Mirrors

Three days later Jacob was ready to bring Katie home from the hospital. It had been a chore getting everything here so quickly, but Cheri was a spitfire when it came to dealing with insurance and DME companies. Jacob gave her the go ahead to do anything it took, and she did just that. Now when Jacob had to call if they tried to give him a hard time all he had to do was let them know that Cheri would be calling later that day to straighten out the problem. They would bend over backward to keep from having to deal with her.

That chilly Friday morning Jacob was at the hospital, with his nurse, waiting for Katie to be transported to his house while Cheri was at the house with another nurse insuring everything was set up for Katie. The sterile bleach bathed atmosphere of the halls did not allow for a feeling of celebration or excitement for Katies return home, it only left one with a feeling of despair and helplessness. No one could predict how this was going to work, whether or not Katie would awaken, or even if she would she ever been 100% mentally and physically healthy. The feeling could only be described as ominous.

“Everything looks good here. Is the medical transport there yet?” Cheri asked Jacob. She was anxious about getting Katie home. She missed her friend dearly.

“Yeah, but we’re waiting for the doctor. Apparently, there is some paperwork that Tracy hasn’t signed yet. Have you seen her over the last couple of days?”

“Nope, which is weird. She usually calls or texts me every day. But not a peep.”

“After we get Katie settled, I’ll give her a call. The Doc is making sure I can sign her out without Tracy. Other than that everything is good to go.”

“Alright, just send me a text when you leave.”

“Ok, bye.”

A few minutes after Jacob hung up with Cheri the doctor came in grinning ear to ear, an expression Jacob was hard pressed to emulate.

“Good news, Mr. Mantles, you can take Miss Summers home. All I need is for you to sign these discharge papers and we’ll let the transport guys take it from here.”

Jacob sighed in relief, at least one thing was going as planned.

A few tortuously long minutes later Katie was secured in the ambulance and Jacob was following them with all her belongings in his truck.

Alexander had disappeared once again leaving Katie to wonder about the lush green grounds of her new home all alone. He really hadn’t disappeared; he went into town to buy baby supplies. Even though they had almost seven more months before their little bundle of joy would make their entrance into their perfect little world, he was too excited to wait.

Katie was sitting on her bench overlooking the ocean so deep in her own thoughts as the waves crashed against the rocks on the steep cliffs that she hadn’t hear the young woman approach her from behind.

“Miss Summer,” she inquired softly.

“Oh!” Katie startled out of her thoughts.

“I’m sorry to have interrupted your time. I just wanted to introduce myself to you.”

The young woman didn’t look a day over twenty and was dressed very demurely in a blue soft cotton knee length dress. Even the collar cut up above her breast so that not a bit of cleavage was exposed. Her natural brown hair was pulled up on top of her head in a loose messy bun and held together with a long white silk scarf. Even make up was soft and natural looking, unlike what twenty-year-olds wear today.

“I know who you are. You’re the crazy lady who lives in the cottage on the beach. I’m not supposed to speak to you.”

“I’m not here to harm you. My name is Abigail and I’m not crazy. I only have two things I want you to know. First, I know everything seems like a fairy tale right now but if you’re ever in need, or fearful, you can come to me to talk. No strings attached. I’m only down the trail. Anything, you need anything I am here for you.”

“I don’t believe I’ll ever disobey Alexander by willingly going to you for anything.”

“I understand,” Abigail took a small step closer to Katie and smiled softly. “I’ll not bother you again, just know I’m here. The second thing,” she carefully took Katies hand palm up and placed a perfect white cherry blossom in it, “never forget. The moment you do all is lost.”

Katie stared at the small delicate flower in her hand, when she looked up Abigail was gone. A small part of her wanted to believe that she hadn’t really been there at all. Afterall, she had spoken with her which was strictly forbidden by Alexander. There weren’t even any footprints as proof that she was there, only the flower in her hand.

“Jacob,” her heart swelled with the love she felt for him, then shattered as she remembered their last conversation.

Back at the house Katie hid the little flower in one of her romance novels. Alexander said they were unrealistic and a waste of time. But he still brough them to her because they made her happy.

“Katie,” Alexander called from the front door.

“Welcome home,” Katie gave him her sweetest smile. “I thought you had gone shopping?”

“I did. I’m back.” Alexander handed her a small white paper bag. “The rest are already in the nursery.”

“Oh,” Katie smiled as she took the bag from Alexander and peeked inside. “It’s a little blue suit! How cute this is, it looks almost like yours! But what if we have a little girl?”

“What!” Alexander’s mood immediately became sour. “It won’t be a girl! It must be a boy!”

The vitriol and venom coming from Alexander shook with Katie an intense fear she had never felt from anyone, much less from him. He had never even raised his voice, much less show anger, towards her.

