him the diary. “You read.”

  May 5th, 1986

  M.A.L. is furious at my mom and H.A.L. He has yelled at them for over an hour. H.A.L. looked so frightened of him. I can’t believe I put my mom through this. When he was done yelling at them, he yelled at me. He said I would be graduating high school soon and I need to start thinking about my future. He said being the only child, I had to worry about my mother’s future as well as my own.

  He wants me to marry right after graduation, but I told him no. I was going to go to college. He slammed his fist on the table, making us all jump. He told me I was going to marry before I was twenty and an old maid. He said he had the gentleman picked out. He and the gentleman’s father are working on the details.

  I stood and raised my voice and told him he was not my father and had no authority over me. I told him I will marry when I am ready. That is when he hit my face so hard I fell backwards. My mom and H.A.L. went crazy. H.A.L even pulled out a knife on him. My mom talked her out of hurting him, then she told him he was no longer welcomed in our home. She told him he had no authority over her or her daughter and he should go home and worry about what his own son was doing.

  I was very impressed with my mother. When they left, she helped clean my face. It is bruising, but she thinks we can cover it with makeup. Then, we had a talk about M.A.L.; he was not going to back off easy, so she was going to call some friends to help protect us.

  RGA wanted to go out, but my mom refused. She did let him come to the house for a while. As long as I could see him, I didn’t care. Tomorrow at church we will sit together as well. I am going to pray for M.A.L and for God to protect H.A.L.

  Aiden stopped and looked at Aimee, she had obviously read this part before. She was still pale and crying. He wanted to stop reading the hurtful stuff.

  Aimee wiped a tear. “Sorry. I...”

  “You have been reading this on your own. So, you tell me what day she talks about going somewhere other than her house.”

  “May 10th, and I stopped reading on that page. To tell the truth, I never thought I would hear bad things. In my mind, Aiden, she fell in love with my dad and that was that. He swept her off her feet and she followed him to America and Gran followed her.”

  “I wish, for your sake, it was that simple.” Aiden turned the page and cleared his throat.

  May 10th, 1986

  RGA picked me up from school today, he was going to drive me down to OBO for mom. First we are going to BHD and meet AES and her boyfriend there. She has been seeing him for a while. He was very gorgeous and totally in love with her. He was taking a chance coming to BHD, I fear this could be bad for both of them.

  As for me and R.G.A., he is such a gentleman. I am thankful God gave me a Christian guy. Tomorrow, we are going to go clean RWL with a group of volunteers from churches in neighboring communities.

  Mom is doing great, we haven’t seen M.A.L since that day, and not because he isn’t trying, but mom took out a restraining order on him. We graduate school in one week and I have been accepted to two colleges, but I am afraid to go too far from mom. So, I will probably try to find one closer. The college of my choice is a few hours away, and with M.A.L. on the loose, it is too far. I haven’t told her yet.

  “That is all she wrote that day. So, we have a few places to look for.”

  The washing machine buzzed, so they loaded the dryers and reloaded the washers.

  Aimee pulled her laptop in front of Aiden. “Ok, I searched BHD first. I did a 30 miles radius. There are twenty-five businesses that could be BHD. Now, I am going through and trying to find the ones that serve food. I have ten of those.”

  “Ok, you name them off and I will write them down in the tablet. Big Henry Davis, Berthas Hot Dog, Better Ham Deli, Bistro HD, Big Hot Day, BHD Treats, Ben Harry & Dave’s, Betsy’s Hamburger Dive, Bett
er Hurry Down, and Been Here Dinner.”

  “Ok, some very weird names. So, what’s next?”

  “I am going to see what ones were around in 1986. Ok, that narrowed it down to five. Better Ham Deli, Better Hurry Down, Berthas Hot Dog, Betsy’s Hamburger Dive, and Big Hot Day.”

  “So, we know where to pretend we are eating.”

  “Yeah, but unless Berthas sells something other than Hot Dogs, we can rule it out fast. My mom hated hot dogs.”

  “So, the other place is RWL.” Aiden wrote it down.

