Finding the Way Back (38 page)

“We had come home after an evening out. You
had already gone upstairs to change, and I went to your desk in the
study to get the key to the hidden safe so I could put my jewelry
away. As I was closing the top desk drawer, a piece of paper taped
underneath fell out. It was Quentin’s note. I was astonished and
outraged. I went upstairs and confronted you with it in my hand.
You realized I had never gotten over him, and your jealousy
consumed you. We argued out into the hallway, and at the top of the
stairs you pushed me!” Her piercing accusation shook the room like
a thunderbolt. As the realization struck my mom and Aunt Shelly,
the two old women broke down in sobs, the rest of us speechless,
unable to move.

“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to push
you. I had to get that note.” Soren’s face, so filled with rage
before now, seemed to crumble as he began to sob.

Teoline held out her hand to Quentin. It only
took Quentin a moment and he stepped around Soren.

Watching them hold hands and gaze at one
another, Soren seemed to shrink. He dropped his head, a defeated
man. He backed away from my grandmother and Quentin and clenched
his fists. The long-held anger and hate began to rise again. I
could feel the waves of bitterness rolling over me. All the guilt,
despair and frustration he must have felt for all those years
spilled over and threatened to envelop us all.

The crackling sound I had heard before
started again, and I realized it was emanating from Soren. He was
trying to speak through the rage. His voice was deep, dark liquid.
“I did everything for you. I helped you, yet you were never
grateful, you never loved me. Even before he came, I loved you. I
had to watch him walk into your life with all his charm, making you
believe in a fantasy world of dreams. I knew he couldn’t give you a
stable home and life like I could.”

“A stable life? Built on what? Deception?
Guilt? Hatred?” Teoline’s voice was harsh, angry.

Soren’s image became that of a bitter old
man. “I always loved you. I just wanted you to love me too.” He
gasped as his last words came out in a whisper. “I swear I never
wanted to hurt you.”

Her anger slowly faded as she saw his pain,
the hard life he had known, the part she had played in his
unhappiness. “I’m sorry I never loved you, Soren. I should never
have married you and made you think there would be anything more
than companionship between us. Look what our mistakes have brought
us.”

We watched spellbound as Quentin leaned close
to Teoline and whispered in her ear. Her face softened and she
nodded. “Let’s put an end to the hatred and the anger. I,” she
began then looked at Quentin one last time questioningly, who
nodded. “We forgive you,” she amended softly. “Can you forgive me?”
she asked Soren.

Soren looked up, surprised. Hardly able to
believe it, he felt the truth of their forgiveness. “Of course,” he
said simply. A brightness rose from within Soren, building into a
brilliant white light that filled the room, blinding us with an
intensity that made us squeeze our eyes shut and turn our heads.
There was a gust of wind that passed through the room, and from
behind my shut eyelids I could sense that the light had
disappeared. I opened my eyes slowly and saw that he was gone.

Breaking the silence, Quentin spoke. “I
didn’t mean to scare you, Laney. I feared that he wanted to kill
you, but it was difficult to get the words out when I saw you. It
wasn’t until just now when I saw Teoline again and knew she still
loved me, that Soren’s hold over me was lifted.” Teoline and
Quentin looked at Connie, Aunt Shelly, my mother, and me as their
images began to fade, and I knew that their energy was waning. “I
love you all,” Teoline said. Then she and Quentin vanished as
well.

Chapter
Forty

We bowed our heads as the casket was lowered
into the ground, laying to rest the body of my true grandfather I
had never known. I tried to balance on the front of my feet as my
black pumps sank into the damp, dark earth at the cemetery. I was
wearing my sleeveless black dress and a cool breeze gave me a
slight chill. Emmett placed a warm, steadying arm around my
shoulders as I wiped away the stray tears from my cheeks, tears
shed for lost chances and broken dreams.

