Stranger in the Mirror [Shades of Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) (17 page)

He laughed and shook his head, wondering again exactly who this woman was as he opened the front door with the three fingers he had available. Both he and Marti were loaded down with bags. The warm air, mixed with the aroma of baking ham, made his mouth water. Marti stepped inside, and as soon as Jesse followed, Caty’s holler stopped them.

“Wait a minute,” she said, holding her hand out like a crossing guard. Then she pointed up, an impish grin on her face. “Mistletoe.”

Caty skipped into the kitchen, leaving Marti to awkwardly turn to Jesse.

He shrugged one shoulder. “You heard her.”

Marti stepped a few inches forward, and he leaned across the bags. When their lips touched, a spark of static electricity popped, and they jerked apart again.

He glanced up at the mistletoe. “Wow, did you feel that?”

She nodded, fingers over her lips. “What was that?”

“Static electricity. Or...” Something more?

“I’m sure that’s all it was.”

“Yeah.”

“Definitely.” She followed behind, hidden behind the big paper bag she carried.

Billy was still in the recliner. Jesse doubted he’d moved all night.

“Merry Christmas, Billy. Did you call the boys yet?”

Billy wiped his hand down his face, scratching his nose in the process. “Wasn’t sure they’d be up yet.”

“Of course they’ll be up. They’re kids, aren’t they?”

Jesse set the recliner straight with his foot, throwing Billy forward. “Call ‘em now.”

Helen emerged from the kitchen. “Merry Christmas, you two!”

Marti gave Helen a sincere hug, closing her eyes as though she were savoring it. His mother seemed particularly sentimental this year. Boy, holidays sure did strange things to women.

“Let’s open presents!” Caty shouted.

In West tradition, Caty passed out presents Santy Claus style, giving each of hers a little shake. Nobody opened their presents until the last one was given out. Marti seemed to get redder and redder every time Caty handed her a present. Had she realized there wasn’t one under there from him?

She seemed more preoccupied with the presents she’d given than the ones piled in front of her. Helen opened up a box filled with sheets and material.

Marti said, “You asked me to redecorate your windows like I did with the baby’s room. I thought the pink and beige material would go great in here, and we could do your bedroom in the teal and maroon. The sheets are for your bed.” When Caty opened up a veterinarian reference book from Marti, she explained, “I thought that would help with college. And Billy, I thought you could use a new set of horseshoes. If you look on each one, they engraved ‘Billy the Kidd West’ on top.”

Billy’s expression was a mixture of confusion and guilt. In his usual show of thoughtfulness, he’d given everybody an assortment of sausage and cheese from the mail order catalog.

Jesse saved opening the presents from Marti for last. By the time he turned to the two medium boxes wrapped in red and gold paper, everybody was throwing their scraps of paper in one of the empty boxes.

“Open that one first,” she said, a glow on her features.

He unwrapped a pair of the most beautiful boots he had ever seen. Made from ostrich skin, they were a rich gray color covered in bumps. What was she thinking, spending her California money on him?

“Wow, they’re terrific.”

Her smile lit up her face. “Open the other box now.”

Inside was a felt gray hat with a matching ostrich skin band.

“For your next cowboy mood,” she said, but her smile wilted. “You don’t like them, do you?”

“I love them, thank you.” It made him feel funny that she’d obviously gone to a lot of thought and expense on his behalf. He pointed to the box brimming with scraps of wrapping paper and shipping popcorn. “See that big box there.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “The garbage box?”

“Yep. Your present is in there.”

Everyone smiled, but she was still confused. “But that was Caty’s box.”

“I put something in there for you, too.”

She gave him an indignant look. “You mean I have to dig for it?”

Everyone nodded, holding back their laughter. Marti must have figured out he wasn’t kidding. With a resigned huff, she crawled over to the box and started digging through the wads of paper. When she gave Jesse a look of exasperation, he nodded.

“It’s in there, I promise.”

“We do this to someone every year,” Caty said. “You’re the victim this year.”

Marti smiled wistfully at those words. With more vigor, she jammed her hands deep down and pulled out a small box wrapped in purple paper.

