Part 2
Part 2 - That Fateful Night - Chapters 6-26
Chapter 6
The first thing I noticed about our new location was the heat. It was so hot that I had to discard the hoodie I was wearing just to stay comfortable. So much for heading home. The second thing I noticed was that my cell phone had service, indicating that not only had we changed locations, but we had also gone forward in time.
“Now where are we?” Raven asked.
I looked at the desert landscape around us. There was sand as far as the eye could see with a lone road in the middle. There was only one place that I could think of that looked like this - a place in the Sims that was thousands of miles away from Pleasantview. I turned to my best friend.
“We‘re just outside of Strangetown.”
“Are you sure about that? There are a lot of places that look just like this.”
“If you don‘t believe me check that mileage sign,” I said pointing to a large green sign in the distance.
We walked towards it until we could see what was on the sign. There was a list of town names and across from the name was the number of miles one would have to travel to get there. The city at the bottom of the sign was Phoenix. The first thing on the sign was “STRANGETOWN ¼.”
“Well,” Raven said as we continued walking, “that solves the where we are part, but we still don‘t know when we are.”
“I think we‘re in a recent time. I checked my phone, and I‘ve got service here.”
“That‘s not awkward,” Raven said sarcastically. She was right. It was kind of crazy that I didn’t have service in the suburbs in Pleasantview but here in the middle of nowhere I had all bars.
We walked along the road and eventually saw the signs of civilization. Strangetown was a small community in the middle of the desert, and by walking through it, Raven and I were able to learn about the town. It was populated by people who either had families that lived there for generations, or scientists who had come for the opportunity to research and discover new things at the science centers. The town was, in fact, centered around its massive science facilities, and due to the high number of paranormal incidents, was an important part of the scientific world. Other than that, Strangetown was no different from other towns in the middle of nowhere. There were a few franchises, like McDonald’s, but most of the stores and restaurants were unique small businesses. The town was divided into two sections. There was an affluent side, which was dominated by larger houses and more profitable businesses, and a poorer side populated by apartment buildings, townhouses, and places where you could get a cup of coffee for less than three dollars. The two sides merged in the science district, where there were massive labs specializing in everything from astronomy to some disciplines I had never heard of. There was also the town’s single strip mall. Although the community had several roads, more so on the poorer side of town, the center of the place was located along the road we were walking on. The local name of the road was Road to Nowhere.
As Raven and I walked through the town, the sights indicated that we were somewhere near the present time. People walked by talking on their cell phones, or jogging while listening to an ipod or other MP3 player. The items at the restaurant where we bought lunch were priced a lot higher then they would have been at Plesantveiw in 1994. Even after watching all of this and checking various clocks for the time, we still didn’t know the exact date. In order to know what exactly we were doing here, we had to know a more specific time than somewhere near the present, so after an hour of sightseeing and a quick meal we found the nearest newspaper stand and read the date: December 23, 2004.
The thing that stood out to me wasn’t the ten year jump we had made or the fact that it was December and I wanted to rip off my long sleeves due to the heat. It was, like the last time, an event that would happen in the near future, one that certainly explained our presence in this time and place.
“Raven,” I asked, ”Do you know what tomorrow is?”
“Christmas Eve?” It wasn’t surprising that she didn’t remember - I hadn’t talked about it in years.
“Well, yes, that too, but I‘m thinking about something more specific to this area.”
“I‘m not sure, but I‘m thinking it has something to do with Bella.”
“She hasn‘t been seen in ten years, but if I‘m right, that all changes tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you‘re right?” Raven asked as we walked away from the newspaper dispenser. She had a good reason to question me, as we were past the point in time where the player takes over the game and the storyline. However, at the same time, she didn’t need to be asking questions.
“Was I right about Trauma Center?” I asked, referring to a game where I had predicted a plot twist in the story line. Raven sighed.
“Yes.”
“Was I right about Alien Force?”
“Yes.”
“Have I been right about everything else so far?”
“Yes.”
“Then I‘m right about this. Trust me.”
“Okay,” Raven stopped and turned around to face me. “So exactly what‘s happened in the last decade?”
“Like you said, it’s been ten years since Bella’s disappearance from Pleasantview and we’re also five years after the player takes over the game.”
“Yes, but where has Bella been?”
“Well, in my mind, she‘s been living here, in Strangetown, this whole time. She‘ll be found at the spa on the other side of town tomorrow.”
“Then what‘s been keeping her from contacting her family?”
“Amnesia,” I said. “She couldn‘t remember anything.”
“And now?”
“She should have it back by now. That‘s about all I know.”
“What about her family? Are they still in Pleasantview?”
“No, by now they should be living in Strangetown too. If I‘m right, they just moved here.”
“Then why haven‘t they found Bella?”
“They live on opposite sides of the town. People from one side don‘t really go to the other side that much.”
“Well, I‘m sure we have to be at the spa when she‘s found,” Raven said. “That‘s what worked last time.”
“Yeah, there‘s a problem with that. To see everything that happens afterwards, we need to get into the house where her family lives, and unlike normal 19 year-old girls, we haven‘t changed at all in the last ten years.”
“You‘re right. There‘s no way we can do this without anyone getting suspicious.” We started walking again.
“The best thing to do now is to visit the spa on the richer side of town,” I said. “That‘s where she‘ll be officially found and we need to know where we should be so we‘ll look like we just happened to be there at that time.”
After buying clothes that were more comfortable in the desert environment, we found a taxi to take us to the spa. The first part of it we saw was the public outdoor pool that covered most of the outdoor property. Behind that was the building that probably contained the actual spa itself.
Exiting the taxi, I saw a boy and girl talking on the sidewalk. I glanced over the boy, whose hair I recognized, but it was the girl who was more familiar. She had long brown hair, blue eyes, and a face I knew I had seen somewhere before.
I got Raven‘s attention as she finished paying the cab driver. She faced me and I pointed to the two teens.
“I know who the girl is,” I said. “She‘s me.”
Chapter 7
I have seen and done a number of weird things, but I never thought I would ever talk to an alternative version of myself. She looked just like me. She had the same brown hair minus the caramel highlights - those wouldn’t come for another four years - and from what I could tell we had the same taste in clothing. If I wasn’t a superhero, I would have been freaked out.
I was surprised to see her at first, but once I thought through the situation, the whole thing made sense. In my story, I, or my sim self, had been the one to find Bella. However, I, Joan the Teen Titan living in 2009, didn’t exist in this world. Instead, there was the girl in front of me who, when Raven and I introduced ourselves, said “Hi, I‘m Joanna.”
The boy next to her had lighter brown hair that was long for a boy, but not long.
“I‘m Randy,” he said, “It‘s nice to meet you.”
“We just got into town and were wondering where we could find something to do, like a movie theater or something,” I asked them.
“I don‘t know about that,” Joanna said, “I just moved here myself a few days ago. Randy might know, though. He’s lived here for a few months already. What kind of movies do you like?”
