Where Does My Heart Belong?

Where Does My Heart
Belong?

By
Libby Kingsley

         
Copyright © 2013 Libby Kingsley

All rights reserved.  No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping,
or by any storage retrieval system without written permission from the author.

Where Does My Heart
Belong?
is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and
incidents are the products of the author’s imagination, and are fictitiously
used.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead,
is entirely coincidental.

Publishing and cover art by Libby
Kingsley

Contact: [email protected]

CHAPTER
1

May
1968

I’m 23 years old and
working as a secretary for the County Road Department in Eagle Valley,
Washington, when I first meet Norm Carlson.  One of his friends, Andy, is a
draftsman in my office and he came in with Andy one day.  I was standing at the
counter watching them laugh and joke as they came through the door.  “Hey, Lib,
how’s it hanging?” Andy jests.  I ignore his crude remark and stare at the
impeccably dressed, good-looking curly red-haired guy with sparkling blue eyes
that is with him.  Oh, my God, it’s
him
, the man from my dreams; dreams
I’ve had off and on ever since I was about 16. I stare at him and he’s staring
back at me with a shocked look on his face.  “Excuse, me” I say, and run out
the door to the restroom in the hall. 

I’m hyperventilating and
shaking.  What in the world is going on?  In my dream he’s standing way out in
front of me with his arms outstretched, beckoning me to come to him.  I can
sense his love and longing for me.  I run towards him, but just before I reach
him, I wake up.  It’s the same every time.  At first, I only dreamed it about
once a month, but as the years have gone by it’s been getting more and more
frequent, now I have it almost every other night.  I’ve always wondered what it
meant because in the dream I feel that I know him, like my soul knows him; like
he’s the one I’ve been waiting for to come back to me.  I splash water on my
face, dry it with a paper towel, and run my wet fingers through my long curly
hair.  When I’ve gotten myself under control, I step out into the hall.  He’s
there, waiting for me. 

“You’re the one from
my…I’ve dreamed about you,” he stammers.

“I’ve dreamed about you
too, ever since I was 16. What’s going on here?  What is this?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll
figure it out.  Listen, I want to see you again.  I hate to be in a rush but I
have to get back to work for a meeting.  Here’s my card, give me your number
and I’ll call you.    My name is Norm Carlson, but most people call me Red.” 

“I’m Libby Kingsley.” I
gave him my number and he left.   I looked at the card he’d given me.  He’s a
car salesman at our local Ford dealership.

Four days later, I still
hadn’t heard from him and was trying to put the whole thing out of my mind but
I couldn’t stop thinking about him.  I really wanted to see him again.

The next night my friend
Beth and I were cruising around town in her new car when a car came up behind
us and started flashing its lights and honking.  We finally pulled over and so
did the other car.  I got out and so did the passenger in the other car and I
saw that it was Andy.

“Hey, Lib, do you girls
want to have a drink?  We have some vodka here.  If you want to, follow us.”

I looked at Beth and she
said, “What the hell, why not, there’s nothing better to do.” 

“Okay, lead the way,” I
yelled back at him.

We started following them
and then Beth said, "Who are those guys, anyways?”

"The guy who got out
of the car is Andy, he works in my office.  I can't imagine what he’s doing
running around out here he's married, with two little kids.   I couldn’t tell
who the driver was."

"You mean you don't know
what we're getting ourselves into?  I don't think I like this now."

Beth is a very pretty
girl, tall and slim with a quirky personality but she can be very prim and
proper when she wants to.  I was surprised when she agreed to go with them. I
glance over at her pretty face; she’s frowning.  She reaches up and runs a hand
through her short dark brown hair, which is starting to go prematurely gray.

"Do you want to turn
around and go back?" I ask her.

"No, but I hope that
all they want to do is just have a drink."

We followed them to a
secluded spot in the national forest.  Andy asked us to get in their car and
motioned for Beth to get in the back with him.  When I opened the passenger
side door and the dome light came on I saw that Red was driving.  With my heart
pounding, I got in the front seat with him. 

“This is better than a
phone call don’t you think?  I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out a
way to meet with you and this is perfect.  Our wives are at a baby shower
tonight so I don’t have to figure out some excuse to get out of the house.”

Married, he’s married, oh
no.  I guess I should’ve expected that, most men in my age group are.  I don’t
believe in going out with married men, there’s usually nothing but heartache in
it from what I’ve seen from others who’ve done it.  Besides, it’s just not
right.  I believe in the marriage vows and if people can’t keep them then they
should just get divorced.  What are these two guys up to anyways?

Andy fixes us drinks in
paper cups and starts telling dirty jokes.  He is a wild and crazy guy and sex
is his favorite topic.  I think maybe he’s drunk and when he takes Beth’s high
heel shoe, pours vodka in it and drinks from it I’m sure he is.  They are
acting crazier and crazier back there.  Red opens his door, gets out, and
motions for me to follow him.  I do and we move away from the car and sit on a
log with our drinks.

“Let’s leave them alone. 
I want to talk about what happened the other day.  Tell me what you felt when
we met,” he says.

“I felt like I have known
you forever, but I don’t know you, I’ve never seen you before, except in my
dream.  I felt like you are the one I’ve been waiting for all of my life.”

“Exactly, that’s how I
felt too.  I told my wife about it and she said that we were probably connected
some way in another life.  She believes in that kind of stuff.  All I know is
now that I’ve found you I don’t want to lose you.”

“There’s no way we can be
together, you’re married.  This is a small town; I’m not going to have
everybody thinking that I’m cheating with a married man.”

