“Actually, he’s the first person to talk to me. Well, besides you,” I told him.
“People are very good at ignoring newcomers in their midst. Everyone thinks a religious town will be accepting to everyone. However, when you think about it, most of our classmates have gone to school together since kindergarten. Anything new and exciting comes in and it throws them off balance.” I knew he was talking from experience.
“So what’s the plan this afternoon?” I asked as we reached my classroom door.
“I was thinking it’s time you met my father,” he stated.
I felt the blood drain from my face. This was where our relationship would end.
***
I followed Wesley’s car to his house that afternoon after our final class. The entire time I was trying to convince myself this would be okay. I had met the parents of ex-boyfriends before; however, they usually took one look at me and way I dressed and decided I was a bad influence. The black dress I was wearing seemed quite constricting all of a sudden, my calf-length lace-up boots even more so. I would suffocate before I even got there.
I pulled in behind Wesley and turned off the engine. Another internal pep talk and I was ready to go.
“You look like you are about to be sick,” Wesley observed as he opened my car door for me.
“I feel like I’m about to be sick,” I confirmed as I fixed my bunched-up skirt. “I have never done well with meeting parents.”
“You’ll be fine. My dad is pretty open-minded, trust me.” He offered his hand and I took it gratefully.
Walking into that house again was hard enough. I hadn’t set foot in it since the day I had run off in a panic. Wesley’s father was sitting at the table when we entered, playing with the edge of a napkin in front of him. He stood up and a huge smile played on his face.
I saw that Wesley looked very much like his father: the same height, the same blue yes, the same amazing smile. I had yet to come across a photo of Wesley’s mother, however, so it was slightly one-sided argument to pursue.
“Dawn?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, trying to give him a “pretty” smile.
“Please, come in and have a seat.” He motioned for us to join him at the table.
Wesley pulled a chair out for me. I sat down and clasped my hands in my lap so they couldn’t see how much I was shaking.
“So, Dad,” Wesley began, “Dawn is new this year.”
Mr. Jensen nodded and smiled once more. I noticed he still wore his wedding band. It seemed a trifle odd considering there didn’t seem to be any photos of his wife about the house.
“Oh, really?” he responded. “Where did you come here from?”
“El Paso. My mother and I came here when she changed her job.” I had already told my mother’s sad story once that day and I didn’t think my emotional stability could take another walk down memory lane.
“So it’s just you and your mother then?”
“Yes, sir.”
This was probably the best conversation I’d had with a boyfriend’s family since I started dating. Mostly because it didn’t start out with the parent making a disgusted face followed by a nod towards the kitchen.
“We moved here after Wesley’s mother passed.” He looked away as his eyes began to water.
“That’s what Wesley told me. I was sorry to hear about your wife’s passing.” I bowed my head. Now I felt I needed to tell him my mother was there for much the same reason.
The pain Wesley’s father was experiencing was heart-wrenching. I couldn’t imagine how I would be if Wesley was torn from my life without any notice. I would stop at nothing to get him back.
“Dawn’s stepfather passed away six months ago,” Wesley said quietly.
“That’s unfortunate.” Mr. Jensen looked at me and frowned. “This must all be very hard for your mother.”
“She’s doing better now. For a while I was quite concerned. But she likes where she’s at and she seems to enjoy the congregation.” I looked down at my hands and saw they were still shaking.
“Would you like something to drink?” Mr. Jensen asked, perking up a bit.
“Please.” My throat felt incredibly dry.
Wesley’s father stood up and walked to the refrigerator. “I have tea, coke, Dr. Pepper?”
“Dr. Pepper sounds great.”
He came back to the table and handed out cans. “So what are your plans for this afternoon?” he asked, changing the conversation and looking first at Wesley and then at me.
“I would like to show Dawn the woods,” Wesley said, glancing at me.
The woods? I really don’t want to go in there…
“What’s so exciting about the woods?” Wesley’s father asked, his eyebrow raised.
Wesley shrugged. “They’re just beautiful.”
“I’m fine not going into the woods,” I said, my voice shaking.
Wesley laughed at the look on my face. “There’s nothing in the woods that could possibly hurt you.”
“I’ve lived in the desert for so long I find being among trees makes me feel confined,” I lied.
I just knew there was something in those woods, and I was not yet ready to find out who or what it was.
“Fine, fine,” said Wesley, caving in.
That was far easier than I had expected.
“Daddy?”
A girl about twelve had entered the room. She was wearing a flower print dress and a confused expression.
“What is it, Melissa?” Mr. Jensen asked with affection.
“I can’t figure out this math problem.” She put her head in her hands. “Sixth grade is so hard!”
I had to muffle a laugh.
“Who’s she?” Melissa asked, pointing at me.
“This is Dawn. Wesley’s girlfriend,” Mr. Jensen told her.
“She’s a step up from the last one,” Melissa said calmly.
Wesley’s eyes opened wide. “Thanks, rugrat!”