Alexander must have sensed how his loss of control affected Katie because almost as quickly as it came on it left. Alex softened his face and his voice, but the unease didn’t leave Katie as quickly.

“I’m so sorry, my love. I’ve just felt excitement like I have never felt before and I have always wanted a little boy to call my own. Your poking fun at me that it may not be a boy felt like a gut punch. However, you know I’ll love a little girl just as much as a boy.” Alexander smiled “a little girl with your blue eyes and big bright smile.”

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to poke fun of you or hurt your feelings for wanting a boy.”

Katie tried to relax but her mind flashed back to something her grandmother had said to her many times in the past. When a person accidentally shows you their true authentic self believe them the first time. This advice alone had kept her friends’ circle small and tight. It also kept her from getting her heart broken more than once. But was this an accidently authentic self slip up or had she accidentally poked a sore spot for Alexander? Katie didn’t know, what she did know was that she didn’t want to give up on this beautiful relationship that they had forged.

“Have you thought about names?” Alexander asked, trying to soften the mood after his slip.

“I do like Thomas for a boy. It’s a strong name, but it can also be a soft and confident name.” Katie smiled softly and she sighed, “Tommy.”

“I do like Thomas as well. What about a girl’s name?” Alex hid his disdain for a girl child very well. He had scared her enough for one day.

“I…” Katie hesitated not wanting to upset him again. “I was thinking Caroline, it means strong and free. I just know any girl we raise together will have your strength and will grow up free to be whatever she wants.”

“Yes, beautiful,” Alexander looked up as if he was listening to something in the distance. “My dear I must be off for a little while. There are many boxes up in the nursery. You should make good use of your time and unpack them. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find in them.” Alexander kissed her on the forehead and headed back out the door.

Jacob took a long deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. We’re home and life can return to a normal routine until Katie decides to wake up and join them. Jacob opened up her hospital box and pulled out the mirror. Carefully he placed the mirror on her bedside table. With Katie finally settled at home Jacob turned to his next concern, Tracy. No one had seen, or heard from, her in three days.

“It’s only noon and it’s already been a very long day. But we still need to figure out what happened to Tracy. I’m gonna drive over to Katies house to see if she’s there.” Jacob started to grab his keys.

“Before you drive anywhere let’s check Katie’s find my friend app. If her phone is turned on we should be able to locate her.”

It only took the two 10 minutes to confirm that Tracy was indeed at Katie’s house, and her phone was only at 7%. This meant that she hadn’t bothered to look at her phone for quite a while. Which was concerning.

Within twenty minutes both Jacob and Cheri pulled up to Katie’s family home. The Victorian home was set on 20 acres of land smack in the middle of the city, most of which was relatively unused and overgrown. The back portion of the land was mostly used by the high school kids for chilling after school. Katie’s grandmother had fenced off the area they had used and had the rest cleared of underbrush every few years but never accepted any of the lucrative offers to buy the land.

“Jacob…” Cheri’s voice quivered. He had never seen her show fear of anything or anyone before today. “I…something feels wrong here.”

Jacob locked the doors of his truck then turned to look up at the house. Even though it was in the middle of the day it looked as if every light in the place was turned on. The garage door was half open and Tracy’s car was parked oddly crooked with the driver’s side door open in the driveway.

“Something does feel off. Keep your eyes open.”

As the two entered the house Jacob noticed that at least three days’ worth of mail was sitting on the floor where it had dropped when delivered by the mailman, every window he saw as open, and the AC had been left on at 72 degrees even though it was colder than that outside.

“It’s to quiet.” Cheri shivered as the eerie stale air filled her lungs. The dead silence was abnormally still.

“Tracy,” Jacob locked the door behind him as he called out hoping for a quick reply. “Let’s close these windows before the rain starts. If she’s here she’s probably asleep upstairs.”

The two of them quickly closed the windows in the downstairs room then together entered the kitchen. The kitchen looked normal, no dirty dishes in the sink, no food rotting on the counters, and nothing on the floors. It looked cleaner than when Katie was home. Katie couldn’t be bothered to take the time to put the coffee cup in the dishwasher and had a bad habit of leaving her plastic grocery bags crumbled up on the counter.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Cheri was anxious to get to Tracy.

“Ok,” Jacob was feeling rather uneasy.

The guest bedroom was up the stairs and down the hall. Tracy hadn’t wanted to sleep in Katie’s room, it was too sad. The temperature upstairs wasn’t any warmer than downstairs. The windows in all the rooms were also wide open but neither of them wanted to take the time to stop and close them. At this point the only goal was to locate the missing woman.

At the door the duo hesitated, something was wrong and they both felt it.