Chapter Two

Ironically enough, Jody awoke to the alarm clock blaring Stairway To Heaven. Her sleep-fogged brain couldn’t remember where she’d put the clock the night before. Not being a morning person made getting up and starting each day a struggle. Early on, she’d discovered the only way to get her tired ass up and moving each morning would be to change the location of her alarm each night. Doing so forced her to wake up enough to find it and ensured she wouldn’t accidentally turn the alarm off and fall back to sleep.

On autopilot and eyes half shut, she sprang out of bed and ran toward the closet. Her leg clipped the reading table as she fumbled around the room. “Shit!” she screamed, grabbing the offended knee. Constrained to jumping on one foot, Jody struggled across the room to where she’d hidden the alarm the previous evening. Her foot tangled in clothing which had been carelessly thrown on the floor the night before. Not awake enough to keep herself from falling, her momentum propelled her into a heap only inches away from the alarm. A disembodied voice of one of her spirit guides yelled in jest, “timber.”

Very funny. I’m surrounded by comedians. Jody ground her teeth together out of frustration. Yanking on the alarm’s cord to jerk the plug from the wall effectively cut off the ear-splitting noise.

A contented sigh slipped through her lips as quiet filled the room. The pain in her knee forced her face into a tight grimace while she rolled onto her back and cursed the dawning day.

Upon opening her eyes, she found little Fiona standing over her brandishing a broad grin. The unexpected intrusion on her personal space had Jody’s supine body instinctively jerking away. The back of her head slammed against the closet doorframe.

“Ouch!” she bellowed while grabbing her now throbbing head.

A few tense moments passed before Fiona bent down and whispered in her ear. “Oops. Sorry, you bumped your head.”

Because of yet another invasion on her personal space by this headstrong child in such a short period of time as well as the full-blown headache she now had, Jody’s anger bubbled over. With little Fiona’s troubles momentarily forgotten, she couldn’t maintain her civility and snapped. “Fiona! What are you doing here? You can’t stay here.” She shot the little girl her most intimidating stare.

Ignorant evidently to the anxiety her presence caused, Fiona sat on the floor beside Jody and made herself comfortable. “I’m here because I want to speak to my mommy and daddy. Don’t you remember?”

Knowing there wasn’t a thing she could do to help Fiona made her heart sink. Feeling like a total heel for her outburst and more than a little defeated, all she could manage was a groan as her head slowly fell back to the floor. Being hostile wouldn’t help this situation at all. Trying to suppress the little girl’s emotional pain, which threatened to overwhelm her, she stole a few quick moments to compose herself before responding. Still lying flat on her back, she dug the palms of her hands into her eyes. She could only hope the pressure would ease her headache and ongoing heartache caused by this child.

Jody gathered her resolve enough to hazard a glance at Fiona. Undoubtedly, the child didn’t understand the rules of interacting with the living yet. Gritting her teeth again, she made the decision to be straight with the kid. Her intention wasn’t to cause pain or hurt her in any way. The poor child had experienced enough suffering in her short lifetime. Somehow she had to make Fiona understand that by continuously showing up like this, Jody’s sanity was put at risk. It wouldn’t be possible to be subjected to the little girl’s grief at all hours of the day and night. Such contact would prove to be a dangerous game of Russian roulette that would inevitably leave Jody’s body and soul the clear loser. Surely once that fact had been explained to Fiona, the sad little girl would keep her distance until her parents were present.

Garnering her strength, she took a deep breath and sat up. To ease the sting of her response, Jody drew closer and gently held onto Fiona’s hands. “Yes, Fiona, I remember. I know you need to speak with your mommy and daddy. But sweetheart, you can’t stay with me. You have to go. Are there any family members on the other side that can talk to you about the rules of visiting from your side of the veil—from Heaven? The protocol is very important and must be followed. Too much contact between you and I would have a disastrous effect on both of us.”

Guilt left her wincing as Fiona’s bottom lip started to quiver again. A large teardrop formed and fell from her eye, rolling slowly down her cheek. Imploring with unspoken words to let her stay, the child peered down at their clasped hands and then back into Jody’s eyes.

The thought of being stern with the little angel sitting in front of her had Jody’s gut twisting in knots. If she weren’t careful, she’d start to hyperventilate from all the deep cleansing breathing Fiona had forced upon her. Chanting her mantra to remember to breathe seemed to keep the emotional chaos attached to this little girl at bay—barely. There had to be some way to gain control over these encounters without heaping unnecessary pain on Fiona.

Squeezing the child’s hands to offer whatever comfort she could, Jody started to speak when her peripheral vision picked up movement next to Fiona. An older woman appeared and glided up to the little girl—sadness and anguish apparent on the woman’s face. Mesmerized, Jody couldn’t look away as the woman stroked Fiona’s hair.

“Come with me, child,” the woman cooed. “We’ll make some cookies and have a nice talk.”

The beauty of the love emanating from this woman for Fiona stole Jody’s breath. Because of her proximity, the older woman’s affection when she embraced the little girl enfolded Jody in the overlapping warmth. She was left spellbound by the raw emotion surging through the air as Fiona obediently stood and gave the woman her full attention.

“Grandma, I want to talk to my mommy.”

The grandmother bent down and placed a loving kiss on Fiona’s cheek. “I know you do, love. The time will be here soon enough when you will be able to do just that. For now, though, you need to come with me. You can’t stay here. I’ve told you, there are rules we need to follow. I suppose we’ll have to go over them again.”

As the apparitions slowly melted away, Fiona clung to her grandmother but managed to give a shy farewell wave to Jody. Still dazed from the force known as Fiona, the grandmother’s intervention was a pleasant affirmation that the little girl would be reined in, somehow.

In a moment of pure self-pity, Jody forced her chin to her chest. Disbelief over the crazy situation she’d found herself in was acknowledged with a slight sway of her head. Her fingers crossed in anticipation that the child’s grandmother would keep her word and teach little Fiona the rules of interaction and just how important they were. The toll already taken on her body had proved too great to allow a spirit like Fiona so much access.

Jody had no clue how or even when the time would come when all parties involved found themselves in the same place at the same time. They might not meet for days, weeks, or even years from now. As usual the timing would be left up to the Universe. For everyone’s sake, she prayed everything that needed to happen would fall into place allowing the reunion to occur sooner rather than later.