Incredible Dreams (13 page)

CHAPTER 16

SITTING ON THE edge of the bed, Izzy breathed a sigh of relief when the apartment door opened. That meant Jeannie had finally returned home. Maybe now she’d get some answers.

Hesitation washed over her and she stood. Her respite instantly altered into apprehension. She wasn’t necessarily afraid to ask the question, but she was fearful of the answer. If Jeannie presented her wedding ring, that would somehow make it real.

“Look what I found.” Jeannie smiled, waving a plain white envelope in the air.

Both their names had been inscribed, handwritten across the front, but Izzy didn’t care. “What’s that?” she asked, feigning interest.

“It’s an invitation to a picnic sponsored by Parker Field.” She giggled, overcome with excitement. “Do you realize how many soldiers are going to be there?”

She found Jeannie’s declaration vaguely disturbing. “What difference should that make to me?” Izzy asked dismissively. “After all, I’m supposed to be married, right?”

Jeannie didn’t answer right away.

“Right?” Izzy’s tone surged with urgency.

“Yes, of course you’re married.” She judged Izzy with a cool, appraising look. “But I’m not.”

“Do you know where my wedding ring is?” She threw it out there, and a momentary look of discomfort crossed Jeannie’s face. “I do have one, right?”

“Of course you have a wedding ring, Izzy.” Jeannie threw her head back and perched her hands on her hips. “Maybe you lost it again. Why is it always
my
responsibility to keep up with your things?”

Where the hell did that come from
? Izzy was too startled by Jeannie’s ranting to issue a comeback other than inside her thoughts.
Take a pill, why don’t you
.

Outwardly, Izzy appeared to smooth her sister’s animosity with a calmer, more apologetic tone. “Look, I’m sorry if I can’t remember where I put something two weeks ago, but in light of my current situation...I just thought you might know.”

Jeannie’s face changed, softening, and Izzy relaxed a little. “I’m sorry to snap at you.” Jeannie smiled and moved toward Izzy, grabbing her hand. “But I’ve already been accosted because of your missing wedding ring.” The chill in Jeannie’s tone was confirmation that she was not amused.

“By whom?” She didn’t remember anyone, but still somebody thought they had a right to ask about her wedding ring, or lack thereof.

“Jack.” Jeannie’s revelation and her tone, less than friendly, prickled Izzy’s skin with goose bumps. Her sister didn’t like Jack and it showed.

“Jack?” Izzy’s voice shook with uncertainty and shock. Then she recalled him saying something on the bus about her ring. “What did he say to you?” she added with some bitterness. Jack’s concern was noble, but it wouldn’t cancel out the husband she couldn’t remember.

She shrugged dismissively, suggesting that she didn’t give Jack or his curiosity much thought. “Oh, hell, he just wanted to know if you had one.”

A wedding ring would make her marriage all too real. Izzy didn’t want to have one. Why was he trying so desperately to prove she did?

Izzy stalked across the room toward her bed. “Why doesn’t he mind his own damn business?” Her voice took on a chilly tone.

“It’d be so much easier if he would.” Jeannie’s icy remark snuck up on Izzy, jabbing her from behind.

Izzy swung her head around and glared at Jeannie. “Why would that be easier?” And why would she care?

“For you.” She tilted her head slightly. “It’d be easier for you.”

“No matter how you look at it, this can never be easy for me.” Izzy snatched her purse off the bed, gave Jeannie a brief nod and walked briskly toward the door.

Damn it
! Jeannie managed to contain the rant to just a thought. Izzy and Jack were worse than a couple of would-be angels trying to snoop their way into heaven. But that was just a minor annoyance. They both could pry and poke around all they wanted, but neither of them would get the better of Jeannie. Mainly because there wasn’t time. By the time either of them learned the truth, Jeannie, as well as both their souls, would be long gone. But just in case, she had a plan to put a wedge between the would-be lovers.

George Hadley. Unless Jeannie had lost her touch, highly unlikely, sparks would soon ignite between her dear, sweet married sister and George. The picnic on Saturday was the perfect time for their attraction to come to life.

Maybe that would put a damper in this stinking, budding romance between Jack and Izzy. Jeannie meant to nip that in the butt, right away. She needed those two as far apart as possible, the closer it got to his birthday—also his death-day. In the end, it was worth it because they’d end up as a two-fer. Two souls for the price of one. What a bargain!