I turned to give my mother a hug and smiled
at my aunt and cousin standing just behind us. We were united in a
new sense of family. There were a surprising number of people
attending the service. A few were reporters hot on the trail of a
morbid story that could bring titillation to a small town, but most
were new family members and friends we’d gained in our search for
Quentin’s history. While difficult for his family to learn of his
unfortunate demise, it provided a sense of closure that they
finally knew the truth and could lay him to rest, and they welcomed
my mom and me, Aunt Shelly and Connie, as new members of their
family. It was sad that Quentin’s parents had passed without
knowing what had happened to him, but I felt confident that
wherever they were now, they knew and were at peace.

There were still matters to be settled with
Saundra. After Teoline, Quentin and Soren all vanished from the
basement, Saundra awoke to find herself disarmed and guarded by a
very angry Dean and Glen. A call to the police prompted a quick
response from Officer Tina Swanson and her partner, Officer Burns.
They wrote up a report about the decomposed body of Quentin which
we found in the fruit cellar, and took Saundra away in handcuffs.
We were advised to vacate the house for a few days until forensic
specialists could perform a complete investigation, but Connie and
I decided to stay with our mothers for a while longer after the
traumatic experience we had just had in the house. We speculated
whether there really was a treasure somewhere in the old house but
our mothers insisted they didn’t know anything about it. After
going through Soren’s finances, they were surprised that there
wasn’t more money in the estate but simply assumed he had frittered
away the cash while accumulating his assorted collections. One
thing was certain—we intended to search every last box, cubby hole
and crawl space to make sure we didn’t miss a thing.

Following the service, Emmett offered to
drive me to the wake so we walked to his truck and climbed in. I
closed my eyes and felt him take my hand.

“How you doing? Holding up okay?” he
asked.

“I’m fine, not great, but fine,” I answered.
“Thanks for being here, you’ve been a great friend. I know funerals
aren’t the most fun things to go to, but you look fabulous in a
suit.”

Emmett laughed. “I wouldn’t have missed it.
I’d like to think I’m a little more than a friend.”

I opened my eyes to find Emmett leaning in to
kiss me, his lips soft and warm. I felt a tingling like electricity
flow from the top of my head, down my spine, and all the way to my
feet. When he moved away I felt breathless. I looked into his eyes
and saw the promise of a future there.

“While I’m feeling very warm right now, I’m
sure they’ll have the air conditioning on full blast at the wake.
If you don’t mind I’d like to get my black sweater that was left at
the house.” It was a small town, we had plenty of time.

Emmett parked in front of the house and I
quickly unlocked the front door and ran up the stairs to the master
bedroom. I found the sweater I was looking for and headed back down
the hall. Suddenly, I heard music.

At first I thought it was coming from the car
outside. Then I realized it was inside the house. Slow and sweet,
it drifted up the stairs. I stopped at the top of the stairs and it
was deja vu. It was
the song
.

I went down the steps and the music got
louder. I reached the bottom and stopped dead in my tracks. In the
center of the living room were my grandmother and Quentin, dancing
to
We’ll Meet Again
. The handsome young man and the bright
young woman were bathed in soft light. Her head rested on his
shoulder and he had a look of wistfulness on his face. I just
stared.

“Teoline,” I whispered, unable to believe she
was there. “It’s wonderful to see you, but you two can move on, you
don’t need to stay anymore. You can be at peace.”

“Oh, Darlin,’” she said. “We’ve just found
one another. We’re not going anywhere.”

THE END

About the Author

Jill Bisker
lives in Stillwater, MN with her husband,
son, and a calico cat named Senora. She believes in empowering
women to be strong enough to protect themselves, while still soft
enough to be loving and compassionate. Her work includes paranormal
mystery and traditional high fantasy, as well as contemporary and
humorous fantasy and an everyday living blog. Her novella Within
Reach is her first publication with Melange. Once a dedicated stay
at home Mom, Jill now writes full-time.

www.jillbisker.com

https://www.facebook.com/authorjillbisker

http://www.unaccompaniedjaunt.blogspot.com

Other Works by the author available
at Melange Books, LLC

Within Reach

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