Reflections Read online

  Reflections

  Whisper Cape [2]

  Susan Griscom

  Amber Glow Books (2012)

  * * *

  Tags: Fiction, Romance, Fantasy

  What if you heard a voice whispering warnings while you coped with a frightening pregnancy? Knowing the future has its advances... or does it? Can love survive the reflections and memories lost? Welcome to Maia's world. Gerry has loved Maia from the very first moment he laid eyes on her and now that she's pregnant with his child, he's over the moon with happiness. Likewise, Maia is overjoyed about having Gerry's baby, except when she begins seeing and hearing an old woman who warns Maia about the pregnancy, Maia starts to think she is losing her mind. But Maia's nightmare has only just begun... A most sought after beautiful woman, the talented lead singer in an up and coming rock band, sets her sights on Gerry determined to rekindle an old flame. But murder befalls the sleepy town of Whisper Cape once again, creating suspicion and betrayal, and a love once considered invincible, begins to crumble and fall apart.

  A Whisper Cape Novel

  Book two by

  SUSAN GRISCOM

  Amber Glow Books

  The Whisper Cape Series

  Whisper Cape, Book 1

  Reflections, Book 2

  A Secret Fate, Book 3 (Fall of 2013)

  Stand alone titles by Susan Griscom

  Allusive Aftershock (A young adult novel, 2013)

  Brief Interludes (A collection of short stories with a twist)

  Erotic Interludes (An anthology by S.M. Griscom & Anabel Blue

  The Fawn (2014)

  PRAISE FOR WHISPER CAPE, BOOK 1

  “Phenomenal Book!!! Top Pick Review. Sometimes you just know when a book will be great.

  …one of the best debuts I have ever read. Every page keeps you on the edge of your seat. You get lots of action, more action, hot romantic scenes and more action. If you love mysteries, romance and paranormals…this book is for you.?”

  - Night Owl Reviews

  “The premise is fresh, the characters relatable, the plot intense, the romance steamy … what more could you want? Cael, the hunky hero of our story (and yes, I’m not afraid to admit I have a serious reader crush on Cael!) 5 Skulls and would recommend it to all Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Suspense, and even Romantic Suspense lovers.”

  - Literal Addiction Paranormal Book Club

  “Sizzling Hot! This fantastic debut novel by Susan Griscom is hard, almost impossible to put down. The characters she has created are ah-may-zing and you can relate to them, even the ones with the supernatural powers. This story can and will take you on a sensual and yet, suspenseful ride of your life … this book will deliver some delicious scenes that will make your temperature run hot!”

  - Read Between The Lines Reviews

  “This story will capture your heart and keep you turning the pages until the very end. It's packed with sensual romance and suspense with a great story line that keeps moving. I would love to have that fireball power Addie has to toast some bad guys."

  - My Secret Romance

  “Come Fly with me. A compelling mix of love, paranormal power and long kept secrets that will keep you reading into the wee hours. Well done!”

  - Beacon Street Books Reviews

  “This book had a delightful range of characters that you can easily fall in love with. I really enjoyed reading this book. I hope the next one is just as good.”

  - Close Encounters of the Night Kind

  “…couldn’t read this fast enough because real life got in the way, but let me tell you, if I could have avoided things like taking care of kids, laundry, and dishes, I would have probably read this book in less than 24 hours. Beware Regan, you have a new stalker!”

  - Redheads Review It Better

  “This was a fun paranormal romance, with a nice balance of action and suspense and two very interesting protagonists that will have you turning the pages to see what happens next.”

  - Carabosse’s Library

  REFLECTIONS

  Published in the United States by Amber Glow Books.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  REFLECTIONS is a work of fiction. All characters and incidents contained in this work are the creation of the author and are meant in no way to represent any persons living or deceased.

  Copyright © 2012 by Susan Griscom

  Amber Glow Books

  AmberGlowBooks.com

  www.susangriscom.com

  Cover designed by Susan Griscom

  ISBN-13: 978-0615705972 (Paperback)

  ISBN-10: 0615705979

  ~~Acknowledgments ~~

  Writing a book is no easy task and without the people in my life and the support they give me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Acknowledgments are also difficult to write, making sure everyone I love is included and not forgotten.

  My first thanks is always to my husband, Bud. Thank you, honey, for giving me the opportunity to do what I love and for reading everything I write, without making a face. I also appreciate your mentioning my book to every complete stranger you meet, which embarrasses the heck out of me, but I love it and love you. You are my rock. To my daughter, Traci, thank you for accepting my scatterbrained mind when you visit or during a phone call. Special thanks to my son-in-law, Angelo, for helping out with the arrest scene. I hope I got it right. Any mistakes are totally on me. A huge thank you to my sons, Brodie and Michael, for helping keep this country safe, I love and miss you—you are my heroes in combat boots. To my daughter-in-law, Stephanie, thanks for reading my books and giving your awesome support. Thank you, Jacob and Spencer for all your support and understanding when we don’t visit as often; it’s usually my fault. To my brother, George, thanks for reading my books and supporting me, it means the world to me. Thanks, Mom, for accepting my absentmindedness because my mind is usually on a character or a scene and for all your support, especially for telling everyone you know to buy my books.

