Third Vision of Destiny - Joan Read online

  Third Vision of Destiny

  Joan

  By Kallysten

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright © 2009 Kallysten

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  The right of Kallysten to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  First Published December 2009

  First Edition

  All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Edited by Mary S.

  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 person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Third Vision of Destiny

  Joan

  A gust of wind carrying the salty scent of the ocean brushed over Daisy when she turned away from Sam Woods, ready to go back inside to bring him the next person whose future he would read. She shivered, telling herself that it was from the touch of the wind, and nothing more than that. The temperature of the air had dropped in the almost forty minutes it had taken Woods to read his first two clients of the evening, and while he was wearing a brown leather jacket over his shirt and dark jeans, Daisy herself only wore a summer dress. She hadn’t expected to spend her time going back and forth between the balcony and the inside of the cottage.

  The truth was, though, that the night air was only part of the reason why she suddenly felt so cold. She was bothered by how upset Woods appeared to be. He had just shown Daisy’s friend Lydia her future, using his strange seer ability to share with her a vision of the key decision that would shape her romantic life. Both Woods and Lydia had emerged from the experience visibly troubled.

  What could Woods possibly have seen that had affected him—and Lydia—so much? Daisy had thought these glimpses into the future were important moments, but nice ones, too; it seemed that she had been wrong. Indeed, now that she thought about it, she realized that not all decisions were pleasant to make, and even the ones that opened the way to better things could be painful.

  She laid her hand on the doorjamb of the French windows that opened into the living room. Before she could take more than a step back inside, however, Woods’ voice rose behind her.

  “Daisy?”

  She turned back to him. In the dim light that bathed the balcony, he seemed tired, and when he spoke he sounded restless. “I think I need a little break, after all. Something to eat, too, if that’s not too much trouble.”

  At once, Daisy berated herself for not thinking about it. She had brought him wine, but she should have offered him food as well. She made a poor hostess.

  “Of course,” she said quickly. “Do you want to come in or…” His expression answered her question before she even finished. “I’ll bring you a plate. And something to drink. More wine? Or would you rather have juice?”

  He offered her a grateful smile. “Juice would be fine for now. Thank you.”

  With a nod, she returned to the dining room. Seven of her friends were there, assembled around the dining room table and its refreshments. Out of those present, only Alicia had already gone to Woods for a glimpse of her future. Lydia wasn’t with the others, and neither was her boyfriend Jack. Where could they be, Daisy wondered. The cottage was spacious, but its open floor plan didn’t leave much room for privacy.

  All eyes turned to her as she approached, and Joan practically leaped forward.

  “Is he ready?” she asked, her impatience and excitement all too clear in her wide eyes.

  Daisy shook her head. “Not yet. He wants a bite to eat before he reads the next person. I guess that’ll be you?” Her gaze flickered from Joan to Mike as she finished; he had said before that he wanted to go next, but it appeared that Joan was ready to jump in.

  “Joan won,” Mike said with a sheepish shrug, and the rest of their friends laughed.

  “Won?” Daisy repeated with a bemused smile. “What did you do, have a challenge to decide who was going next?”

  Another round of laughter erupted through the group.

  “You don’t want to know,” Cathleen said, tongue in cheek, and she gave Mike a sly look.

  Daisy was astonished to discover that he was blushing faintly. She would definitely need to investigate, but later. Woods was waiting for his food.

  Leaving her friends for now, she started toward the kitchen, but changed her mind halfway there and decided to grab a shawl in the master bedroom first. The least she could do was to stay with Woods while he ate, and the air was getting chilly outside. She quickly found what she wanted in the closet, but as she walked out of the room again, she couldn’t help but overhear voices from the guest bedroom across the hallway. The door wasn’t fully closed, and she could see Jack’s back as he stood in front of Lydia.

  “Lydia… Come on, love. Tell me what you saw.”

  Daisy froze, her hands clenched on the woolen shawl. She wanted nothing more than to leave before she heard anything that wasn’t meant for her ears, but she didn’t seem to be able to move.

  “I can’t,” Lydia murmured, so low Daisy barely heard her.

  Through the narrow opening of the door, Daisy could only see part of her face. Her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears that twisted Daisy’s stomach. She had known this was all a bad idea. She had known her friends would get hurt. Why had she let them convince her to go through with all this?

  “Lydia, I need to know!”

  Jack’s right hand rose to clutch Lydia’s shoulder, and she covered it with her own hand, linking their fingers together.

  “I know you do,” she said gently. “But so do I. I need to remember. When the time comes, I’ll need as much certainty as I can that it’s the right choice. I won’t have that if I talk about it. Woods said we’d forget. I can’t forget.”

  “What choice?” Jack tried, but Lydia shook her head, smiling sadly.

  “Don’t ask. I won’t tell you what I saw.”