  “Yeah, and they were going to clean it, so it could be a park, street… or I got Right Way Lagoon it was reopened in 1986 after a volunteer group consisting of several churches in the Community organized a clean day.”

  “Wow, Aimee, can’t get more specific than that.”

  “It’s a God thing, Aiden, He is letting us know we are on the right track.”

  The dryers buzzed. “Time to learn to fold, come on.” Aimee took out her first load and showed him what to do. He knew more about folding than sorting, so she focused on her’s.

  “Aimee, something bothers me about these entries. She does not give initials of AES boyfriend, the exact town she lives in, or the colleges she was accepted to.”

  “I know, I have been thinking about that. It seems she knew some things she didn’t even feel safe putting in the diaries.”

  “I am sure it was to protect those she loved. She said A.E.S. and her boyfriend could get in a lot of trouble. I also think she wanted to protect your mom and H.A.L.”

  “Yeah.”

  “The pages we skipped, was there anything we can use?”

  “I don’t think so. You can take it and read them. I don’t want to read any more of it alone for a while.”

  “It must be hard learning the things.”

  “Yeah, but when he hit her, that got me.”

  “Me too. I can’t stand a man that hits a girl. Do you think he hit H.A.L. and that’s why she was so scared of him?”

  “I know so, mom wrote about in the pages, we skipped.”

  “Who do you think H.A.L. is?”

  “Gran’s sister.”

  “Me too. So, we assume she is married to M.A.L. That would make him your mom’s uncle.”

  “If H.A.L is married to M.A.L, then that made him her uncle by marriage, which is why Gran told him he had no authority in her house.”

  Aimee laid her basket of clean clothes on the floor. “Aiden, you know how I said that finding Right Way Lagoon was a God thing?”

  “Yeah.”

  She went and sat in a chair in the front of the rec room. “I think finding the diaries were too. I have never laid eyes on them before, I have been in that attic a hundred times looking for things of my mom’s. Then, at Christmas, I moved a big trunk and noticed a box pushed way in the back of the corner.”

  “It was the diaries.”

  “I have even moved the trunk before.”

  Aiden took the diary and read the pages he skipped. “Maybe He knew you couldn’t handle it until now.”

  “I think so.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Aimee passed her written test and obtained her provisional license. She was playing chauffeur a lot. The first weekend of March arrived and Lexi, Piper, Colin, James, Aiden, and Aimee loaded Tessa’s SUV. They were ready to head south to Mystique Paradise Beach. Once James entered the address in the GPS, off the group of friends left for their adventure.

  Aimee drove first. She knew the roads within a one hour radius of town. She was maintaining speed limit and following all the laws of Neahovia. Luckily, they drive on the right side of the road and not the left. So, she didn’t have to adjust to that.

  They stopped in Wattsburg for supper. The group was having fun. The weather forecast for Mystique Paradise was mid 70s and sunny. A good weekend for walking the beach. Aimee was feeling so blessed to have friends who cared enough to help her.

  ♥ ♥

  He sat in his booth at Kay’s Place when the kids came in. College kids are so irresponsible. The laughing was nerve racking and he was going to leave, but then, she walked in. He only got a glimpse of her. But, she looked familiar to him.

  They sat at the other side of the diner to eat. He tried to hear them, but they were not loud like most kids. He had no reason to go to that side of the restaurant; the restrooms are on his side. All he could do was wait; maybe she will come over to his side.

  That didn’t happen, and when they left, he got a little better glimpse. One of the guys had on an Ancaster shirt, so he would contact someone in Ancaster Monday. He knew he was crazy because that family has no further living descendants. He must have had one too many beers; and, if he bothers his boss with this, he could get fired. Especially if they found out he was drinking on the job again.

  ♥ ♥

  They arrived at the Hotel a little before twelve. Aimee was too nervous to sleep. What if she found someone who knew her mom? She could get all of her question answered this weekend or she could leave with even more. She decided to read her Bible and pray for God to help her. She closed her eyes and opened the Bible to Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

  She said a prayer of thanks to God for always being with her. He is truly her strength, her rock, and her salvation.