“Action/adventure,” I replied, “What about you?”
“I‘m more of a chick flick kind of person.”
“I love action movies,” Randy said. “Too bad there aren’t any good ones to see.”
“You are such a boy,” Joanna said, rolling her eyes.
I couldn’t believe what Joanna was saying. Once we started talking over a snack she revealed that she didn’t play video games and wouldn’t even consider watching some of the T.V. shows that I follow regularly. I’m not one hundred percent feminine, but I’m not completely a tomboy either. Joanna was just too girly to be me.
Raven, Joanna and I had finished our food, but Randy still had a funnel cake next to a full container of ketchup.
“Are you going to eat that?” Joanna asked him.
“I‘m giving it to Cassandra,” he said. “She‘s been craving these things all week.”
“Dipped in ketchup?” Joanna asked.
“Wait a minute, who‘s Cassandra?” I asked as if I didn’t already know that she‘s Bella daughter.
“My adoptive mother,” Randy said.
“You‘re adopted?” Raven asked.
“Yeah,” Randy said. “My real parents died in a car accident.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said, “I‘m so sorry.”
“Me too,” Raven said.
“It‘s okay,” Randy told us. “That was five years ago. I was sad about it, but a week later Cassandra came to the orphanage to talk to me.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She said that as soon as she read about it in the newspaper she knew she had to do something to help me. She had talked to her husband and they agreed to offer me a new home. I didn‘t really know if I wanted to go to a new place, so I asked her why she wanted to help me and she said ‘because I know what it’s like to lose a mother.’ I asked her if her mother had died and she answered ‘I don’t know.’ So I figured that if she could get on with her life, so could I.”
“So, do you like living here?” Joanna asked.
“We didn‘t live here at first,” Randy said, “We lived in Pleasantview for a while. We moved here a few months ago because Cassandra transferred jobs. Her father and his family moved at the same time to support her. But I am glad she adopted me. Almost as soon as that happened, she found out she was pregnant with her own child and I got a little sister, Amanda. Sure I miss my parents at times, but they would be happy for me.”
Raven and I left Joanna and Randy at the spa because they were “waiting to meet someone,” as Joanna put it, and I knew that by “waiting to meet someone” she meant “looking for Bella Goth.” I knew that Joanna had been looking for her for the last few days, ever since she moved to Strangetown when someone must have told her about the disappearance of Bella Goth, but I wasn’t sure why and I didn’t say anything until we were out of ear shot and only Raven could hear me explain it.
We walked along the main road looking for a suitable campsite. Everywhere we looked was the same - a bunch of sand with the occasional cactus or tumbleweed. We were so busy looking for an out of the way place to spend the night that we didn’t notice that someone was walking toward us on the sidewalk until she said the word “Move.”
I looked at the woman who issued the order. Her tanned skin was complemented by a black cocktail dress and shoulder length blonde hair. Normally I would let the other person pass, but there was no way I was going to let this woman think I could be easily pushed over.
I moved directly in front of her, blocking her path, and said “Excuse me?”
She stopped cold.
“What did you say?” she asked me in her snobbish tone.
“Well,” I replied, “you asked me to move, and I believe the words you‘re looking for are ‘excuse me.’”
The woman did not look pleased. Raven was watching me the whole time and was looking at me like I had lost my mind. I shot her an “I got this” look. I turned back to the woman.
“I‘m Joan,” I said. I looked at Raven and she also introduced herself.
“I‘m Dina Caliente,” the woman said, “Now if you will excuse me, I need to run some errands.”
“Sure, no problem,” I said. I moved out of her way and we watched her walk down the street. As soon as the clicking of her heels against the pavement was no longer heard, I turned to face Raven.
“Let‘s get out of here,” I told her, “I don‘t want to run into her unless we have to.”
“Do you know who she is?” Raven asked as we started walking again.
“Unfortunately,” I said. “The fact that she‘s here only means one thing - and it‘s not good news.”
“What‘s that?”
“You know the man who was Bella‘s husband?” Raven nodded. “Well, she‘s married to him now.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded.
“Did she come off to you as a little rude?”
“A little?” I stopped cold. “The only reason she married him is because of his money. That‘s more than a little rude.”
“So when did the marriage happen?” Raven asked. We started walking again.
“About five years ago.”
“So that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“They way you acted towards her.”
“Oh. Yeah, pretty much.”
We walked up to the porch of what could only be the house we knew we needed access to in order to witness everything that would happen the next day. I knew it was Cassandra’s house now, since her father and his wife Dina lived across the street. It was also the biggest house in the whole town and looked a lot like the one we had visited in Pleasantview. Had they moved the whole house? They certainly had the money.
Raven knocked on the door. We hoped no one would recognize us. We decided that we had a better chance of going home if we could see everything that would happen. After all, we had automatically left Pleasantview once we had seen everything there, and we didn’t want to be stuck in Strangetown forever. The fact that our faces hadn’t changed since we last saw the family in Pleasantview might cause suspicion, but it was a risk we had to take.
Cassandra answered the door. She looked similar to the last time we had seen her except she was older and pregnant, which explained the funnel cake and ketchup cravings her son Randy had been talking about.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
I was relived that she didn’t seem to remember us. This would make things so much easier.
“We‘re new in town,” I told her, “and we were wondering if you needed…” I looked through the doorway and noticed a Christmas tree in the next room. “... any last minute services before the holiday.”
“We know most maids get Christmas Eve off,” Raven said, “but we‘d be more than happy to clean and even baby sit if you need to get any last minute shopping done.”
I couldn’t tell what Cassandra was thinking by looking at her so the only thing I could do was wait for an answer.
“You know what?” she said, “I‘ll take you up on the offer. My husband works at the hospital so he won‘t be home until five tomorrow, and I have a lot to do tomorrow, so if you help me out and pick up the house for a little bit that would be great. What time works best for you?”
“1:30 will be fine,” I said.
“Then be here at 1:30 tomorrow, all right?” We agreed.
I was happy that things were working out so well. Raven and I had a plan that we set up almost flawlessly and we even found a campsite to spend the night. The only thing left to wonder about was why the alternate me wasn’t very much like me at all.
Chapter 8
“I‘ve solved the Joanna puzzle,” I said.
Raven and I were at the spa sitting on the plastic pool chairs by the entrance. I was painting my nails a hot pink color and had just finished off the first coat when I realized why Joanna and I were so different.
“Okay, so what‘s the answer?” Raven asked.
“She is me,” I said, “but she‘s the person I was five years ago - when I was 14.”
“That makes sense. You did model her after yourself when you were 14,” Raven said.
“Wait, you mean you figured that out yesterday?” I asked. I began to apply the second coat to my nails. One of the best things about the desert was that the lack of humidity made any nail polish dry in under 60 seconds.
“Yeah.”
“Have I really changed that much?”