  Thank you, Michelle, my editor, you are the best. You make me laugh at some of your comments and most of all you make me think! Thank you, Rachael and Pam, for answering all my stupid questions that I constantly bug you with. Love and hugs to my beta readers and awesome writer friends, Pam, Anna, and Mary, thank you for your insightful suggestions, you helped this book make sense.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1- Cucumber Salad

  Chapter 2 - A Fuzzy Picture

  Chapter 3 - Fear in Check

  Chapter 4 - What’s Mine Is Yours and Sonograms

  Chapter 5 - Like A Swoosh of Cold Air

  Chapter 6 - A Vixen Comes a’Calling

  Chapter 7 - Surprises Come in Twos

  Chapter 8 - The Best Laid Plans

  Chapter 9 - An Eager Beaver and a New Wardrobe

  Chapter 10 - A Warning

  Chapter 11 - A Time for Healing

  Chapter 12 - Secret Outings and Voices

  Chapter 13 - Anti-Kids?

  Chapter 14 - To Scotland - Maybe

  Chapter 15 - Mom Knew Best

  Chapter 16 - A Compelling Revelation

  Chapter 17 - Bar Days

  Chapter 18 - The Sectory

  Chapter 19 - Girl, You’re Amazing

  Chapter 20 - Reflections

  Chapter 21 - Jailbird

  Chapter 22 - Morgues are for Dead People

  Chapter 23 - Jonathan Livingston Who?

  Chapter 24 - A Funeral and a Confession


  Chapter 25 - Last Minute Preparations

  Chapter 26 - The Wedding

  Chapter 27 - Unfathomable

  Chapter 28 - A Re-consummation

  Chapter 29 - Please Remember

  Allusive Aftershock - Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Autumn Solace

  “Grow old along with me”—

  Words of a sage!

  There was a time I hated signs of age.

  I thought that beauty was of frame and face,

  I did not know the charm of inward grace.

  Far richer than the pale lush green of spring,

  The colors autumn paints on life’s wide screen,

  As sunsets reap the promise of the morn,

  So from full living is soul beauty born.

  – Aunt Carmie Wolfe

  Chapter 1

  Cucumber Salad

  Tomato juice splattered everywhere as the bottle hit the gray tile floor. Maia gasped at the shattered glass, unable to tear her eyes away; the thick red liquid pooled at her feet like a stagnant river of blood.

  “I’m sorry, Manny, the jar just slipped out of my hand,” she said, sensing the old man’s presence at her side and half-wondering how he’d gotten across the aisle so quickly.

  “Don’t you worry, sweetheart.”

  “I’m so clumsy lately. I can’t seem to hold on to anything these days.”

  “Are you hurt? Did any glass cut you?” He took her by the elbow, leading her away from the debris.

  “No, I’m fine. Let me help you clean up.” She glanced back at the slimy red liquid mixed with pieces of sharp, ragged-edged glass, making the aisle resemble a murder scene from some B-rated detective show on TV.

  “No, no. I’ll get Jeff to clean up. He’ll be here in about five minutes. Now be careful where you step.” He placed a large orange cone near the edge of the area to ward off any unsuspecting customers from the slippery mess.

  “Thanks, Manny. I am so sorry—I’ll pay for the juice.”

  “Not to worry. A bottle of juice gets broken in here at least once a week.” He winked and managed to bring a smile to her fretful face.

  Good old genial Manny, the master of calm, owner of the small seaside grocery store—the only food store in Whisper Cape—and everybody’s grandfather. He had a particular soft spot for pretty women. Except right now, Maia didn’t feel pretty. She felt fat and clumsy. Determined to stay out of maternity clothes for at least another month, she tugged at the waist of her once loose old gray sweat pants and rubbed at the indentation the elastic etched on her tummy. Even the normally beautiful, long, golden-brown curls she’d tucked up in her green wool hat refused to cooperate this morning as they constantly slipped out and fell in her eyes. She walked with Manny toward the other end of the store, and as he veered off to the checkout area, Maia continued on to the deli section.

  The small store was quiet except for a group of teenage girls giggling over the cover of a DVD. A group of young men hung around outside, looking in at the girls. School would start soon and they’d all be on their way. Maia MacKenna glanced at them and smiled, remembering what it was like to be that age—innocent, not a care in the world. She placed her hand over the small bulge in her abdomen. Life would never be the same for her.

  At this time of the morning, Manny’s Beachside Market—aptly named as one could hear the pounding of the surf whenever the front door opened—was often the main attraction of the kids from the nearby middle school and high school. The small-town grocer managed to carry all the essentials, from sunscreen to meats and produce, even a small variety of wines and beer. The refrigerated glass case Maia perused housed a few selections of prime cut steaks and marinated pot roasts and the deli department consisted of popular cold cuts and cheeses; nothing fancy, just the basics. The produce counter offered a variety of heads of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, some apples, oranges—enough to get by for residents and families visiting the area for a few days. Almost too small for the word “market,” Manny’s place happened to be the closest grocery store within five miles of the cozy cottage where Maia lived with Gerry Briden, the love of her life and the father of her unborn child.