She knew from their conversation that Jack was suspicious about Harry. But she didn’t care. By the time he found out Harry didn’t exist, she’d have both their souls.

E
xiting the parked car in the lot at Parker Field, Izzy strolled a step or two behind Jeannie and Paul, her sister’s latest conquest. Jeannie went through men as often as she changed underwear—daily. And she had the nerve to question Izzy’s morality.

As they walked, Izzy let the space between herself and the couple widen, finding Jeannie’s revolving door of men embarrassing. She scanned the crowded picnic festivities. Who was she looking for? She laughed and glanced down just in time to see her foot twisting into the hole.

“Ouch—” Izzy swallowed hard and bit back the pain. What had induced her to wear heels to an outdoor activity?
Shit
. She cursed silently, rocking her ankle back and forth, hoping to work out the soreness.

Her only comfort was her dress—if felt like silk, but she doubted it was. Still, it clung to her body like a custom made glove and she thought she looked good in it even though she preferred the attire of blue jeans and a casual blouse. And God, what she wouldn’t give for a pair of Reeboks right now.

Izzy had come to learn that many things she yearned for—Starbucks, cell phones, certain music—no one else had heard of. It bothered her at first, but not anymore. Now, she simply didn’t care. The one thing in this world that she wanted, she couldn’t have. She’d wrapped herself in such remorse over Jack, she didn’t care that she’d been yearning for things that didn’t seem to exist anywhere outside her imagination.

Her ankle throbbed, the pain sneaking down into her foot. The nearest table seemed a long way away, but she hobbled toward it anyway and eased into an empty chair. She slipped her shoe off and tried to rub the soreness out, which wasn’t working. Ever since she woke up in 1946, luck had hit the road and didn’t look like it was coming back anytime soon.

Hanging onto the shoe with one hand, she massaged her ankle and glanced around. Flyers, soldiers and various other personnel from Parker Field, their families, and guests enjoyed and mingled at the annual festivities. Picnic tables dotted the meadow perched beside a small pond. Elongated tables, topped with a variety of foods, separated the picnic and the amusement areas. The carnival had been brought in and the attendants worked diligently to prep the rides and games for later that evening.

Izzy’s gaze landed on Jack who was sitting across the way. The pretty blonde at his side ignited her jealousy.

Her first instinct was to go over and slide her way in between them, claiming him as her own. But she couldn’t do that. He wasn’t hers because she couldn’t be his. She belonged to someone else. Izzy had to keep telling herself that. If she said it enough times, maybe she’d start to believe it.

She scanned the crowd again and saw Jeannie, Paul and George sitting a couple of tables away from Jack. That was a little too close for comfort, but it was probably better than staying where she was. Lord knows who might end up sitting next to her. At that moment, visions of some smelly, overweight, balding guy who, for some reason, had decided he was God’s gift, would decide he was going to present himself to her today.

She worked her shoe on, harder to do now that her foot had swollen, and hobbled over to Jeannie’s table. Taking a seat beside her sister, Izzy wished she could sit on the opposite side of the table, with her back to Jack. She wanted to avoid him and his date.

The pain lingering around her ankle was a good distraction. It provoked the removal of her shoe and gave her something else to focus on besides Jack.

Another distraction, bright sunlight shining blindingly into her face aggravated Izzy’s already annoyed demeanor. She slipped Jack’s sunglasses from her purse and secured them over her eyes.
What a great idea
. Now she could spy on him and he’d never know.

The girl leaned toward Jack, and Izzy envied her. She had no idea what they were saying, but she could tell when the laughter came. And then, Jack cupped the girl’s head in his hands and kissed her forehead. Odd, but still, it burned a hole in Izzy’s ego.

Watching their stupid display of affection was turning her stomach, and she quickly decided she was done. She pushed herself up from the table and hopped on one leg, burrowing her sore foot back into her shoe that now seemed about two sizes too small.

Pain shot through her foot and she limped toward the carnival midway, set up nearby specifically for the picnic attendees.

Her gaze traveled to a booth with red, blue, green, yellow and orange balloons pinned to its walls.
Darts
. That’s just what she needed to blow off a little steam. She quickened her pace, hobbling faster.

