Along Came A Prince (32 page)

“Are you sure you
two only made omelets?” Ryan asked.

“Why don’t you all
go out on the patio? Clay has drinks ready, and I’ll get the hors d’oeuvres,”
Stacia suggested, hoping to get away without answering Ryan’s question. She
suddenly remembered she was getting to be a master at changing the subject when
she didn’t want to admit something or answer a question. Moments later, she
served the tray of appetizers amid the “delicious” remarks of her guests. They
were equally pleased with dinner.

“How are the
wedding plans coming?” Clay inquired after they’d finished eating.

 “Everything is
all set to go. We only have five days left, you know,” Josie said. “We’re
thrilled you’re coming to our wedding, Clay.”

“Yeah,” Ryan joked.
“She doesn’t have much time left to back out. It won’t be long, and it’ll be
too late.”

Josie went over to
him and sat on his lap. “What, and let someone else reel in my prize catch? I
don’t think so.” She kissed him and gave him a hug.

“When are Mom and
Dad coming?”

“Two days before
the wedding,” Ryan said. “I figured we’d all drive up to Oregon the next day. I’ve
made reservations near Cape Foulweather.”

“And the
cake...and the reception? The flowers? How about all that?” Stacia felt a
little guilty. She’d planned on helping Josie, and first she’d run off to
Vegas, and now she was entertaining Clay.

“My mom’s best
friend is making the cake. She has a bakery, and they specialize in wedding
cakes,” Josie said. “We found a local caterer who’ll set up tables on the cliff
and serve us our meal by candlelight and torches. It’ll be dark then, because
we want to be married as the sun sets in the ocean. The flowers will be done
locally, and the photographer will also be from the same area.

Stacia let out a
sigh. “Sounds like you have everything planned. I was feeling guilty about not
helping you, but you did fantastic without me.”

“What about your
honeymoon? Where are you going?” Clay asked.

“We plan to stay
around the Oregon area, camping and sightseeing,” Ryan said.

“Would you like to
spend your honeymoon at my home at SwissDen for a week or two, or however long
you can stay?”

“A honeymoon in
paradise!” Josie exclaimed. “There’s no question that we’d love it! After
hearing Stace’s description of your home, it couldn’t be more perfect.”

“I’ve already
called my mother and she’s expecting you. I thought I’d make the plane
reservations for a week after the wedding. I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I’ll
be there. But then, I guess you won’t miss me on your honeymoon. My mother will
see to it you have everything you want or need.”

“His mother is the
ultimate welcoming committee and also the most gracious hostess you’ll ever
find,” Stacia said.

“Are you sure you
want us to go to SwissDen?” Josie asked.

“I would enjoy
sharing my home with you,” Clay said simply, “and so would my parents.”

“I don’t know what
to say, except thank you,” Ryan said.

“That goes for me
too,” Josie added.

“Then it’s
settled,” Clay said. “I’ll see that the plane is reserved tomorrow.”

♥♥

“Josie, I think
Clay might need your help,” Stacia said when they were relaxing on the patio
after they’d finished dinner. “He started having dreams where he was writing in
a book while he was in terrible pain. Headache. Stomach cramps. Heart pain. When
he first told me about it, I thought it sounded like Mark Bennett toward the
end of his life when he was writing in his journal.”

“The end of his
life? You mean the actor from
London Affair
, right?” Clay inquired. “Why
would he have anything to do with my dream?”

“We’ll get to that
in a moment, Clay, when Josie’s heard the whole story.” Stacia turned back toward
Josie. “After you told him to meditate to find out what was going on inside
him, and this dream occurred, he went to Sedona. He learned to meditate there.”

“Good work, Clay,”
Josie was all smiles. “Are you still meditating?”

“Yes.”

 “So what do you
think, Josie?” Stacia asked.

Her smiles
disappeared and she became serious. “I think it’s possible Clay was Mark
Bennett in his last lifetime. The date of Mark’s death and Clay’s birth would
concur with this, if you want to check it out. The dream and what you know
about Mark’s last days certainly suggest it.”