“We both have. We‘ve not only changed, but we‘ve also grown up.”
I knew Raven was right. In the last five years I’ve gone places and done things most people only see in movies and on T.V. I’d not only learned to fight in a dress and stilettos, but also how to keep stress down and focus under pressure. There was no way I could have stayed the same person. I looked at Joanna, who was talking to Randy on the sidewalk by the spa entrance. It didn’t surprise me that aside from her looks she was unrecognizable as me.
“Speaking of change,” I said looking back at Raven, “did you ever think we‘d be wearing tank tops and shorts on Christmas Eve?”
“I‘ve never thought about it. Have you?”
“I never thought so, unless we had to fight crime in the southern hemisphere somewhere.”
I finished my nails, put the polish away and had been letting them dry for about 30 seconds when Raven tapped my shoulder.
“Joan,” she said.
“What?” I replied, glancing at my toes, wondering if I should paint those nails as well. I must not have spoken loudly enough, because Raven hadn’t heard me.
“Joan,” she said again.
“Yeah,” I said, reaching into my bag to see which one of the nail polishes I’d bought I would like to use.
“Joan!”
“WHAT?” I sat up and looked at Raven.
“Look.” I followed her gaze to the sidewalk heading away from the spa’s east side.
There was no mistaking her. I couldn’t see the woman walking towards the spa that well, but I could identify her immediately, as she looked the same as the last time I had seen her. Her black hair mostly fell down her back a little more than shoulder length. Her tanish brown skin was complemented by a full length, strapless, red dress. The way she carried herself showed not only her beauty, but her confidence as well. She could only be one person, someone who technically hadn’t been seen in ten years. It was Bella Goth.
I shifted my eyes to Joanna and Randy. The person they were looking for was walking towards them, and they were busy arguing about something. A little girl who had been talking with them throughout the day got their attention and pointed. They turned around and practically froze when they saw who was approaching them. Raven and I casually moved closer to the entrance so we could hear as well as see what was going on.
When Bella reached the entrance, Joanna greeted her with a causal smile and “Hello.” Bella smiled and returned the greeting. There was a causal conversation for about a minute or two. Then Joanna cut to the chase.
“I‘m Joanna Kar,” she said. “I‘ve been looking for you.”
Bella didn‘t respond right away. From the look on her face I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say. I didn’t get to hear the response because Raven tapped me on the shoulder.
“What?” I asked.
“We promised Cassandra we‘d be at her house five minutes ago,” she said.
“Are you serious?” I said. I took out my phone, which had everything working except for the part that functioned as the phone, and read the time. 1:35.
“Oh shoot!” I said as Raven and I raced out of the spa. As we left, I could hear Joanna say something about helping, but we passed by so fast I couldn’t hear the whole sentence.
We ran a few blocks from the spa to Cassandra’s house and arrived in less than two minutes.
“We‘re so sorry we‘re late,” I said once Cassandra let us inside her house.
“Do you still need our services?” Raven asked.
“It‘s okay,” she said, “I was just finishing a batch of cookies. You can start in the back room where my daughter left all her toys on the floor. I’ll get her to help you. She knows where everything goes, and she needs to learn to clean up after herself. I would help her myself, but I‘ve got so much to do.”
She disappeared into another room and came back with her daughter, who was around five years-old.
“This is Amanda,” she said, and then introduced us to her. Amanda’s hair, which was braided into pigtails, resembled her mother’s. The girl also had her mother’s darker skin tone.
We followed Amanda to the back of the house and ended up in a room facing the kitchen. She had been drawing a picture when we had arrived, and was placing the crayons she had been using into the box when we heard the front door open. It could have meant that Cassandra had left the house for a moment, but she was still in the kitchen, taking the cookies out of the oven.
Chapter 9
Anyone who had not known if her mother had been alive for ten years would be completely surprised to see her walk into her kitchen. Cassandra was no exception. As soon as she and Bella made eye contact, Cassandra dropped the tray of cookies she was carrying and stood frozen, not even making an effort to clean up the mess. Amanda heard the crash and came running to where Raven and I sat right next to the kitchen doorway. She too stopped when she saw what was going on. I couldn’t tell if the connection Amanda had made was recognizing who had just entered the house, or recognizing that something might have been wrong with her mother, but she did know that something important was going on.
“Is that…” The girl was at a loss for words.
For a good 15 seconds, no one moved. Even Joanna and Randy, who had come in with Bella, stood perfectly still.
“I‘m… I‘m dreaming,” Cassandra said. “I‘ve got to get some fresh air fast.” She started for the door, thinking that the stress of the holiday and her pregnancy was causing her to see things that really weren’t there. She stopped halfway through the kitchen. The baby must have kicked her, because she put her hand on her huge stomach and started to cry as she realized that everything was real. She quickly walked to Bella, who had also begun to shed tears of joy, and hugged her.
“Oh my gosh,” she said. “Mom, is that really you?”
Bella was so happy that the only word she could say was “Yes.”
It was likely that neither of them wanted to let go, but they eventually did. When Bella was able to speak again her first words were “How far along are you?”
“Eight months.”
“Is this your first?”
“No, my second.”
“Is anyone else home?”
“Just my daughter…”
A voice came from my left.
“Do you think she wants to talk to me?” Amanda asked. I turned to face her. “Should I go talk to her?”
“Wait until your mom calls you,” I said. Amanda nodded and I turned my attention back to the kitchen where Cassandra was picking up the phone receiver while Bella was talking to Joanna and Randy on the other side of the room.
Cassandra hit a speed dial button on the phone and waited for someone at the other end to pick up.
“Dad, you‘ve got to come over here right away,” she said. There was a pause. “No, I‘m not in labor…. You need to see for yourself. You‘re not going to believe me if I tell you. I almost didn‘t myself…. Okay, bye.” She hung up, waited a moment and then picked up the receiver to place another call.
She was waiting for someone to answer when the door opened and her father rushed in.
“Cassandra, are you and the ba…by…” He pretty much stopped when he entered the kitchen. From what I could tell, he had thought that either Cassandra had unexpectedly had the baby, or was having some kind of trouble along those lines. In other words, he was prepared for anything except for the sight of the woman standing in front of him.
Bella turned to face him, and the two looked at each other with the same look I’ve seen some of my teammates use. The look of someone in love.
“Bella?”
“Mortimer…”
The door opened again, and this time the sound was accompanied by a woman yelling “Mortimer!”
“Oh, no,” I said to myself as the blonde who Raven and I ran into on the sidewalk yesterday came into view. Dina was the last person I wanted to see, especially at this moment. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like Cassandra was thinking the same thing since she hung up the phone as Dina stormed into the house.
“What the heck do you think you‘re doing just running out of the house like that without warning…”
When Dina saw what was going on, she stopped cold. A look that could only be described as an “oh shoot” look crossed her face as she registered the situation. She looked at who was standing in front of her, her face indicating that she knew that her husband‘s first wife was standing in front of her. After a split second, Dina changed her attitude and walked to where Bella was standing.
