Summer of the Bells

By Eileen Waters

Lexie Trueblood lost her mother in a tragic accident when she was a toddler. Raised by her father, she never knew of her mother or her past until she receives a surprise gift inheritance of money and a house; her mother's childhood home. On the day she moves into her new home, her husband disappears, taking their son without her knowing. A story of twists and turns, Lexie learns her life has been a lie in many ways. She gains the support of her mother's childhood friends who realize their own lives may not have been as it seems. A story of courage, friendship, faith and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eileen Waters
• Release date: Feb 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224309023

Eileen Waters

I grew up on Army forts, landing in Orange County, California to finish junior and senior high. I lived a good part of my life on restriction due to my rebellious nature giving way to a life of creativity and entertaining myself. My life has been a series of events in places I should have never been with people I should have never known.

Book preview

Chapter One

Lillian sat in her husband’s forest green ’72 Chevy Malibu tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, Shit, she sighed, Why did I volunteer to do the beer run? she asked aloud with no one to hear, looking around territory unfamiliar to her. She was surrounded by age old gnarled oak trees with their heavy limbs drooping low to the ground, while she could hear the bees above buzzing in their hives. She had rolled the windows down. A slight breeze blew into the car and swirled around. She could hear the rustling leaves of the cottonwood trees. Nature’s wind chimes she thought and smiled enjoying for a minute the beauty of the canyon. She could smell the anise bushes growing nearby and its neighbor wild sage.

She had gotten lost on the winding rural road, tried to turn around and stalled the car. This happened a lot so she wasn’t really upset. It’s just that she had never stalled out the car in the middle of near wilderness. Wisps of her honey brown hair stuck to her cheek, making her face itch. She spit them out and brushed them away annoyed that she was even there. She reached back with both arms and pulled up her hair to cool herself bracing her body against the head rest. Her hair was past her waist, she twisted it around and held it tight to the back of her head. The sweltering heat of the day made the air fragrant with the sweetness of orange blossoms from the nearby grove. They were the same grove of trees she and her friends walked through coming back from school. She had passed the grove of fruit trees when she turned into the deserted fire road. I can’t believe I did this. Lillian hadn’t panicked yet. She was alone but could see across the rim of the canyon, across the ravine to the dry creek bed and the houses where she wanted to be. It gave her some comfort knowing they were in sight. She could walk if need be she told herself but she certainly wasn’t carrying back any packs of beer. She’d only bring back the small carton of chocolate milk she had bought for her daughter Lexie. She looked down at her long, tanned fingers, picking at her cuticles wishing she didn’t bite her fingernails so much and inspected the tiny diamond on her wedding ring. It sparkled in the sun light. It comforted her. She rubbed the diamond with her finger. It was the first time her husband, John had met her friends and so far, it wasn’t going very well. 

She abruptly let out a loud groan pounding her fist on the steering wheel making it shudder. Damn! she yelled and once again, Damn! She closed her eyes, wanting to cry but held it back. Salty perspiration seeped into her eyes, making them burn. She sighed leaning her head against the open window, then re-energized suddenly sat up straight, Okay, I can do this, plopping both hands on the steering wheel.

She had been driving around for at least fifteen minutes trying to get back from where she had been, at a party. The dirt roads were confusing to her; one looked like the other one. She had grown up here! Yet it had changed. It was a homecoming of sorts for her. She was glad for John to meet her friends but also nervous. She was tense, probably why she was confused. He was the outsider. She had told him stories of her life growing up in the canyons as she called it. They were a group of children growing up in the wilds of Orange County California. They had all gone to the same elementary school in Silverado Canyon and when older they were bussed on down the road to the junior and senior high schools in the nearby town. Her friend’s mother Mrs. McClellan would give them a ride in the family station wagon when she had the time but she was always in a hurry so it wasn’t often.

Anna McClellan was an art teacher in the local high school and had kept the kids busy when younger with various craft projects. She had given Lillian and John a white jute macrame wall hanging as a wedding gift that she had bleached herself in the back yard of their home. It was one of Lillian’s favorite gifts. She liked waking up in the morning to see the blues and greens of the sparkling beads nestled in among the skillfully crafted knots. She knew it was made with love and made her think of ocean waves glistening in the sun.

When the crowd saw their beer supply running low, Lillian had volunteered to go, even though she had no idea of where to go. All she knew is that she wanted to leave. The girls, friends she had grown up with were nice enough, but she could tell they were sizing her up. Their eyes telling her she would never be good enough. Girls know girls and it gave her a sinking feeling in her gut thinking about it. John had put her arm around her to make her feel more secure, but it made it worse. She knew she would never be accepted into her old childhood clique, neither would John. She wanted to grab Lexie and go home, instead she grabbed the car keys and took off alone down the road to the small country store where the brewskis were and she could relax if just for awhile.

