Chapter One: When, Where, Why, How?
THIS BOOK IS NOT A STAND ALONE BOOK. BEFORE CONTINUING, PLEASE READ BOOK ONE - Her Ghost Lover
~*~
Candace Donaldson opened her eyes and sat up.
Where am I? She wondered as she looked around her, then realized she was in the cemetery. How did I get here?
The last thing she remembered was falling to her death. Then a bright light had surrounded her. She cried as she covered her face with her hands. She didn’t know how long she sat there crying.
What in the world is going on?
“Oh, Jacob.” She sobbed.
Maybe she had died, and she’s now in hell.
“Who’s there?”
Candace lifted her head. She would know that voice anywhere.
“Whoever is there, this is private property.”
Candace jumped to her feet and stared at the man across the cemetery from her.
“Jacob!” She cried out as she ran into his arms. “Oh, Jacob.” She said as she started kissing his face, his neck, his mouth.
It can’t be hell, not if Jacob is here. It must be heaven!
Jacob took hold of her shoulders and moved her back from him.
“Who the hell are you, lady?”
Candace sobbed. “How can you not remember me? Did you lose your memory when you went to heaven? Wait, why do I have my memories? Are we still on Earth?”
Jacob looked at the strange woman. She was exquisite but seemed to be a bit touched in the head.
“I assure you, we are on Earth, and very much alive.”
Candace stared at Jacob. Alive? She reached her hand out and touched his warm cheek. Her Jacob had always been a little chilly to the touch. Alive! Jacob is alive! But how?
“Wh… what years is this?” She asked, her voice shaking.
“Two thousand and nine.” Jacob said as he studied the woman’s face.
Jacob caught her as she fainted and grunted. Just what he needed, a woman who seemed to have come from a looney bin, passed out in his arms. With a heavy sigh, he lifted her into his arms. She seemed to fit just right in his arms. And what was this strange hold she had on him?
He had felt her from his room. The retching cries had torn at his heart. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from investigating, and when he’d seen her, his heart had wrenched with her sobs.
He turned and headed towards the house.
“Master Jacob.” Mark Colliour, the Postal’s butler, greeted as he opened the front door for the young man. “What happened?” He asked as he looked at the young woman in his arms.
“I found her crying in the cemetery, and then she passed out.” Jacob said as he headed for the stairs.
“I will get Jamie.” Mark said as he headed towards the staff’s resident side of the mansion.
Jamie Colliour is Mark’s daughter. Both have been a part of the Postal staff for over twenty years.
Jacob nodded as he started up the stairs. “I will put her in the blue room.” He said before Mark disappeared.
Jacob laid the woman on the bed in the blue room, then stood back and stared at her. She had acted as though she knew him. But how could that be? He would know if he met this woman before tonight. Her face was one you could never forget.
“Move aside.” Jamie said as she came into the room.
Jacob moved out of the maid’s way as she moved to check on the woman.
“Tell me what happened.” Jamie said as she started checking the woman over.
Jacob told her everything, even his feeling her emotions and then being pulled to the cemetery. He doesn’t know why, but he has always told Jamie everything when she askes in that tone of voice.
“Nana.” Jamie mumbled.
“What does your grandmother have to do with anything?” He asked as he stared at her.
Jamie Colliour and her grandmother were both considered eccentric. His father called them Witches. Jacob has never believed in that sort of thing.
“Nothing.” Jamie said as she shooed him from the room.
“She can’t stay here.” He said as he pointed to the woman on the bed.
Jamie snorted. “There are enough rooms in this house, her staying in one won’t hurt anything.”
Jacob opened his mouth to reply to that, and the door was closed in his face. With a grunt, he went in search of his father.
~*~
Candace opened her eyes and looked around her. Where am I now? She wondered as her eyes continued to survey the room.
She spotted two women talking, one was a young woman in her early thirties, and the other an older woman. They looked enough alike; Candace could tell they’re related.
“She’s awake.” The older woman said as she pointed at Candace.
The young woman turned to Candace and smiled. “How are you feeling?” She asked.
“Light headed.” Candace whispered.
The woman nodded. “That’s normal after passing out.”
Everything came back to Candace all at once, and she sat up in bed. “Jacob.” She cried.
“You’re not from here, as in this time, are you?” The older woman asked.
Candace looked at the woman. She saw kindness in the woman’s warm brown eyes and smiled.
“No.” Wait, she didn’t mean to say that. Now they will lock me away.
The older woman patted her on the hand. “We won’t let anyone lock you away. There is a reason God sent you to us, isn’t there?”
“I… I don’t know.” Candace said with a sniffle as a tear slid down her cheek.
“You need not be afraid.” The younger woman said. “My name is Jamie, and this is my grandmother Margerate.”
“I… I’m Candace.”
Jamie smiled. “Nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends.”
Candace smiled. “I hope so too.” And she meant it.
“Ready to tell us your story?” Margerate asked.
“Nana. You can wait until morning.” Jamie said as she looked at her grandmother. She then looked at Candace and smiled. “Sleep, for now, Candace.”
