Following Bliss (The Quest series) (12 page)

His mother got
up off the couch and Daniel stood up with her. She wrapped her arms around him
and whispered gently in his ear, “And I
am
so proud of you. You have
become a wonderful man.”

# # #

The birds
chirping outside his window woke Daniel up. He could still feel her arms
wrapped around him and the beauty of her words. Tears streamed down his face, and
although he attempted to wipe them away, they kept flowing. It was as if he had
been crying all night in his sleep. Daniel rubbed his eyes as the details of
the night became more clear to him.

His mother, his
dead mother, had visited him from the other side. And while she had tried to
give him a message in-person, because he wasn’t able to handle that type of
communication, she penetrated his dream and gave him the message that way.
Either way, what had occurred was real, Daniel could not deny that. His mind
drifted briefly to Shelby, and how he had reacted so negatively by pushing her
away when she shared the messages she was receiving from his mom, as well as
when she warned him about Kaley. Now, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, that
it was true. Shelby wasn’t trying to soothe his pain out of her care for him,
she was actually communicating with his mom, who was now communicating with
him. Shelby only had his best interests at heart.

That stewardess
had been right, Daniel thought. Visiting the islands
did
put him in
touch with another reality. A reality in which the veil between the physical
and the non-physical was almost non-existent.

# # #

“Housekeeping.”

A knock on the
door surprised Daniel. He had opened the windows and was letting the sun pour
in, but had not been able to venture outside. From the moment he opened his
eyes, he had this unquenchable desire to…write. He had been at his laptop for
two hours and could not stop.

The knocking
came again.

Daniel got up
and opened the door, dressed only in board shorts, his chiseled chest and
six-pack abs fully exposed.

“Sorry, I don’t
need any housekeeping—“

“Well Daniel, I
don’t think there’s any housekeeping at the condos, but tea service is as close
as you’re gonna get.”

Kaley Hamilton
stood in front of him dressed in a coral halter dress and wedge sandals, along
with a tray of tea, scones, and fresh fruit.

“May I come in?

“Actually Kaley,
I am really into something right now. I woke up with the storyline for my next
novel and I haven’t been able to stop writing.”

“Listen, Daniel,
I’m really sorry about last night. I would like to spend some time later today
together to talk more. We’re all going out on the boat snorkeling if you’d like
to join us.”

“You know Kaley,
I’m feeling inspired and want to focus on my writing. But thanks so much for
bringing me tea.”

Daniel grabbed
the tray and shut the door. He didn’t have time for Kaley’s antics this
morning. He had writing to do.

# # #

It was right
around 2 p.m. when Daniel stopped writing. He had spent six hours glued to his
laptop. And now, he was famished, yet exhilarated. He had never written
anything like what was pouring out of him, but he couldn’t stop. He was shocked
that what was coming out onto the page appeared to be a historical romance
novel. Whatever was happening was not something he was painstakingly crafting,
it was coming through him. Daniel had never had this type of experience with
writing before. Typically, it was pretty painful and anxiety producing. He
usually agonized over the plot and where to take it next. He had experienced
that few days before the Willamette Writers Conference, when things were
flowing well for him, but it wasn’t even comparable to what he was feeling now.
The words flowed out of Daniel and it felt like he was remembering a story he
already knew—almost as if he was re-creating a story he had known long ago.  

Daniel threw on
a shirt and walked outside. Kaley and her crew had already departed and, other
than the distant sound of the ocean and palm trees blowing in the wind, the
world around him was quiet. He took a deep breath of the floral air and sighed.
He had never felt this at peace before.

Just then, he
felt his phone vibrate in his shorts pocket. It was Shelby.

Had MOST amazing
reading from a psychic @ Saturday Mkt. Can’t wait 2 tell u bout it! Xo

Shelby. Daniel
had let himself get so caught up in the novel, he hadn’t taken the time to
fully process what his mother had shared with him. Hell, he hadn’t even had
time to fully process the fact that his dead mother had visited him. He needed
to tell Shelby. But could he tell her his mother’s guidance that they were
meant to be together in this lifetime? He wasn’t so sure. But, he did need to
get her to Maui to be with him. And he did need to let her know she had been
right all along. As it turns out, about pretty much everything.

