A Soul Mate's Promise (18 page)

“You okay now?”

“Yes, but…” I wrinkle my nose at him. “Would you be opposed to me taking a Xanax tonight?”

He takes a long deep breath and exhales. “No, I guess not.” He goes into the bathroom and comes out with a little pill and a glass of water.

“I thought you got rid of those, Gracie.”

“I promised not to take them-and I haven’t needed one in months.”

“Alright, lay back, relax and try to fall asleep. I’ll be in soon. He nestles me under the covers and bends down to touch his lips to mine. He pulls away but stays close, brushing the back of his hand to my cheek. Looking deep into my eyes, “I love you Gracie, he whispers. More than you’ll ever know.”

He kisses me again, slow and lingering a little longer. Then he kisses my forehead, straightens and clicks off the light.

I take his hand before he turns away. “I love you too, Sal.”

*       *       *

“I ship out at the crack of dawn.”

Sal is so tall and proud in his Marine dress blues; White belt, and hat that he calls a cover. He appears a little different but I can tell it’s Sal.

I raise my chin to him and pout, “I wish you didn’t have to go. I’ll be doing wedding plans by myself.” 

Placing his thumb and forefinger on my chin he chuckled. “You’ve got your mom to help. I’ll be back before you know it. It’s just six months more. Hey, look on the bright side. I’m stationed here in the states.”

I reach my arms around my handsome marine and hug him close. “Yeah, but, clear across the country in Hawaii. Doesn’t feel like the states to me.”

“It won’t be a vacation. I’ll be on the USS Oklahoma and when I get back we’ll get married. I promise–you’ll see. Hell, maybe I can send for you to come to Hawaii in six months time. We’ll get married there. That would be swell, right?”

“What–you mean like ELOPE?” I say with surprise. “What would my parents think?”

“You’re nineteen, Princess and you’re already wearing my ring–you’re practically mine. What could they think?”

He kisses me hard, and I giggle.

“Now, you ready to go? Get your sweater it’s cold out. Don’t want you getting sick.”

I reach for my sweater and steal a last minute glance in the mirror. That’s not my face–but, it’s me. I start to feel very strange and begin to panic. Suddenly to my right is a woman at a table with cards,
No–wait–that’s Amina.

She’s speaking to me and I’m back in St. Augustine. “Gracie, don’t be afraid of your past lives… nothing can hurt you. Your soul will guide you.”

Amina vanishes and I am back in the mirror putting a comb to my page boy styled hair. We’re so very young….

Next thing I know we’re at a dance, a USO dance. There are many soldiers around and big band swing music fills the huge room. It was all so familiar. I waved to other girls that I knew. Most of us were happy because our boys were stateside for the rest of their tours. Some like Sal would be stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The night was full of laughter and war stories…and hope.

Then, I’m home…not my home but familiar and I’m in the kitchen making toast. I look out the window at a snowy cold morning.

“Ah you started the coffee. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mom. No problem.”

“What’s happening with that toast, baby? It smells like it’s burning.”

I blink in my mother’s direction–she reminds me of Celine–but I know she is my mom.

“No, it’s alright–you want a piece?” I ask.

“Sure, with jelly,” she answers.

“How ‘bout a little morning music?” She pushes a button on the dark brown radio. At first there is static. She tunes it in and it’s the news. A reporter is yelling something about the Japanese have just bombed Pearl Harbor.

I drop the jelly jar and it crashes to the floor. My mom has her hands to her mouth and is screaming DEAR GOD NO! She holds out an arm to me
and motions to me.

“Come here baby, it’ll be alright…he’s all right”

I’m too shocked to cry, but tears wash down my face that I did not feel.

“He’s not dead, mom,” I say, my body violently shaking. “I know it. He will come home to me–he promised.”

“Shhh, shhh…my baby girl, yes I know.” She tries soothing me the only way a mother can, both of us sitting on the floor next to broken glass and jelly rocking back and forth.