  Hoping to finish the shopping before her doctor’s appointment later that morning, she stood facing a cleverly stacked display of tomatoes contemplating how many she’d need as something in the corner of the adjacent deli case caught her eye. A billow of steam escaped from a small crack at the bottom, and she found herself mesmerized as the dewy cloud rose and dissipated, rose and dissipated.

  A voice, a soft whisper, came from somewhere behind her. “A precious cargo.”

  She turned at the sound and looked into the face of a sweet old woman examining a head of lettuce. She didn’t recall ever seeing the patron before, and yet … there was something familiar about her. Her long black skirt, with a delicate pattern of purple swirls, hung several inches below her dark gray coat. The old woman’s hair, like strands of silver silk twisted into a braid, hung down the center of her back. Her eyes, though old, were brilliant, a rich shade of brown with little specks of gold.

  The woman must be mumbling to herself. Maia shrugged and turned her attention back to the tomatoes. Her niece, Addie MacKenna, was coming over for dinner tonight with her boyfriend, the two having just returned from a well-deserved month-long holiday. Maia smiled, thinking how happy they were, but her lips tightened a bit as she remembered how they’d been in such danger going up against that sick psychopath who’d murdered Maia’s older brother a little over a year ago. Maia sighed, still in awe of Addie’s power, how she and Cael destroyed Eidolon, torching him down to nothing more than a pile of ashes.

  Maia placed two plump red tomatoes—well, as plump and as red as you could get this time of year in Whisper Cape—in a plastic bag and placed the bag in her cart. She stepped to the cucumbers and heard the voice again.

  “A very precious cargo.”

  She yanked off her wool hat to expose her ears, thinking that would help her hear. Her thick mess of curls fell over her shoulders.

  “Excuse me, did you say something?” Maia asked the old woman.

  Maia’s fingers reflexively came to her lips and she gasped as the old women’s face contorted into a bizarre pattern of creases almost as if she were going in and out of focus. Speaking as though her throat were constricted, the old woman rasped in a low tone, “You’d better watch out.”

  “Watch out for what?” Maia asked, wondering if the old woman was having a stroke, fearful that an unfortunate medical emergency might be happening right in front of her.

  The old woman cleared her throat and smiled before speaking again. “You carry a valuable cargo,” she said a bit softer, pointing to Maia’s stomach. “Take guard.”

  At approximately twelve weeks along, Maia hardly looked pregnant, especially in the heavy coat she wore that easily concealed her abdomen. She wondered how the old woman could tell, and why on earth she had felt compelled to warn Maia.

  “How did you know I was pregnant?”

  The older woman ignored Maia’s question and simply added, “You must protect them.”

  Them?

  Before Maia had the chance to say anything, the woman turned her attention toward the deli case, her previous words forgotten. “Look at those cucumbers now, will you? We’ll have to take one. We love a nice cucumber salad, don’t we, dear?” she said, looking directly into Maia’s eyes. She turned away from Maia as the group of girls swooshed by and out the door to join the boys. When the aisle had cleared, the old woman was gone. Maia looked around the store, but couldn’t spot her anywhere.

  What did she mean? Crazy old woman must be suffering from dementia and confusing me with someone from her past. Maia shrugged and selected a cucumber for the salad she had planned for tonight’s dinner and went to the checkout.

  “You look radiant this morning, Maia.” Manny smiled and began ringing up her groceries.

  “Thanks, Manny.” She nervously fluffed up her mas
s of unruly curls. Surely, the man needed glasses. “You look rather dapper yourself today.” Manny was … God … wasn’t he eighty-four at his last birthday bash? But he was as sharp as any twenty-year-old.

  “Don’t forget to put the bottle of juice on my bill, Manny, or I’ll worry about it all day.”

  “Guess you’ll have to worry then. Anyway, it wasn’t your fault. Jeff said the bottles were still slippery from one that toppled over yesterday because he stacked them too close together.”

  Maia figured he was lying, but smiled and let it go. It wasn’t the first time Manny had given her something free.

  “Who was that old woman who was in here a while ago?” Maia asked.

  “What old woman?” Manny’s eyes brightened. It was comical the way he always perked up at the prospect of meeting an available female ready for a bit of schmoozing and romancing. Not that there were many his age around these days, but then, age never mattered much to Manny. He prided himself on still being a lady’s man, always teasing Maia, never missing a chance to remind her that he was available if she ever decided to dump Gerry.

  “Don’t kid, Manny, you know what woman.”

  “No, sweetheart, the only woman’s been in here all morning is you—well, aside from those teeny-boppers who aren’t old enough to be called women—and you’re hardly old.”

  “Well, that’s odd. Are you sure? I could have sworn …” She shook her head.