Along Came A Prince (19 page)

“Of course I want
to. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I get the feeling
you won’t let us have a future together. Not until the time is right
,
as
you told me before. What are you so afraid of? The worst that can happen is
we’ll fall in love and live happily ever after.”

“I guess you’d
know about the
happily ever after
part – being a prince and all.”

“Stacia, don’t
treat this lightly and don’t block me out,” he warned. “Talk to me. What are
you afraid of?”

How could she tell
him about the feeling she had adopted from her dream? The feeling that destiny
wouldn’t let her be happily married. In fact, fate wouldn’t allow her to get
married at all. It was only a dream, but it had become a part of her that she
couldn’t shake off. She knew it was true, that was all. Perhaps she was having
a psychic experience like Josie had described. On top of that, there was the
prince
part
,
and there was no way she’d ever fit into his life as a
princess and later, a queen. “You’re imagining things, Clay. I’m not afraid of
anything.”

“All right, you
win, Stacia. Obviously, you need time. Time to figure out what you want and
whether or not I’ll fit into your life even if the time isn’t
right
.”

“But...”

“It’s no good this
way. I’ve fallen in love with you, and I’m ready to move on with our
relationship. But I’d rather live without you than have it one-sided – like it
is now.” Clay stared out the front window.

Silence entered
the car for the rest of the trip back to his hotel. Clay got out at once. “Sometimes,
Stacia, being
right
or having everything
right
doesn’t make you
happy. True love always does, and you never have to be afraid to love or be
loved.”

Alone in the car
on the way home with doom as her passenger, she wanted to turn around every
block she drove and race back to him, but she couldn’t. In spite of everything
he’d said, the time wasn’t right even if she was in love with him. And for the
first time in her life, she was in love. But the dream had to be reckoned with,
and the only path she knew to take was the same one Josie traveled on exploring
the psychic world. When she knew all the answers, the time would be
right
to go to Clay…if it wasn’t too late, and if he still wanted her
.

♥♥

He had killed
before.

Many times. Too
many times to remember every face after face. And as the body count rose, so
had his bankroll.

But this was
different. This was revenge. The ultimate kill for his highest reward –
satisfaction of a debt due. He owed it and he’d pay it.

Soon.

…A
judge, complete with gray, curled wig and black robe, pounded his gavel. “Divorce
granted,” he said.

Moments
later, Dean flew down the courthouse steps three at a time, waving his divorce
decree papers wildly. A smiling Victoria was waiting inside his car.

He
leaped down the steps even faster to reach her across the street. A car rounded
the corner, and he ran directly into its path.

Crash!
Dean’s body was tossed off the hood of the car, and he lay lifeless on the
ground…

♥♥

The first few days
of rehearsals for
London Affair
were just that – rehearsals. Since every
scene of the movie that didn’t involve Stacia had already been completed, all the
time was spent on her scenes. It ended up requiring at least sixteen-hour days
at the studio, mostly rehearsing Audra Parker’s movements. This, to her
surprise and also Nathan‘s and Arthur’s, she accomplished quickly and was as
easy for her as memorizing her lines had been.

When she thought
she had a scene down, Arthur would film “a dry run,” as he called it, making
Stacia perform her movements and lines for that particular part. Then all
production would halt as Nathan and Arthur would vanish to the editing room to
see how everything matched together.

After deciding
what was right and what needed to be changed, Stacia would redo her actions and
dialog to coordinate exactly with Audra’s. The rest of the time she stayed in
her dressing room, going over her role and watching a video of Audra in the
next scene they’d be doing.

But no matter what
she did, her thoughts crisscrossed back to Clay. He’d said he had fallen in
love with her. And she was in love with him too. So why was there a problem? What
was stopping her from flying back into his arms, or because of her film commitment,
having him fly to hers?

When it became too
much for her mind to tolerate, she’d escape by taking a nap. But when she’d
awaken, the same puzzle with its unconnected pieces forced its way back into
her brain, and she’d end up asking herself the identical questions once again.

