Psychic Dreams: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Glimmer Lake Book 3) Page 7

  The loft took up half the space of the barn and had clearly been used for storage too. Only this storage was more of the rustic kind. There were a few old tools and three musty bales of straw. The edge of the loft was railed off, with an opening for a pulley system to bring things up.

  “Wow.” Val looked around. “This is in pretty good shape. I don’t remember ever coming up here, do you?”

  “There were always gross kids who came up here to have sex while everyone else was drinking,” Monica said. “I steered clear.”

  Val snorted. “I wonder how many Glimmer Lake children have been conceived in this loft.”

  “I have no idea, and I don’t want to know. I got knocked up like a respectable teenager,” she said, “in the back of Gil’s pickup truck.”

  That made Val laugh. Monica just shook her head.

  “You shame our family. You shame yourself.” She still heard her mother’s voice like it was yesterday. “You are not my daughter.”

  And from that day forward, she really hadn’t been. Gil and Monica had moved in with his Uncle Eddie, and for years Monica didn’t even speak to her parents. Not when Jake was born, not when Sylvia came. The parents who’d called her their princess had cut her off when she “embarrassed them” in front of their conservative Catholic friends. Her dad had passed away when Sylvia was a baby, and Monica cried in the back of the church with only Gil holding her hand.

  Her mother wrote her a letter once after seeing Gil’s picture in the paper at a ceremony. Monica was pregnant with twins, had two active preschoolers, and she didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with her mother’s guilt.

  Twenty-some years later, they were still estranged. Monica sent her mother a card on her birthday and Mother’s Day. She saw her at church every week. Her younger sister kept her apprised of major family news, but for the most part, her friends and Gil’s relatives were her family now.

  “Someone was living here.”

  Val’s voice snapped Monica out of her musing. “What?”

  “Look at this. These blankets look new.” Val bent down and pointed to a mound of hay that had been covered with blankets to form a simple bed. “They’re messed up a little, but they’re new. You can still see the fold marks. And there’s a pillow.”

  Monica cocked her head. “I’ve seen that kind of blanket before. Have you? What is this reminding me of?”

  “I don’t know.” Val flipped a corner up to look at a tag. “Seems like a pretty standard plaid camping blanket to me. They sell them at the sporting goods store, at the market… I don’t think we’re going to be able to identify who bought it.”

  Monica crouched next to her. “Want to see what you get off them?”

  Val took a breath and touched the blanket with her bare hand. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “It’s all messed up. I’m seeing things through their eyes.”

  “Man or woman?”

  “Woman? I think?” Val shook her head. “I can’t be sure. The energy feels female.”

  “What else?”

  “I’m just getting feelings. Restlessness. Confusion. She… she doesn’t know how she got here.” Val pulled her hand away. “It’s like she woke up here and didn’t know why.”

  “Okay, that’s weird. You couldn’t tell who it was?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s a woman, but no.”

  Monica looked around the loft. “Okay, so we have the memories of a woman who wakes up in this place and doesn’t know why. Was she drugged? Was she a victim of something?”

  “There’s no sign of struggle or fighting.” Val stood and walked across the loft. “If anything, this place almost looks like it was cleaned up. Did you notice that? The floor…”

  Monica spotted an old brush and dustpan in a corner. “Someone swept the floorboards.” She walked to the straw bales and looked at the marks near her feet. “These were pushed back along the wall. They used to be over there.” She spotted dark marks on the floorboards near the railing.

  “So someone came up here, cleaned up the space, and brought a woman here who didn’t know what was going on?” Val shook her head. “Nothing about that makes sense.”

  Monica nodded toward the blankets. “Do you get just one person off the blankets? What about the pillow? Maybe we’re talking about two completely different people here. One who cleaned up and the other who woke up confused?”

  Val knelt next to the bed and touched the pillow, only to yelp and fall back.

  “What?” Monica rushed over to her. “What did you see?”

  Val’s face was completely white. “Fire. I touched the pillow and all I saw was fire.”

  The last thing Monica felt like doing that night was going on a date with West, but she’d made a commitment when the man called the day before, and she wasn’t going to back out now.

  Even though she wanted to. She really, really wanted to.

  “I look ridiculous.” She straightened her skirt in the mirror. “The man rides motorcycles. He doesn’t look like he goes dancing.”

  “You look sexy as hell,” Val said. “You better wear this dress.”

  “If you reach for that jumpsuit again, I’m gonna slap your hand.” Robin snatched the striped jumpsuit from the end of the bed and walked it to the closet. “Wear the sexy dress!”

  Val and Robin had convinced her to wear one of the wrap dresses she normally only wore when she and Gil used to go salsa dancing. It wasn’t very short—it came to just above her knees—but the cinched waist and plunging neckline made Monica feel incredibly exposed.

  She turned to face her two best friends. “Don’t you think jeans and a nice shirt would be better?”

  Val looked up from Monica’s shoes. She was still debating between a heel and an open-toed wedge. “I mean, do you want him to swallow his tongue or not?”

  “Ew.” She made a face. “I don’t want him to do anything that’s going to mean an emergency call.”