“Well, hello,” Dina said in a sarcastically chirpy tone. “I don‘t believe we‘ve meet. I‘m Dina Caliente, Mortimer’s wife.”
I couldn’t see what look, if any, crossed Bella’s face, her back faced us, but I could tell what was going through her mind. Nevertheless, she kept her composure.
“I‘m Bella Goth,” she replied showing no negative emotions with her voice. “I‘m… an old family friend.”
I could tell from the conversation that Bella hadn’t met Dina before. What I wondered now was whether Bella knew that Dina knew who Bella was.
As the two shook hands, a little girl came in the front door. She looked to be about five, and she had black hair that was just like Mortimer’s.
“Mom, Dad, I was wondering where you went,” she said as she entered the kitchen.
“Wait a minute,” Mortimer said, coming towards Dina, “You just left our little girl ALONE?”
I could see Bella’s reaction better now, but her face showed no emotion. Whatever pain she was feeling, she was hiding it.
“I was only going to be gone for a second,” Dina said. “Then I found out you were visiting an old friend.” She then grabbed Mortimer around the waist and planted her mouth on his, right in front of Bella.
That JERK! It was obvious now that despite the way Bella had introduced herself, Dina knew who Bella really was. The way Dina acted gave it away. She was now making a “he‘s mine” move on Bella, who was trying so hard to hide that her heart was breaking.
I want to punch Dina in the face, I thought. Amanda and Raven both turned to look at me. Great. I had said that out loud.
Cassandra, who was closest to us, drew our attention back to the kitchen.
“I‘ll be outside,” she told a teenage boy who was probably her younger brother. I hadn’t even noticed him enter the house due to the scene unfolding in front of everyone. “I‘m sorry, but the last thing we need right now is for me to go into a stress induced labor.” She grabbed her bag and walked through the doorway. As she passed us she turned to me and said, “Can you watch Amanda for me?” I agreed and Cassandra headed for the back door. “Why on earth did I ever tolerate that…” The door slammed shut.
I turned back to the scene to see Mortimer throw Dina off him.
“Dang it Dina!” he said to her. “What do you think you‘re doing?”
“Well excuse me for expressing my love for you!” she recoiled fiercely. Mortimer looked furious.
“I don‘t want to watch this anymore,” Amanda said, walking away from the kitchen. “Let‘s go upstairs.”
Even though I wanted to see what happened next, and to find out whether or not Bella was okay, I followed Amanda and Raven to the stairs.
We heard the words “That‘s it Dina, we‘re through!” as we walked up the stairs unnoticed.
Chapter 10
We sat silently in the upstairs hallway. The yelling downstairs had subsided or we were tuning it out, we couldn’t tell. Amanda had found a stuffed animal in another room, but she was just staring at it as it lay in front of her.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“I‘m fine,” she replied.
“You‘re just trying to figure out what‘s going on down there?”
“I know what‘s going on.”
“You do?” Raven asked.
“Sure,” Amanda said, “my grandma came back and she‘s sad because Dina was mean to her.”
Raven looked at me as if to say “how?” and Amanda caught it. “I‘m not stupid,” she said, “I saw the whole thing too, you know.”
“I know,” Raven said, “I just wasn‘t sure that you knew that Dina was being mean.”
“I don‘t, but my grandma looked upset, and you only get that upset if someone‘s been mean to you.”
“How do you know she is your grandma?” I asked, slightly relieved that Amanda knew the basics of what was going on.
“Mom always told me stories about her,” Amanda said. “She showed me pictures too. It was like she was reading a story book without the words. I asked Mom why we never saw my grandma, and she said it was because no one knew where she was.”
“So are you excited about finding presents under the tree tomorrow?” I asked to change the subject.
“Yeah, I hope I get one of those slip and slide things. I‘ve been really good this year. What about you?”
Before I could answer I heard the sound of crying behind me. I turned around and saw Bella run into one of the bedrooms. Immediately Amanda, Raven and I got off the floor and walked to the room Bella had entered. We stood outside the door and watched as she took out her phone.
“Lauren, it‘s Bella,” she said. Her voice was shaking.
“Oh my gosh, what happened?” came the voice on the other end. It must have been one of those cheap cell phones; there was no way I would hear the other end otherwise.
“Is she okay?” Amanda asked me. “Should I ask her?”
“Wait ‘til she‘s off the phone,” I told her.
“I‘ll tell you in a minute,” Bella said, “I need you to come get me.”
“You‘re lucky we were just going to get something to eat. I‘ll put you on speaker so Jessica can hear you too.”
“Where are you?” a second voice asked, probably Jessica.
“I think the address is 3675 Road To Nowhere,” Bella told them.
“That‘s on the other side of town!” Jessica exclaimed. “What on earth are you doing over there?”
“My family,” Bella said. “I found them living here.”
“That‘s great!” Lauren said, “So why are you crying?”
“I need to tell you in person,” Bella replied, a new wave a tears coming out of her eyes.
“Look, we‘ll be there as soon as we can,” Lauren said. “We‘ll stay on the phone until we get there.”
“Won‘t that be too expensive?”
“Bella, right now you‘re more important.”
Amanda saw her chance, and before I could say a thing, she walked into the room.
“Grandma?” she asked. Bella turned around to face the little girl. “I‘m Amanda, and I‘m pretty sure you‘re my grandma.”
“Aww,” I heard Jessica say, “She‘s so sweet.”
I would have apologized for Amanda‘s intrusion, but I saw Bella sit on the bed and invite Amanda to join her. Bella was speechless now, the only sound she made was crying.
“This whole thing is my fault,” a voice behind me said. I turned around to see Joanna standing next to me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I completely messed this up. I want to see if there‘s some way to fix this.”
“I suppose you thought this whole thing would go off with out a problem?”
“Yes,” Joanna sighed. “How was I supposed to know this would happen? I thought everyone would be happy when I found Bella, but now I feel horrible.” Joanna sat down against the wall and I turned my attention back to the bedroom.
“We‘re almost there,” Lauren said over the phone. “It‘s the biggest house on the block, right?”
“That‘s it,” Bella said as she got off the bed.
“Okay, I see it.”
“Meet me in the side yard, okay?”
“Okay. See you soon.”
Bella hung up and walked out of the room. Amanda followed her.
“Is everything all right?” Joanna asked.
“Can I help with anything?” I asked as well.
“I‘m not sure,” Bella replied.
“Look, I‘m sorry if Amanda was bugging you,” I said as we walked down the hall. “My best friend and I told her mother we‘d watch her and I told her to wait to talk to you ‘til you got off the phone…”
“It‘s okay,” Bella said, “She actually helped me out.”
“If you need to talk to anyone else I‘m all ears.”
“Thank you.”