“I knew it sounded
like Mark,” Stacia admitted. “But, Josie, do you know of any way we can prove
this?”

“You always want
proof, when in reality most things cannot be proven. Even scientists can only
make a hypothesis. We all accept much of what they say without tangible proof,”
Josie said.

“Isn’t proof a
normal thing to want?”

“For you, Stacia,
I’d have to say yes. But we might not be able to prove it. And what about you?
What about your cabin scene with Mark?”

“You mean about
you thinking I could have been Audra in my last lifetime?” Stacia asked, then
added with a resigned tone clinging to her voice, “And now you believe Clay was
Mark.” She stood up and began to walk around the patio. “It’s hard to consume
all this. It’s one thing to read about reincarnation, or discuss it like we do,
but it’s another when you’re told it could be you. It might be easy to go along
with my having a past life, but now you’re saying someone I know this lifetime
was my lover, and possibly my husband, in my last lifetime. For some reason,
the impact of having the two of us standing here involved together in a past lifetime,
and the reality of it all makes it difficult to comprehend...and digest.” She
placed her arms on the balcony railing and leaned over to stare at the
twinkling lights of Hollywood in the valley below, then she stared toward the
heavens at the twinkling stars far above her. How insignificant she felt stuck
in the middle of the surrounding blackness lit up by stars and the man-made
brightness beneath her.

“What are you two
talking about?” Clay asked.

“Yeah, I’d like to
know too,” Ryan said.

“Stacia,” Josie
began, “has had recurring dreams for some time now, except it isn’t one, it’s
three. In one dream she had just eloped with Mark and returned to their cabin.”
Josie looked at Clay. Have you had any more dreams?” she asked.

“More like a
flashback or a déjà vu feeling. I saw a woman sitting on a high stool singing
in some smoky nightclub during the war. I don’t know which one. There were
soldiers in the room. And for some reason, I saw a wishing well.”

“Wow,” Josie said.

“Wow,” Stacia
repeated.

“Wow, what?” Clay
and Ryan said together.

“Stacia’s had the
same experience, except she was regressed and heard a song. We’ve discussed the
possibility she was the woman in the scenario,” Josie explained.

Clay shrugged. “Well,
that one’s easy. We must have both gotten the idea from
London Affair
,
or perhaps some other movie we both saw.”

“I don’t want to
explore this any further, Josie,” Stacia declared.

“You forget you
started exploring the psychic world because you couldn’t come to terms with
certain things in your life,” Josie said.

“But it doesn’t
make any sense. Normal people don’t have dreams like this. And why would both
of us have, more or less, the same dreams? I don’t understand,” Stacia
persisted, trying to apply logic to what seemed to her to be illogical.

“You’re wrong,”
Josie contradicted. “Your so-called
normal
people do have dreams like
you do. A lot of people ignore them, or blame them on things that have recently
happened to them, or even something they ate. But it’s possible for everyone,
although I suppose there’s an exception to that, to have psychic tendencies. It’s
up to each individual to develop them. You both had the same dreams because for
one, you’re beginning a relationship together and are very close, but mostly
you’ve opened your minds to receive what’s stored there, and that’s the big
difference. You’ve both seen the movie
London Affair
that Mark and Audra
were in. This may have heightened some of your awareness to each other and the
part you played in the other’s past life. You see, Stacia, you’re trying to
apply logic to what your mind has convinced you is normal, and yet there are
logical explanations for things that happen in the psychic world.”

“So what do we
do?” Stacia questioned.

“I have some free
time tomorrow,” Josie said. “And I’ll be glad to try regressing both of you at
the same time, although I haven’t tried that before. We can experiment and see
what happens. Remember when you’re in the spirit world, you’re not trapped
there. You can always come back, or else if your mind prefers another route,
you’ll simply fall asleep, so there’s never any need to be afraid of trying new
things.”

“How do you feel
about that, Clay?” Stacia asked.

“I’m willing, if
you are.”

“Great,” Josie
said. “I’ll be over about one then. If you change your mind, let me know.”

“We’ll be
waiting,” Stacia promised. She looked over at Clay, wondering if she did know
him in a former life. And if she had, what affect would it have on this
lifetime?

