Spring Fever

  Spring Fever

  Barbara Winkes

  Eternal Press

  A division of Damnation Books, LLC.

  P.O. Box 3931

  Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998

  www.eternalpress.biz

  Spring Fever

  by Barbara Winkes

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-62929-135-2

  Print ISBN: 978-1-62929-136-9

  Cover art by: Dawné Dominique

  Edited by: Juanita Kees

  Copyright 2014 Barbara Winkes

  Printed in the United States of America

  Worldwide Electronic & Digital Rights

  Worldwide English Language Print Rights

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any form, including digital and electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the Publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For D.

  Thank you’s to: Carrie Kimbrough for invaluable input on my stories, the fabulous team at Eternal Press, Kim Richards, Erin Lale, Sally Franklin Christie, Carolyn Crow, and Amanda Kelsey for turning my stories into books, my fellow authors and bloggers who have welcomed me on their sites, and you, the fans of Callie and Rebecca!

  Chapter One

  She sat in the first row pew—an act of defiance in the church where the minister was convinced she would go to Hell. On this sunny, warm Sunday morning, Rebecca had more profane issues to deal with. She cast a sideways glance over at Callie who sat next to her, looking pale and withdrawn. Maybe she had nightmares too—like Maggie. The girl had kept them up most nights in the past week. First, by waking up screaming, and then when she couldn’t sleep alone and ended up sleeping between them.

  Maggie was better this morning. David had picked her up for the trip they were going on with Maggie’s older sister, Dina. Some time away from Autumn Leaves would do her good.

  Rebecca could have used some time away as well. Time that wasn’t dedicated to work, to acknowledge the changes in her life and the lives of those she loved.

  She moved her hand on the wooden surface, barely an inch, so her fingers brushed against Callie’s. Callie flinched, startled out of thoughts that, Rebecca suspected, had little to do with Father Reynolds’s sermon or his disapproving looks.

  Rebecca only half listened too. She still came to this church, because the place held memories of all the cornerstones in her life—her wedding, the baptism of her daughters, and the day she’d found the insane courage to confront those who whispered behind her back. She and Father Reynolds had reached a stalemate—neither of them were going anywhere. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best she could have at the moment—at least where this particular part of her life was concerned.

  She was done feeling guilty.

  Somewhere along the line, the realization set in. She’d begun a new relationship by cheating, suffered that fact, and paid her dues in the process.

  Maggie’s nightmares, and Callie’s for that matter, came from a different source. The sky hadn’t fallen over Autumn Leaves, people moved on. Her friends were still on her side.

  Hopefully, David’s trip with the girls would allow her and Callie to spend some time together without the interference of the more or less well-meaning. God—and everyone else—knew they’d had enough of that in the past months. Nicole, Callie’s ex, had made an unwelcome appearance. On the bright side, she hadn’t tried to contact Callie in weeks.

  Craig, David’s brother, snapped after his wife’s death, and kidnapped Maggie. He hadn’t hurt her, according to both of their statements.

  The memory was enough to make her whole body tense up. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her purse in a white-knuckled grip. There was no love lost between Rebecca and her former brother-in-law. Of every possible candidate, she held him most responsible for Maggie’s night terrors. One of these days, she would confront him if David didn’t—or maybe, regardless of what David did.

  She and Callie not only deserved some time to themselves, but they needed it badly. Maggie would be fine. She was thrilled to go on a vacation with David and Dina—the first time since last year’s trip to Disneyland.

  The weekend it all started…when Rebecca and Callie first made love.

  Maybe it was an act of defiance to let her mind wander there, in this place of all places, but maybe this was the perfect place to think about love.

  “Please say you’ll stay for a coffee and maybe put a few coins in that jar,” Betty urged her when they were standing outside after the service. “You didn’t forget our fund-raiser today, did you?”

  “‘Course not.” They’d talked about the fund-raising effort for the county’s women’s shelter yesterday at brunch, Rebecca remembered. She fished a bill out of her wallet and put it in the jar. “There you go. That coffee better be good.”

  “It’s great. I borrowed Roz’s fancy coffee maker. Callie? Can I get you one too?”

  “Why not? It’s not like we have anywhere to go.”

  Rebecca observed the two women closely—her lover and her oldest friend struggling to keep a polite conversation with each other. The smiles and the friendly tone were still a bit strained. She couldn’t blame Callie. Betty had thrown an inappropriate tantrum in her home before she managed to take a step back and reflect on the reasons for her behavior. At least, Betty was trying. Rebecca had to give her that.

  Her gaze wandered back to Callie, who accepted the paper cup from Betty. Callie’s expression and the tense set of her shoulders made her look anxious, like she was about to miss an important appointment. Rebecca wanted to ask her about it, but at that moment, their friend Roz arrived, carrying a tray of cupcakes.

  “Hey, girls! I see there’s money in the jar. That’s awesome—so it’s not just Betty and me. That’s great of you to help out.”

