2. The woman of my dreams

Same time, Florida, New York

Justin Darwin woke with a gasp, then sat straight up, searching the shadow in his room for a glimpse of the woman who had been in his bed. When he realised that, once again, it was nothing but the same dream he had been having for months, he rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes and cursed.

"How was this happening? It had seemed so real." He muttered to himself.

He inhaled slowly, then frowned, imagining he could still smell the scent of her in the room.

With a muffled groan, he got out of bed and strode to the bathroom, flipping on light as he went. Withing seconds he was in the shower and standing beneath the stinging jets of cold water, and yet no matter how long he stood, the feel of her was still on his skin.

About an hour later, Darwin was still up, trying to come to terms with the fact that he was having a love affair with a phantom. Not even the sturdy walls and cool bare floors of the home that has been in his family for three generations were enough to ease his frustration tonight. Finally, he took a cold can of beer from his refrigerator and walked back into the back porch.

The Florida night was still, the air warm and sluggish. Beyond the perimeter of his house, the racket of tree frogs and crickets almost masked the less privelent sound of a nearby gators bone. This was his world- the world in which he'd been raised. But not even Florida and all it concealed was frightening to him as the last three months of sleep had been. He was no high school boy having wet dreams about sex. Whatever was happening was locked into his soul. He didn't know why, or if it would ever happen again, but he knew, as well as he knew his own name, that if she ever existed, he had to find her.

And so he stood, staring off into the darkness as a fresh layer of sweat beaded on his skin, reminding him of the heat they had generated while making love. Finally, he laid the cold can of beer against the back of his neck.

"God give me strength," he said softly, then popped the top of the beer. Lifting it to his lips, he tilted his head and drank untill it was gone.

Peter Philips was just finishing his breakfast when Janey entered the dinning room. He frowned as he watched her walk straight to the sideboard and pour herself a cup of coffee.

"You overslept." Peter said. "Are you ill?"

Janey took her coffee and moved towards the table.

"No. I'm fine."

There was no other answer she could give him. He already thought she was crazy. Telling him she was losing sleep over a love affair with some phantom from her dreams would send him over the edge.

"It's almost nine." He said, persisting in pointing out the fact that she was late in coming down for breakfast.

Janey lifted her cup, looking at her father over the room as she blew across the hot surface, then took her first sip. She knew it infuriated him that she has yet to I've him a satisfying answer, and while it was somewhat childish, she savoured the small rebellion. After the second sip, she set her coffee cup down and smiled at the woman who was coming into the room.

"Good morning, Miss Janey. What would you like for breakfast?"

"Good morning, Manda. Please te the cook I'm only having coffee this morning."

Her father frown deepened as the housekeeper left.

"You should eat something, Janey. It's not healthy to— "

"Father, for heaven's sake. I'm twenty-five, not five. I know whether I'm hungry or not. Besides, I'm having lunch with Mr Alex at one o'clock."

Her delayed arrival at breakfast and the fact that she wasn't eating properly were forgotten as he absorbed the fact that she was having lunch with their family lawyer and he hadn't known about it.

"Alex? Why? And why didn't he let me know?"

"Really, father, it's not like am doing anything illicit. He called. I agreed to lunch. I supposed it might have something to do with mother's trust fund, which is my business, not your."

"Still" Peter muttered. "One would have thought he'd have contact me not you."

"Why?" She challenged

"Well,because…."

"Am not my mother."

Janey snapped, her voice raising with each word she spoke.

"I'm not disturbed. I'm not unbalanced. I'm not crazy."

Then she shoves her chair back from the table and stood abruptly.

"Have a nice day at the office, father. I have some letters to write… and some spirit to channel," she added, knowing the last shot would infuriate him even more than he already was.

She walked out with her head held high, refusing to let him know how badly she hurt.

"Damn him," she muttered as she took the stairs back up to her bedroom.

"Damn all men to hell and back."

But the moment she said it, she thought of a man from her dreams and knew that uses she found him in someone real, she was the one who would be forever damned.

Alex was, all intent and purposes and except for the Philip's family, retired. He would have given them up too, had it not been for Josie's daughter. If he abandoned Janey the way Josie had, then she would be standing alone against the world, because her father certainly wasn't taking her side. More than once, Alex had been a witness to Philips cold hearted treatment of Janey. In a way, he understood a bit of why Philips was so stringent. He'd been helpless to stop his wife's self destruction and it was fear that drove him to ride Janey so hard. But Alex knew something about Janey that Philips did not seem to get. Janey wasn't Josie. She was strong, self confident, and more her father's daughter than either one of them realised.

He fiddled with his napkin as he waited for her to arrive, while wondering what his latest bit of new was going to do to the very fragile balance of her world. Then he looked up, saw the tall, beautiful redhead walking his way with her father's attitude and Josie's smile, amd felt his heart skip a beat. He laid down his napkin as he stood to greet her.

"Janey, darling, it's been too long." He said, then kissed her cheek and seated her at their table.

Janey smiled at her old friend and no forthe first time, realised that the older he got, the more he resembled Johnny Mark, sans beards.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" She reached out and patted his hand as he sat down beside her.

"You must remember to do this more often." Alex signaled thier waiter that they were ready to order. As soon as the waiter was gone, Janey pu he elbows on the table and leaned towards him in a confidential manner.

"So, what's up doc?" She asked expecting to see a smile break across the somberness of Alex face. Instead, he frowned.

"Alex?"

He cupped her hand, then patted the side of her face.

"I have some sad news for you, dear. Your grandmother Marcy, has passed away."

Janey smile faded. she had it rague memory of her maternal grandmother, but what she remembered was all good. Going to New York to Wisteria grove, the family estate where her mother had been born and raised- had been like going to wonder land, only without all the rides.

The area had been hot and green and wet, and to her, someworth like a jungle. And it was the first time she'd ever felt completely accepted. No one minded that she 'saw' things other didn't, and no one shided her for her flight or fancy. It had been one of the most memorable time of her life.

But after Josie's disintegration, Janey had never seen her grandmother again. To her shame, she realised that she'd never considered going back on her own after she'd become an adult.

"When is the service?" Janey asked

Alex shook his head. "Again, I'm sorry, but it's over. Marcy was buried in the family's plot at Florida over two weeks ago."

Regret hit hard, followed by shame.

"Oh, no," Janey muttered.

"That's not all," Alex said.

Janey waited for the cat to be let out.

"She left everything to you."