Now it seemed as
if her dream had been replaced by a new one, equally as mystifying. She had
dreamed she was in a fitting room trying on wedding gowns. She’d found the
perfect one and stood admiring the back of it in a full-length, three-way dressing
mirror.
Beautiful
, she told the clerk, her fiancé would love it. Slowly,
she rotated the mirror in her hand to view her veil and face. She screamed. Instead
of her face, Audra’s had appeared. Then she heard the sound of glass breaking. When
she turned around to look, the three-way mirror behind her had shattered, and
the jagged shards slipped to the carpeted floor landing upright, as if crystal
spikes had been driven there. She stared at the background the mirror had been
adhered to, her eyes consuming its blackness, until it felt like she was
entering a large black tunnel. And then she woke up.

Maybe she was
having a breakdown from working too hard and trying to figure out the turmoil
inside her. Perhaps it was destiny’s way to show her what would happen if she
married. Then she reasoned that since she was working so closely to Audra
playing her original role, she’d assumed Audra’s identity which would, of
course, explain Stacia’s new dream. She dismissed that idea though, because
actors usually emulated the character they were playing, not the actor who’d
played the role. But since this was a remake of an old movie, maybe that’s what
had actually happened. And what about her other dream? What was that all about?
She still had no clarifying idea and ended up being more confused than ever.

Two words began
repeating themselves in her mind. Josie and meditation. Josie had said when you
meditate, you heighten your awareness to what’s going on inside you. If Stacia
tried it, maybe she’d also learn to relax and reduce her stress. Well, that
sounded like too easy a solution to her problems. But even if it could work,
when would she have time to spend with Josie?

In the midst of
her thoughts, she heard someone knocking on her trailer door. When she answered
it, Hal was standing there.

“How’re you doing,
Stace?” he asked.

“Busy, busy, busy
would answer that question.”

“I had to check on
another client here at the studio, so thought I’d look in on you also.”

“How are Linda and
Helen?” Stacia wanted to know how Helen and Sam were, but she didn’t think she
should ask Hal that question.

“When do you and
the prince pick up your awards for
Matchmakers of the
Year
?” Hal
laughed as he sat down on her sofa. “Mother and Sam have hardly been separated
since the first night with Clay and you. He invited her to go with him to
Kentucky to see the prince’s ice sculpture exhibit.”

“And your mother
accepted?” Stacia was astonished. That didn’t sound like Helen at all.

“They’re in
Kentucky now,” he said. “I’m surprised too.”

“Do you like him?”

“Sam? Any man who
treats my mother the way he does wins my vote. She’s unbelievably happy these
days.”

“She said she’d
met Sam a long time ago.”

“Yeah, she did.”

No wonder Hal’s
such a good agent, Stacia thought. He definitely doesn’t divulge much
information about anyone. She was glad he was her agent because she was certain
he didn’t disclose anything about her either. “When are they coming back?”

“By the end of the
week. Unless they elope or something.”

“Right.”

“At their ages,
practically speaking, they don’t have a lot of time left for romance in their
lives.”

“You’d better not
let your mother hear you talk like that.”

Hal grinned. “I
know, and I don’t mean it the way it sounds. I hope to have my mother around
for a long time. I meant they’re both healthy and young, and they should make
the most of it. But they need to make decisions quicker than...say, you and the
prince?”

Now it was Hal
who was fishing!
“What have you heard about Clay?”

“Guess you don’t
have time to read the papers. He’s been all over them. You remembered the
exhibit’s tonight, right?”

“I’d...forgotten.” 

Stacia heard a
sharp rap on the door. “They’re ready for you, Miss Saunders.”

“That’s my call,
Hal. Are you going to come watch me?”

“Not today. By the
way, how are you and Farrell Fontaine working out? Has he stayed sober?”

“He totally keeps
his distance from me. I’m grateful for that, because I feel awkward around him.
He’s on the set every day, but mostly sits quietly on a stool in the back and
observes everything. If he does have to come around me, he’ll only speak a few
words to me very politely and about business only.”