Overwhelming sadness fills my head like a fog and my stomach is so rancid it feels as though I’ve been poisoned. Standing there in a cemetery, so close to Christmas, I watch other Marines fold a flag and hand it to me. I feel nothing but pure rage. I don’t hear people talking to me. I don’t feel their hands holding me.

The rope hangs firm and I’m balancing on a chair in front of it up in the attic. It’s so cold up here I can see my breath coming out in puffs of smoke. I put the dog tags I was given around my neck. Soon I will be with him–I know he is waiting for me. I kick out the chair from beneath me.

I can’t breathe and my body begins to twitch. Some how calmly I accept the fate of what I have done.

“BREATHE…GRACIE!”

I awake to Sal holding me by my arms. I focus and take a deep breath and exhale.

“Gracie, you were coughing–you stopped breathing. What happened?”

Still taking in gulps of air I put my hands up. “I’m fine, I’m okay…a vision. Oh my god, Sal, it was so real–I know it was.”

“Shh, okay, shh…just keep breathing. Calm down, I want to make sure you’re fine.” He loosened his grip on my arms and lightly rubbed them instead. His voice is shaky. “Again, you have scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, getting out of bed on wobbly legs.

“Hey, hey..where you going?” he shouts, “be careful.”

Before I can reply, he’s out of bed and at my side, propping me up.

“Sal listen, I need to get on the computer. I dreamt you were stationed at Pearl Harbor in the 1940’s. That’s how you died. I want to look some things up while it’s still fresh in my mind.”

“Gracie,” he says my name like he’s speaking to a small child, “It might upset you even more. Don’t you think you had enough trauma for one night?”

Stepping away from him in quick paces I pull him by the arm. “Come on. I’m fine, really. Remember Amina the psychic?

He rolls his eyes but nods.

“Well for some reason, she was in my dream, my mind went over what she told me to do the next time I have a dream like this, to stay clam, it’s just a vision. It can’t hurt me, to follow my soul to guide me. Remember?”

“Jesus, Gracie, you’re scaring me–and you know I’ve seen a lot of shit!”

I look at him and see the fear – and worry – on his face, but I know this is what I have to do. He follows close behind me as I make my way into the study. I move the mouse to fire up the computer and I search for WWII the USS Oklahoma.

Sal gives me a questioning shrug.

“In my dream this time, you were stationed in Pearl Harbor on that ship.”

I hit the search button and we both read about the horrible fate of the sailor’s and Marines who lost their lives when the Oklahoma was hit and sunk by several bombs and torpedoes. It capsized in battleship row. Many were trapped inside and below the water line. Though the trapped men banged on the hull, they could not be rescued. The few survivors never forgot how horrible it was to hear the banging and how much worse it was when it stopped.

“Jesus Christ, Gracie. Did you dream that?”

“No, thank god,” I whisper, wiping the tears that drizzle down my face. “I just wanted to know what happened to that ship. In my dream, we were making wedding plans, so happy because you were stateside.” I smile at the memory.

Sal leans against the desk facing me and crosses his arms over his chest. His expression urging me to go on.

“You only had six months more of duty and you thought maybe you send for me and we would get married in Hawaii. You had on your dress blues, we went to a USO dance.” I said, with half a smile, still wiping my eyes and nose.

“That’s pretty detailed Gracie. But you were choking–you stopped breathing!”

“Oh that, well…” I hesitate for a moment and compose myself.  “I was completely wrecked Sal–I hung myself.”

“You did what?” he snaps.

“In my dream I could not live without you so I went to be with you.”

He drops his arms, hitting the desk. “This is not happening,” he says, shaking his head.

I sniff back more tears. “I think it did.”

He cocks his head to the side and scrunches his eyebrows together. “Are you getting any names that we could research?”

I shake my head. “No, I never hear any names, but you did call me, Princess. Now whether that’s just past lives mixing with new I don’t know. Oh and Celine was there–she was my mother. She called me
baby
like she does now. Isn’t that funny?”

Sal reaches over and hits the home button with the mouse to shut the computer down. “That’s enough. My brain is gonna explode. Let’s go back to bed.” Reaching and lifting me up out of the chair,  he adds, “You’re going to tell Dr. Brooks all about this on Monday. He’ll get to the bottom of this.”