And Kaley
Hamilton—what in the world was he going to do with that nutty lady? He didn’t
care how incredible she appeared to be as an agent, he was so angry that she
lured him to Maui under false pretenses. Although there were plenty of upsides
to her exaggeration of the truth: it was gorgeous, he really loved Jonathan and
Emily, and Richard and Sarah, and somehow Maui had served as a portal for his
mother to appear to him. Even so, he didn’t feel like he could trust her. Wasn’t
that exactly what Shelby had said? And she had been right. Daniel knew he could
trust Shelby. And he knew he would rather self-publish his books than work with
someone who was dishonest. Knowing his mother was proud of him set him free
from all of the rules he had created for himself—like the supposition that he
was only truly a writer if someone else published his work.

Standing there,
looking out over the beauty of Maui, Daniel knew what he had to do.

He picked up his
cell phone and dialed Shelby’s number.

# # #

“So, spare no
details—is it as gorgeous as the Internet and game show prize offerings make it
out to be?” Shelby’s voice was light and full of energy. Daniel immediately
felt himself relax; hearing her voice was so soothing to him.

“Well, it’s
beautiful, but not near as gorgeous as you,” Daniel couldn’t believe his own
cheesiness, but he also couldn’t help himself. The last several days were worlds
away from the time he spent with Shelby and now he couldn’t wait to have her
near him again.

“Aren’t you Mr.
Smooth! What’s that Hawaiian air doing to you over there Daniel?”

Daniel chuckled.
Shelby truly had no idea what the Hawaiian air was doing to him. But, he was
eager to tell her—in person.

“There is
definitely something in the air Shelby, and it’s incredibly powerful. I really
want to tell you all about it…but, I thought it might be a lot better if I told
you in person.” Daniel paused.

Shelby strained
her ears trying to decipher if she had heard him correctly. Was he asking her
to come to Maui right now or was she going to have to wait over a week and a
half to get the scoop? She remained silent; she wasn’t about to risk totally
sticking her foot in her mouth—again.

“Shelby, are you
there?”

“Yes, I’m here,”
she said quietly.

“Well….” Daniel
took a deep breath, Shelby’s silence was making him feel uneasy about what he
was about to say next. Perhaps she was still upset after their argument and didn’t
want to come to Maui. How would he handle that? Daniel wasn’t good at vulnerability
unless he was certain that it would be reciprocated. But now, he had put it out
there, and since the whole thing came via orders mandated by his mother, he had
to follow through. As he exhaled, he said, “Would you like to fly to Maui
tomorrow and spend the rest of the time with me? I found a flight leaving out
of Portland tomorrow at 8:35 a.m. And before you respond, I also want to
apologize. You were right—about everything—but more specifically, about Kaley.
I’m sorry I didn’t trust your intuition more. And I really would love to have
you here with me. I regret that I didn’t ask you sooner.”

Shelby felt
goosebumps cover her arms and flow up and down her entire torso. Of course she
wanted to go! After Daniel’s mother told her she was supposed to go to Maui
with him, she had scoped out her available vacation time. As for her boss, she
planned to tell him that she had a last-minute opportunity come up that she
couldn’t turn down. Secretly, she hoped he would fire her, so she could focus
on her jewelry business and collect unemployment. But, either way, she was most
definitely going to Maui.

Shelby’s silence
made Daniel more uncertain still, so he continued, “And don’t worry about
paying for airfare—that’s on me. Kaley’s business account is paying for the
condo, so you’re good there, too. Just bring money for shopping and anything
else you’d like to do. If you want to go, that is.” Daniel was rushing his
words now, trying to get it all out. Now that he made up his mind, he could
feel the depth of his mother’s words. Shelby needed to be there with him. He
wasn’t sure why, but he just knew she had to be.

“Daniel, of
course I’ll come meet you in Maui. I would love to.” Shelby could barely
contain her excitement. “And thank you for your apology, but you have to know
that I’m the one who’s sorry. It was none of my business. I should have trusted
that you knew what you were doing and didn’t need my two cents.”

“Shelby, let’s
agree to leave that disagreement in the past. We’ve each owned our piece, but
in the future I want to hear your intuitions. It’s my job to learn how to
receive them more thoughtfully.”

“And my job to
be more gentle in my delivery,” Shelby chimed in.
“Yes, perfect. So we’re settled then?” Daniel was grinning from ear-to-ear.
Maybe everything
was
happening exactly as it was meant to.

“It’s settled,”
Shelby said.

“Great! I’ll
book the ticket and send you the confirmation. Do you think it will be a problem
with work?”

“Don’t worry
about that—I’ll take care of it. In fact, while you’ve been gone, I’ve had a
lot shifting over here. I’ve got my jewelry line—even though it’s just a few
pieces, but growing—on Etsy.com and I’ve got more orders coming in. So, I’m
okay if Dillon Turkin fires me for taking a vacation with one day’s notice.”