“That’s what you
wanted, isn’t it?”

“Of course. Except
he has a very strange look in his eyes whenever he glances at me. Almost as if
I make him sad.”

“Stace, I’d better
go, or you’ll be late getting on the set. I’ll talk to you soon,” Hal said and
let himself out.

Stacia quickly
dressed in her costume. She walked onto the set, and her makeup was touched up,
as was her hair.

“Okay, Stacia. Let’s
take it from where we left off,” Nathan said.

“Quiet on the
set.”

“Ready...and
action...”

The video on the
TV screen began playing. The accompanying audio came alive in Stacia’s ear.

“Our house,
Victoria, it’s gone,”
Lily cried out, clutching her puppy closer to her.
“Our
house...I want mommy...I want daddy...Make them come back. I want my dolls and
my bed and...

With the green
screen in view, Stacia knelt down on the floor and put her arms in a circle as
if hugging Lily. “We’ll be all right, honey. We really will. No matter what, we
still have each other,” she said.

“Cut...” Nathan
called out. “And print.”

♥♥

Well, that was
strange,
Stacia thought as she walked back to her trailer. What a trip to
the past she’d just encountered!
She felt as if she’d emerged from a
time travel tunnel that twirled and swirled the past and present together,
until they both were jumbled and tumbled into one time period…and one person.
She hadn’t known Helen very long in the present, yet she’d just acted with her today
when the older woman was nine years old!

It seemed as if
everyone she knew changed so much when they got older, yet there was always a
thread that entangled them together as one person, so they were recognizable,
if you looked closely enough. No matter what age the person was, the remnants
of the past stared back at you. And so it was with Helen. The past is always
present, no matter what happens between the then and now.

Everything between
them had happened so fast since they met. Now they were good friends, and
Stacia would do anything she could to keep it that way.

…“I don’t mean
to not give you any hope, but things look bad. Dr. Fulton’s in a coma. He may never
come out of it,” Dean’s doctor said to Victoria and Grand-mère. “If he does, it
could take weeks or months, but based on my opinion as well as three other
specialists I have consulted, we believe he’ll remain in a vegetative state and
eventually pass on.”

“No...No...No!”
Victoria screamed at Dean’s doctor. “He won’t do that, and he won’t die. I
won’t let him!”

“Now, now,
child,” Grand-mère said, “neither of us will allow that to happen. I don’t know
what we’ll do, but we’ll do it anyway. You’ll see, and we’ll do this together. Thank
you, doctor. May we see him now?” She waved her cane toward her grandson’s
room.

“You can go in
for a few minutes only. I hope your miracle works. Somehow, if anyone can
produce one, I have a feeling you two can.”

Victoria and
Grand-mère entered Dean’s room. He was as still and lifeless as he was lying on
the street after the accident. Victoria motioned for his grand-mère to go first.
She did and told the sleeping man how much she loved him, and how she and
Victoria wouldn’t let him leave them. “Not for anything,” she said. “A Fulton
doesn’t quit. When things get bad, they just fix them.” She stepped aside so
Victoria could stand by him.

“Hi, Darling,” Victoria
said, as she got as close as she possibly could to Dean. “I love you, and your
grand-mère and I are here for you. You were so happy when you were running
toward me today. I knew then you’d given me the happiness you promised me.” She
bent over and spoke softly in his ear. “But, Darling,” she began, “I have my
own surprise waiting for you. I want to give it to you now. Remember the first
night when we parked on that country lane? Well, I have our baby nestled inside
of me. Did you hear me? We’re going to have a baby. You have to wake up, so you
can hear it cry and coo and kiss it. Do you want to feel your baby, so you know
it’s there?” Victoria carefully picked up Dean’s hand and placed it on her
stomach. “See, my love, I told you. Now come back to us.” She noticed Grand-mère
was crying softly. “All three of us,” Victoria whispered...