  “Actually, we didn’t—”

  “Rebecca, please? Just for an hour or so. It’s for a good cause, and I’ll spend the time rounding up folks who haven’t left for home yet.”

  Without a doubt, Roz would be successful at that.

  “I guess we could stay an hour…” Rebecca corrected her statement when Callie looked like she was about to cry. “Give me a moment.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked when they’d walked a few feet away. “We can go home if—”

  “You can stay. I’m going to go and lie down for a bit.”

  “I could drive you and come back?”

  “No, thanks. I’ll walk.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. Don’t worry,” Callie whispered, and then she stepped into Rebecca’s embrace, holding on tight.

  “I might join you later. We could both use a good night’s sleep, even if it’s in the afternoon. You’ll be waiting for me?”

  As they held each other’s gaze, there was the implication that sleep might not be all they’d be doing. Rebecca would have loved to kiss her but thought twice about it. There was defiance, and then there was risking the kind of attention that would make Father Reynolds remove both of them from the church grounds.

  “Always,” Callie said before she turned to walk away. Rebecca stood and watched her for a moment, torn between anticipation and a sense of impending dread. She shook her head to herself as she went to join her friends again. The lack of sleep would make her paranoid, if she wasn’t careful.

  * * * *

  This was the perfect moment to stage he
r getaway. Callie was all alone in the house—no curious little girl around to ask uncomfortable questions. Rebecca would be gone for at least another hour, more than enough time to get this over with.

  It was the second time in the past couple of years that she was about to run because of Nicole. Like the last time, Callie threw clothes into a suitcase without care, her vision impaired by tears. Like the last time, the outcome was unsure. She did some research, found a company Facebook page and an address. That was the easy part.

  Callie could only imagine what her hasty flight would look like to Rebecca, and she hated doing this to her. She didn’t think there was an alternative, not with Nicole’s regular messages over the past few days, with vague but unmistakable subtext. In fact, if there were, she would have found it when lately she obsessed about the subject every minute of the day. Rebecca deserved better, but Callie couldn’t do better until she’d answered the question that haunted her.

  Nicole would gladly take the credit for how she’d perfected the art of repressing memories. The truth was, the events leading to the moment Callie couldn’t ignore the past any longer, were piling up.

  It wasn’t just Nicole. Betty’s son was bullied by the same nightmare teens who had harassed Callie, and Rebecca’s family. They’d committed even worse crimes, for which they’d gone to prison.

  Callie wished she could lock away the voice that insisted she’d failed a friend when she needed her most. There was nowhere left to hide—that Nicole had taken care of.

  How’s Rebecca doing? she’d asked in her last text message. The question wasn’t as innocent as it sounded. In fact, it was meant to be a reminder. Nicole was back in New York, but there was no doubt she could do a lot of damage, even from afar, if Callie didn’t act first. The truth was bad enough—knowing Nicole, she would spice it up with a few lies.

  Rebecca was in town, Maggie in school when Callie booked the plane ticket, having a crying fit after she’d made the payment with her credit card.

  The night before, Maggie had one of those bad dreams, the memory burdening Callie’s conscience even more. She knew she was leaving them in the middle of a crisis, which was a terrible thing to do to someone you loved.

  However, when they’d last met, Nicole said Rebecca would leave her first if she knew.

  When Nicole announced bad things to happen, she was usually right.

  She had to act first. Even in her state of confusion, and more or less irrational fear, Callie was aware of how Nicole managed to manipulate her still. Her only consolation was she would finally find closure, one way or another. That would be the end to the story. After that, Nicole would have no more power over her.

  She had to write a note so that Rebecca would at least know she wasn’t in immediate danger and was planning to come back. The words didn’t come easily, because it was hard to justify what she was about to do. She thought of Rebecca touching her hand earlier in church for everyone to see, even though she knew there were people who would judge her for it, frown upon it.

  Callie picked up the phone and called a cab, hoping the words would come under pressure. High hopes, like the ones she’d had for herself and the woman she loved. She closed the suitcase, scribbled a few vague words, and jumped to her feet as she heard the sound of a car. She’d feel better eventually, after that encounter. When she came back home.

  Callie opened the front door and came face-to-face with Rebecca.

  “Why is there a cab waiting in front of—”

  She could tell the moment Rebecca understood from the way she blanched, so rapidly that Callie feared she might faint.

  “No.”

  “It’s not what you think. I swear. It—it’s just for a few days.” Rebecca’s reaction was so visceral, her fear so obvious, it broke Callie’s heart. “I’ll explain when I come back.”

  “No. Explain it to me now.”

  The cab driver…the plane ticket…Nicole…the girl she remembered. Everything faded in comparison to Rebecca’s despair. Rebecca was by far the strongest person Callie had ever met, but the idea that Callie might leave her was all it took to make her crumble.

  Ignoring the driver’s honking, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Rebecca. Nothing told, nothing solved, but she couldn’t stand to fail one more time.