  Jack snatched back his hand. It fell at his side, curled into a fist. “At least tell me if we’ll still be together.”

  His voice was harsh, and Daisy winced. She had a feeling that Jack already thought he knew the answer to that question—and didn’t like it one bit.

  “You’ll have to ask Sam,” Lydia said, shaking her head again. “He’ll show you, and you’ll know for yourself.”

  Daisy finally managed to push herself into motion. She quickly withdrew from the hallway and, shivering a little, wrapped the shawl over her shoulders on her way to the kitchen. A glance back revealed that her friends were still laughing and enjoying themselves. Lydia’s and Jack’s absence appeared to have gone unnoticed.

  Her hands still shook a little when Daisy pulled a porcelain plate and a tall glass from the cupboard. She filled the glass with juice from the fridge and was about to go back to the dining room when Alicia came in, wearing her jacket and grinning sheepishly.

  “You’re still OK with me stealing your cake?” she asked, pointing at the rectangular box on the breakfast tabl
e.

  “Absolutely.” Daisy smiled at her, then opened her arms to her for a quick hug. “Say hi to Ben for us. Do you need help taking the cake to your car?”

  “Jack said he’d help me,” Alicia said, her grin wavering.

  Daisy’s smile withered as well. If Alicia had talked to Jack and retrieved her jacket from the guest bedroom, she might have heard the end of that painful conversation. Daisy nodded her understanding.

  “I’m glad you came,” she said, relieved that at least one of her friends had walked away from her viewing happy. “I hope you have a fantastic New Year!”

  Alicia hugged her again. “Thanks, sweetie. The same to you.”

  Daisy picked up the glass of juice and plate just as Jack came in to help Alicia with the sheet cake. She couldn’t bear to look straight at him, and she kept her eyes on the glass as though anxious not to spill it. Lydia was back amongst their group of friends, although she stood just a step back, a glass of wine in hand and a faint smile on her lips. Daisy quickly filled the plate with an assortment of amuse-bouche before returning to the balcony.

  She stopped just past the French windows. Woods was still leaning against the railway, looking down at the beach. The moon was slowly sliding higher over the ocean, and in its light he was little more than a silhouette. He looked back over his shoulder, and a smile lit up his face when he saw Daisy there. Blinking, she stepped forward, clearing her throat to compose herself.

  “I wasn’t sure what you’d want,” she said, handing him the plate. “So I just—”

  “It’s fine,” he interrupted gently. “It looks great. Thank you.”

  Resting his forearm on the railway, he started munching on the bite-sized treats. Daisy set the glass on the small wooden table by the chairs before sitting down. Her mind going back to the conversation she had overheard, she considered Woods. It wouldn’t be his fault if Lydia and Jack ended up splitting—but then again, without him and his viewing it might not have happened so soon, like this, or even at all.

  “How can you do this?” she asked after a little while.

  Woods turned, leaning back against the banister to face her. “Do what?” he asked wearily.

  Daisy drew the shawl more tightly over her shoulders, holding it closed with one hand. “Show people that the person they love is not the person they should be with.” Despite herself, her voice took an accusing tone on the last words. “Break their hearts.”

  Letting out a deep sigh, Woods sat across from her, setting his still half-full plate aside on the table. “It’s not as though I choose what to show them.” He picked up the glass of juice, but simply held it on his knee without taking a sip. “You make it sound like it’s my fault.”

  “How do you know it’s not?” Daisy said with a light shrug. “Maybe if you didn’t show them something else they’d stay together.”

  For a long moment, Woods observed her. His gaze was heavy enough that Daisy felt like squirming, but she made herself remain very still and return his stare as coolly as she could.

  “Maybe,” he finally said, and that simple word seemed to call her an idiot. “And maybe they’d be miserable all their lives.”

  He took a sip of juice, then smacked his lips together as he turned toward the ocean again. “And it’s not always bad,” he added quietly, as though to himself. “Sometimes I get to show them that they’ve already made the right choice. Those are the good visions, the ones that balance out the not-so-pretty ones. But in the end, everybody finds someone.”

  Daisy couldn’t let that pass. She sat up straighter, and her voice rose higher than she had meant it to, drawing Woods’ eyes back to her. “That’s not true. Tons of people end up alone, whether they want it or not.”

  He shook his head slowly. “No, you’re not understanding me. Everybody I ever read.” Holding her gaze, he said, detaching each word, “Every. Single. Person.” He paused for an instant to let it sink in. “They all ended up with someone. They all had their happy ending.”

  The thought was appealing, more so than Daisy would have expected, but she rejected it; Jack’s and Lydia’s pain was still too fresh in her mind.

  “You can’t know that,” she said, darkly. “You’re what, thirty?”

  He raised an eyebrow at her, as though curious of why she was asking his age. “Twenty-eight.”