Stacia was barely
up when the phone started ringing the next morning. She let the machine answer,
but when she heard Ryan’s voice, she picked it up.

“Something
terrible happened, Stace,” he said.

Her heart began to
pound as her mind digested his words. “What, Ryan? Are you okay? Is Josie? How
about mom and dad?” She couldn’t get her words out fast enough and felt she was
tripping over them.

“We’re all fine. I’m
sorry I scared you, but Jeb was in a car accident late last night. He has a
broken leg and other injuries. The car rolled over, and he got pinned in there.
The Jaws of Life had to get him out.”

“He’ll be okay,
right?”

“In a while, yes. But
he can’t be in the wedding.”

“As long as he’s
all right, that’s the main thing.”

“I feel the same
way. When Mom called me this morning, she assured me he’d be like new in a
couple months. What I wanted to know was if Clay would mind being my best man.”

“Why don’t you ask
him?” She handed the phone to Clay. “Here.”

A few moments
later she heard his answer. “I’d like that, Ryan. Thanks for asking me.”

“So we’ll be
sharing standing up for the bride and groom again,” he related to Stacia when
he set the phone down. “They say everything comes in threes. Do you suppose
it’ll be our turn to marry next?”

“Is that question
part of the
starting over
phase?”

“You know we’re
way past that,” Clay said.

“It didn’t last
long, did it?”

“I guess you can
persuade me to do most anything,” he teased.

“
I
persuaded
you?
”

“If you didn’t
look so sexy all the time, I could resist you. How could any guy live up to his
hands-off policy when he’s around you?”

“Well, you may not
have to worry about it much longer. We have a problem.”

“Are you kicking
me out?” 

“Only temporarily,
while my parents are here. I’m sure they’re assuming they can stay in my guest
room. Although I haven’t asked Ryan yet, I thought with the wedding and
everything, they’d probably not want to stay at Ryan and Josie’s.”

“I could always
stay in your bedroom.”

“And where would I
stay?” she asked in the same playful tone. “My father would most likely take a
shotgun to you, like you said before, if he caught you in my bedroom.”

Clay laughed. “I
could be very quiet.”

“How about
invisible? Could you be that?”

“All right, you
win. I’ll go to a hotel.”

“Let’s not talk
about it too much until we find out where my parents are staying. I only wanted
you to know they might stay here.”

“Seriously,
Stacia, am I wearing out my welcome? I don’t want to do that.”

His face was so
somber, she had to smile. “I love sharing my time with you. Besides, if you
left, who would make omelets with me?”

“Remember one
thing. What we’ve shared up to this time is only the beginning.”

If this is only
the beginning,
she thought,
I can’t wait until we get to the middle. And
I hope it never ends.

♥♥

“As I told you, I
haven’t tried to regress two people going to the same lifetime before,” Josie
said the next afternoon. “This meditation will be a little different than
before. I’m going to guide you into the same time period by my suggestions
instead of letting you go where your subconscious wants to take you.” Josie lit
the candle and turned on the meditation music.

“Let’s sit closer
together, and we’ll all join hands. By being joined together in one circle, our
energies will flow between us, and you’ll be free to give or take whatever
energy you need from our small group at any time. Also, by holding hands, you
two will focus on being together, and that will link you to your past lives. Are
you ready?”

Stacia and Clay
both nodded.

“Close your eyes
and relax,” Josie directed.

Stacia took one last
peek at Clay before she closed her eyes.
Here we go,
she thought.
I
hope it works...or do I?

“I’m going to
start at our usual beginning, Stacia, so Clay can see the technique we use.” Josie
guided them to their favorite places, making sure all three of them were bathed
in a safety tent of white light. Then they proceeded through the tunnel leading
to past lives.

“You have just
emerged from the tunnel. Now look around and choose a path. See yourselves
walking together holding hands. You’re in love and happy to be with each other.
In the distance you see mountains, snow, sunshine and wildflowers. You want to
travel there together. You walk toward this beautiful scene feeling loved and
safe. No one can hurt you. Now you see a cabin. Walk toward the door together,
put your hands on the door knob, and open it slowly. What do you see?” Josie
stopped talking.