Melissa ignored her brother and came right up to me. “Dawn, do you know how to braid?”
“Of course.” I had long hair so I knew all about braiding.
“Well, can you teach my dad how to do it?” she asked nicely.
I looked at Mr. Jensen just as he blushed.
***
I left the house shortly after six in order to get home in time for dinner. I had politely declined the invitation to eat with Wesley and his family. I actually wanted to see my mother. I had a feeling she would be the perfect person to talk to Wesley’s dad, seeing how they had both moved there under much the same circumstances. Luckily her car was in the driveway.
I entered the house and put my bag down by the door. My mother was standing at the stove and singing along to the radio. I might also add that she was dancing.
“Mom,” I said, putting my hand over my mouth and trying not to laugh out loud.
She turned around and smiled at me. “What’s up, darling?”
“I met Wesley’s dad today,” I told her, locking my hands together.
“Oh? How did it go?”
I noted the hesitation in her reply. She had been through this before.
“Actually, quite well. I was wondering something.” I paused and glanced towards the stove. Spaghetti, my favorite.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You know how I told you Wesley’s mom died a few years back.” She nodded. “He still wears his wedding ring. I was wondering if maybe you could go over to his house and talk to him. Seeing how you both came here for the same reason.”
“That’s not such a bad idea,” she said after a moment’s thought. “Leave me the address and I will stop by tomorrow on my way to the church.”
“You are the best, mom!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her.
“So it didn’t just go well, then.”
My mother laughed as I jumped up and down.
“Only one thing happened th
at was odd,” I said as I pulled away and straightened my skirt.
“What was that?”
“His sister. She said I was a step up from the last one.” I popped my knuckles.
My mother tensed and I knew she was making a face. “That’s interesting. Wesley must be one of those guys.” She laughed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, honey. But you just aren’t exactly normal yourself. You already know that.” She was teasing me.
“I love how you have my back on this,” I responded, groaning.
My mother just pointed to the cabinet that housed all the plates. “Set the table will you? It’s just about ready.”
Chapter Twelve: Invitations And Confessions
“Dawn!”
Adam’s voice echoed through the hallway and I stopped in my tracks.
Turning around, I spotted him hurrying through the crowd, apologizing to those who were in his way. When he reached me he put his finger up to give him a second to catch his breath.
“What’s up?” I asked, adjusting my bag so it wasn’t digging into my shoulder.
“I have tickets to a drag race this Saturday. You have anything planned?”
“You want me to go with you?” I was shocked.
He laughed. “Yeah. I figured you might be into that kind of thing.”
“Wow. Um. I don’t know. I will have to ask my mom if there is anything going on.” I blushed. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to get to know me.
“Awesome. Just let me know.” He gave me a wave and walked off down the hallway.
He was friendly, that was for certain. As I watched him go he exchanged a brief conversation with just about every student he ran into. He seemed well liked by our classmates. I shook my head and laughed under my breath.
I exited the school and kicked my way through the gravel to my car. Wesley had had to go somewhere today, so I was heading straight home. My mother would freak when she saw me before six.
When I got home I put my keys on the counter and my bag on the table. My mother must have heard me come in and called to me from the living room. I ambled in and I found her in a very agitated state. She was chewing impatiently on her bottom lip and her hands were twined into her dress. I was instantly alarmed.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” I asked the moment I saw her face.
“I went and saw Wesley’s dad today while the two of you were at school.” She sighed. “He’s a very nice but very troubled man.” She motioned to me to sit. “When I got back I went digging around in some old boxes and I came across this photo. This is Greta Jensen.”
She produced a photo from beside her and turned it toward me. I found myself looking into the pale eyes of a good-looking woman with children hanging all over her. She looked happy. This was Wesley’s mother? So why did she die? What happened to her?
“She’s beautiful, Mom,” I said, staring at the photo.
I could see Melissa in her mother’s face, both in the general shape and in the eyes. They were incredibly similar, down to the small dimple on the right cheek.
“Yes, she was.” My mother looked distressed. A few moments passed before she spoke again. “I knew Greta.”
My eyes widened.
“I knew her back before she had Wesley. Actually, I was there with her when she took the pregnancy test. Unlike me, she showed many warning signs early on that she was with child. She had the morning sickness, the odd cravings, things I never had when I was pregnant with you. She was almost through the first trimester before she took that test.” Her eyes started to tear up. “She was so scared. They had just married and he was always on the road with his work, so she was afraid to have the baby on her own. She was fearful she couldn’t do it without him there with her.” She brushed the tears from her eyes. “We had to leave town about six months into the pregnancy. Your father set fire to the police station while dealing with a criminal investigation. We had to go in such a hurry I never saw her again. However, we exchanged a few letters over the years.” There was another sigh and her shoulders quivered. Her emotions were clearly getting the better of her.
I waited for her to go on.