Daniel had been
so invigorated when he woke up that he didn’t fully think through the
consequences of Shelby coming to Maui at the last minute. He didn’t want to be
responsible for something as serious as her losing her job. He remembered how
critical it was to receive a regular paycheck before he started writing
full-time. It had allowed him to pay off his bills and save up enough money to
feel safe to take the plunge. The realities of his plan began to sink in, as
his left brain returned to its familiar place of logic and doubt. 

“Well, Shelby,
please don’t do this if it’s going to cause problems for you at work. I don’t
want you to be without your job and a paycheck.”

Shelby laughed.
“Daniel, I’m a big girl and I know it will all work out. I’m not going to hold
you responsible for losing my job.”

They hung up the
phone with a little tension remaining between them. Daniel worried that somehow
he was losing his mind, quite possibly hallucinating his mother’s presence and
guidance, and now he could be responsible for Shelby losing her perfectly good
paying job. What was he thinking just pulling more money out of his dwindling
savings to fly her to Maui at the last minute anyway?

His mind had
returned with some serious issues around the events of the past 24 hours.

Shelby felt
frustrated that Daniel’s concern was his alleged responsibility if she lost her
job. Their connection was so strong, but he seemed to doubt it often or get
pulled into his head whenever they came to a new intersection. Why did he ask
her to fly over at the last minute if he was going to get all worried about her
job? Shelby shook her head. Sometimes she wondered if she had made the whole
thing up—visits from his mother, messages from the other side. Was she actually
the crazy one?

Chapter 7

“Aloha, welcome
to Hawaii.”

Shelby felt
butterflies in her stomach as she walked off the plane and into the
Kahului airport. Travelers circled all around her, everyone knowing
exactly where they were going, and Shelby feeling confused about her true
purpose for being in Maui. Daniel had asked her to come join him, then acted
flustered, almost taking back his invitation at the thought of Shelby losing a
job she didn’t love anyway. To top it off, he hadn’t really communicated with
her since their conversation yesterday.

What
was she doing?

The
job had been a non-issue. Her editor actually seemed surprised that she would
make such a ballsy move, congratulated her for snagging a guy that could fly
her to Maui and then asked her to write a piece about traveling from Portland
to Maui. So, she was still gainfully employed, and her jewelry line was
continuing to blossom. Now she was on her way to see a man who she felt intuitively
was her next partner. But, did he know it? That was the real question. A
question Shelby was intent on receiving the answer to on this trip.

“Shelby!
Over here.”

Shelby
turned to see Daniel standing near the baggage claim area in the open-air
portion of the airport. He was smiling. Shelby couldn’t help but smile in
return. The nagging tension she had felt earlier seemed to disappear.

She
walked quickly over to him, her blonde hair being softly tousled as a light
Hawaiian breeze blew through the baggage corridors.

“Daniel
Tillman.”

“Shelby
Hanson. I missed you.”

Shelby
jumped up, wrapping her arms and legs around Daniel. His hands gripped her
thighs, his thumbs rubbing them softly. Their lips met in unison and the
disconnect, the tension, and the questions all faded away. Daniel’s lips
enveloped hers and Shelby felt herself sink into his body even further. She
didn’t care who was watching. This was her man.

“God,
I missed you.” Daniel sighed into her blonde locks as he held onto her. “The
thing is, I didn’t even realize how much until right now.”

“I
know,” Shelby whispered back.

She
had kept herself busy while Daniel was away, but she had felt their disconnect
as soon as the argument happened at the frozen yogurt shop. Now that they were
together like this, she felt her strong feelings for him fully met and accepted
by him. In this moment, they were unified and on the same page.

As
Daniel set Shelby back down, he stroked her face softly.

“Thank
you for coming here to be with me. I’m sorry for being such an ass on the phone
about your job. I know you know what you’re doing and I apologize for
indicating anything otherwise. It’s sort of ironic, right? Me getting
frustrated that you implied that I didn’t know what I was doing with Kaley and
this publishing retreat, and then you having to deal with me not fully trusting
that you knew what you were doing with your job and coming here. Two different
sides of the same coin, eh? We just may be the perfect fit.”

Shelby’s
eyes filled with tears. He was not only aware of the dynamic between then, but
he was apologizing for his part in it. She couldn’t believe how blessed she was
to have such an aware man in her life. Not to mention sexy. Shelby didn’t know
if it was the week apart or the fact that they hadn’t had sex yet (probably
both), but either way Daniel looked so good she wanted to disrobe him right
then and there in the airport. He was wearing blue Bermuda shorts and a white T-shirt
with flip-flops—in true Hawaiian style, and absolutely devour-able in Shelby’s
eyes.