We followed Bella and Amanda down the stairs and to the back door so swiftly that I didn’t get time to see what was going on in the kitchen. We passed through the door and around the house to the side yard. Raven, Joanna and I hung back at the side of the house, but Amanda would not leave Bella’s side.
After a minute or so, two women came running down the sidewalk. The one in front had blonde, kinky hair about shoulder length and was wearing a tight pink spaghetti strap tank top, ripped jean shorts and flip flops. Behind her, a brunette in a baby doll tee and capris was trying to keep up, despite her more sensible choice of footwear. Upon seeing Bella, they ran off the sidewalk and embraced their friend.
“Bella, are you okay?” the blonde, Jessica - I could tell by her voice - said.
“I don‘t think so,” Bella replied, a new wave of tears leaving her eyes.
“We‘re here now,” Lauren, the brunette, said. “It‘ll be okay soon.”
“Let‘s find a place where we can sit.” Jessica pulled away from the hug and then noticed the five year-old looking up at her. “Is this your granddaughter?” Jessica asked her friend. Lauren pulled away as well but still stayed close to Bella, who nodded.
Lauren bent down to look the girl in the eyes.
“Hi Amanda, I‘m Lauren. This is my friend Jessica. We’re friends of Bella‘s.”
“It‘s nice to meet you,” Jessica said.
“It‘s nice to meet you too,” Amanda said.
“Amanda,” Bella said, facing her, “I need to talk to my friends now. You can sit with the other girls if you want.”
Amanda didn’t answer, and I walked over to her.
“Let‘s give her some space,” I said. “We can sit close by so we‘ll be there if she needs us, okay?”
“Okay,” Amanda agreed.
I turned to Lauren and Jessica.
“Don‘t mind us,” I told them, “we promised her mother we‘d watch her.”
“Don‘t worry about it,” Lauren said. Then we introduced ourselves.
Bella, Lauren and Jessica sat down an a bench, and Amanda and I took a seat with Raven and Joanna on the sandy ground. Bella was sitting between her two friends, Jessica on the left, Lauren on the right.
“What happened?” Lauren asked. Before she could answer, Bella began to break down again. She started to cry on Lauren’s shoulder and let Jessica put her arm around her.
“He‘s married,” she said between tears. Lauren and Jessica gave their friend a compassionate look, allowing them to tell Bella that they understood while still taking time to listen. After looking at her friends, Bella cried for another minute or so before speaking again. “She‘s not nice at all. She came in the house yelling at him and she kissed him… right in front of me.”
“Did she know who you are?” Jessica asked.
“I told her I was an old friend, but she seems to know more.”
Lauren held her heartbroken friend. “It‘s okay Bella,” she said. “We‘ll help you get through this. You‘ll be all right.”
Bella must have told them about her family once her memory had come back, because her friends had understood everything about the situation.
“Bella,” Jessica said.
Bella lifted her head off Lauren’s shoulder and turned to face Jessica.
“Yeah?”
“How did he react when he saw you?”
“He was… surprised. He didn‘t have time for any thing else, because that‘s when his wife walked in the door.”
“Bella,” Jessica said, “it sounds to me like she has some kind of grip on him.”
“I think Jessica may be right,” Lauren said. “The thought hadn’t occurred to me until now, but I agree.”
“Really,” Bella asked. “What makes you say that?”
“The way you described him doesn‘t make him seem like the kind of guy who would want anything to do with that kind of woman,” Jessica said.
“There‘s… something else,” Bella said as another wave of tears stained her face.
“What is it?” Lauren asked.
“He… he… they have a child.” Bella placed her head back on Lauren’s shoulder. “A little girl about Amanda‘s age.” She continued to cry as her friends held her close and reassured her that they would be there for her.
The four of us hadn’t moved. No one was burying their feet or arms in the sand, but instead we were all listening to what was going on.
For a while, no one spoke. Then Jessica broke the silence.
“You know what you need?” she asked. “Ice cream. I know Swirl’s is open. It may be Christmas Eve, but the owners don‘t celebrate Christmas.”
Amanda shot up when she heard the words “ice cream” and ran over to the bench.
“Thank you so much,” Bella said as she and her friends got up.
“Can I have some too?” Amanda asked.
“Sure,” Bella said, “why not?” Amanda ran back into the house and came out once Bella, Lauren, and Jessica had reached the sidewalk.
“I told Randy where we’re going,” she told me as Raven, Joanna and I stepped on the sidewalk.
Bella was still crying, and her head was resting on Jessica’s shoulder as the three of them walked down the sidewalk. Amanda walked with us, a few paces behind.
“We parked down the street,” Lauren said. “It‘s about four houses, okay?” Bella nodded and we continued on in silence.
We were a couple of houses down the road when a green van with fake wood trim came down the street. Amanda ran toward the vehicle yelling “Mom!” The van pulled over and parked on the side of the road.
“Amanda, what are you doing all the way out here?” Cassandra asked as she got out of the van and walked around to where her daughter was standing. Then she noticed that Bella had broken down into tears. “Amanda, get in the car.”
“But Mom…”
“Get in the car!”
Amanda asked no questions as she opened the sliding door of the van and got in.
Cassandra turned to the threesome who had turned around to watch what was going on. Bella was still crying on Jessica’s shoulder.
“Mom, are you all right?” Cassandra asked.
Bella lifted her head off Jessica’s shoulder and replied with a simple “I don‘t know.”
“I’m sure she‘ll be fine,” Lauren replied. “She‘s got a broken heart.”
“Aren‘t you going to introduce us?” Jessica asked her friend.
Bella pulled herself together and made a few simple introductions. Her voice still shook, and as she spoke, more tears threatened to fall.
“We were just going to get some ice cream,” she said.
“Yeah, we know a place on the other side of town that‘s open on the holidays. They‘ve even got specials,” Jessica added.
“Well you don‘t have to walk there,” Cassandra said. “My car will seat all of us. I‘ll take you if you tell me where it is.”
“Thank you so much,” Lauren said as the group started towards the car.
“It‘s my pleasure,” Cassandra said.
Raven approached Cassandra once she got closer to us.
“We know it‘s been chaotic,” Raven said. “We understand if you don‘t want us to be around due to the circumstances.”
“No,” Cassandra told her, “you should come. We‘ve got to talk over some things and I can‘t do that and keep a close eye on Amanda too.”
“Sure,” I said, “We‘d be happy to.”
As we entered the van through the door Amanda had been listening through, Cassandra approached Joanna.
“You can come as well,” she said.
“Really?” Joanna asked.
“Sure, it‘s the least I can do. After all, you did find my mother.”
The car ride was silent expect for Lauren giving directions, and Jessica telling Bella that she was going to be okay. I was sitting in the back with them. Bella, who was now resting her head on Lauren’s shoulder, wasn’t crying as much. The tears still came however, and her friends were doing everything they could to comfort her.
The ringtone of a cell phone broke the silence, and Cassandra picked hers up and handed it to Joanna, who was in the passenger seat.