“Greg knew me the moment he opened his door. He apparently never forgot me, even after eighteen years. When he heard that you and Wesley were dating he didn’t know how to control his excitement. He was more than willing to tell me what happened with Greta.” She looked down at her hands before proceeding. “Wesley was in tenth grade when she became ill. She was unable to sleep, very skittish. He said she would jump at the smallest sound. It wasn’t long before she started talking to herself, as if something was with her. After a short while she was answering herself as well.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “He said she started drawing disturbing images of a woman devouring the souls of her family, with what appeared to be their spirits floating from their mouths to hers.” She paused. “Greg said he’s going to see if he can find the sketchbook. He thinks it’s in the attic and he’s going to let me see it. He actually thinks I should be able to make some sense of it.”
“How are you going to do that, Mom?” I asked. I had an uncomfortable tightness in my chest.
“Dawn, how quickly you forget my powers. Have you forgotten I was an instrument of God once? He may have taken my wings and thrown me into this hellhole, but he let me keep my powers.” She took in my blank stare and frowned. “Did you really think your father was the only one with a little magic up his sleeve?”
I admit I had thought my father was the more powerful of the two of them. My mother very rarely showed hers, unless it was to help a plant to grow or an animal give birth. I honestly had no idea whether she could match, or even outdo, what my father had showed me.
“You did, didn’t you?” murmured my mother, noting my blank expression. “I hope you know that demons used to fear me.” She smiled proudly.
I looked away and bit my lip, sensing that in a way I had actually insulted her. That hadn’t been my intention. It was just that my assumption had apparently been wrong.
“Anyway, back to my story. Greta was a special person. She was pure in spirit and mind, but she was still sick. All the events Greg witnessed pointed to the possibility of a severe mental condition. They managed to get her medicated, and then set up with a shrink. They even had her hospitalized for a brief period. She did her best in the hospital, but the doctors felt the psychiatric ward wasn’t right for her so they let her go. Greg said that about six months after that he woke up one morning and found his wife dead in the bed beside him. She had passed in her sleep.”
She stopped for a moment. I could tell this was hard for her. She had just found out that another person who had once meant so much to her had passed on.
“There were a few odd bits in Greg’s story, however, that made me wonder about some of the things he had witnessed,” my mother went on. “He described how she would cower away from Wesley’s girlfriend, for instance. He couldn’t understand why since they both thought the girl very sweet. She was an exchange student from Germany, I believe.” She brightened for a moment. “Wesley is a very knowledgeable young man. He can speak several languages fluently. Did you know that?”
I nodded, remembering the whole incident in his bedroom as if it was yesterday.
“Anyway, he said that toward the end Greta would just walk away, muttering that the girl was a child of the devil. She had seemed well enough to him, very polite and always offering to do things for the family.” She shrugged.
So far the thing that bothered me most was the idea that Wesley had been with another girl. The thought of it made my heart hurt. It might have been before he knew I even existed, but still I couldn’t help it. There really was no point in getting jealous over there having been someone in Wesley’s life before me.
“After Greta died, Greg told me that Wesley was distraught for a few days, then out of nowhere managed to pick himself up, brush himself off, and
move on with life as if the whole incident had never happened. Shortly after that the girl just disappeared. One day she was there and the next day, poof, gone. Wesley went on as if it was nothing, hardly spoke of her again. They moved here to get away from the memories, much like how you and I did by coming here.”
She gave me a small smile and I tried to smile back.
“Melissa was having nightmares and Wesley was sleepwalking. Greg knew he had to get them out of there before they both mentally combusted. He moved into the old house and fixed it up. He paid a fortune to have the whole place redone. First night there Wesley went missing. The authorities found him in the woods behind the house, half frozen. He didn’t even remember how he got out there.” She was looking at the ground. “Apparently he had some troubles last year in school, fighting mostly. It seems Wesley was still having a rough time until you showed up. Once you two started dating it was like a switch had been turned on. Greg is forever grateful that you were able to give him new meaning.”
My mother paused. She seemed anxious and I knew she wasn’t telling me something.
“It’s so funny. Greta used to joke about how our children were destined to be together, that there was a force strong in nature that would work to keep them close and an even stronger one in Hell bent on tearing them apart. She really was a special woman, but there was no way that she could have known that. Not without having something non-human in her blood.”
“You’re not telling me something, Mom,” I said, eyeing her suspiciously.
“I’m not telling you a lot, actually. I have my own questions that need to be answered about Greta, and a few about Wesley, before I can tell you what the answers are. I need to find them out myself, though.” She took the photo back from me. “But for now, go about life as usual. Don’t ask Wesley anything. I will have all the answers you need soon enough.”
I looked at her for a long moment. “Mom?”
“What is it, honey?” The smile on her face had faded.
“Thank you.”
It was the least I could say. She had found out so much already. It was just amazing how Wesley’s life and mine were becoming more and more entwined. We had to come to terms with the past before we could create a present.
The Wardens Boxed Set Page 10
