The Impostor, A Love Story (28 page)

The lady was quick to point out, “It will
create a bedroom paradise.” She went on to say, “The slide, top
tent, and tower come in multiple color options.” Turning to Jessica
she asked, “What color would you like?”

“I love the pink and purple.” Her eyes
sparkled.

She patted Jessica on the head, “There's no
way your daughter won't instantly fall in love with this bed and
its pretty pink veil. It will make your daughter the happiest
little princess in town. Right, sweetheart?”

“Can I go inside?”

“Of course you can, you can play inside. See
what magical things await you.”

I figured it didn’t hurt to let her play. It
was cold outside, and we were in the warmth of the store. It didn’t
matter how long we stayed. I loved to be with her and see her so
happy.

“Mommy, Mommy, look at me!” She ran into the
little castle.

“Watch me, Mommy.” She slid down the slide,
her eyes lighting up as if we were in our own magical place—the
place we would escape to, where princesses lived and adventure
thrived. I could imagine brushing Rapunzel’s hair in the tower or
sliding down the waterfall into the river of mermaids.

The store had princesses, fairies and other
enchanted dolls, wall decals, and accessories. An amazing
assortment of candy decorated one side of the store like Willie
Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

“Look at this one, Mommy.” I loved her little
voice.

“The lollipops are bigger than you.” She ran
to another steroid-abusing piece of candy and her smile grew.

“Wow, look at the chocolate.” It was
huge.

“Mommy, this is the bestest store in the
world. I’m so glad Mr. Dylan gave you the magic card.”

“Oh, you must be Nicole.” The sales clerk
came to me when she heard Dylan’s name. She turned to Jess. “And
you must be Princess Jessica. Dylan said you would be picking out
the bedroom set. Which one do you like?”

“I like the magical princess bed with the
slide.”

“He thought you would. Let me show you
something else he thought you would love.” She took Jessica to a
beautiful, pastel carousel horse.

Jessica’s blue eyes opened wide. “It is
beautiful. Wow.”

“You can ride it, sweetie.” Jessica ran over
to it and sat on the magical horse.

“This is one of the things he liked about
it.” She turned it on and it gently rocked as music, yes music,
played. It was a waltz—one of the first waltzes we danced to on
that magical night in front of the fireplace. The night the aurora
borealis lit up the sky and the violins beckoned us to dance. I
remembered his adorable voice and his dignified lifted eyebrow.

“To be done right, the bodies have to
become almost one.”
Oh, to be held in
his arms again.

I closed my eyes,
listening to the music, letting it take me away for a moment into
his arms—yearning to become part of the dream with him once more. I
could feel what he wanted me to do by the pressure of his hand, his
body, his arms. For just a moment in my mind, he was sweeping me
across a royal ballroom.

Time flew. My goal had been to walk out of
there with only a few of the princess dolls she had also fallen in
love with. I decided to steer Jessica away from the playground bed,
but once the sales person found out who I was, she wouldn’t let
up.

“He insisted she choose one and he really
wanted her to have the carousel if she liked it. Did you like it?”
She turned to Jessica.

“I love it, love it, love it.” The woman was
making it hard to walk out of there with a twenty-dollar doll.

“Well, I’m not sure. I think we would like to
get it but need more time to think about it. Is that okay?”

“Mommy but you have the magic card and you
have to use it today or it will self-destruct.” She pouted her
little lip. “I promised, Mommy, I promised.”

“You promised what, Angel?”

“I promised that I wouldn’t lie to the magic
card. I would tell it what I wanted in my heart. We can’t let it
self-destruct Mommy.”

I turned to the sales woman, “Could you put
some invisible pixie dust on this card so it will last a little
longer?”

“I sure can.” The women pretended to sprinkle
the card.

Jessica picked out a few dolls she could take
home with her right away. The carousel horse would be delivered the
following week so Dylan could see her face when she got it. Jessica
licked the huge lollipop. Not the six-foot one, but one as big as
my little angel’s head.