The attendant, a scruffy guy with slicked-back hair and the beginnings of a beard, grinned at her. “Care to give her a try, sweetheart?” His teeth were disgusting, most were missing. What he did have was covered in dental plaque and yellow stains from years of neglect.

Gross
. Distaste shuddered through her. She opened her purse and began rummaging through it. “How much?”

“Ten darts for a nickel.”

A nickel
? Why so cheap? The question breezed off her thoughts and drifted away as she picked five pennies from the bottom of her purse. She tossed the coins onto the counter and grabbed the darts from his hand. Anger, meant solely for Jack and his little tart, flushed hot against her cheeks as she aimed the first dart at a cluster of balloons.

A red balloon exploded with a
POP
, and Izzy jumped, more from excitement than surprise. Bursting the balloon and the thrill that followed felt good. Izzy took aim and prepared to hurl the next dart.

A second balloon erupted.
Cool
. The prospect of victory stroked and satisfied her ego.

“Guess who’s headed your way?” Jeannie’s cavalier voice whipped past her ear. A barrage of chills stiffened the hairs on the back of Izzy’s neck, then rolled over her shoulders and down her arms.

“Who?” Izzy glanced over her shoulder to see Jeannie pointing off to the side. Her gaze followed her sister’s fingertip and landed on Jack and his floozy heading her way. “Oh, hell no!” She slammed the darts down on the counter and marched off. The need to get away briefly subdued the pain in her ankle and she was able conceal her injury under the guise of a very slight limp.

“Izzy...” Jeannie’s voice chased after her.

Her sister was following her, she knew that, still she refused to stop. Stopping might give Jack the opportunity to catch up to her. Her desire to flee had only provided a temporary relief. Now the pain had returned and was intensifying. Scrambling along, she began to limp but was determined to keep moving.

“What happened to you? Why are you limping?” Jeannie caught up to Izzy.

“I twisted my ankle.” She didn’t stop or look at her sister. If she kept moving, he’d give up, eventually.

“Wait.” Jeannie’s short, sturdy fingers clamped around Izzy’s elbow.

Izzy stopped and fixated on her sister, determined not to look in Jack’s direction. The chartreuse suit complimented her sister’s pale green eyes and her stout build. And Izzy had to wonder why they looked so different. Nothing about them echoed “we’re sisters”. Not their eyes, not their hair and not their stature. She literally had to look down several inches to meet her sister’s gaze.

Maybe they had different fathers? A plausible scenario, but not something she felt comfortable asking.

“Why are you running away?” Jeannie’s green eyes—so different from Izzy’s deep blue ones—asked the question as much as her words.

She cut her eyes briefly in the direction she’d last seen Jack. “I don’t want them to get close enough to me that I have to acknowledge them.”

Izzy had avoided spending too much time looking at Jack. But she saw Jeannie casting a quick, stealthy look his way.

She glanced dismissively back toward Izzy. A devilish grin crossed her face. “Well, if he’s going to flaunt a girl in your face...you know what you have to do.” Jeannie folded her arms across her chest. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

The suggestion, abrasive and insinuating, stiffened Izzy’s body. “What?”

Jeannie laced her arm around Izzy’s and led her away. “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t let him get to you.” She paused a moment and patted Izzy’s hand with a patronizing touch. “Another man’ll show him.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Her voice hardened with distaste. “My husband is overseas. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember Harry is overseas. But we’re not talking about Harry.” Jeannie’s words invaded Izzy’s psyche, sounding average and ordinary. Still, they captivated her attention. “You should give as good as you’re getting. Show him that you’re not sitting around crying over him.”

Ha
! “It’ll be a cold day in hell...” Somewhere in the remote corners of her mind, Izzy knew Jeannie’s suggestions were nothing more than high school antics. Even so, she couldn’t help herself. The words breezed off Jeannie’s lips and Izzy felt compelled to comply. She didn’t necessarily understand or agree with her sister’s tactics, but by now she was way beyond the point of reason.

As if in a trance, she followed Jeannie toward a table where Paul, Jeannie’s current date, and George Hadley, the object of Jeannie’s affections only a few days ago, were waiting. Both men rose and dipped their chins courteously as the sisters approached.