As we lay in bed spooning, I think about what Dr. Brooks might say about this–or do? What if he gives me medicine to take the dreams away? Or what if he wants to hypnotize me and it makes me forget?
I don’t want to forget
.

Some how those dreams or visions are a part of me, a part of Sal–and intertwined in us–they make me feel such a deep connection to him. I have never felt this kind of love. There is a deep ache in my chest that pulls me to him and him to me. I don’t want to lose that feeling. I understand why my past-life soul took her life. I would rather call Amina than go see the shrink.

I hear Sal’s breathing slow and steady. I feel puffs of air on my shoulder. His legs are wrapped around mine and his arms have me in a secure embrace.

At last, I’m peaceful.

I wake up in the morning to bright sunlight and Toby, walking on Sal, then me. It would seem we’ve slept in after our big night.

“Alright, Toby. I’m getting up,” I say with a yawn.

With a bark, he hops off the bed and trots to the bedroom door, pacing in circles.

“I know how he feels,” Sal says, “I got to go, too.”

I run down the stairs with Toby so I can put him out. When I open the back entrance I see Antonio making his way over to us. Toby gets a morning pat and goes about his business.

Giving him a little smile, I wave to him. “Morning, Pop.”

“Good morning, Caro. Are you feeling any better since last night?”

“To tell you the truth Pop, I’m not sure
what
I feel. What would have happened if Sal wasn’t in my life? Or if something had happened to him?” I shudder at the thoughts.

I move aside so he can wheel himself inside, Toby following after. I suddenly feel two arms come around me from behind.

“Morning Pop–and good morning, Princess.” Sal plants a chaste kiss to my lips. “What about your life?” he asks.

“Just reflecting on last night and our good fortune. Last night could have gone quite differently…”

Sal shrugs with a bit of a frown. “I’d like to believe you would have passed out and he would have just ripped the necklace off your neck. But I have witnessed things go bad real quick–and, to be honest, when I saw the text, I didn’t think. Some asshole was holding a gun on you. I just reacted with my training.” He cupped my chin with his hand. “No one will ever hurt you, Gracie.”

Tears sting my eyes. Only my own father would have protected me as desperately. I’m still in awe. In the vastness of the universe this man collided into my life. I focus on his gaze. “How did I get so blessed?”

“I am the one who’s blessed, Gracie.” Kissing me again then patting me on the bottom he says, “Go get dressed. Pop and I will start breakfast.”

*       *       *

“I tried-a-last night not to get her too upset. I didn’t want to worry her,” Antonio said to his son.

“I know, Pop. She’ll be okay–she’s tougher then she thinks.”

“That perp last night, we all-a-know he was hired but I just don’t know why. I didn’t want to confirm too much in front of-a-her.”

Sal handed his father a mug of coffee and started cracking eggs in a bowl. “How different is the break in she had here compared to the one her in-laws had when you got hurt?”

“Totally different. They were-a-two stupid young boys trying to get an initiation into a gang. They came to this part of town to burglarize and shoot someone whether they killed them or not. Gracie’s incident however, seems like a personal thing.”

Sal nodded his head. “That’s what I was thinking too, Pop. Vengeance? But from who and why? That’s what’s not adding up here.” Sal stopped prepping breakfast for a moment. “You have been around here and knew the family a long time, You can’t think of anyone who wants revenge for anything?”

“Not really, but-a the Boumont’s have passed on, why not go after Richard? Why Gracie? And she’s almost divorced. I can’t make a connection.”

*       *       *

I grab my towel and wrap it around me. The steam from my shower fills the bathroom and soothes my nerves. I hear my cell phone ring and see it’s Richard.

“Great,” I mutter under my breath, “just what I need.” I touch the button, suck in a deep breath and answer the call.

“Hello, Richard,” I say as flatly as I can, surprisingly, my heart isn’t racing and my breath isn’t short.