She opened it slowly and pulled out the gold chain and looked at the heart that dangled at the bottom. It rested in her palm as she read the name ‘Marti’ spelled out in raised letters in the middle of the heart. Before she had a chance to look at him, he said, “Read the back.”

In tiny writing he’d had the jeweler inscribe, ‘Love from your West family—J, K, H, B, and B.”

She closed it tightly in her palm, then looked at him. “Who’s the last B?”

“Baby. If it’s a girl, I’ll name her Annabelle. If it’s a boy, Eli. I just decided to keep it simple on the heart.”

“Thank you, Jesse. It’s beautiful.”

Beautiful like you
, he wanted to say.
Sitting there with your face aglow because everybody loved your gifts
. She looked like an angel, next to the tree with the colored lights setting off her blonde hair. For the second time in a month, their gazes locked, and the room and everybody in it fell away to leave only them. There were so many sides to the woman who carried his child: insecure, child-like, sad, confident, sassy, and sometimes selfish. And when she was gone, he would look at their baby and wonder where she was and how she was doing. Even though it was better for both of them that she was leaving, he would miss her, he realized.

Then the dogs started barking, breaking the trance. Dean knocked on the door and brought in new presents for everyone, getting a few of his own to open. Jesse saw his kid sister blush for the first time when she opened the small box containing an emerald ring, her birthstone. She stammered a thank you and didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Jesse knew she didn’t want to encounter
hmm
expressions on his and Billy’s faces.

Helen clapped her hands. “Gentlemen, why don’t you set the table? Ladies, I could use your help in the kitchen. The men can clean up afterward.”

All three men made a great deal of fuss, but Jesse knew better than to seriously complain. After all, he’d seen his mother put Billy over her knee not all that long ago.

Marti followed Caty and Helen into the kitchen, letting the swinging door close behind her. She grabbed for the bags of green beans that Helen pulled out of the refrigerator; she knew how to do those. Caty settled at the cutting board piled with red apples.

“What nice gifts you two got.” Helen’s smile reeked of innuendo.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Caty retorted. “It’s my birthstone.”

“I don’t know,” Marti said. “A ring is, well, pretty serious.”

Caty was positively red-faced. “I don’t see what the big fuss is about. It’s not an engagement ring. And what about you, Marti? A gold heart pendant isn’t exactly a box of candy, especially for someone who’s leaving town in six months. Anything we should know about?”

Marti thought about the words inscribed on the back. “It’s a goodbye gift.”

“Humph. That didn’t look like a ‘goodbye’ look you two were giving each other back there in the living room.”

“Goodness, Caty, you’re acting like a cornered animal. I think you both have a light in your eyes, whether you want it to be there or not,” Helen said.

Caty and Marti glared at each other before turning back to what they were cutting.

Forty-five minutes later, with most of the preparation done, all they had to do was wait for everything to get ready.

As Caty washed her hands, she watched the guys playing horseshoes from the kitchen window. “I’m going to teach those guys how to play. Want to come, Marti?”

“No, that’s okay. Helen and I will sit in here and talk about you.”

Caty made a face before walking outside. Helen set the packages of fabric on the coffee table. Marti sat in the recliner Billy had spent the night in, feeling ready to take a snooze herself.

“I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with this,” Helen said, looking at the front windows. I love what you did with the baby’s room.”

“I just hope it wasn’t a fluke.”

“No way. You’re very talented. The best part is you’re doing it on a budget. That’s an attractive marketing angle.”

“Marketing? You mean selling my curtains to people? For money?”

“Sure, why not? You go in, measure, ask what they what. They can have something as nice as a decorator could do at, say, half the cost.”

“I’m not even sure I can do it again. But I’ve got some neat ideas for those two windows, if it works the way I’m imagining.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. There’s nothing between Jesse and me. Nothing romantic.”

Helen shrugged. “Maybe I’m seeing what I want to see. For Caty, too.”

“Do you think I’m a terrible person, for wanting to leave when the baby comes?”

“If you’re really someone else, you didn’t make this baby, and you didn’t want it. You can’t help the way you feel. I know you’ll do what you think is best for yourself, the baby, and Jesse.”

Marti blew out a breath. “Believe me, leaving is the best thing I could do for them. As a mother and a wife.”

