Fading With Time

Chapter 6

Change of Mind

                By the end of the day Elizabeth was half disappointed.  She had ended up deciding to make the structure a spa instead of an indoor pool.  There were so many places around to swim already that it just hadn’t made much sense to create another one.  A spa however, with a hot tub and steam room, would allow them all a place to kick back and relax.  Jan seemed slightly dissatisfied at first by the change in plans but in the end, she was just as excited as Elizabeth at having an oasis.  Dewy worked with Elizabeth over the dimensions she would need in the building for storage at first.  He assured her they could have a standard structure up and ready for her family’s things by the time they were brought down.  The downside was all the extra work that needed to be done to turn it into a spa was going to take time.  She had agreed that getting the building up first was priority and that the other renovations that would need to be done could be spaced out as it was cleared of things.  That was good in a way.  She wouldn’t be able to procrastinate going through everything if she wanted to keep construction going.  The timetable the company would work out for after the initial build would keep her on task.  Sometimes having a push was warranted.  Since diving into her family’s belongings was going to wake up a lot of ghosts from her past, she would need that extra incentive to face it head on.  It wasn’t a task Elizabeth was looking forward too but a necessary step if she wanted to get to a good place mentally.

                Thank goodness for Jan, and Lauren too.  Lauren had shown up with Mikey in tow part way through discussing the project with Dewy.  Every time Elizabeth would start to hesitate, second guessing if she were ready, the two women jumped in and gently prodded her.  If it hadn’t been for the two of them, she probably would have sat on the fence with the whole thing.  She wanted to get to know her mother and was excited to do so in a way.  There was a niggling thought of what she could find though.   After all, Elizabeth never knew the woman who had given birth to her and there could be secrets that she wasn’t prepared to find out.  For that matter all of her family members could have things that she wished she had never discovered.  The thought was disconcerting, and it made Elizabeth leery to uncover things that would change her perspective of those she had loved dearly.  That thought alone made her resistant to starting the task she needed too.  Jan, maybe sensing how hard it was going to be for her, offered to be with her every step of the way.  Lauren had wanted to give the same assurances, but she had a life and career back home that she needed to get back too.  She was going to spend her last day in town with Mikey and head out the next day.  It made Elizabeth sad to see her friend leave but she understood that it was time.  After all the only reason she had stayed in the first place was to help Elizabeth start down the road to recovery.  It was never supposed to be an indefinite vacation.  From the shy looks and little smiles that Lauren sent to Mikey when he wasn’t looking, Elizabeth could tell that Lauren was on board with trying a serious relationship with him.  Mikey, for his part would do subtle overprotective moves any time he felt Dewy had moved too close to Lauren.  Elizabeth was positive that the two of them were on the same page at last.  She just hoped that everything went well for the couple.  It was a plus that Mikey’s main practice was in the city where Lauren lived.  They were going to head back together the next day.  It was a too cute moment when they shared that bit of information with her and Jan.  To Jan’s credit she tried to not make a big deal out of Mikey’s first try at an adult relationship either.  Whenever Elizabeth met Jan’s gaze however, it was clear she was just as excited about the development as Elizabeth was.

                By the time Dewy left there was a rough draft of the dimensions of the building that would be going in.  He would be back in a couple days with a finalized draft and a crew to get started.  They were on a tight schedule and there was no time to waste.  Before he left, he took a look at her back door and steps as well.  While Lauren and Mikey had gone inside to pack up Lauren’s things Dewy had sanded down her door until it could be shut.  He was going to send out a small crew tomorrow to replace the door, add a storm door, and rebuild the steps and back deck.  He left after exchanging phone numbers and emails with Elizabeth so she could be kept in the loop on the progress of the project.  In turn she would keep the construction crew up to date on her progress as well so they could get going on the second half of the building's purpose.  Jan made sure it was clear to Dewy though, that the exchange of info was to be kept strictly business.  She did it in the nicest way possible, but the fire burning in her amber eyes made it clear she meant business.  Elizabeth had shivered a little slightly afraid of what Jan could be capable of.  Dewy promised to keep things professional.  He had heeded the warning Clayton had given him already and had no intention of pushing the boundaries.  As they waved goodbye to him from the driveway Lauren and Mikey came out of the house carrying Lauren’s suitcases with them.  Elizabeth was sad to see her friend leave but didn’t want to stop the progress of their blooming relationship.  Instead of trying to talk them into a farewell dinner, Elizabeth gave Lauren a hug as the two of them parted ways.  The couple were planning on leaving at four in the morning.  Elizabeth didn’t plan on getting up that early and wasn’t even sure that she could.  Jan too had to call it a day and left shortly after the others.

