Ray of Light

By Indigo Wren

Anna moved across the country, away from everything she had ever known, to start a new life for herself and her newborn daughter after spending the last months of her pregnancy in a shelter for battered women. Fast-forward six years, and she is now happily remarried to a man who is raising her daughter as his own, including adopting the girl when she was three years old.

Strange phone calls start to come in from women in Anna’s former hometown. At first, she disregards the calls as coincidental wrong numbers, but when the unmistakable voice of her ex-husband comes across the line, they become impossible to ignore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indigo Wren
• Release date: Oct 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311834997

Indigo Wren

Indigo lives in Alberta, Canada with their two young adult children and their life partner. They have adopted and lost a variety of cats over the years, but usually have one hanging around. They enjoy teasing the cat, writing (of course), and hanging out with the kids. They began writing at a young age, starting with short stories, moving on to poetry, and eventually participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and completing their first novel. Since then, they have produced several manuscripts of novel-length. When they grow up, Indigo hopes to be an expert in the field of faery security. Their advice for writers, young and old, is to be brave in their work and never give up.

Book preview

Ray of Light

Indigo Wren

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

Published by Indigo Wren at Smashwords

Copyright © 2019 by Indigo Wren

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

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About the Author

Dedicated to all the victims of domestic abuse,

both those who made it and those who didn't.

1

The child smiled with a peace only a small child could possess. She was content.

Momma?

Her mother grunted in response, distracted.

I love you.

Love you too, baby. She gave the girl a quick hug and released her. Run along and play now, darlin’.

The girl skittered away, giggling, to invent a game to play.

Anna took a drink from her glass and gazed at the papers in front of her. Bills. Bank statements. And one hand-written letter with no return address.

The letter had no signature, but she knew who had written it. When she’d first opened it, she had wondered if it was somebody’s idea of a joke, but the more she stared at it, the more she knew it was real.

’In town the weekend of the 19th’, she read. How is it even possible?

Jordan warmed her hands on the coffee cup, stared at Anna fiercely.

"You can’t do this, Anna. You can’t do this to me, to her… to US."

Anna shook her head. I need to go, Jordan. Sophie won’t remember. I just… I can’t stay here anymore. It’s not… I just can’t. She stared at her hands as she spoke, quiet but firm, but looked up at Jordan now. Please, don’t make this harder than it has to be. We’ll disappear and you’ll forget all about us.

She stood and pulled on her jacket, shoved her hands in her pockets and moved her keys a bit within one. She picked up the car seat holding the sleeping infant and left Jordan sitting alone at the table. She hoped Jordan didn’t see the stream of tears on her face as she closed the door behind her.

Six years and 1900 miles later, Jordan had found them. Anna had truly thought that Jordan would forget about them. She had assumed that they would just be an inconspicuous blip on the radar of Jordan’s life. Apparently, she’d been mistaken.

Anna looked around her home. The years between that parting and now had taken their toll on her, but she had made good of her life. She’d married a beautiful man when Sophie was 2, and he had taken her on as his own.

Anna was barely pregnant when she’d met Jordan. Jordan had been with her through the torturous hours of Sophie’s birth, and after, through the trials of early motherhood at the shelter. There was a connection between them, inexplicable, but undeniable. Jordan was more than twice her age, and had been working at the shelter for battered women and children for nearly as long as Anna had been alive. In her letter, Jordan said she’d retired from the sadness after another client died only a few days after leaving the safe haven to return to her husband’s home.

Sophie appeared at Anna’s elbow. She reached up and gently wiped a tear from Anna’s cheek with her tiny thumb. Don’t cry, Mommy. The sky is too blue to cry today.

Anna gave a sniffly laugh. I’m not really crying, honey. My eyes are just leaking. She picked the girl up and squeezed her tight, smiled at her.

Daddy will be home soon, won’t he? asked Sophie excitedly.

He sure will be. Let’s go check on supper.

So, she’s coming into town this weekend. Did she say how she tracked you down?

No, I expect she’ll explain when we get together.

Mike gazed at Anna for a long time. He was still now, as he had been six years earlier, completely taken aback by her beauty. Her hair was a subtle red with light curls at the nape of her neck where her pixie cut ended. Her skin was pale but freckled all over her face and arms. Her eyes were a bright green, a shade he couldn’t describe. Her teeth were perfectly straight and almost too white. She was a slender woman, and she wore a t-shirt that hugged her curves well and shorts that showcased the contours of her bottom half. Her feet were bare, her toenails wore chipped and peeling polish in dire need of a touch up. Her fingernails were bare and short. Mike drank in the sight of her greedily. She noticed his gaze. Why are you looking at me like that?

