On Mystic Lake

“Oh, Izzy . . . ” Annie went to Izzy and knelt beside her, pulling the child into her arms. But Izzy was stiff and awkward, and she couldn’t seem to take her eyes away from her hand.

Izzy started to cry. “She said I couldn’t follow her. ”

Annie stroked the child’s soft, soft cheek and smiled. “Who said that?”

“Mommy. I . . . ” She bit her quavering lower lip and looked away.

“Tell me, Izzy,” Annie said softly. “I can keep a secret. ”

“Promise?”

“Promise. ”

Izzy stared at Annie for a long, silent moment, then said quietly, “I . . . I see her sometimes . . . in the fog. I was disappearin’ to be with her . . . but last time I saw her . . . ” Huge tears welled in Izzy’s eyes and spilled over, streaking down her pink cheeks. “Last time she said I couldn’t follow her. ”

Annie’s heart squeezed into a tight little fist. She took Izzy’s hand and led her outdoors. Side by side they sat on the rickety, moss-haired porch of the cabin.

“You can’t follow your mom, Izzy, and you know why?”

Izzy turned to her. “Why?”

“Because it would break your mommy’s heart. She’s up in heaven now, and she wants to watch you grow up. She wants you to have fun and make friends and go to school—to do all the things she did when she was a little girl. She wants to see you wear a pretty white dress on your wedding day and hold your own baby in your arms. ” Annie sighed. “She wants so much for you, Izzy. ”

“How do you know she’s watchin’ me?”

Annie smiled at her. “You know. In your heart. That’s why you see her in the fog. You know she’s watching over you, and when it rains . . . that’s when she’s missing you. The rain is her tears, and the sunshine is her smile. ”

Izzy stared out at the trees a long, long time. “I miss her, too. ”

Annie curled an arm around Izzy’s narrow shoulders and drew her close. “I know, baby. ”

They sat that way for a long time. The rain softened the world into the muted blues and greens of a Monet painting. Then, finally, Annie smiled brightly and tapped on Izzy’s right hand. “Why, I do believe you’re right, Miss Izzy. I can see those fingers just as clear as a bell. I say we drink a toast. ”

“I like my toast with jam. ”

Annie laughed. “I don’t have toast, but I have lemonade. And if we don’t eat soon, I’m going to start chewing on your coin. I think it’s time to head home. ”

Izzy laughed, and it was such a high, clear, heartbreakingly beautiful sound that Annie let herself forget the tiny strand of worry.

If nothing else, she’d given Izzy back her voice and her smile . . . and now one hand was visible again. Maybe tomorrow, that glove would come off the left.

For now, that was enough.

Chapter 15

It was raining on the day Nick came home.

He paid the cabdriver and got out of the car, watching the town’s only taxi drive away.

He flipped up the collar of his Levi’s jacket and hunched his shoulders against the driving rain. Tucked under one arm was the ragged, wrinkled bag of clothes and toiletries he’d purchased to get him through his time away from home. Rain thwopped the sack, but it couldn’t be helped. Day had just rounded the bend into a lavender evening, and there was a slight chill in the air. The gravel road that led to the house went straight for about a quarter of a mile, then turned sharply around a triangular patch of Douglas fir trees. Beyond that, it disappeared into the misty mauve shadows along the lake.

He could have had the cab drive him to the front door, but he needed the time to approach slowly.

Blinking against the rain, he began the long walk home. To his left, the lake reflected the twilight sky. Glossy green leaves, rhododendron, azalea, trillium, and salal hemmed the road on either side, creating a shadowy tunnel that led him ever closer to the house.

At last, he turned the corner. Soft, golden light poured through the windows of his home. The chimney puffed smoke into the purple sky. It was how he’d always imagined it. . . .

This house had seized his imagination from the start. He could still recall the night Annie had brought him here. Kathy had the flu, so Nick and Annie had gone to the carnival alone, and afterward, she’d brought him here, to the “haunted” house by the lake.