♥♥

“Are you positive
you want to come over today, Josie?” Stacia asked over the phone. “I don’t want
to mess up your Sunday afternoon with Ryan.”

“I’ve waited quite
awhile to get you to meditate. If you could see me right now, you’d see me jumping
up and down at this chance.”

Stacia laughed as
she imagined Josie jumping like a kangaroo around her living room. “Come any
time you’re ready.”

After saying
goodbye, she touched the off button on the phone, laid her head back on the
cushion and settled down on her sofa to relax. She closed her eyes, and Clay
popped into her mind.

His image of the
night they were in the limo came through clear and strong. She felt the warmth
of his hands on her cheeks as he lifted her face to his. The look in his eyes
had seemed to proclaim she was all his, and he wanted her like no one else ever
could.
Luscious and tempting
, he’d said. She ran her fingers up her
neck, following the path of his kisses and, she wondered how Josie and
meditation could clear his vision from her mind, except she couldn’t figure out
why she’d even want it to leave.

Thinking she’d
better get something for them to eat because it might be a long afternoon, she
made her way into the kitchen. Stacia filled a tray with snack food and went
back into the living room. She picked up the Sunday paper. There, staring up at
her, was a picture of Clay standing beside an exquisite ice sculpture of
Aristides. She decided she liked the image of Clay she’d conjured up in her
mind better. The newspaper only showed how handsome he was, but underneath his perfect
physical appearance was the real man. Someone gentle, kind, considerate. Someone
fun and comfortable to be with. Someone who tempted her like no other man could.
Someone she knew she’d fallen hopelessly in love with. A perfect soulmate, if
there was such a thing.

She flipped
through the newspaper, entertaining herself, until Josie knocked on her door. When
her almost sister-in-law stepped into the entrance hall, she gave Stacia a hug.

“Come on into the
living room.”

Josie walked in
and looked around at the brightness. “We can concentrate better if we close
your blinds.”

“Done.” Stacia did
as suggested. “What’s in the big bag you brought?”

“A candle, some
incense and something to burn it in.” Josie began to take items out of her
carrying bag, holding each one up as she removed it. “My iPod with good music
to meditate by and a sound box to hear it through.”

“I didn’t know you
needed all that in order to meditate.”

“You don’t. You
actually need nothing but quiet and a comfortable place to sit.” She grabbed a
couple decorative pillows off the sofa. “These will do fine, if that’s okay
with you.”

“Of course,”
Stacia said.

Josie arranged the
pillows on the floor facing each other, leaving enough space between them for
the candle and incense burner. She lit the candle. “Candles give off their own
aura,” she explained. “And this is sage,” she instructed as she lit the small
bundle. “It cleanses the air.” She walked around the room rotating the weed.

Stacia grinned. “You
really do make your own little world, don’t you?”

“Everything is
meant to relax you and open your chakras.”

Stacia looked at
her blankly.

“That’s right, you
know nothing about any of this, do you? We can go into all of it later. Right
now, let’s learn to meditate. First, we’ll sit down on these pillows. You can
just sit cross-legged, or however it’s comfortable for you. Good. Next, rest
your hands on your legs, palms up. You will receive energy from the Universe
into your left hand, and you can send energy out wherever you want with your
right hand. You’re doing perfect, Stacia.”

Josie turned on
her iPod. The gentle sound of waves running to the shore filled the room. “Sit
tall, close your eyes and relax.”

Stacia obeyed.

“Focus on your
breathing. Relax. Now, breathe in a color that soothes you and relaxes you. Hold
that breath. Now exhale a color associated with stress. Again, breathe in
relaxation. Breathe out stress. Breathe in the white light floating toward you.
Let it fill your entire body. Exhale and let it cover your whole body back and
front, inside and out. This will protect you from anything that’s not for your
own higher good or the good of the Universe.

“Picture a
favorite place. It can be by an ocean, or a beach, in the woods, by a
waterfall, anywhere you love to be and is relaxing for you. A safe place where
no one can harm you.”