“Why are you so sure you’ll disappoint them?”

“All my life I’ve disappointed people, especially the ones closest to me. When I… died, I saw all those things I did to screw up my marriage. I can’t do that to anyone, and I wouldn’t want to have a baby involved when I destroyed my second marriage.”

“You’re so sure you’ll destroy it. Jesse’s tough, you know. Sometimes I wonder if he wouldn’t be willing to give it a try.”

“Are you talking about that light again?”

“Mm hm,” she said with a demure smile.

“Okay, I admit there’s a light there. But it’s not what you think.”

“Lust?”

Marti dropped her head, shaking it. “I can’t believe I’m talking to his mother about him like this.”

“Then think of me as a girlfriend, who’s a bit older. I know I’ve got a good-looking son, who’s as stubborn as that river that runs behind the house. So, it’s only lust?”

Marti shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. He wants me to leave, I want to leave, and we’re two totally different people. We have this… current between us sometimes.” She thought of the kiss under the mistletoe. “But it doesn’t mean anything, not really.”

“If you say so. But you’ve got a few months before you leave. Think you can hold out?”

“Yes,” she answered too fast. “Look at me, getting bigger every day. He’s not going to even want to look at me before long.”

Helen smiled in an irritatingly knowing way. “I doubt that, sweetheart. I doubt that.”

Marti sighed, wanting to change the subject. “I wish I had a mother like you. Maybe I wouldn’t have screwed up so much.”

Helen tilted her head. “You do. Now.”

How those words warmed her and thickened her throat. How different would her life have been if she’d had a mother who cared?

“I wish I could believe in myself the way you do, but I can’t. I’m just screwed up. Maybe I am attracted to Jesse. I mean, he is kind of sexy. And, as you pointed out, good-looking.”

Helen smiled. “Yes, he is. More so on the inside.”

Marti blew out a breath. “That’s the point. He’s too good for me. He’s had this perfect mother as a role model. How can any woman compete, much less me?”

“Don’t say that. I’m not perfect.”

“But you wouldn’t do the things I’ve done in my life. You’re too good of a person.”

“Everybody makes mistakes. You’re a different person now, in a new life. You can put those mistakes behind you.”

“No, I can’t. Because deep inside, I have the same soul. That’s been the problem all along.”

CHAPTER 10

Most of the town’s Christmas decorations were gone by the second week of January. The lunch crowd had dispersed at Bad Boys, leaving Marti time to count her tips and wonder how she was ever going to pay that awful department store bill from her two shopping sprees. Still, she was glad she’d spent the money. It was the most peculiar phenomenon, but buying gifts for other people was more fun than buying stuff for herself.

She looked up when the door opened. Carl stepped inside, smoothing his hair back. He settled onto a stool in Marti’s section. It was unusual that he was without Lyle for lunch.

“How are you doing, young lady?” he asked, green eyes sparkling.

“Fine, thank you.”

“I understand you were in the office looking at the photos of yourself.”

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal to look at photos of my body,” she stated, ready to defend her actions.

“Well, it is official property now.” He smiled graciously. “But it’s okay. Lyle seemed to think you and Jesse were onto something. An idea, maybe. Care to let me in on it, considering I’m the investigating officer?”

She shrugged. “It’s only a theory. We’ll let you know if it pans out.”

His smile disappeared. “You think Paul has something to do with it, don’t you?”

Of course, Paul’s father would be aware that they had checked into his son’s whereabouts on the day of the attack. Even as recently as last week, she overheard Jesse discussing it with someone on the phone. “Maybe. It might be, well, hard, to investigate your own son.”

Carl’s eyes narrowed, all traces of friendliness gone. “You think I wouldn’t nail that good-for-nothing son of mine if I thought he’d done that to you?”

She stepped back, the anger in his eyes steaming like the coffee in his untouched cup.

“I—I don’t know.”

Just as suddenly, the anger was gone. “Marti, my son didn’t attack you. I know he didn’t. Don’t you think a father could tell?”

“Maybe, and maybe not. Your son and his friends attacked Jesse right before Christmas. I bet you didn’t know about that, did you?”