“Amanda, can you get that for me?” Cassandra asked. Joanna passed the phone back and Amanda answered it.
“Hi Grandpa,” she said. “No, she‘s driving… okay. Mom, Grandpa wants you to pull over so he can talk to you.”
Cassandra pulled off the road and took the phone from her daughter.
“Hi Dad. Look, I‘m sorry I left like that but the baby… Yeah she‘s with me…. Not good. Her friends came over and she‘s been crying this whole time…. I don‘t know. I‘ll ask her.” Cassandra looked to the back of the car. “Mom, Dad wants to talk to you.”
Bella looked at her friends.
“You should talk to him,” Lauren said. Jessica nodded in agreement.
“Okay,” Bella said and the phone was passed back to her. She did her best to put strength her voice and erase all evidence of her tears as she took the phone.
“Hello?”
“Bella, are you how are you doing?” came the voice on the other end.
“I‘m fine.”
“You don‘t sound find to me. Bella, I need to talk to you and it will be best to talk in person.”
“Yes.”
“So just come over whenever you‘re ready, okay? I‘ll be at Cassandra‘s house.”
“Okay.”
Bella said goodbye, shut the phone, and passed it back to the front.
“So, what do you want to do?” Lauren asked.
“Do you want to get some ice cream before you see him?” Jessica asked.
“No,” Bella replied, “let‘s go back.”
“What about the ice cream?” Amanda asked.
“I‘ll get you some later,” Cassandra told her.
“Okay.”
Without saying another word, Cassandra pulled out onto road and turned the van around.
Chapter 11
On the way back to the house, Bella did everything possible to hide the fact that she had been crying. After wiping her eyes she turned to Jessica.
“Can I use your eyeliner?” she asked.
“Bella, you don‘t need it,” Jessica said. “You look great and besides, it doesn‘t match your outfit.”
“I can‘t let him see me like this,” Bella said.
“What‘s the point?” Lauren said. “He already knows you‘ve been crying.”
“Are you sure I look okay?”
“You look fine,” Lauren and Jessica said at the same time.
“Okay,” Bella said as she we neared the house. “I‘ll take your word for it.”
Once the car was parked in the driveway, we got out and entered the house. Mortimer was waiting in the front room. Bella held her friends' hands as she approached the man who had once been her husband.
“You can do this,” Jessica whispered and Bella let go of their hands.
Mortimer Goth gave her a box of tissues as he led her to an adjacent room. Cassandra told us to make ourselves at home and then went into the kitchen. Amanda was at the other side of the room, giving me the perfect excuse to sit right next to the closed door. Not that I had to, as the room was so quiet that Lauren, Raven, and Joanna could hear as much of what was going on in the other room as I could, which was most, but not all of it. Jessica, on the other hand, was trying her best to hear the whole conversation. She had found a toy stethoscope and used it to try to amplify the sound coming from under the door.
“I don‘t love her…”
“Then why did you marry her?”
“You have to understand. We didn‘t know if you were alive…. You were declared legally dead after three years. I married her because I thought I loved her, but shortly after we got married I realized that I never did. Then she found out she was pregnant and I wasn’t going to leave her with my child.”
“I don‘t even understand why you thought you loved her.”
“She tricked me, Bella. She put on a kind face and pretended to care, but once she was pregnant, she begin to show her true self. At first I thought it was just a side effect of the pregnancy, but she never changed back.”
“What about the little girl?”
“Her name‘s Anne, and she‘s the only reason I stayed married…. Where have you been?”
“I’ve been living on the other side of town with my friends…”
“Bella‘s so lucky,” Jessica said, taking the stethoscope out of her ears. Lauren looked at her like she was crazy. “I mean how many guys have we dated that didn’t care about anyone other than themselves?”
“None,” Lauren said as Jessica got up from the floor and took a seat next to Lauren on the green sofa. I got up as well and sat next to Raven on the couch across from them.
“Well, did you hear what he said?” Jessica continued. “He stayed married to someone he doesn‘t even love because it was in the best interest of his child.”
“I don‘t think I‘ll ever find a guy like that,” Lauren said. “She is lucky in that way.”
“Can I get you anything?” Cassandra asked, having just appeared in the doorway. “Coffee? Tea? Anything?”
“No thanks,” I said, “I don‘t like either of those.”
“What kind of tea do you have?” Lauren asked.
“Oh, anything. We have green tea, ginger…”
“Ginger will be fine.”
“I tried ginger tea once,” Joanna said, once Cassandra had gone into the kitchen to get the drinks. “And I‘m sorry to say but it was the worst thing I ever put in my mouth. It was like my mouth was on fire.”
“I like spicy foods,” Lauren said.
“So how many guys have you dated?” I asked.
“Like 20,” Jessica told me. “They were all either snobs, jerks or, well, just mean.”
“I‘ve had a few boyfriends.” Lauren said. “I broke up with my last one about five months ago. We had been together for two years - the longest relationship I‘d ever had. He just - I don‘t know - he was the one who called it off and he never gave me a reason.”
“And Bella?” Raven asked. I looked at my best friend. It had never crossed my mind, but I knew that it was a possibility that Bella could have had a relationship in the last ten years.
“She never dated,” Jessica said. “Even though she never remembered anything from the time before she lived with us, she never went out with anyone. She said it was because she wasn‘t interested in anyone but Lauren and I never guessed that maybe it was because she was in love with someone else.”
“What about you?” Lauren asked me. “How many guys have you dated?”
“None,” I replied, “I‘m perfectly happy single.”
“Same here,” said Joanna. Raven just nodded her head.
A young man who looked a lot like Cassandra, save for a lighter skin tone, came in the room carrying drinks.
“Cassandra told me to give these to you,” he said.
Jessica reached over to grab her coffee but as soon as she touched the mug, her hand recoiled back in pain.
“Ouch!” she said as she shook her hand.
“Well, they are hot drinks,” said the guy.
“Thanks for the warning,” Jessica snapped.
“I was about to say that, but you grabbed it so fast.” The guy sat down next to Jessica on the couch. He looked older than Joanna, but younger than me, maybe about 16. “Are you burned?”
“No, I‘m fine.”
Lauren picked up her mug and blew over the top before she took a sip.
“Thank you,” she said. “This is really good. I‘m Lauren.”
“I‘m Alexander Goth, Cassandra‘s younger brother. It‘s nice to meet you.”
Another round of introductions? I was getting impatient with them, but nevertheless, we all introduced ourselves anyway.
“So what‘s going on?” Alexander asked.
“We were talking about our crazy love lives,” Jessica said.
“No, I meant what‘s going on in there? With Dad and Bella? Well, I guess I should say Dad and Mom.” Alexander pointed to the closed door.
“We don‘t know,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, we stopped eavesdropping five minutes ago,” Jessica added. Lauren hid her face in her hands. “Not that we were trying too,” Jessica added when she saw everyone’s shocked faces, “It was just so quiet you could hear what was going on. They were talking about that weasel.”