Stacia pictured
the waterfall she saw in the woods at SwissDen. Every other thought was erased
from her mind. She concentrated on the beauty of the moment while she was there.

“Hear the sounds
around you. Smell the scents. Relax.”

Stacia drank in
Josie’s soft, hypnotic voice as if it were a warm glass of milk. She felt
cradled and loved by the nature surrounding her. She relaxed fully. Totally. She
could smell the pine trees tinged with the sage burning in the room. She could
hear the birds singing around her, and the water gushing from the waterfall. She
was relaxed and content and didn’t want to leave this perfect place. Stacia had
no idea how long she sat immersed in her paradise of perfection, when Josie’s
quiet voice broke into her concentration.

“Whenever you’re
ready to leave, please do so, knowing you can go back to this special place any
time you want. Come back slowly and when you’re ready, open your eyes.”

Stacia did as
Josie directed. She opened her eyes and stretched. “That was wonderful. I feel
so relaxed. One thing though, when do I find out what’s going on inside me?”

“Patience, Stace. You
can’t build a house without a foundation. You can’t learn everything about
meditation in one lesson either. This is enough for today. We’ve accomplished a
lot. You opened your mind and allowed relaxation to enter it. When you want to
try it again, we’ll do some other things. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Not at all,”
Stacia admitted. “I didn’t know meditation could make me feel like this, or I
would have tried it sooner.”

Josie laughed. “Did
you think it was like wicked witchcraft?”

“I didn’t know
what it was like.”

“Meditation can
lead you down many paths. But basically, it’s meant to take you to a level of
consciousness that allows you to explore what’s inside you. Your mind normally
makes your decisions for you based on conditioning, the environment and
experience. When you sweep your mind clean, and listen to your inner self, you
discover all kinds of things your mind normally won’t let you listen to.”

“What do you know
about recurring dreams, Josie?”

“Dreams are
another whole path by themselves. But I believe they’re trying to give you a
message. A message you may be able to decipher the deeper you go into
meditation. Do you want to share any of your dreams with me?”

“Well, I’ve had
two now. One takes place in London during the war.” Stacia explained the dream
in its entirety. “The second seems to have replaced the first one. I’m standing
in a wedding dress...” She explained that one also.

When Stacia had
finished, Josie was silent.

Well, what do you
think they mean?”

“You’ve whizzed
past me a bit with all of this, but I suspect it’s something to do with past
lives. You wanting to learn meditation and accepting it means you have a need,
and you’re ready to explore deeper. If you’re free next Sunday, we can go into
some other areas of meditation?”

“I’d like that.”

“You remember my mom’s
a hypnotherapist, right? She also believes in past lives and regresses people
to see if they can remember any of theirs. The more you learn about meditation,
the easier she can help you. We could work together, and if you find the need
to go farther than I can take you, we’ll call in the big guns, okay? The main
thing is for you to try to meditate each day. By next Sunday, it’ll be easier
for you.”

“I can work in
meditating between scenes. I have some free time then, and most of it I spend
thinking of Clay.”

“Is he coming back
soon?”

“I didn’t want to
say anything to you or Ryan, but Clay says he’s ready to move on with our
relationship and I’m not.”

“And is this
true?”

“In a way, yes. I
feel as if I’m stuck somewhere, and until I resolve some of the issues churning
around inside me, I can’t move on. I also have this idea I think about a lot. A
feeling I can’t get married, that destiny won’t allow me to.”

 “Oh, Stace, you
really do need help, don’t you?” Josie reached over and gave her a quick hug.

“I feel like
you’ve helped me already.”

“We’ve only just
begun, but we’ll travel this path together if that’s what you want.”

“I do, Josie, I
do.” Stacia’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m in love with Clay, you know.”

“I think it’s more
than that,” Josie said. “I think your past with him is catching up with your
present with him.”

“And what about
our future?” Stacia asked. “Do we have one of those together?”

“Patience, Stace,
patience. Fate will answer your question in its own time.”