I’m just thinking about how beautiful you are. You’re breath-taking.

Anna blushed. Aww, thank you honey. You know, you’re not half-bad yerself. She winked at him.

Mike smiled, and turned his thoughts back to their conversation. He’d been a little surprised when Anna had sat him down after getting Sophie to bed and told him about her unexpected letter. He knew about Anna’s time in the shelter, but Mike had never given any thought to it. He had met Anna after that time, and though he knew she would never fully heal from the trauma Sophie’s birth father had inflicted on Anna, she had managed to put the past where it belonged, and moved on with building a future for herself and Sophie.

So, are you going to call her to arrange it?

No… she had our phone number. She’ll be calling.

When the phone rang, and Anna heard Jordan’s voice, six years melted from her mind. It seemed as if no time had passed, and it was perfectly usual for her to call up at 10 am on a Thursday.

Sophie’s in school till 3:15. Are you in town now, or do you not get in till tomorrow? The call display had given no clue, showing ‘Unknown Name’ and ‘Unknown Number’.

I’m in the middle of a desert at the moment. I’ll probably be up your way a little after noon tomorrow at the rate I’m driving.

Come straight to the house, then, so we can catch up… Oh, unless, she faltered, unless you need to be somewhere else? It had just occurred to Anna that Jordan may have other plans, and would need to work Anna into them.

Jordan simply laughed. I will be there with bells on! I can’t wait to see you again.

2

Jordan looked around Anna’s humble but comfortable home with a smile. I knew you’d make it. There are far too many who weren’t so lucky. Anna nodded. She had heard news stories about some of the unlucky ones.

Jordan’s eyes paused on a family portrait taken just after Sophie had started kindergarten. She stood and went to the picture, picked it up. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she smiled again. Two lucky ones, she whispered. She placed the picture back in its spot and turned to Anna. He’s good to you? To both of you?

Do you think I’d have married him if he wasn’t, after what I went through with… She let her voice trail off. She never spoke his name. There was a part of her that still feared that if she spoke his name, he would somehow show up in her life again, like a boogeyman.

Jordan just nodded. She knew that fear, and didn’t force the issue.

Anna’s hands fidgeted within each other. She was far more nervous than she’d thought she would be. The whole of her being was telling her to hug this woman, to hold her and not let go until it hurt to keep holding on. Finally she could restrain herself no longer, and she nearly jumped out of her seat and ran to where Jordan was standing. She wrapped her arms around the older woman and squeezed her, and was squeezed by her. She wasn’t sure what she had expected. Perhaps she thought it would feel foreign, wrong somehow. But the embrace felt completely and unquestionably right. Every muscle she didn’t know she had relaxed simultaneously.

Anna sighed, content. She hadn’t realized she’d missed Jordan until this moment, and now she didn’t have to miss her anymore.

Jordan released Anna gently and guided her to the couch. Anna, she began.

Anna shook her head. Don’t talk. Not right now. I want to take you in first.

Jordan smiled as Anna stared at her. She shrugged and sat back to be observed.

Anna’s eyes flitted from Jordan’s graying hair to the creases around her eyes and, finally, to the smile lines around her mouth. From Jordan’s ears, pierced and adorned with small gold sleepers, to the hands with skin that was getting looser as she aged. Jordan wore a plain pale green t-shirt and loose-fitting jeans, and a pair of rainbow socks on her feet. Everything and nothing had changed about Jordan since Anna had left the shelter. She was now, as she had always been, perfectly Jordan.

Anna grinned. Okay. You can talk now.

Jordan smiled warmly. I wrote in my letter that I’d retired, she started. Anna nodded. Anna, you know I never remarried after opening the shelter… That was a gamble I didn’t want to make again. Anna nodded.

I lived in Texas my whole life. I never thought I’d leave. But after you left, it didn’t feel like home anymore.

Anna gazed at Jordan, confused yet understanding perfectly what she was talking about.

Anna, I’m moving up here. I’m starting over, she chuckled, at 62 years old. Anna’s eyes widened. Jordan lifted a hand to stop Anna’s inevitable questions. I’m not asking for anything but friendship, hon. I’ve had this whole thing orchestrated for a few months.

Anna gaped at Jordan. How… she sputtered.