She had arrived
back at the cabin with Mark after their marriage in Nevada. As before, he
carried her over the threshold into their rustic home just as he did in her other
dream. She relived her entire cabin dream, as it had happened in her
subconscious.

But something new
had been added…

“I have a wedding
present for you. It’s right here.” She dug in her bag and handed him a small
gift-wrapped package.

Mark opened it and
pulled out a tiny pink sleeper. “We’re having a baby...” he exclaimed, and gathered
her into his arms and began to kiss her.

“It’s time to
leave the lifetime you’re in and return to this one.” Josie’s voice entered
Stacia’s subconscious. “Come back slowly, knowing you can visit there anytime
you want. Close the cabin door and walk down the path to the tunnel.” Josie
continued guiding them back to the present. “When you’re ready, open your eyes.”

Stacia forced
herself to open her eyes. She didn’t want to come back. She wanted to stay in
that moment of perfect happiness and joy with Mark and Audra. In love. Married
and pregnant with their child. A chill ran through her. She now understood why
Mark had chosen a reclusive death. He’d had to not only give up his soulmate to
a torturous death, but also his unborn child.

“Let’s start with
you, Clay. Were you able to regress?” Josie asked.

“I went into the
cabin with a woman as you suggested. I carried her inside. I kissed her, and
went to get a bottle of champagne. With the bottle in my hand, I walked over to
the fireplace where she was standing. I saw the fire burning, warming the room
with its red and golden glow. Instantly, the room disappeared, and I saw bombs
falling and death all around me. I needed to get to the wishing well to protect
the woman I loved. Then you called us back.”

Stacia was
intrigued. How could this happen that both of them could get such vivid images
from a supposed same past life? And why did a war always seem to be involved?
London
Affair
must have been a huge part of their lives, which seemed perfectly
logical to her, because they had to have spent months filming it and living
their parts.

“Stacia,” she
heard Josie say. “It’s your turn.”

“I went to the
cabin and Mark carried me over the threshold. I saw your fireplace, Clay, and
your bottle of champagne. Everything happened as I’d dreamed it before.
Except…”

“Except what,
Stacia? Go on.”

“Audra was
pregnant,” she blurted out. Shivers feather-tickled her arms and ran the gamut of
her body at the mention of their baby.

“Really?” Josie
asked.

 “Amazing,” Clay
exclaimed.

“No wonder Mark
was devastated and chose to die as he did. He lost a wife and a child.” Stacia
wanted to get lost in her tears over the couple’s heartbreaking lives. She
didn’t want to think about anything that had happened. She let the dam break
and tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Clay moved over by
Stacia from his place in their circle and held her close. He placed her head
against his chest and stroked her hair gently while saying, “It’s all over. We
don’t ever have to go back again. It’s okay.”

“We did it though,”
Josie said. “Together we got you both into the same lifetime, even if it was
only for a short time. The scenes mesh perfectly. I’m convinced you two are
Audra and Mark reincarnated.”

Stacia raised her
head from Mark’s check and the tears stopped. She swiped at her nose and used
her fingers to dry the tears from her face. “Or we could…have tapped…” She
sniffed and was determined to finish her thought. “…into two other people’s…
lifetimes who had nothing…to do with us.”   

“Honestly, Stacia,
you’re such a skeptic,” Josie said. “You always want all this proof.” “Well,”
Clay declared. “Fact or fiction, it is fascinating.”

♥♥

Stacia had made
plans to take a limo to the airport the next afternoon to pick up her parents. Clay
and she would wait in it while Josie and Ryan went into the airport and met the
plane.

“This is one of
those times when I wish things could be like they were before I became Stacia
Saunders,
the
actress
. I wouldn’t have to hide out like this
while my brother gets to welcome my parents. I could be me again – like I was
at home,” she said as they waited for her family to come to the limo.

“Would you give it
all up to be plain Stacia Saunders with no tags on the end of your name?” Clay
asked.