It didn’t work out that way. She had gotten lost and now flooded the engine in trying too hard to get back to where she didn’t want to go. She pursed her lips and ran her fingers down along the sides of the steering wheel. She loved this car and took every opportunity to drive it. The bench seats made it easy for Lexie to lie down and sleep while she and John watched the movies at the drive-in. She loved helping him clean the wide white walled tires. She smiled at the memory and looked in the rear view mirror. She had been crying, the redness of her eyes made her green eyes even more so. She knew she had to just calm down and get back. Let’s try it once again, she told herself. Her right foot held firmly down upon the brake, she reached up and wrapped her fingers around the gear shift lever to put the car in reverse to back up. It clicked into place. She could hear the sound of her heartbeat inside her ears, almost deafening. She knew she had to be steady. Please God; just get me out of here. She had turned the car around and had gotten dangerously close to the edge of the canyon in her nervousness, slammed on the brakes stalling the car. She put the car in park while waiting for the gas line to clear. It was time to go.

Luckily the edge ran upward so it wasn’t that bad but still she kept her foot firmly on the brake even while sitting in park. All she had to do was turn the right front tire enough to clear the tree in front of her and she’d be on her way. She looked into the rear-view mirror again adjusting it. She was okay she told herself and knew she had enough room to back up.

John stood in Lacy’s front yard waiting for Lillian. He looked at his watch then looked back up searching for her. She was no where in sight. She said she’d be right back that was almost an hour ago. Her friends seemed glad to see her, but they were the only one with a kid. It ruined her friend’s plans of sitting around catching a buzz and getting high. He also realized that Lillian’s presence created an underlying tension. He was aware of the dynamics of the day. They had grown up next to each other in the rural canyon forgotten by time. Their mothers had come to the canyon as young children with their own parents. Lillian and her friends were the next generation. John had fallen in love with Lillian with her first cheerful greeting to him when he walked into her father’s car repair shop. She filled him with hope. They began a life together apart from her childhood home.

Jess was also waiting for Lillian to come back. Childhood friends, she had grown up with Lacy and Lillian. Jess’ world was shattered when her father was killed in a canyon mud slide and her mother remarried two years later. She was an only child, as was Lillian. Jess realized that her world as secure as it may have seemed, would never be the same. When she heard Lillian was coming today, she looked forward to spending time with her. She was planning on asking Lillian to be her bridesmaid in her wedding to her boyfriend Sam. So many secrets had been held between them. When Lillian left suddenly one summer, she was hurt but loved her friend deeply and missed her.

John was glad to see Lillian’s friends, but he also wanted to grab their daughter Lexie along with Lillian and go home. He felt her friends were a part of her past and not her future. There was a slight breeze blowing, the same one that had been with Lillian. He could feel it releasing his shirt now stuck to his chest from the perspiration. He was worried about his wife and wished he had gone with her. She had said she knew these roads like the back of her hand. She grew up exploring every inch of the land. He agreed to let her go alone to stay at the party with Lexie.     He saw Lexie run through the sprinklers that Claire, Tom’s stepmother had set up for her. He smiled as he watched. Her normally platinum blonde ringlets that bounced on her shoulders as she tromped down the walkway lay wet, soggy and still, against her back. She giggled as she picked up the garden hose with the sprinkler still spinning spraying strands of water in the air. He yelled at her, while Lillian’s friends ran for cover as if the water would burn their skin instead of cooling them off, Lexie, no! Put it down!

As John was yelling at Lexie, Lillian was ready to back up to get out from where she was, when a young girl threw herself on the hood of the car. It startled Lillian. She slammed on the brakes. She could see terror in the girl’s eyes as she ran to the passenger side of the car and flung it open. It was then she recognized her. It was Cambria, Lacy’s little sister. Lillian leaned forward on to the steering wheel and asked, Cam, are you okay? Cam still hadn’t said a word, Lillian knew she wasn’t mute, but she was visibly traumatized. Her shirt was torn and dirty. She had scratches on her cheek. She saw the blood on the girl’s inner thigh and gasped. Her light blue shorts were dirty but there was no blood on them. A thousand questions ran through her mind.

Cam turned to Lillian still unable to speak, her whole body was shaking. She tried to catch her breath. Her eyes were those of a wild animal. She knew who Lillian was and she would take her home. In a breathy voice she whispered, We need to go.

