by K. J. Emrick
Jon took up a lot of her thoughts that morning, too. As she went about her usual morning routine she was deep in thought about the events of the day before.
She thought about her psychic abilities and how they impacted on her life, and now Jon’s life. He had been unfair to her. She thought about his comments and how hurt she had been by them, but then a new thought occurred to her.
Would she give her abilities up if she could? It would certainly make her life safer and easier. She wasn’t sure that she would ever do that, though, even if she could. Communicating with spirits from the other side was so much a part of her now that she just wouldn’t be who she was without them. And she liked who she was. She didn’t want to change. Not for anyone. Not even Jon.
Just before she was ready to leave the house she gathered up the costumes for the pageant that she had finished putting together as promised and folded them into a large duffle bag that she slung crossways over her shoulder. She handled them with care as some of them were very old and had been used in the pageant for many years. She had just needed to patch them up a bit as they had been showing some wear and tear. A couple of them had needed altering a little to make them fit better. She put Santa’s hat in last on top of the rest and zipped up the bag, then headed downstairs ready to leave for work.
Things were a little slow at the bookstore today and Darcy kept herself busy by rearranging some of the shelves. Sue had the day off so Darcy was by herself and was finding the store just a little too quiet for her liking. To make matters worse there had only been two customers the whole time the store had been open today. It was the age of electronic books. The store was actually seeing less and less income, and she knew there might come a day when she would have to consider selling it.
The bell jingled into her thoughts as someone entered the bookstore. On her knees at the end of the mystery section, Darcy looked up to see who it was.
“What are you doing down there?” Grace asked as she came closer. “Are you okay?”
Darcy smiled at her sister. “I’m fine. I’ve been doing some rearranging.” She stood up and swiped at the legs of her jeans to clean off the floor dust. She and Sue would definitely need to spend some time in the near future cleaning the place up.
Grace folded her arms and stood with one hip cocked. “I talked to Jon this morning. He was in a grumpy mood. The kind a guy gets into when he argues with his girlfriend.” She arched an eyebrow and let the statement hang in the air.
Darcy sighed. Her sister was sharp. There wasn’t much that she missed. “Jon and I had a big fight,” she said. “He said things, I said things. It’s all over my…you know. My abilities.”
Grace didn’t look surprised. In fact, she smiled. “Well. It’s about time something went wrong with you two.”
Darcy was horrified. She gaped at her sister. “What do you mean?”
Grace patted her sister’s arm. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I just meant that you and Jon have been getting along so well that it almost isn’t natural. You had to get into a fight sooner or later.”
Darcy relaxed a little and smiled wryly at Grace. “Thanks, that makes me feel so much better. So you think our problem was that we were too perfect?”
“Something like that.”
Darcy let the smile slip a little. “You know how I told you ages ago that he wants us to move in together?”
Grace nodded. “I haven’t heard you mention it lately.”
“He went quiet on the subject for a while. He was supposed to be giving me time to think about it. But the other night he slipped it into the conversation again.”
Grace’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? I take you said no.”
Darcy winced. “Yes. I just kept putting him off and putting him off, and now it looks like I made the right decision because can you imagine what this would be like if we lived under the same roof?”
“It would be just like every other relationship out there, sis. Couples fight. It’s part of life. This won’t be the last one you and Jon have either. You’re not giving up on him after one fight are you?”
Darcy searched for the words to explain it. She really thought her sister would have understood her better. “I don’t know. If he can’t accept that part of me what future do we have? It’s who I am, Grace.”
Grace shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll work it out. Just don’t give up. Okay?” Grace smiled at Darcy and then pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. “About Roger August’s daughter. I have a name for you.”
“Is it Katrina Settler?” Darcy asked.
Grace blew out the breath she had been about to speak with. “You already knew? Then why did you…oh. Right. You know, I can understand why Jon would say your abilities are annoying.”
The look on Darcy’s face must have made Grace realize what she had said. “I didn’t mean it that way, sis. I was just kidding.”
Darcy tried to play it off. “That’s fine Grace. I understand. So what did you find out?”
“Well,” Grace said, “she lives on the outskirts of town. Roger never married and Katrina was born out of wedlock. She was an only child and was raised by her mother, Agnes Settler, who was a single parent. Roger had visitation rights to see his daughter.” Grace consulted the paper again. “Katrina is married to one Joseph Samson but I can’t find anything on him at all. That’s about it.” Grace handed Darcy the piece of paper.
“Thanks for doing that Grace, I appreciate it.”
“No problem. I have to get going, though. I’ll catch up with you later. Just take it easy on Jon, all right? Everything will work out. You’ll see.”
Darcy hoped that she was right about that. She was having a hard time imagining her life without Jon in it.
Darcy breathed a sigh of relief as she flipped the ‘OPEN a good book today’ sign to ‘CLOSED, THE END.’ She was so glad that it was the end of the day. She hefted the dufflebag up onto her shoulder and started walking her bike across to the town square to drop off the costumes to Helen.