“Grace, for Christ-sake, what happened last night?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” I say with a grin. I think I’m finally free of my reactions to him and that makes me very happy.

“Okay, really, Grace.” He sighs. “Look, I know you’re fine I came back last night to see if I could help but the police wouldn’t let me near you. I’m not a monster Grace–I am sorry I come off that way to you. I really am happy that you weren’t hurt. I heard Antonio’s son killed the son of a bitch.”

“Yes, he did but, I ah…I had a panic attack and passed out so I really don’t know much. Thank god for Mimi—if she had left the bathroom five minutes earlier I don’t know what could have been.”

“Yes, Mimi mentioned all this to me last night. He wanted mom’s necklace?”

“Your mother gave that to me Rich, it’s
my
necklace.”

“Grace stop. You know what I mean—”

I’m going to set this straight right now
. “No, I
never
know what you mean–that’s the problem, Richard. I always feel defensive around you. You’ve never let me in and you’ve never really recognized me as your family. I never once felt truly wanted.”

“Grace, honestly, I didn’t mean that the way it came out. Just let me expla….”

“Richard, I’m running late for breakfast and I don’t really want to have this conversation. I’m doing fine. In fact, I’m better then fine. Sal and Antonio love me and care for me, something you never did. Or, knew how to do.”

“That’s not true…”

“Richard please, Soon I’ll sign the final divorce paper–thank you. I’m sorry I was such a burden to you when we were married–I don’t think we were ever meant to be–I know that now. I don’t know if the break in and last night’s attack are connected or not, but my guys and the police are working on it. There’s no need to be concerned but thanks for calling, Richard. Goodbye.”

*       *       *

Sal was cooking bacon and glanced at his father. “Hey, ahh…Gracie,” he started. “She ahh… she had an other dream last night”

“She did? What was-a-this one about?” Antonio’s asked carefully.

The bacon sizzled as Sal turned it in the pan. “Pop, it’s all so crazy–when she comes down why don’t you ask her? She believes all these dreams are visions and really happened. I’m just hoping she isn’t losing her mind with everything that’s been going on.”

Antonio put down his coffee mug and looked curiously at his son. “You don’t believe? You said-a-to me not so long ago how you fell so quickly for her, how you feel a connection to her, and how strongly the need to protect her is. Come on son, you have had your fun with plenty-a-women–you never felt this way before.”

Sal leaned over the counter propping himself on his elbows, shook his head and chuckled in surrender.

Antonio clapped his hands together and laughed uproariously. “AH HA!” He pointed at his son. “Because you are meant to be–things happen, son. Don’t question–miracles happen some-a-times.”

“So you believe, then?”

“Son, I’m an old man. I have seen many things I can not understand. The fact that you are here now and in love is a miracle.”

*       *       *

During breakfast we talk about the events of the night prior, Sal and pop tell me not to worry but I do. I catch a glimpse of sadness in Antonio’s features when I tell him about my latest dream. As I tell my story Sal comes closer to me and holds my hand, coaxing me to sit on his lap.

When I’m done pop went home and Sal and I decided to brave the cooler breezy weather and take a stroll on the beach with Toby.

I talked to Sal about my phone call with Richard.

“You know, he sounded genuinely concerned.”

Sal’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? When did the Tin Man get his heart?”

“I don’t know. But, I basically blew him off and cut the conversation short. I feel a little bad now. I think he was calling to see how I was. I’m just so used to him yelling and making everything my fault, I’m not going to give him that opportunity.” Sal takes me in an embrace and gives me a wide grin.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You,” he says. ”You’re stronger now than when I met you. Everyday I watch a light come back to your eyes. The real you was trampled down. Now you’re resurfacing. You laugh more and you’re more confident in yourself.”

Smiling back at him, I poke him in the ribs. “It’s because of you, Sal. I feel loved.”

Sal runs his fingers through my hair, cupping the nape of my neck. “Yes, Princess, but you are learning to love yourself–that’s where you get your strength from–then no one can break you down, ever again.”