I thought the bed was way too expensive, but
he was right—she loved the princess one. It was priceless to see
her light up in all the excitement at the magic store, but I didn’t
have the heart to spend two thousand dollars on the castle bed. It
just felt wrong. She was mostly sleeping in my room anyway. If he
insisted when he was in town, that would be different, but I
couldn’t do it. The carousel horse was perfect. And I could escape
into his arms with its song.

I couldn’t wait for Dylan to meet Jess. A
smile fell upon my lips.
Three more days
.

The sales woman handed me the bag, snapping
me out of my daze. I glance up at the window, startled. Grabbing
Jess’s hand, I ran out the store. A man with sandy-blond hair
seemed to be glaring toward the window from behind a tree outside.
It was hard to make out from the distance.
Was it Chuck
? I
looked closer.

The style of jacket looked similar to one
Steve owned, but the man was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses.
“Steve?” I asked confused. The two men had similar builds and
characteristics. Of the two men, I hoped it was Steve.

“Steve?” But what would he be doing here? We
were an hour away from Wasilla. “Steve?”

The man dropped his head so the brim of the
hat covered his face. He didn’t respond, quickly walking away. I
held Jessica’s hand tighter. I felt a little uneasy, but I realized
if Chuck wanted to harm me, he wouldn’t do it in the middle of the
day on a crowded street. I confirmed he was no longer watching me.
I peeked down at Jessica. I wouldn’t let this ruin our day
together.

“So where to next, Angel? You hungry?” As we
ducked in the restaurant, I checked around again. He was gone. I
was probably just being paranoid, but even as I got in my car to go
home, I searched the area again to make sure we were not followed.
The last thing I needed was for that psycho to know where I
lived.

“What do you mean there was a hold up?” I
questioned impatiently.

“They are holding her papers for some reason.
She said it’s been a nightmare, but she will be able to come soon.
Apparently, she had stayed a little longer than her visa allowed
last time, so they are making the process take longer. Everything
looks good. She will be coming soon, but it won’t be this
week.”

“You would think she would have told you this
before today,” I replied bitterly.

“She didn’t find out till she got to the
airport that she was missing some documents.”

“It’s just getting ridiculous. I need to
work.”

“I know. I’m furious too. I miss my sons,”
Steve agreed. “Last time there were no problems.”

“I know it’s not your fault. I should have
waited till she was here before bringing Jess up.” Irritated, I
left the kitchen and rapidly descended the steps into Emily’s room
and vented.

“If you want, I can watch Jess for you so you
can go to the airport alone. I know you haven’t seen Dylan in
forever. And I can go in late a few days to give you all a little
time together.”

“Are you sure?” I was so appreciative. I only
had one week with him, I wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

“Of course, Nicole. Get out of here. You
don’t want to be late to the airport.”

I arrived at the airport just as Dylan was
grabbing his luggage from the belt.

“Dylan!” I ran to him and put my arms around
him. He picked me up and swung me around. I thought today would
never come.

Looking around, he saw Jessica was not there.
He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. “I have waited so long to do
this.”

“Mmm, me too.” His lips tasted better then I
remembered.

“How have you been, beautiful?”

“Missing you.”

“I’ve missed you too, baby. I can’t believe
we only have a week.” He gently put me down. “So what would you
like to do?” he continued.

“You’re the one on break. What would you like
to do?” I insisted.

He pulled me close to him, lightly brushing
his hand down the side of my face, continuing down the nape of the
neck. Then he delicately traced my lips with his fingers, examining
them as if it was the first time he had seen them.

“This.” He slowly leaned in and kissed me. He
pulled away in between each kiss to look at me—as if each kiss was
to be cherished on its own. “And this.” Staring at my mouth, he
slowly proceeded forward again, and then paused for a moment to
admire my face before reaching my lips. His gaze was so intimate,
so intense. I got chills.

“And this.” He kissed me again tenderly,
compassionately. I melted. “I better stop or we’ll get thrown out
of here too,” he laughed. “I’m can’t wait to meet Jessica. What
would the two of you like to do?”

“We don’t need to do anything in particular.
I just want to be with you. The nanny didn’t show up again, so I’m
off all week.” I tried to stay positive.