She dropped her bike gently down onto the snowy grass and walked towards Helen. As she got closer she could see that the other woman looked very distraught. When Helen looked up and spotted her she put her hands up into the air and she said, “Thank God! Darcy come here, quick. Something has gone horribly wrong with the pageant.”
Darcy tensed. “Helen, what is it?”
“Harry and Madge have both come down with some horrible sickness.” Darcy relaxed a little. “They were going to play Santa and Mrs. Claus. What will we do now?”
Darcy realized what that would mean for the pageant. Santa had to be in the pageant or it would be ruined for the children.
“You and Jon will have to do it,” Helen said suddenly. “You’re the only two volunteers left that aren’t in the show.”
Darcy could think of nothing she wanted less. She was still mad at Jon and she could only imagine that he was still mad at her, too. What would it be like to stand on the stage together as such a famous married couple as Santa and his wife? She couldn’t see any way to get out of it, though, and the pageant meant so much to her and everyone else in town, so she begrudgingly agreed.
Helen hugged her. “Oh, thank you. One less thing to worry about. Are those the costumes? Oh, Darcy you’re a life saver! What would I do without you and Jon?”
Helen smiled at her and Darcy could only smile back, wondering what Jon would say about all this. She said goodbye to Helen and started to walk towards the police station to tell Jon the news.
She hesitated, knowing that anything she said to him now would probably only make things worse or spark another argument. One of them needed to apologize first before anything could be healed between them. It would probably be her. Jon was stubborn, in his own way. She wanted to do it, too, because she wanted them to be back to the way they were. Just not right now.
Sighing, she picked up her bike and started to ride in the direction of home.
Chapter 5
Onc
e again Darcy found herself wide awake when she should have been sleeping. Only this time she knew what the problem was. She wished that she had gone to Jon’s apartment after work and apologized. Her anger at him was gone and she missed him badly. She just hoped that she hadn’t ruined things with him.
She wondered why she was putting all of the blame on herself. He had started the argument, after all. Maybe she should hold her ground and wait for him to apologize to her first.
She rolled over onto her side and looked out of the window. It looked much as it had the other night with the heavy cover of dark clouds in the sky. Her window was open just a crack and a trickle of a breeze was coming through. She could sense the possibility of snow once again and it was kind of comforting. She smiled.
Quickly sitting up and jumping out of bed she raced downstairs to put on her coat and boots. If she couldn’t sleep she might as well go outside and watch the snowflakes fall for a little while. The fresh air might do her some good.
As she pulled open the front door the cold air stung her face and took her breath away for a moment. She raced down the porch steps and stood in the front yard. She lifted her face to the sky just as the first snowflakes began to fall. She took a deep breath and let the frigid air burn her lungs. It was magical. The only thing missing was Jon.
“Can I join you?” She startled a little as his quiet voice came from behind her. She thought that she had imagined it for a moment.
Darcy turned to find him standing behind her. Then Jon suddenly moved and closed the space between them. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.
“I’m sorry.” They both said at the same time when they pulled apart for air. They laughed together.
“I love you Darcy, and I accept all of you. I’ve been an idiot but you understand, don’t you? I’m just so worried about all of the danger that your abilities seem to attract to you. That’s why I said that I wished that you didn’t have them. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I understand,” she said to him, so grateful to hear those words that she could barely stand to breathe. “As long as you can understand that these abilities are a part of who I am and I can’t change that.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she melted against him. They stayed like that for a long time just watching as the snowflakes fell.
Darcy expertly flipped the pancake she was cooking and then shrieked as Jon grabbed her around the waist from behind. He pulled her in close to his body, her back to his front, and kissed her neck. Darcy giggled and nearly knocked the frying pan to the floor. Still, that didn’t stop her from bending her neck further to allow him easier access to kiss her more.
“I’m starved,” he whispered in a sultry way, making her shiver as she thought of things other than food. “How long until we eat.”
Darcy grinned at him over her shoulder. “Not long.” She was so happy that things between them seemed to be back to normal. Or even better than normal.
They sat in silence for a few minutes as they dug into their pancakes. Darcy remembered her conversation with Helen. Quickly chewing and swallowing her mouthful of food she said, “Oh by the way they need us to play Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Christmas Pageant.”
Jon almost choked on the mouthful of pancake he was eating. “We’re what now?”
She grinned at him and said, “You heard me.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “Okay, I’ll do it for you but I don’t want this to become a yearly thing. I’m too young to be Santa Claus.”
Darcy grinned at him before she jumped up and ran into the living room where she picked up the Santa suit she had been mending. She raced back into the kitchen with it and handed it to him. He ran his hands over it. The suit was soft and worn and probably had been used for generations.
Jon held the suit out in front of him and frowned. “Whoa, I am going to need to eat a boatload more of those pancakes if I’m going to have a belly like Santa to fit into this.”
Darcy laughed as she took the hint and went to make another batch.
After breakfast Jon drove them into town in his police car with Darcy’s bike stowed in the trunk. On the short trip he asked her about Roger August and the vision she had. She told him all that she knew so far. It seemed like now that they had made up he was ready to help her solve this. Her heart felt light.