  “Metaphorically,” Val said. “You have to wear this; you look amazing and sexy and ready for fun. Isn’t that the mood you’re going for?”

  “I guess?” The mood Monica was actually feeling was “dear God, how do I get out of this, it was a horrible mistake.”

  “You do look amazing,” Robin said. “But you should also feel comfortable. This is your first first date in a long time. Why do you feel nervous in this? You wore this stuff all the time when you went out with Gil.”

  “I know. Because I was out with Gil.” How could she explain? “Before, if I wore this, if someone hit on me, there was a giant dude standing next to me with really big muscles. Now I’m meeting a dude with muscles who may or may not hit on me and… I don’t know, it’s just not the same.”

  “But you want the big dude with muscles to hit on you,” Val said. “Which is not going to be a problem.”

  Robin muttered, “I have a feeling she could wear a trash bag and West would make a pass.” She shrugged. “Just saying.”

  “You’re not wrong.” Val took Monica by the shoulders and turned her around. “Wear this. You look gorgeous. You have an incredible figure and boobs that many people pay lots of money to have.”

  “I envy your boobs,” Robin said. “Always have.”

  “We all envy your boobs,” Val continued. “And you still have those boobs after nursing four kids. Remember when I had boobs? That’s right, it’s only a faint memory because they disappeared after the second kid. But yours stuck around! And they’re not even saggy, Monica. They’re not even saggy. You’re practically disrespecting your girls if you don’t show them off a little.”

  “Your boobs should get a medal or something.” Robin stood straight and saluted. “Well done, ladies.”

  Val nodded. “Well done indeed. Monica should let you out to play.”

  Monica shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “How are you both so strange? It’s getting worse with age. Stop talking to my tits, or I’m going to call your mothers.”

  “Are you going
to wear the sexy dress?” Val asked.

  “Fine! Yes. I’ll wear the sexy dress.” Monica kicked off the heels and grabbed the open-toe wedges. If she had to feel exposed, at least her feet would be comfortable. Plus she wasn’t thirty-five anymore and her ankles would be screaming if she wore heels for more than an hour. “But I am not letting my boobs out to play. It is a first date.”

  Chapter 10

  Monica stared across the table at West, who watched her with amusement on his handsome, rugged face.

  “You don’t do this much, do you?”

  They were sitting at a booth at a cozy brewpub in Bridger City that Monica had been to before. Sam and Caleb had taken her there for lunch, but she’d never experienced the evening crowd.

  She glanced around, then down at her ringless hands. “I don’t do this. Dating, I mean. At all. Or I haven’t done this in a while.”

  West raised an eyebrow. “How long?”

  “Since my last first date?”

  He nodded. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black button-down shirt open at the neck. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing a slew of colorful tattoos.

  “Um…” She laughed a little. “My last first date was about thirty-one years ago.”

  West threw his head back and laughed. “Damn.”

  “Yeah.” His laughter set her at ease. It wasn’t anything close to mocking. “So there’s that.”

  “Why now?”

  Because I’m avoiding a sex dream about a random man I hardly know and you were an easy distraction. “Gil’s been gone for about four years, and everyone tells me that I should at least try dating again.”

  “And you thought of me?”

  She felt her cheeks warm. “I remember you from last year when we were looking for Val’s ex, and… you seemed cool. Val said you’re a fun guy and that you might be interested, so…”

  “I was.” His eyes fell to her cleavage before returning to her face. “I am. You’re a very beautiful woman, Monica.”

  “Thank you. And you’re very handsome.”

  “You’re sweet.” His smile turned wry. “Not too sure I’ve dated the sweet kind much, but I’m starting to see the appeal.”

  “Is that patronizing?”

  “No. Just honest. I don’t usually attract the professional type.”

  “Hmmm.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “What’s that about?”

  “I think you attract the professional type—because you’re very attractive—but they probably wouldn’t ask you out. Or ask to be set up with you.”

  He leaned forward and put both elbows on the table. “Is it the tattoos?”

  She waved her hand. “It’s the whole package.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “I assure you, there’s nothing wrong with the package.”

  Monica almost snorted her beer. “Good to know.” She bit her lip to smother a laugh. “I just meant you have the dangerous-biker vibe. If you weren’t a friend of Val’s, I would have been intimidated.”

  “Interesting. But I am a friend of Val’s…”

  “And she says you’re a good guy.”

  “Oh, I am.” West smiled again. “I’m very good.”

  Monica felt her cheeks heat again. “Wow.”

  “I’m just saying, depending on how hungry you are, we can skip dinner and head back to my place.”

  She blinked. “I don’t even know how to answer that.”

  “I would encourage you to answer ‘Yes, West, let’s get out of here.’”

  “Do I look—?”

  “You look…” He leaned over and let his eyes graze Monica from her shoes to her hips and all the way up. “You look like a smart, sexy, hell of a woman.” His voice dropped. “Who probably hasn’t been… appreciated in a few years.”

  “West, I—”

  “Now, if you want to hang out, flirt a little, get to know me better so you feel more comfortable, that’s just fine.” His blue eyes gleamed. “You’re cute as hell and I have a feeling you’re funny too. But if you’re looking for something else, need to stretch your back a little… I’m game for that too. Just say the word.”