This is what I’m trying to tell you. She paused a moment, took Anna’s hands in her own. My sister lived here, until six months ago. I was the sole beneficiary to her estate. I thought about selling the property, but after Darcy died… Well, I thought about how many families I’d seen fall to a shambles. I just couldn’t handle seeing any more. So I came up here to check it out, see what drew my sister to the area. She always went on about how beautiful it was up this way… She paused now, watched Anna nod. I saw you while I was here. In the grocery store. I thought that I was wrong, that there was no way – it would have been an amazing, wonderful coincidence, but one all the same. And then I saw Sophie. Even though she was just a baby the last time I saw her, there was no ignoring that birthmark.

Anna breathed in deeply. This explained how Jordan found them. Sophie had a heart-shaped birthmark on her left cheek, near her ear. I went back to my maiden name after the divorce. He didn’t contest it at all. Signed the papers promptly and sent them back. That’s how you found us?

Jordan nodded. When I realized it really was you, I made the decision on the spot. I handed the shelter over to Ellie – remember her? – and made the arrangements to move into my sister’s house… my house. And here I am.

Anna smiled. Here you are, indeed.

I never had any more kids after Rachel died. I devoted twenty years to the shelter. I met so many wonderful women and beautiful children. But it was time for me to start something new.

Anna glanced at the clock. I have to head out to pick Sophie up. Want to come with?

Jordan answered by picking up her purse. Lead the way!

Sophie ran out of the school at top speed, launching herself into her mother’s waiting arms. Mom! I have to read a book to you tonight, and can you help me write a story? I want to write about dragons and princesses and – She stopped abruptly and stared at Jordan, who grinned at her. Hi, she said, somewhat shyly.

Well, hello! You must be Miss Sophie? Sophie nodded. Well, Jordan said, holding her hand out, it is a real pleasure to meet you. I’m Jordan.

Sophie grinned and shook her hand. I have a friend named Jordan, but he’s a boy.

Jordan laughed and Sophie was at ease. She held her hand out for Sophie, who happily held it as they walked home.

Sophie pumped her legs back and forth fiercely as she hollered, Watch this, Jordan! and suddenly she was flying through the air swiftly, then landing with a sickening THUD on the grass five feet in front of the swing set.

Jordan laughed and grinned at Anna. She’s rather fearless, isn’t she?

Anna nodded. Very confident, that one. She wears me out some days! She chuckled as she thought about Sophie’s antics. You’re staying for supper. She said this matter-of-factly, so that there was little Jordan could do or say to argue about it. Mike is barbecuing some steaks tonight, and he made sure to get one for you, too. He is looking forward to meeting you.

I suppose I haven’t a choice, then, she laughed. I’ve got a week to make the house my own before I start working again.

I completely forgot to ask what you’ll be doing! exclaimed Anna. I got so caught up just in your being here, I forgot to ask what you’ll do here.

I’ll be doing emergency dispatch for the county. I’ve got the computer skills and experience dealing with high-stress situations. This is just temporary, though, to cover a maternity leave until September. After that, I’ll be an administrative assistant at the school.

So… 9-1-1 operator and secretary?

Jordan laughed. Something like that, yes. I’ve only got three years till I can fully retire, so I figured the school would be the ideal place to spend that time.

Anna’s face turned thoughtful as she said, So, you’ll be at Sophie’s school… That’s excellent! I volunteer up there some days, so we won’t lose touch again, hopefully.

A small tear welled up in Jordan’s eye, and she reached out for Anna’s hand. I won’t let that happen again, she whispered. I am in your life for keeps.

Anna smiled and whispered, Good, in return.

Both women looked up then at Sophie, who was swinging again, though much slower. She was twisting a bit, dragging the toes of her sneakers through a well-worn patch of dirt beneath the seat. She was staring at the women thoughtfully. As she noticed their gazes, she stopped, stood, and shook her head. Grown-ups are so weird! she declared, and stalked off to the sandbox.

The women both laughed and headed inside to start preparing a salad.

Courses of laughter fluttered around the living room as Jordan, Anna, and Mike reminisced. They had all gotten along so well, it seemed to all of them that they had been friends forever.

Jordan sighed and stood reluctantly. Well, my dears, it is time for me to head home. I have got a long weekend ahead of me.

Mmm! I meant to ask you if you could use some help with the house? Mike nodded as Anna spoke.

Jordan stammered a bit, and finally asked, Are you sure?

Mike smiled. We wouldn’t offer if we weren’t sure. Sophie’s got plans to be at a friend’s house all day tomorrow, and we’re free.

"Well, if you’re sure, I could definitely use the assistance. Hang on,