Dylan got serious for a moment. “I want to
meet this guy Steve.” He still didn’t like the idea we were renting
a room from someone none of his friends knew. He had Chris do a
background check on Steve, but nothing came up. It was as if he
didn’t exist, which he thought was odd. He said he would keep
checking into it.

“Let’s get that over with in the morning so I
can just enjoy the rest of my time with you.”

When Dylan arrived early the next morning, I
ran to the door to give him a hug.

“Hello, wonderful.” I jumped into his
arms.

“Good morning, beautiful.” He gave me a quick
peck to be respectful. The night without him seemed like an
eternity. I couldn’t wait for him to take me away.

Jessica came over and gave him a hug, “Hello,
Mr. Dylan.”

“Hello, princess. I had fun with you
yesterday.” We’d met up with Emily and Chris and we’d taken her to
get ice cream.

“Steve, this is Dylan. And Dylan, this is
Steve.” Steve walked over from the living room.

“Nice to meet you.” Dylan extended his
hand.

“Yes, I have heard a lot about you.” Steve
was trying to be polite. Dylan towered over him. He shook his hand
apprehensively, trying to mask his annoyance, I was sure, that he
was being inspected by this kid in his twenties.

“Thank you for taking care of these young
ladies. Nicole says you have been very nice. I have to say, I was a
little worried at first, but she says everything is going fine.” I
could tell Dylan was camouflaging his disapproval as well. He hated
that we were here.

“It’s a pleasure having them. It’s been nice
having people in the house since my sons have been gone a lot
longer than I expected. I don’t know if Nicole told you, but the
nanny had a little trouble with Immigration. It seems like she will
be able to come next week finally, but it has been an unexpected
delay.”

“Yeah, that must be rough.”

Right then, there was a knock at the door.
Steve went to go answer it.

“Delivery for Mrs. Richardson.”
Oh that
sounds so beautiful, doesn’t it
? I looked at Dylan. He winked
at me as if he liked the sound of it too.

“I bet I know what that is.” I smiled.

“Is it the horsey?” Jessica beamed.

“I bet it is.” We walked to the door.

“My horsey, my horsey! Thank you, Mr. Dylan.”
She jumped up and down in excitement.

Dylan glanced over at me with a huge smile,
put his arm around me, and gave me a little peck. I was so happy he
was here to see this.

When Steve realized the door wasn’t for him,
he seemed a little agitated. To him, it probably seemed like we
were taking over his home. He walked away hastily.

“Where would you like this, ma’am?”

“It goes down here in Jessica’s room.” I
began down the stairs. “The room is the one in the middle,” I
directed him. “You can set the box down here.”

“Thank you, sir.” Dylan handed the delivery
driver a tip.

“Can we open it, pwease?” Jessica clasped her
hands in anticipation.

“Let’s do it.” Dylan rolled up his sleeves,
ready to begin.

“Steve, do you have a knife?” I called up the
stairs. When I realized he didn’t hear me, I darted upstairs into
the living room. He was sitting at the dining room table, his lips
snarled and his arms crossed. When I repeated the questioned, he
seemed to ignore me. He grabbed at a pack of cigarettes, hitting
them on the table to release one from the pack. I had never seen
him smoke before. He lit the cigarette, then hastily stood up from
the table, not even looking at me—as if I had done something wrong.
He continued to purse his lips as he went to the kitchen drawer.
The back of his neck was flushed.

“Is everything okay?” I was concerned. He was
obviously bothered about something. He continued to search the
drawer, then silently pulled out a huge blade. It was disturbing.
The dagger had a jagged edge on one side and a sharp blade on the
other. It was the knife he used to cut my feet free of the vines—a
hunting knife. He held it up for a moment and then put it back in
the drawer and handed me a carving knife.

“Here, you can use this one.” I could hear he
was upset and wanted to dismiss me. Handing the knife to me, he
still refused to make eye contact but then realized he was being
gruff and apologized. “I’m sorry Nicole, I just miss my sons. It
has been too long. I can’t believe the nanny hasn’t arrived
yet.”