*       *       *

That night in bed I’m thumbing through my new issue of Entertainment weekly while Sal is in the study on the computer. Checking the buzz I hear on my cell, I smile when I spot it’s a text from Maggie.

Hey…you up?

YES!

Within a second my phone chimes. “Hey Mags, did you get the picture?” I ask.

“Yes I did! How was the benefit?”

“Well it all started like a fairy tale then turned into a very scary nightmare. I was mugged in the bathroom at the Marriott!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

I get to tell what little I know about the entire event. I hear Maggie catching her breath from time to time, but she doesn’t interrupt. Finally, I stop talking, afraid to say the words.

“What, Gracie? WHAT?!” she hisses at me.

“Well…” my voice catches. I whisper, “Sal killed him.”

I hear Maggie suck in air. “He did? Oh my god, Gracie, is Sal all right?”

“Yes, he’s doing fine. I just keep feeling sick when I think about how this could of turned out…what if he was killed trying to help me. How would I live with that?”

”Don’t do that, honey. If everyone is all right, you have to focus on that. I can’t believe this has happened to you of all people, but I’m so glad Sal and Mimi were there for you.”

“Yes, so am I.” Some tears slip down my cheeks at the thought of the alternatives and I wipe at them. Toby comes closer and tries to lick at my face.

“I swear your going to give me heart failure one day Gracie. Where is Sal now?”

“He’s on the computer, he still keeps up with his work, plus I think he is doing a little detective work surrounding what’s been going on around here.”

“Wow, Gracie, unbelievable!” So, she says, jesting, “check you out sleeping with the Secret Service. Just like that movie, The Bodyguard!”

We both break up with laughter. “Mags, I can always count on you for comic relief.”

“Glad to be of service,” she says on a chuckle. “Oh yeah, Gracie, before I forget, the picture you sent? You looked stunning as always, and, Sal is a very handsome guy. Mike even said Sal looks like he stepped out of GQ! I have to tell you though, the way you’re dressed and posed in this picture with Sal, I don’t know why…but, it just seems like I’ve seen this picture somewhere before.”

“What are you talking about, Mags? You mean like a deja vu?”

“Yeah, it just kind of hit a chord somewhere in my gut. Don’t get me wrong now, I love the picture. I don’t feel bad vibes, I feel really
good
ones. You look very happy. I just get a familiar feeling when I look at the both of you in this picture. You both look like royalty, or something.”

I chuckle at my best friend’s comment. I inform her of my latest dream and my appointment to see his psychiatrist.

“Gotta tell ya Gracie, go for it. They know about stuff like past life regression–and if we mix in what the psychic told you, how can we not believe? You’re not crazy–I feel it too, every time I look at this picture. Keep me in the loop, okay? We’ll chat soon, my friend.”

“Thanks, Mags, I will. I’m glad you called–I always feel better after a chat with you.”

“Yep, me too, Gracie. Good night!”

*       *       *

The next morning Sal brought me coffee in bed.

“Good morning, Princess, I noticed you slept well last night.”

“I did, no dreams, did you sleep good?” I ask.

He nods once, “I did too.”

I take a sip and look at him, I have the appointment with Dr. Brooks later. I’m a little nervous about it.”

Sal stood and leans over to kiss me on my nose. “You’ll do fine, Dr. Brooks helped me.” Sal took his thumb and rubs at the crease between my eyebrows. “Don’t worry, nothing to be concerned about, then he seals his lips to mine.

*       *       *

I left the veterinary clinic just early enough to get to Dr. Brooks’ office ten minutes before my scheduled appointment.

I walk into the small waiting area, surprised to see how simple and quiet it is with only a couple of chairs and magazines. There’s no receptionist, just another door with a smoky glass window. I’m just about to take a seat when the door opens and Dr. Brooks pops his head out.

“Gracie,” he says, smiling, “come on in.”

“I’m early Dr. Brooks. I didn’t know if I was supposed to knock or..”

Dr. Brooks shakes my hand, his eyes kind, his manner friendly. He’s my kind of person in jeans and a button down shirt, no tie, and a pair of loafers.