Lillian didn’t understand what she had said, still holding her foot to the floor, What?

In a burst of adrenaline, Cam screamed, We need to go! and then in an even louder voice, screamed again, We need to go now!

Cam’s urgency scared Lillian. It was all happening too fast. She felt the car bounce with the weight of another person. She looked over to see Tom, an old childhood friend, his eyes intent on Cam. He grabbed the side of the car and pulled his way over to Lillian’s door.

Cam began screaming in terror. She clawed at the side of the door like a trapped animal. Lillian shuddered in fear. She saw the sneer on Tom’s face. Cam’s shirt was open. Lillian could see scratches on her neck, face and chest, I got you now little girl, he snarled and dove in through the driver’s side open window grabbing at her. Lillian ducked to get away from him taking her foot off the brake.

Cam bellowed, Go! and slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. The force of the car thrust backwards instantly tossing Cam against the inside door handle. The door opened; Cam fell backwards to the ground. The wheels of the car spun into the dirt and grabbed hold. Tom had pulled himself halfway inside the car, unable to move. Lillian could feel herself and the car fall backwards over the cliff. Cam watched helplessly listening to their screams.

Feeling something was terribly wrong. John turned off the water to the hose and walked over to Lexie who was still playing with the dripping sprinkler shaking it trying to get the last drop of water out. Suddenly Claire kicked her front screen door to her house open with her foot, looked over in Lexie’s direction smiling. She kept walking down the river rock path to the group of friends and laughed, It’s okay John, they won’t melt. and then nodded to the others, Hey guys, food! She had a large pewter tray full of sandwiches and carried them with experience. Her ankle length batik print dress clung to her legs as she walked. It was her favorite, a mottled burgundy and olive-green print, halter top front, tied in back, her long dark auburn hair was wrapped up in a bun but was becoming loose falling down around her shoulders. She kept tossing her hair back to keep it from getting on the sandwiches. She smiled at John and handed him the tray. Here, hold this. I’ll get her.

John took the tray and put it down on one of the three picnic tables under the tall eucalyptus trees. At night bats came to hang from the branches of the trees dropping scat on the people sitting underneath, during the day it was the birds, yet over the years no one ever moved the tables. The tables stood, three in a row as they had always been. Lillian, Lacy, Cam and Jess had spent many summers eating their lunch together or doing homework after school on those tables. Lacy’s mother would set tablecloths over them tying rocks to the corners to keep them from blowing away. The girls were used to pulling them off, untying the rocks from them and replacing them with clean cloths. She did the same thing with a blue tarp on their roof one winter using bricks to keep it in place. It reminded her of the thatched roofs she had seen in Ireland when on a family vacation. Mrs. McClellan was always coming up with ways to save money. She often sent Lacy and her younger sister Cam out to collect the aluminum cans the tourists would leave along the creek and throughout the canyons. Even as a child Lillian was glad she didn’t have to pick up trash of others. It made her appreciate her chore of taking out just the trash for her own family.

The bench sent out a resounding crack as John sat down. Seth had been sitting on the other side and chuckled, Married life make you gain weight? Seth hadn’t changed; still kept his dark curly hair short, still had a big nose; he still wore the same horn-rimmed glasses with a plaid shirt and was still a smart ass. He was rude as ever but had always been a loyal friend. Growing up where they did made them different to the kids in town and being boys, they had to prove themselves by fighting. Seth growled at the observations of life.

Throwing him an annoyed glance, No, I’d say it’s time for a new bench. I just hope it doesn’t crack in half while sitting here. John looked back over at Lexie and Claire who was now drying his daughter off with a towel. He gave her a chin nod, Hey, thanks for doing that.

Claire smiled and said, No problem, then to Lexie, Come on sweetie, let’s get some lunch. The toddler smiled and ran towards her father. He smiled back and held out his arms to greet her, lifting her up in the air before he sat her down to eat.

Mommy will be back soon. he said to her, She might even bring you back some chocolate milk you wanted. How’s that? Lexie looked up at him, her chubby cheeks glowing with happiness and the sun; she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, Why thank you darlin’! I love you too. Let’s sit down and eat.

Seth spoke up again, Hey man, it’s good to be able to meet you. Glad you came. I mean, you guys took off to Idaho, then came back but didn’t know where. I’m glad Lacy ran into you then told Jess about it. And you know, girls can’t shut up. Lillian has always been really nice. You guys hanging around for long? He pulled the tray of sandwiches closer to them, sliding it across words that had been carved into the table that said, Eat shit. Ten million flies can’t be wrong.

She is, John said almost absentmindedly, nice I mean, then took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the stacked pile of