As
they walked back to his car, Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off of Shelby, which
made it rather difficult to walk, carry her bags and direct her to the car. But
somehow he did it. She looked stunning in her white sundress, her blonde hair
au
naturale
, not straightened or curled. Wedge sandals and big tortoiseshell
sunglasses made her look like something straight out of a magazine. Her toned
legs were also getting a considerable amount of his attention. She was so unbelievably
sexy that he couldn’t believe he had been able to control himself for over a
month now and not make love to her. Maybe this trip would be a turning point
for them. Maybe that’s why his mother had been so insistent that Shelby be
there. Perhaps now that he knew the real deal with Kaley Hamilton and the facts
about his career, he could let Shelby in. Shelby’s voice interrupted his
thoughts.

“Um,
Daniel, are you checking me out?”

Daniel
looked down a bit sheepishly. “Damn. I thought I was doing a good job of
keeping that on the DL.”

“Not
even close. You just spent several minutes staring at my legs.”

Daniel
laughed as he put his arm around her. “I’m sorry love, but it has to be said.
You look good.”

“Well,
thank you very much Daniel. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

They
made it to the rental car and put Shelby’s bag in the trunk. Daniel looked over
at her as they both got into the car.

“So,
are you ready to hear the full truth, nothing but the truth so help me god,
about why I asked you here?”

“Yes,
please. I’m dying to know,” Shelby said, breathless. She was curious what had
caused Daniel to realize that she was right about Kaley (what did that even
mean?!) and that she needed to be with him in Maui.

“Okay,
first of all—am I like the only one who didn’t know? Is Kaley really well known
for this? The woman told me that I was coming to an intimate retreat with other
publishers. Turns out, she’s on vacation with two other couples who just happen
to work in publishing! Can you believe that??”

“God,
I knew it,” Shelby said, leaning her head back. “And yes, she is well known for
seducing and sleeping with her authors, although she does tend to sleep with
the truly talented ones. So at least she knows how to pick them.”

“I’m
so sorry I reacted defensively when you shared your intuition with me. I was so
sure it was my big break, that any other possibility seemed completely
unimaginable. And I’m sorry that you seem to have to be the one to share all of
these messages with me all of the time—messages that I really struggle to
receive. My ego has had a hard time hearing a lot of this stuff. But, now, now
I think I’m beginning to understand.” Daniel reached out and grabbed her hand.

Shelby
stared back into his eyes. Something more than Kaley Hamilton had happened over
this past week. There was an even deeper reason why Daniel had asked her to
come to Maui.

“So,
you didn’t invite me to be here solely to get Kaley Hamilton off of you?”

“Not even close.
In fact, I hadn’t even thought about it. I’ve been avoiding Kaley since the
first night when I realized what was going on. I want to tell you everything,
but first let’s get out of this airport parking lot and get comfortable. It’s
too good of a story to not be told over a glass of wine.”

# # #

Daniel had put
together another incredible picnic for Shelby to welcome her to Maui. They
drove from the airport straight to the beach, where Daniel promptly laid down a
blanket and instructed Shelby to sit while he popped and poured some Hawaiian
pineapple sparkling wine, along with an array of raw cheeses and crackers,
fresh fruit, dark chocolate, and chicken skewers.

“There’s a great
little market not far from here that made this all possible. One of the gals
there helped me decide what to get, so don’t be too impressed. I had some
serious help with this.”

“Either way,
it’s really lovely. Thank you so much for putting it together.”

Shelby took a
long, deep breath as she sipped her wine and looked out over the ocean. The air
smelled so sweet and the breeze was so soft and perfect—she couldn’t believe
she was in Maui. It was something out of a dream. She looked over at Daniel as
he set out their food and smiled. She felt so sure he was her guy. She didn’t
know what that meant or how long she would have him for, but she knew that there
was no other man she wanted to spend this time with than him.

Daniel caught
her gaze. “What’s up? You okay?” He came over and sat down on the blanket
beside her.

“Everything is perfect.
I was thinking how I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here, with you.”

She leaned in,
kissing his lips softly, releasing ever so gently, letting her lips lightly
dance along with his, taking her time and letting him feel her hot breath. He
reached up, placing his hand along her jaw, tracing his fingers along her neck.
Daniel felt so much energy moving throughout his body that he felt dizzy. He
pulled back, looking at Shelby.