“You mean Dina?” Alexander asked. Everyone except Lauren and Jessica had an annoyed look just at the mention of her name.
“Probably, based on the looks on your faces,” Jessica said.
“Where is she anyway?” Joanna asked.
“She went home,” Alexander said. “Dad practically shoved her out the door, but she dragged Anne with her.”
“Good riddance,” Joanna said. “Not for Anne, but… oh you know what I mean.”
“Tell me about it,” Alexander agreed. “When Dad married her, I told him it was fine with me, but there was no way I was going to live with her.”
“And he let you live with your sister?” Joanna asked.
“I think what he wanted most was for Cassandra and me to be happy,” Alexander said, “and he knew that it wouldn‘t be that way if I lived under the same roof as that heartless jerk.” So Alexander also knew Dina was a jerk. He had a good head on his shoulders.
Lauren sighed and took another sip of her tea. “I just hope Bella‘s gonna be okay,” she said.
“Me too,” Alexander said, “I haven‘t even talked to her yet.”
“Are you serious?” Jessica asked.
“Yeah. I was out with my girlfriend when Cassandra called me telling me to come home right way. I figured she was either in labor or was having some trouble with the stove so I came as soon as I could. When I walked in the door I saw Dina kissing my dad, but what shocked me the most was right next to them was my mom, and she looked like she was seriously going to cry. And then there was yelling, and my mom had left the kitchen so I never got the chance to talk to her.”
“Did somebody talk to you?” Raven asked.
“My dad did,” Alexander replied. “He was just as surprised and angry as I was.”
As she sipped her tea, Lauren explained her account of what had happened that day. She was talking about Amanda when the door to the other room opened.
No one said a word. Amanda looked up from the toy she was playing with, and Cassandra had come in from the kitchen, followed by Randy. We all watched as Bella and Mortimer entered the room smiling. Lauren got off the couch and walked up to her friend. Jessica did the same.
“Is everything okay?” Lauren asked.
“Everything‘s fine,” Bella said. Her voice sounded much more confident and all signs of her breakdown were gone. She hugged both Lauren and Jessica at once. “Thank you so much. If it wasn‘t for you I don‘t know if I would have been able to talk to him.”
“You’re welcome,” Lauren said.
After pulling away, Bella turned her attention towards Alexander, who, like Lauren and Jessica, had also come towards Bella.
“Alexander? Oh my goodness, you‘ve grown up,” she said. They hugged each other, initiating another tearful reunion, and once again, the tears were tears of joy. “I‘m sorry. I‘m sorry I couldn‘t be there for you….” Her voice trailed off and all the joy in her tears was no longer present.
“It‘s okay,” Alexander said. “Dad was there. He did everything he could, even when he moved out.”
“So you‘re living with your sister?” Bella asked him.
“Yeah, although Dad didn‘t move out until she got married. I guess she became a mother to me…. Well, almost. I‘m really happy you‘re here now.” Bella was still crying, but the tears seemed to be those of both sadness and joy.
Once Bella let go, Amanda picked up the stethoscope Jessica had left lying by the door.
“Hey Jessica, are you done with this?” she asked as she picked it up off the floor. Bella laughed and turned to her friend.
“I guess I don‘t need to tell you what happened in there,” she said.
“Sorry,” Jessica said.
“Don‘t worry about it,” Bella assured her. “I figured you‘d be listening.”
“I think we should celebrate,” Cassandra said. “Let‘s go out to dinner. I was thinking some place like The Embers.” She turned to Lauren and Jessica. “You are more than welcome to join us.”
“Well… um… you see,” Lauren said in a way that indicated she really didn’t know how to say what she wanted to, “we can‘t afford it. We really can‘t afford eating out at any restaurant, let alone The Embers.” Cassandra’s expression remained unchanged.
“And besides,” Jessica added, “It wouldn‘t be open today anyway.”
Oh shoot! Christmas Eve! The holiday had totally slipped my mind.
“You‘re right,” Cassandra said. “We‘ll eat here then.” She turned to Raven and me. “You don‘t happen to need to be somewhere else right now, do you?”
“Actually we don‘t,” Raven said. “We came to town by ourselves.”
“Then you‘re welcome to stay as well.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“It‘s no problem. You really helped us out, and we appreciate it. Besides, you shouldn‘t have to spend Christmas Eve by yourselves.”
Chapter 12
For the first time that whole afternoon, there was a chance for a casual conversation. With her father and brother preparing dinner, Cassandra was the first one who got the chance to talk. She was sitting on the couch across from Raven and me and next to Bella, Lauren and Jessica.
“It’s been a long time. How have you been?” Cassandra asked Bella.
“We‘ve all been doing fine,” Bella replied. “What about you?”
“I‘m doing fine as well.”
“I expected you to still be living in Pleasantview. How come you moved here?”
“I got a job transfer. One of the science facilities in town requested that I come work for them, and I figured I might as well take the opportunity.”
“What do you do for them?” Lauren asked casually.
“I basically assist scientists doing research. I mostly prepare instruments and run errands for them. It‘s not the best job in the world, but it‘s not the worst one either.”
“It‘s a lot better than what I do,” Jessica said.
“What‘s that?” Cassandra asked.
“Serve people coffee.” Cassandra nodded and took a sip of her tea.
“So what‘s you name now?” Bella asked.
“Oh, it never changed,” Cassandra said. “I‘m sill Cassandra Goth.”
“That makes sense,” Bella replied.
“It does?” Lauren asked.
“Well,” Jessica said, “if the woman‘s name is more established than the man‘s, she gets to keep her name and he switches his when they get married, right?”
“That‘s right,” Cassandra said. “My family founded my hometown of Pleasantview so I got to keep my name.”
Amanda, who had been playing with her stuffed animals, suddenly shot up from her position on the floor.
“Dad‘s home!” she said as she raced to the window. Cassandra got off the couch and walked toward the door. Bella got up in anticipation of finding out whom her daughter had married. The front door opened and I got up to get a better view. A man came in the entry way and Cassandra kissed him on the cheek. Bella froze as he came into full view. It was the same guy she had visited the night she disappeared!
Lauren and Jessica recognized their friend’s distress.
“What‘s going on?” Lauren asked.
“We lived across the street from that man in Pleasantview. I visited him one night and he tried to kiss me,” Bella said, so quietly I could hardly hear. “I don‘t think it was intended to be a light one either. He looked like he was going for something a little more intimate.” Jessica’s jaw hit the ground.
“When was this?” Lauren asked, still maintaining her composure. Bella took a deep breath.
“It was one of the last things that happened before…” She stopped abruptly but she didn’t need to finish her sentence. Lauren and Jessica both knew what happened next.
“So the guy who tried to kiss you is now your son-in-law,” Jessica said. “That‘s just too awkward.”