                Elizabeth sat on her couch eating leftover lasagna from Ryan’s mom and listening to the quiet settle around her.  There had been so much going on that day that she hadn’t had time to herself at all.  Now that she did, she was feeling a bit lonely.  She couldn’t actually remember the last time she had been lonely.  Not even when she had first moved to Crystal Springs and had kept to herself.  Back then she had her personal demons to keep her company.  Now though, she could actually feel the loneliness like a physical weight that pressed down on her.  It was not pleasant feeling, but she supposed it showed that she was actually making progress even if it didn’t seem like it.  Blowing out a frustrated breath she got up taking her dish to the kitchen.  She trudged her way to the bedroom feeling worn out even though she really hadn’t done anything strenuous that day.  It could have been from the heat.  It had a way of draining her on really hot days.  Since most of the day she had spent outside in the backyard, she had been out in the heat longer than she had in a while.

                Elizabeth went through the motions of getting ready for bed while she pondered what she should do tomorrow.  She would like to get started on the project for her elderly class but until she received the pictures from everyone there wasn’t much to work on.  When Jan came over in the morning maybe they could discuss setting up in the attic so there would be room for everything that they would need.  Walking back into her room she sighed in dismay at the atrocity her bed was left in.  She had made such a mess out of the covers that morning that the whole thing was going to need to be remade.  Her energy was so low at the moment though that she honestly debated just crawling into bed and trying to make it work.  Not wanting to be uncomfortable trying to sleep in twisted sheets she decided she was just going to have to strip it and fix it.  It was the last thing she wanted to do but couldn’t see any way around it.  Heaving out a put-upon breath she grabbed the balled-up bedding in her arms and pulled the whole thing loose from her bed.  Tossing it to the floor she sorted through the mess looking for the flat sheet.  It took her a whole ten minutes to untangle everything and remake the bed.  It was ten minutes she hadn’t wanted to spend doing the task at all.  She was annoyed with herself for having left such a mess in the first place and vowed to never do that to herself again.  As she picked up the spread and cast it out onto the bed something flew out of it clunking to the floor when it landed.  Elizabeth arched her brow curiously as she looked to her nightstand to make sure it hadn’t been her phone.  Her cell however sat near the lamp plugged into the outlet where she had left it when she came in for bed earlier.  Walking around the bed Elizabeth got down onto the floor searching for whatever had flown out of her blanket.  It took a few minutes, but she eventually found the device just underneath her bed.  Reaching out she picked up the little silver recorder that she and Lauren had used to search the house for ghosts.  Getting up Elizabeth sat on the edge of her bed chuckling at the thing.  The both of them had completely forgotten all about it.  The recorder must have been on her bed wrapped up in the bedding since the night Lauren had tossed on top.  They had never listened to the recording they had done in the room that she claimed as her bedroom.  Knowing they hadn’t gotten anything from the rest of the house she felt fairly safe listening to the last of it by herself.

                Elizabeth sprawled out across her bed making herself comfortable as she pressed the play button.  She listened to Lauren run through all the questions with no response in return.  It was exactly as she had predicted and was just about to stop the tape when a weak voice spoke.  Elizabeth froze with her thumb hovering over the button.  Shock hit her system making her jolt up into a sitting position.  The tape ran out popping the button on its own causing her to jump slightly.  With shaking fingers Elizabeth rewound the tape a little before turning the volume up and pressing play.  Again, the voice spoke but it was so light that she still couldn’t make out what it said.  She couldn’t even tell if it was a woman’s voice or a man’s voice as it was but a bare whisper of sound.  Again, she reset the tape turning the volume to max.  Holding her breath, which was the only noise in the house, Elizabeth listened intently.  When the voice spoke this time, she could almost make out what it said.  Rewinding one more time she brought the recorder up to her ear pressing it lightly hoping to capture what the word was.  This time it paid off as she thought she finally deciphered what it said.  She was so startled that she dropped the device into her lap.  Her hand flew up to her mouth repressing the sound of disbelief that tried to escape.  She still couldn’t tell what gender the voice was, but the whispered word had her mind reeling.  Just before Lauren had pressed the button to stop recording that night something had spoken.  Like it was trying to make sure that she got the message before it was too late.  The static from the recording had popped and crackled but the word it whispered could not be hidden.  One word had been whispered across the crackling silence.  Elizabeth stared at the device as the button popped once again signaling the end of the tape.  Even though she no longer held it to her ear she could hear the whisper echoing over and over in her imagination.

                “Letters.”