“Did you feel
that?”

“The rush of
energy that felt like we were going to topple over?”

“Um, yeah—that.
Is that normal for you? Cause I’ve never felt anything like it before.” Something
about their connection was so intense it felt like they might burst right out
of their bodies.

“No. That is
definitely not normal for me.” Shelby said, half playfully, half stoically.
“But I’ve heard that the energy in Hawaii is less grounded, which allows spirits
to connect more easily with the physical realms and for energy to be felt more
intensely. So maybe that’s why we’re feeling it even more.”

Her words hit Daniel
like a ton of bricks. That explained why his mother had appeared before him for
the first time in 11 years, in Hawaii. She hadn’t even appeared in his dreams
over the past 11 years—that he remembered anyway. But, he had never been to
Hawaii either. And like his mother had shared, he was so enveloped in his grief
that it was impossible for her to get through to him. But now, with Shelby in
his life, he had become more open and definitely more confident. Being in
Hawaii added a whole new element for him, as he claimed his work as an
author—with or without an agent like Kaley Hamilton. It was the perfect timing
for her to appear and give him her messages. And ever since she showed herself
to him, he couldn’t stop writing, the words were flowing out of him so effortlessly.
He had to tell Shelby all of it. Now.

“Shelby?”

“Yes, Daniel.”

“It’s time for
me to tell you why I asked you to come here.”

Shelby’s brow
furrowed a bit. Had something bad happened? He hadn’t hooked up with Kaley
Hamilton from what she gathered from their conversation in the airport parking
lot. Shelby couldn’t imagine anything more dramatic and terrible than that.

“Is it bad?”
Shelby whispered.

“Oh no, it’s not
bad,” he said, and Shelby felt the muscles in her jaw relax, although she
hadn’t realized she was clenching them. He continued, “But, it is rather odd.”

Shelby laughed,
tossing her head back in relief. “Well, odd I can handle. Lay it on me. What
happened that made you call me up demanding that I meet you on this island?”
She was having fun with him now.

Daniel reached
out and squeezed her hand. “You’re probably going to scream ‘I told you so!’ at
me. But anyway, here goes...” Shelby squeezed Daniel’s hand back. She noticed
his hand was quivering ever so slightly.

“My mom visited
me in my room the other night.”

Shelby gasped,
covering her hand over her mouth. “You mean, like in a dream?” she asked in a
muffled tone.

“No, not like in
a dream.”

“Like, in
person?!” Shelby’s voice was reaching a higher pitch as she tried her best to
contain her excitement.

“Yes.” Daniel
replied.

“Holy shit!”

“You’re telling
me. I freaked out. Like massively freaked out. I couldn’t even let her say what
she needed to. I kept telling her to leave, and I burst into tears. I feel
terrible that I couldn’t handle having her in front of me like that.”

Shelby reached
out, running her hands through Daniels hair.

“Sweetie, it’s
not normal for human beings to see non-physical entities. It totally makes
sense that you would feel fear…Were you able to get any part of the message
from her?” Shelby was hesitant to ask this. She didn’t want Daniel to feel
worse about what had transpired. But, she was awfully curious what was so
important that his mom had to show up in person to deliver the message. Besides,
why wasn’t she hounding Shelby with whatever the message was, like she had done
before?

Because he’s
ready now. And the energy in Maui gave me the perfect portal to appear before
him. Besides I couldn’t give a message about you to you. That didn’t work
before.

Daniel’s
mother’s voice floated into Shelby’s awareness. It was the first time she heard
from her in a long while—since the last message delivery imploded, that is.

And so, it
was
true that Hawaii’s energy served as a portal for the non-physical to easily
reveal itself, Shelby thought. Hearing it as a possibility and having it
confirmed by a non-physical energy are two very different things. Shelby
couldn’t wait to share this new knowledge with Kathryn and Scott.

Daniel was
relieved to be able to share this otherworldly experience with someone,
especially someone like Shelby who had already had several experiences with the
other side.

“She was able to
get a message to me, thankfully. Even though I was so distraught after seeing
her, I immediately laid back down and went into a deep sleep. And then, she
came to me in a dream, and we were sitting and talking. And…”

Daniel didn’t
know how he was supposed to tell a woman he had only known a month that she was
the woman he was meant to be with. Per the mandates of his dead mother. He was
pretty sure he had lost his mind. Although it didn’t feel like it at all. It
felt more like he had finally located a part of himself that had been yearning
to be discovered.