  * * * *

  In a heartbeat, everything made sense. Callie’s silence and subdued moods, her hasty exit earlier this morning, a chance to get away—but from what?

  Rebecca held her close, afraid that if she loosened her embrace just a bit, Callie might still try to sneak out of that door. At least Callie didn’t seem in a hurry to step back either, because that would mean words and reasoning. Rebecca pushed back any fear and anger, emotions that would only stand in the way. They had no place here. Callie wasn’t leaving her, but she had planned on leaving and not telling Rebecca about it.

  It was true they didn’t have a lot of time to talk, or Rebecca wasn’t willing enough to listen. Maggie occupied her mind, and the worry that David might blame her for not taking good enough care of their daughter.

  “Is your mom okay? Your brother?” she asked, feeling selfish she’d thought this could be about her in the first place.

  Callie nodded against her chest.

  “Asha?”

  “Yes. As far as I know.” She finally looked up at Rebecca, her expression holding no reassurance.

  “You? Is there anything—?”

  “No!”

  In spite of Callie’s instant response, Rebecca felt she was about to hyperventilate, her chest painfully tight. “Okay. Let’s sit for a moment and talk.”

  “Oh, God. I’m afraid that when I tell you, you’ll want me to go.”

  Breathing still wasn’t easy, but Rebecca was getting the hang of it. With another honk, the cab driver backed out of the parking spot and left.

  “That’s not going to happen.” That’s not us. She reached out to take Callie’s hand and tugged. “Come with me.”

  Callie’s eyes grew wide when Rebecca steered her toward the bedroom.

  * * * *

  “You said earlier that you wanted to lie down for a bit. Let’s do that.”

  Callie had mixed feelings about Rebecca’s approach, but what room did she have to argue? Mostly, she felt silly and embarrassed about causing more drama than either of them needed.

  “Come on. Humor me. I’m not going to be mad. Besides, that’s tough when you don’t have a firm surface underneath you.”

  Callie smiled at Rebecca’s reference to the waterbed she was still fascinated with after all those months they’d been together. She felt herself relax in spite of the situation or her feelings. The reason might be sheer exhaustion because of sleepless nights, the secrecy, and her over-active imagination that never failed to come up with worst-case scenarios. There was something relaxing about this place too, and the fact Rebecca wasn’t angry with her, even though Callie would still need to explain her actions to her.

  “It’s not a nice story.”

  “I didn’t think it was.”

  “Well…okay, then.” Callie turned away, so she wouldn’t face Rebecca, but Rebecca leaned closer to put an arm around her waist. Would she still want to be close once she knew?

  “Nicole was the only one I ever told about this, and you can guess it was a bad idea. Not right away. She didn’t tell anyone, but she said she’d tell you. There’s no way to sugarcoat this. In high school, there was a girl in my class who tried to kill herself.”

  “That must have been terrible for you.” Rebecca’s tone was careful, almost neutral, her confusion obvious. “What’s it to Nicole though? Frankly, I didn’t get the impression that she cares so much.”

  “Beth was bullied a lot, for months. We all should have seen it coming. I should have anyway, and guess what? I did nothing!”

  “Did you see it coming?” Rebecca’s tone was calm, without judgment.

  “I don’t know. I was too wrapped up in myself too scared they might t
urn on me, which they would have. This is probably the worst, that I made it all about me. See, I had this crush on another girl, and I knew what it meant. I was okay with it—or that’s what I thought—but I was scared that if they started picking on me, my friends would eventually turn away too.”

  This time, Rebecca was silent, but she didn’t move—still providing the safe space in the circle of her arms. Callie had spent a long time looking for someone who wouldn’t leave her, no matter how much of a disappointment she turned out to be. She’d been willing to make arrangements and compromises, and she’d gone at it all wrong.

  “I know how that feels,” Rebecca finally said.

  “You weren’t a coward about it. There wasn’t just one chance to do the right thing. I had plenty. They called her names, pushed her around, and all I did was hide in my corner.”

  “Hey. Look at me.”

  Reluctantly, Callie did.

  “I admit there are times when this place feels like high school, but it’s still different. As an adult, you have options. You can walk away or simply choose not to care about what others say. When I was a teenager, believe me, I spent most of the time trying to stay under the radar. I know, that doesn’t make it better for the girl, but why would you take the blame all by yourself? Did she ever hint at you that she was having suicidal thoughts?”

  Callie shook her head.

  “I get you,” Rebecca said. “I really do. We spent week after week trying to figure out what to do about Chip, if there was anything Betty and Charles missed. I am scared this could happen to Maggie and Dina. Frankly, I’d feel guilty too, if I was in your place, but why run away? What good would that do?”

  “I found out where she lives,” Callie confessed. “She runs a small consulting firm with her husband, not far from here, actually. I wanted to see her, get her perspective before I talked to you.”

  “Why?”

  Rebecca’s simple question exposed everything that was wrong about her motivation to start with.