“I need to talk to Roger’s daughter, but I don’t know where she lives exactly,” Darcy said as they pulled into a parking space outside of the police station.
“Okay I can find out her address for you. Let’s get inside where it’s warm.” He rubbed his hands together as he blew his hot breath onto them. Darcy grinned and followed him into the police station.
As they settled down at Jon’s desk, he turned his computer on while Darcy waved to a few of the other officers still at their desk. They were getting used to her being in the building with Jon by now. Moments later Jon had Katrina’s address. He wrote it down on a post-it note and handed it to Darcy. She read it to herself. It wasn’t that far away from the center of town here.
“Do you want me to come with you when you visit her?” Jon asked her.
“No thanks, I can handle it on my own.” She smiled at him. He looked at her skeptically, more of that overly protective nature that kept him harping on her abilities. She had to insist, though. Katrina might be more open to talking about what had happened to her father if Darcy was alone. A police officer, even Jon, might be intimidating for her. She reached out to hold his hand in hers. “I’ll be fine, Jon. I promise.”
“Made up so soon?” Darcy jumped when she heard her sister’s voice behind her. She turned to find her sister standing there with arms folded across her chest, smiling smugly at the two of them.
Darcy glared at her before turning back to Jon. “Ignore my sister,” she said as she stood up and moved around to his side of the desk to kiss him goodbye. “I’ll see you later.”
Darcy was standing behind the counter of the Sweet Read Bookstore when Sue entered in a rush, cold air flowing in behind her. Her blonde hair had escaped from her knitted cap and she pushed the strands back as she plucked the hat off along with her mittens. She smiled mischievously at Darcy.
“I have some gossip for you about Mister Baskin, our resident grump,” she said. She was obviously eager to spill whatever it was. Darcy rolled her eyes. Misty Hollow was always rife with some sort of gossip. “Have you heard about this petition he’s spreading around to stop the pageant? He’s already gotten a few signatures on it. Now he’s going to take it to Helen. Can you believe it?”
“He can’t possibly have enough to keep Christmas from coming.” Darcy giggled as she said it, imagining that scene from the Grinch where the green-furred meanie was staring down at Whoville and scheming to take their Christmas away. “Let’s just hope no one else signs it.”
Sue nodded and blew hot air onto her hands to warm them. “On another note I have something good to share.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a present wrapped in brightly colored Christmas paper. She shyly handed it to Darcy. “Merry Christmas boss.”
Darcy smiled as she took the gift from her. She placed it on the counter in front of her and said, “Thanks, Sue. I have something for you, too.” She bent down and picked up a gift bag from under the counter and handed it to Sue.
The younger girl’s face beamed. “Thanks so much.”
They both ripped into their gifts. Darcy peeled back the paper from hers to find a copy of ‘Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages’. Her eyes grew wide. “Oh Sue, thank you so much. This is incredible.” Darcy was very touched by her friend’s thoughtfulness. She had wanted to find a copy of this book for a long while now. Now here it was, in her hands.
“Oh wow, thanks Darcy,” Sue said as she held up a huge, warm looking scarf, all fuzzy and red. Then she realized what she had and could not sit still. Bouncing up onto her feet she danced in a little circle. “Darcy! Oh, wow, Darcy!
This is a Nordstrom solid woven cashmere scarf! Oh my God! You are the best! I love it!” Sue wrapped it around her neck and moved over to the mirror on the side wall of the bookstore. She modelled for herself, smiling widely.
“I take it you like it?” Darcy asked jokingly.
“This is so warm! I’m going to wear it all the time. Thank you!”
The two women shared a quick hug before Sue got to work behind the counter, still wearing the scarf. Darcy smiled, thinking to herself how this was one of the reasons why she loved the holidays so much. The good feeling of giving a friend a gift that you knew they would enjoy. It reminded her of how thankful she was to have good friends in her life.
Jon’s present was carefully hidden away in her house. She hoped he liked it as much.
Darcy left work right after lunch, leaving the store in Sue’s capable hands. She wanted to visit with Katrina Samson. She headed out of town on her bike, knowing she could have called for a taxi or borrowed someone’s car, but she had wanted to enjoy the feeling of the fresh air on her face. She didn’t really mind the cold. Not when it was wrapped up in the feeling of the holidays like this.
Jon’s directions said that Katrina’s house was by Bottleneck Lake and would be fairly easy to find. She hoped that he was right. She rode on towards the lake along the deserted road. There used to be five or six houses built up around the lake back in the nineteen-fifties, from what she understood, but the ones that still stood were abandoned now. Except, apparently, for Katrina Samson’s house.
An uneasy feeling started to settle in her stomach as the house came into view. It was surrounded by tall trees and it was in desperate need of repair. A couple of the shutters out front were hanging off to an angle, and she could see where the shingles were starting to rot in several spots. There were curtains drawn over every window. Darcy couldn’t tell if anyone was home or not.