  Monica was speechless. And turned on. And… way out of her depth. “You’re very direct.”

  His crooked smile appeared again. “Too old to play games, sweetheart. And I have a feeling you like the direct approach.”

  “I don’t mind it. But I also don’t think I’m quite ready for… that.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  They were both silent for a while as the waiter set down their beers and a bowl of tortilla chips.

  “Too direct?” West asked.

  “No.” Monica sipped her beer. “No, not too direct. You’re not wrong. I miss that part of being married; I miss sex. I can’t lie.”

  “But…”

  She laughed. “First date in thirty-one years, West. I’m still working with training wheels, okay?”

  He chuckled. “I get that.”

  “Val said you were divorced, but it’s been a few years, right? I have a feeling you jumped back on the dating horse a little faster than I did.”

  “Two days after we split.”

  Monica’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  “I was faithful to my woman,” West said. “When I was married, she was it for me. Not to say that there weren’t plenty of temptations, but I didn’t even look. That’s not me. After I found out she cheated with that pansy-ass ex of Val’s?” He scowled. “I wasn’t gonna give her the satisfaction of coming back to anything but a well-fucked man.”

  Monica blinked. “Well, that’s definitely one approach.”

  He shrugged. “We all cope in different ways.”

  “I just feel…” She sighed. “Weird. I never expected to be here again, you know? I’m not saying that Gil and I were perfect, but we were good.”

  West nodded. “I thought my ex and I were good too. I know what you mean. Believe it or not, I was happy feeling settled. I roamed for a lot of years.”

  “And Gil was always it for me, from high school. I figured I might be a widow one day, but I’d be too old to want to have another man, you know?” She laughed. “But I don’t feel old.”

  West smiled. “You’re not. You’re a grown woman, and you know what you want in life. That’s sexy as hell. I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to go out with anyone.”

  “People tried to set me up but…” She shrugged. “I didn’t feel ready.”

  “So what changed?”

  “Um…” I’m avoiding another man. Wow, that sounded bad. “I just felt like it was time. I had to at least try. And like I said, you seem fun.”

  “Are you having fun?” West took a drink of beer and watched her over the rim of his glass. “Or did I scare you off?”

  Monica smiled. “I’m having fun. It feels good to… have someone pay attention to me again.”

  “Pay attention?” He glanced at her cleavage again. “Trust me, coming to attention isn’t ever going to be a problem with a woman like you.”

  Her cheeks warmed again. “It just comes automatically, doesn’t it?”

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  “I don’t think so?”

  He smiled. “Good.”

  Monica was on a high the next day from flirting with West. She hadn’t had a single disturbing dream the night before. She felt sexy, desirable, younger somehow. She didn’t feel like a mom of four grown children; she felt… free.

  She and West had eaten dinner at the brewpub; then they’d gone to one of the bars West usually frequented. Monica had insisted and they’d had fun. It was a total dive, but the people were friendly, the beer was cold, and they’d played pool until midnight.

  By the time Monica was ready to drive home, she felt like a new woman. She’d given West a kiss on the cheek, and he’d squeezed her hip a little.

  He also restated his offer for her to call him if she needed to “stretch her back,” but Mo
nica wasn’t really sure he was her speed.

  “You seem happy.” Kara brought Monica a cup of coffee and a folder. “I included the housekeeping report from last month. I think the bonus system you have going will be a big success. The rooms are getting really high customer-satisfaction ratings, and the staff seems happier too.”

  “Sweet.” She sipped her caffe latte and looked over the report.

  Kara smothered a yawn.

  Monica looked up, surprised. “Late night?”

  The young woman laughed a little. “I wish it was for a fun reason. I heard you had a night out.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Eve and Jake were talking about your date.”

  “Seriously?” She shook her head. “Why is my son discussing that?”

  “It was really sweet actually! He was happy for you. Excited even.”

  “That kid.” Monica smiled. “He and his sister have been encouraging me to get out there. The younger two are the harder sell.”

  “I still can’t believe you have four kids in their twenties.” Kara shook her head. “You do not look half old enough to have grown kids. It’s almost like you’re Jake’s older sister or something.”

  “Oh, make no mistake. I changed that boy’s diapers.”

  Kara covered her face and her shoulders shook. “I’m going to try to rid myself of that mental image.”

  “He runs around without a shirt on often enough that I don’t think you’ll get stuck on the diapers thing.”

  Kara’s cheeks went pink. “Yeah, he does like his tan.”

  Monica rolled her eyes. “He likes showing off.” She rose and put the report to the side. “Don’t let him fool you. His tan…” She took another drink of coffee. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “Two parties checking in around four, and Chief Peralta will be here at eleven with an updated report and recommendations.”

  Monica nearly choked on her coffee. “Chief Peralta?”

  “Yes. You didn’t get my note?”

  She frowned. “When… Oh shit. It’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It’s been a week, so…”

  “Right.” Great. Not even a day to bask in the boost of self-confidence going out with West gave her before she had to deal with Chief Sexy-Eyes again. “Text me when he gets here, okay?”