“No wonder you‘re upset,” Lauren asked, taking her friend‘s hand.
“I‘ll be fine,” Bella replied. “You can‘t judge a person by what he did ten years ago. And if they really do love each other, it won‘t be important.”
It was at that moment that Cassandra and her husband entered the room and joined us by the couches.
“This is my husband Don Lothario,” she said. “He was our neighbor in Pleasantview. We‘ve been married for five years.” She then went on to introduce each of the guests to him. Bella put a smile on her face and acted excited, but we knew that she was still a little uncomfortable.
Don, on the other hand, looked shocked at first, but then smoothed it over. Aside from the introductions, he was silent. Then he went into the kitchen to help with dinner and we sat back down on the couches.
“I‘m going to walk Joanna home,” Randy said from the entryway.
“Go head,” Cassandra told him. “Tell her family we wish them Merry Christmas.”
“You did a great thing by taking him in,” Bella said when Cassandra turned her attention towards us again. “He told me about it when we were walking over here.”
“I adopted him thinking of you.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I wanted to help him. I knew you would feel the same way.” Bella pulled her daughter into a hug. “Mom, I missed you so much,” Cassandra continued, “especially when Amanda was born. I was so nervous, but Dad was there. He helped me get through it, and I was thinking of you the whole time.” They let go, but remained sitting next to each other.
“Did you adopt Randy before or after Amanda was born?” Bella asked, a smile crossing her face.
“It was right after I got married,” Cassandra told her. “Actually, I was probably pregnant with her when I adopted him, but I didn‘t know it until a few weeks after.”
“How old is she?”
“Five. I know, she pretty much came nine months after the wedding, but I wanted to have a family right away.” Cassandra placed her hand on her stomach.
“Do you know what you‘re having now?” Bella asked her.
“No. We want to be surprised this time.”
“You should get some rest tonight. The baby can tell how you feel. Right now I think it‘s excited for you, based on how much it kicked a minute ago.”
“Lately it‘s been really active in the evening.”
Bella smiled again and said, “You were the same way.”
We all sat down at a large table in the dining room, and dinner was served. There was one conversation, and anyone who wasn’t talking was silent.
“So you‘ve been living on the other side of town this whole time?” Cassandra asked Bella once we started eating. Cassandra was sitting on the opposite side of the table. Bella was sitting on my side in between Jessica and Lauren, who was on my right.
“Yes,” Bella said. “I‘ve been living with Lauren and Jessica. We‘ve been great friends ever since they took me in.”
“When was that?”
“Ten years ago. In April.”
“The fifth, to be precise,” Jessica added.
“So, you didn‘t spend that much time in the spaceship then,” Cassandra said.
“Yeah, what happened in there?” Alexander asked from across the table.
“I don‘t know,” Bella said. “I don‘t remember. I just remember waking up in Strangetown and I met Lauren and Jessica that day.”
“I know this seems impolite to ask, but how come you didn‘t contact us?” Cassandra asked.
“To be honest I didn‘t remember anything until a few months ago. The memories came back slowly, and money was tight.”
“How much money do you have?” Cassandra asked, her tone becoming more serious.
“I‘m working,” Bella responded, “but it only brings in minimum wage. Don’t worry, we have enough to get by.”
“I‘m sorry if you‘re feeling overwhelmed,” Cassandra said, addressing Lauren and Jessica. “I completely understand if you feel out of place right now.”
“Oh, we‘re fine,” Lauren said, “especially since Bella cooks food that tastes as amazing as this.”
“Doesn‘t surprise me,” Jessica said. “She did tell us that she and Mortimer cooked together all the time.”
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Mortimer asked. It was the first time he had spoken since dinner started. I guessed it was because he had heard all of this from Bella when they were talking in the other room.
“We‘re going to Lauren‘s parents‘ house,” Bella said. “We spend Christmas day there every year.”
“Our families have been spending Christmas together since who knows when,” Jessica added.
“Over the years they‘ve become like family to me,” Bella said.
“If you‘re going over there for dinner, feel free to come over for lunch,” Cassandra said.
“You should call them and tell them the good news,” Jessica said.
“I will after dinner,” Bella replied.
Lauren looked at me.
“What about you?” she asked. “Why are you in town?”
“We wanted to go someplace warm for the holiday,” I said. It wasn’t a lie, I really was getting tired of the cold.
“Where are you from?” Jessica asked.
I thought for a second. Considering the Arizona license plates Strangetown was filled with, nothing would be suspicious about a major U.S. city.
Raven beat me to the punch though. “We live in San Francisco,” she said.
“My hometown is Chicago,” I added.
After dinner, we all headed back to the front room. Bella made a phone call to Lauren’s parents, and they were more than willing to let her leave for a couple hours to spend Christmas Day lunch with her family. After she hung up she went into the kitchen. Raven and I sat on the green couch talking to Lauren and Jessica, who sat on the couch across from us.
“What‘s it like in Chicago?” Jessica asked me.
“This time of year - freezing,” I said. Jessica made a horrible face.
“How cold does it get?” Lauren asked, “40 degrees?”
“Colder,” I said, “but there‘s a lot of snow.”
“I‘ve never seen snow,” Jessica said.
Bella came in the room carrying a tray with three mugs. She set the tray down on the coffee table and gave one mug to Lauren and another one to Jessica. Then Bella sat down in between them and took the third mug off the tray, blowing over the drink before taking a sip.
“Please don‘t tell me that‘s eggnog,” I said.
“Oh, no,” Bella replied, “it‘s hot chocolate.”
“Wait a minute, why are you drinking hot chocolate in the middle of the desert?”
“Because it‘s just not Christmas without it,” Jessica said.
“You want some?” Bella asked me.
“Sure.”
I was about to get up to get it when Bella said, “I‘ll get it for you. I'll bring out enough for everyone.” She stood up and placed her own mug on the coffee table.
“Really?” I said. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem,” Bella said as she headed for the kitchen.
She got the mugs and exited the kitchen just as Mortimer was going in. The two stopped in the doorway and Bella set the tray down on the counter top.
“Oh my gosh, Lauren, look!” Jessica said. She pointed to the kitchen doorway.
And that’s when I realized it - Bella and Mortimer were standing directly under the mistletoe.
A simple kiss on the check would have sufficed, but instead, as they got closer to each other, he headed directly for her mouth, and she headed for his. The kiss was full of passion, and I don’t think either of them wanted to stop.
When it was over, Bella rested her head on Mortimer’s shoulder, and he ran one of his hands through her hair.
Holding her close, he said the most important words that she had heard all day: “I still love you, Bella.”
“I love you too,” she said back.
They pulled away and Bella grabbed the tray off the counter and walked back to the sofas. She gave us our hot chocolate and sat down with Lauren and Jessica, who couldn’t contain their excitement.
“How‘d it go?” Jessica asked.
Bella smiled.
“That was the best I‘ve felt in a long time.”
​