“It won’t be like that. 
There won’t be any cheating.  I’d never ask you to do that.  We’ll figure out
something.  And as far as being married goes that may not be the case much
longer.  Carol and I married when she was 16 because I got her pregnant.  We
have two girls but the marriage has run its course.  She wants to go to college
and get an education so she can make a good life for herself and the girls. 
We’re trying to work out all the details before we file for divorce.”

Andy and Beth are out of
the car laughing and wrestling around on the ground.  So much for being prim
and proper.  Red goes over and tells Andy it’s time to go.  I help Beth off the
ground, and then Andy grabs her and bends her backwards, planting a giant lip
lock on her.  I shake my head in disbelief.   Red puts his hands on my
shoulders and kisses me on the forehead.  “I’ll be in touch.  Don’t worry; it’s
all going to work out.”

Beth and I get in her car
and watch them drive away.  She asks me if I had a good time, do I like Red.  I
told her I thought he was great but I probably wouldn’t see him again since
he’s married.  Beth says that she
is
going to see Andy again, married or
not, as she is head over heels for him.  I tell her nothing good can come from
dating married men but she doesn’t care.

The next day at work a
deliveryman from the florist hands me a perfect white rose in a little crystal
vase.  There’s no card but I’m sure I know whom it’s from.

CHAPTER
2

All I can think about for
the next few days is Red.  I wonder if he’s the reason fate brought me to Eagle
Valley.   I was born and raised in Seattle but my parents moved here to north
central Washington the summer before my senior year in high school after my Dad
got a fabulous job offer he just couldn’t turn down.  They dragged me kicking
and screaming with them.

One Saturday morning,
while I’m drying my long naturally curly dark brown hair, Beth calls, and
starts bugging me to talk to Andy and set up another double date.  I tell her I
don’t want to be involved in it.  “Oh, come on, Lib, you know you liked Red,
and I could tell that he was crazy for you too.  What did you do?  Did you bat
those big green eyes of yours at him, and cast a spell?”

“That’s exactly what
happened, I cast a spell.  He’s completely captivated with my tiny little curvy
body” I joke.   “I’m sorry, Beth, but I don’t want to get involved with a
married man.”

“Just do it this one time
for me and I’ll never ask again.  I really want to see Andy again.”

“Okay, but then that’s it
for me.”

The following week, Andy
passes me a note at work saying that the wives are going to some kind of
function Friday night so do Beth and I want to get together with them again.

I talk to him at lunch and
tell him I don’t really want to since Red is married.  He says Red is really
looking forward to seeing me again and it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong
since we’re not having sex.  I tell him okay, but this is the last time.  He
and Beth are on their own after this.  I call Beth and tell her, she’s
ecstatic.  We’ll be meeting them Friday night at 7:00 in the same place as last
time.

When we get there Friday
night, they have drinks and snacks all set up.  We sit around a campfire, laughing
and joking, enjoying each other’s company.  Andy and Beth start kissing and
making out, then they head for the backseat of the car.  I hope Red doesn’t
want to make out because I’m not doing it.  But I don’t have to worry.  He
opens the trunk of the car and takes out a guitar case.

“Come on, let’s go over
and sit on our log.  I’ll play for you; maybe even sing if you promise not to
laugh.  Do you play, do you sing?”

I tell him I don’t play
guitar but I sing.  He starts out with Peter, Paul & Mary’s
Blowin’ in
the Wind
and he’s good, really good.  I join in on the 4th verse and we
finish the song together.

“Geez, Libby, you’ve got
one heck of a voice.  You could record.  Have you ever thought about it?”

“Been there, done that,
and it’s not for me.  I’ve played accordion professionally and been on stage since
I was 14.  My Dad got me a one record deal once that was a total disaster.  I couldn’t
get along with the producer and vocal coach when they started telling me what
kind of songs I had to sing, and how to sing them.  I guess you can say we had
creative differences.  I was such bitch to them that the record deal never
happened and I vowed never again.”

“Listen, there’s this
benefit concert coming up in a couple of months for a little kid who has leukemia,
his parents are about to lose everything.  Sing in the concert for me.  I’m promoting
it and I could use someone to help me set the whole thing up, someone who knows
something about the business.  It’s for a great cause and it will give us a
chance to be together without sneaking around like this.”

“What’s your wife going to
think of this?”

“She’ll love it.  If I
can’t find anyone else then she’ll have to do it and she doesn’t have the time
with working and taking care of the girls.  I promise you it will be okay.”

I tell him I’ll help him
but as far as performing goes, it will be my way or no way at all.  I want to
choose my own song and my own band. If he can’t agree to that, it’s no deal.  

“You’ve got it.  Now let’s
do some more singing.  Do you know any country songs?  That’s mainly what I
play.”

“The only one I can
probably remember the words to is Patsy Cline’s
Crazy.
  I usually sing
pop, I never even heard of country before I moved here.”

“So, let’s do
Crazy.”

After I’ve finished
singing, he just shakes his head in amazement.  “Girl, you could be Patsy
Cline, I’ve never heard any other female singer sing that song like you just
did.  You really need to re-think having a career in the business.”

“Is that what you want, a
singing career?”

“At one time, yes, when I
was still in high school, but then I messed everything up when I had to get
married.  I still dream about it though.”  Then he puts his arm around me and
pulls me against him.  I rest my head on his chest and feel like I could stay
this way forever.  I may have just met him in this lifetime but I think that
our souls have known each other forever.

“Come on.  Let’s roust
those two out of the backseat.  I’ll talk to Carol and make sure she’s on board
with you working with me.  He kisses me on my cheek.  “I’ll call you tomorrow
night and let you know what she says.”