  Everyone was up by nine a.m. They ordered room service to be delivered to the girl’s room. They had several brochures from the hotel showing different parts of the beach. They decided to break up into three groups and divide the beach in three sections of north, middle, and south. James and Piper was taking the north part of the beach. Aiden and Aimee took the middle, while Colin and Lexi would go to south.

  They wanted a common story, so they decided to stay as close to Aimee’s real life as possible. Because of her mom’s fear of M.A.L., they are going to say that they are looking to find out some things about a lost love one. She may have lived near Mystique Beach.

  Aimee understood why they called the beach Mystique Paradise. You could feel the aura of mystery and romance in the air. The ocean was a beautiful blue that reminded Aimee of the mystique orchids on her Grans plantation. In the distance, Aimee could see the dolphins playing in the water. They were so calming.

  Aimee and Aiden walked along the shore, looking for signs of things her mom had mentioned in her diary. They read the month of May, June, and July this past week. The beach had changed since 1986, which they expected, but her mom talked about a specific area at the beach that was secluded; and, that was what they were looking for when they stopped for a cold drink.

  The lady working the drink hut was in about her late forties or early fifties. She had her hair styled in a stack bob. “How can I help you kids?”

  Aimee looked at the menu. “Are these all alcohol free?” The lady laughed. “They are, sweetie.”

  Aiden and Aimee ordered their drinks. The lady seemed to be in a talking mood, so they sat on the stools.

  “You two make a cute couple.” She pretended to wipe the counter.

  Aimee looked over at Aiden, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a thin white button up shirt. Shades and a fedora hat topped his look. He was trying to be in disguise. She had on a pair of crop jeans, ribbed tank, and hot pink thin shirt. She topped her outfit off with shades and a fedora hat.

  “We are...” Aimee started to tell her the truth but Aiden stopped her.

  “Thank you. We are so glad to hear people say that.”

  “I can’t recall seeing you two on the beach before, so what brings you to Mystique Paradise this time of year?”

  “How long have you had you hut here?” Aiden looked around the beach.

  “My husband’s family has owned it for 30 years. We inherited it last year when they retired.”

  Aimee took a sip. “So, have you lived here your whole life?”

  “Yeah. Sweetie, yo
u are not from Neahovia. I can tell by your accent, but you look so familiar.”

  Aimee looked at Aiden. “I am from America but I found a diary in the attic at my dad’s place. It belonged to one of our relatives. When I read her diary, she mentioned this beach in it. I thought it would be cool if I knew more about her.”

  “What was her name or age?”

  “Lillian Townsend. She would be around 40.”

  “Doesn’t sound familiar. What year was her diary?”

  “1986.”

  “Wow, honey, things have changed a lot around here since then. Mystique Paradise Beach was Paradise City’s little secret back then. All we had then was a few stores owned by local families. The beach was quiet.”

  “She used only initials for the name of a lot of places; any reason she might do that?” Aiden spoke.

  “It became the thing to do, a way we could still keep our secrets. Let’s see, 1986 was a few years before that group of radicals tried to overtake King Kaiser; but, out here, they were already trying to control the widowers and their daughters.”

  “Really? Wow, I am taking a Neahovian History class, we are just starting to study those times.” Aimee was hoping she would tell them more.

  “They were hard times. I was always thanking God I still had my dad and my Howie.”

  “So, if a girl had a boyfriend, did that stop the Radicals?”

  “As long as it was who the radicals wanted. Honey, you won’t read any of this in that history class of yours. No history book could tell the story of what it was like to live as a woman through those years.”

  “Do you mind if I ask your name?”

  “Alice Harris."

  “Alice, I have a question. In her diary, she mentioned that there was a secluded area on the beach that the teens liked to hang. Do you know where we can find that?”

  “Yeah, I do. The discount mall is there now.”

  Aiden looked at her. “We wanted to visit a few places she mentioned in her diary. Can you help us find them?”

  “Sure. You tell me and I will tell you if they are still here or gone.”

  “She mentioned eating at a place called BHD we have it narrowed to five places.”