  “And you’ve been reading people’s futures for how long?”

  “Eleven years.”

  She nodded. It was pretty much as she had thought. “Have all the visions you’ve seen been realized yet?” she asked, her voice cracking in the still night air like trees splitting from the cold. “Maybe not all of them will. Maybe—”

  “One day, Daisy,” he interrupted her gently, “you must come to my place. I’ll show you the box in which I keep the wedding and birth announcements. Sorry. The boxes.”

  His words could have been harsh, but he softened them with a lopsided smile. Daisy couldn’t give in so easily, though. “But you can’t know—”

  He interrupted her again, this time by tilting his head to the French doors. “I think my next victim, as you say, is ready. Would you mind give us some privacy?”

  Daisy turned to find Joan standing just beyond the window, looking just a little nervous—but very excited.

  “Sorry for interrupting,” she said with a sweet smile. “I can wait if—”

  Daisy stood and walked to her with a smile of her own. “No, of course not. Go ahead.”

  Joan stepped onto the balcony just as Daisy reentered the house. She closed the window behind them, and as she had so far—as she probably would for all of her friends who decided to do this—she watched Woods try to make his ‘client’ comfortable with a few words before that always-awkward kiss.

  As Joan sat down, her eyes already closing, Daisy repeated to herself that this time, everything would turn out fine. Joan and Brad belonged together, she was sure of it.

  * * * *

  The smell of cinnamon and chocolate filled the entire house. Joan checked her watch as she set the sliding sofa cushions firmly back in place. A few more minutes and her last batch of holiday cookies would be ready. It gave her just enough time to finish straightening the living room.

  She wasn’t even sure why she bothered. With all three of her boys at home for the holidays, she seemed to spend all her time picking things up the floor, whether it be cushions, magazines, or shoes. Brad was just as bad as their two sons when it came to keeping the house neat, but to be fair she had known that when she had married him, almost eighteen years earlier.

  With Christmas just three days away, Brad had taken the boys for a bit of last-minute shopping that morning, leaving Joan free to bake her traditional cookies without sneaky fingers dipping into her batter or stealing burning-hot treats. She had no doubt that a generous portion of the cookies would disappear while she was shopping that afternoon.

  Satisfied that the living room was decent, she moved on to the office den and dumped a pile of magazines on the low table by the entrance. As she did, she glanced at the computer and rolled her eyes when she noticed it was still on. Her requests that it be turned off when not in use were always met with promises that, of course, they would shut it off, but on this, all three men in her life were hopeless.

  She moved the mouse on the desk to reactivate the screen. She was about to click the Start button to turn off the computer when she noticed the minimized window on the taskbar. She clicked on it—and grimaced at once when, on the window that popped up, a busty blonde thrust her chest forward, a flashing banner across the top inviting Daisy to click for the blonde’s sexual exploits caught on camera in all their glorious details.

  With a mutter of distaste, she clicked the X to close the pop-up. It disappeared, only to reappear almost at once. She did it again, with the same result. Now growing annoyed, she sat at the desk and summoned the task manager to force the browser program to shut. Those pop-up windows were so annoying!

  A sudden thought stopped he
r before she could turn off the computer. Graphic pop-ups didn’t come out of nowhere. Where had this one come from?

  She launched the browser again and searched the history. She found what she was looking for at once. Without even clicking on the links, the URL addresses and descriptions were explicit enough for her to recognize adult video sites.

  The oven timer started ringing, the beeping shrill and obnoxious so that she couldn’t ignore it. Standing so abruptly that she almost knocked over the chair, she shut off the computer and left the room. Her jaw was locked in anger as she returned to the kitchen. She pulled the sheet of cookies out and transferred them to the cooling rack, her gestures harsh enough in her annoyance that she broke a couple of them.

  It was exactly to prevent this sort of things that the family computer was in the den, the screen facing the living room. It was also why the door was never closed. It wasn’t that Joan and Brad didn’t trust their sons; they just wanted to make sure they used the internet responsibly. Looking up adult websites was not part of what they were allowed to do.

  When they came back from the mall, hiding shopping bags behind them and grinning as they dashed through the kitchen, she couldn’t help but look at Joey suspiciously, wondering when exactly he had attempted to further his sexual education. She tried to be as fair as possible with discipline and not to accuse before she knew who was responsible for a particular bout of mischief, but in this case she was sure she had the culprit. At nine years old, Terry still thought that girls had cooties; she couldn’t begin to imagine her little boy looking at those videos. In truth, though, she didn’t want to imagine her oldest child looking at them, either.

  She waited a few seconds after the boys had disappeared, just long enough for Brad to plant a kiss on her cheek and eye the cookies a bit too closely, before she said, “Maybe we should rethink Joey’s laptop.”