Candace nodded as she laid back and closed her eyes.
“But why is she here, and where or when has she come from?” Margerate asked.
Jamie put her finger to her lips to hush her nana, then led her from the room.
“Did you not see the haunted look in the girl’s eyes?” Jamie asked once they were in the hall.
Margerate nodded. “She has seen things.”
“Yes. But we need to let her sleep, for now.” Jamie said as she headed down the hall, away from the room.
~*~
Jacob couldn’t sleep, and the stupid song, tossing and turning, played over and over in his head. Why would he think of that song?
A vision of himself singing the song while sitting in the chair by the double doors; flashed through his mind.
He shook his head. He has never done that. What is going on? Ever since he had found that woman in the cemetery, strange things have been happening. Even Jamie has felt it. Why else would she call in her grandmother?
A feeling of despair filled his senses, overtaking his body, and he knew it wasn’t his feelings. With a grunt, he crawled out of bed and headed to the blue room.
The beautiful woman was whimpering in her sleep. He moved to the bed and shook her shoulder.
“Jacob.” She cried out.
He frowned. How can she know him, but he has no clue who she is? With a heavy sigh, he turned to leave.
“Please don’t leave me.” The woman cried. “Jacob, don’t leave.”
He turned back to the bed. “All right, fair Maiden, I won’t leave you.” He blinked as he stared at the woman. Where had that come from? He has NEVER called someone fair maiden, before. But when he looked at her, he knew it felt right.
Jacob sat in the chair beside the bed and watched her sleep. He had an odd feeling he has done this before. He shook his head as he closed his eyes. And FINALLY, rest came to him.
~*~
Candace opened her eyes as the sun shined on them through the curtains. Where am I?
Last night flooded through her mind, and she sat up and looked to her left. She whimpered when she saw him.
“Jacob.” She cried. But it’s not her Jacob.
Jacob opened his eyes and looked into the most beautiful dark blue eyes he has ever seen. She was crying again, and he felt it in the deepest part of his soul. What is it about this stranger? He has never felt these emotions before. A woman’s tears have never moved him; they’re all a bunch of actresses, he had learned that from his mother.
‘I hope to never walk away from you.’
Jacob blinked. Where had that come from? It was this woman’s voice. But he has never had this conversation before. How could she know how he feels? A vision of this woman’s beautiful face smiling at him as she held her hand out to him.
‘Come along?’ She said to him.
“Jacob?”
He shook his head to clear the unwanted visions and looked at the woman in the bed.
Candace swallowed. Her mouth was so dry, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
“I’ll get Jamie.” He said, his voice gruff as he jumped to his feet and fled the room.
Candace felt the tears as they blurred her vision. She placed her hands over her face and cried into them. How cruel is fate, to give her Jacob, then take him from her, then give him to her again, but he has no clue who she is or what they are to each other?
Jacob felt her cries before he heard them. He needs to find what looney bin she had escaped from and return her to it before he lost his mind and took her into his arms.
“Master Jacob.”
Jacob turned to find Jamie and her grandmother in the hall behind him.
“Did you let her see you?” Jamie asked as she eyed him. But the cries from the room answered that.
“Good Lord, boy. Haven’t you done enough?” Margerate Colliour said, anger and annoyance in her voice, as she pushed past Jacob and entered the blue room.
Jacob could hear the older woman inside the room as she soothed the stranger.
“I didn’t know she couldn’t see me.” Jacob grumbled.
Jamie snorted. “I gathered as much. What did you say to her?” She asked as she pointed to the door where they could still hear the cries.
“I said nothing.” He grumbled.
Jamie eyed him, then shook her head. “She’s not ready to be around you yet.” She said as she reached for the doorknob.
“I will call the local asylum and see if they’re missing a crazy woman.” He said as he turned to head down the hall.
Jamie paused and turned to him. “Jacob, if you call any asylum or doctors, the Colliours will quit so fast, you will be here, alone, and will have to explain to your father, why we left. And we will take the girl with us.” At that, she opened the door and entered the room.
Jacob stared at the closed door. What was up with these women? They’ve all gone nuts. He sighed. Okay, so Jamie has won, for now. He sure as hell didn’t want to explain to his father why his butler and friend quit with no notice.
A vision of the woman’s smiling face invaded his mind again. He shook his head as he headed to the dining room for breakfast. After, he would need to tell his father about their unwanted guest. He hadn’t been able to find him last night.
~*~
“I think she is all cried out now.” Margerate said as she continued to rock the girl on the bed.
“I… I’m okay.” Candace whispered.
Jamie smiled as she leaned against the wall beside the door. This way, if Jacob used his key to get in, she can slam it in his face.
“Jamie.” Margerate admonished as she looked at her granddaughter.
Jamie chuckled. “Sorry, Nana.”
“Where are you from, my girl?” Margerate asked as she looked down at the girl in her arms.
Candace sniffled. “Here.” She said. “Only ten years from now.”
“Date child.” Margerate said.
“October sixteenth, twenty-nineteen.”
“And you live here?” Jamie asked. “In this house?”
Candace nodded and told them EVERYTHING.