“That’s a hard
question to answer. My career has been very good to me and for me. It allows me
the luxury of doing what I want most of the time.” She smiled at him. “Fame and
fortune isn’t really all that bad, only sometimes when the paparazzi descend on
you like a pack of hungry wolves. For instance, see over there at the horde of
reporters and cameramen gathered around that limo. I can’t see who it is, but
most of the time you have to do something sensational to get so much attention,
although most celebrities come equipped with built-in radar for attracting the
media and their fans no matter where they go. I’ll do almost anything not to
attract attention to myself.” Stacia glanced out the window. “Here are my
parents now.”

The door opened
and her family began to get into the limo. She grabbed her mother and hugged
her tight. “Oh, mom, it’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“It’s good to see
you too, honey.”

Next she went
after her dad, and he got an equal embrace. “Mom and Dad, I want you to meet
Clay.” She turned toward him. “Clay, these are my parents.”

“I’m pleased to
meet you both. He extended his hand to one, then the other.

“Did you have a
good flight?” Stacia asked. “How’s everything back in Wisconsin? How’s Jeb?”

“Slow down, baby,
and breathe,” her father said.

One by one, her
questions were answered and so were the rest of the barrage of inquiries she
asked them. Soon they were pulling up in front of Ryan and Josie’s house. The
driver got her parents’ luggage out and set it on the sidewalk.

“Are you staying
here?” Stacia asked, her disappointment showing in her voice.

“Yes, dear,” her
mother replied. “You already have a houseguest, and there’s plenty of room
here.”

“But, I thought –”

“We’ll see you
tonight for dinner, baby,” her father said as he climbed out of the limo.

Josie was the last
one to get out of the car.

“You arranged
this, didn’t you?” Stacia whispered.

Josie nodded and
left too.

Clay and she were
alone again. “Let me see, where were we? Ah, yes, I remember,” he said as he
took her in his arms once more.

♥♥

Josie and Ryan’s
wedding day arrived, and as the sun touched the ocean, high on a cliff, the
bride and groom said their “I do’s.” Beneath them, a whale frolicked in the shimmering
Pacific waters.
Your wish for a perfect wedding came true, Josie,
Stacia
thought.
And you both deserve that.

Everything Josie
had visualized and planned so thoroughly had blossomed into a bouquet of beauty.
All the elements of the Universe had complied with her deepest desires. The warm
weather with only a slight breeze, the calm ocean waves, and the setting sun
disappearing into the water, all promised a new day and a new life for Josie
and Ryan together.

It was at opposite
ends of the spectrum from Helen and Sam’s wedding in Vegas. There was no eight
million dollar necklace here, no glitz and no glamour – just the simplicity of
nature – but Josie and Ryan were rich in all the things that mattered to them. Tears
steamed Stacia’s eyes as she watched her big brother marry the woman he adored.
She knew they’d have a happy life, just as Helen and Sam would. But for Clay
and her, there were no ready answers. She wished they could have a happy ending
too, but she didn’t see how.

After the ceremony
and the congratulations and the hugs and kisses had been administered, Josie
came up to Stacia, towing her mother in hand. “You two didn’t get a chance to
get acquainted much before the wedding,” Josie said.

“My daughter’s
been filling me in somewhat about the two of you and your journey together with
her,” Claire said.

“The reason for
this little private meeting,” Josie said, “is to keep you and Clay moving in
the right direction. I’d like to see you as the happy bride and groom someday
soon. Since I’ll be honeymooning here and at SwissDen, I want my mother to take
over where I left you two – in the cabin in your last lifetime, so to speak.”

Ryan and Clay came
up to them. “I’ve missed you,” Ryan said and kissed Josie.

“I’m coming, babe,
and I promise I won’t get out of your sight again.” Josie took Ryan’s hand and
walked away with him toward Stacia’s parents.

“If you two want
to explore your past lives to a greater degree, I’d be willing to guide you. Josie
said you seemed to have an issue about getting married that you wanted to
resolve, Stacia. Perhaps I can help. Do remember though, hypnotherapy uses a
combination of meditation and hypnosis to solve a problem. You may consider
hypnosis as being a deeper relaxation therapy for your mind than regular
meditation,” Claire explained.