Daughters of the Lake(73)

“What happened?” Kate coughed some more.

“I poked my head in here to check on you—thank God—and you were submerged,” Simon said. “Did you fall asleep or what? Kate, you could have died. If I hadn’t come in here—”

Kate sat up and drew her arms around herself. “I don’t know what happened, exactly,” she said. The sensation she had felt was so peaceful, so wonderful. Not like drowning, not like death at all.

“You are the most troublesome houseguest I have ever had,” Simon said. “Now, get out of there. I’ll wait in the bedroom.”

When Kate was dried off and in her pajamas, she found Simon sitting in one of the two armchairs by the fireplace in her bedroom. She slipped into the other one, and they both put their feet on the ottoman between them.

“You know what?” she said finally. “Something’s wrong here. I don’t think this is over.”

“What’s not over?”

“This whole thing,” she said. “I thought once I found out who Addie was and what happened to her, all of these weird things would stop happening to me. The dreams, the strange sensations.”

“Like your chill the other night.”

“Right, and like just now. Simon, I closed my eyes, and it felt like I was drowning. But—and this is going to sound bizarre—not in a bad way. It felt really peaceful. It seems like I experienced what Addie experienced, at the end.”

“I don’t like this game anymore,” Simon said. “Can we stop?”

“Yesterday we were wondering why I was having these dreams, why she washed up on my beach, why, why, why. Remember?”

“That’s right,” Simon said, slowly.

“It can’t be for me to just find out about this trial,” Kate said. “What would be the point? Lots of people probably know about this trial. It’s local history, as you said. I’m sure Addie’s relatives, if any of them are still living, know about it. There’s no reason for all of this other stuff to be happening if the only conclusion to all of these dreams is for me to find out that Addie’s husband killed her.”

“Correction,” Simon interjected. “That Addie’s cheating husband killed her.”

“And?” Kate didn’t understand.

“Not to be indelicate, but you have a cheating husband, too.”

Kate pondered what he was saying.

“You think Addie is coming to me in my dreams to warn me about what might have happened, or what still could happen, with Kevin?” Kate asked finally.

“It makes as much sense as anything else.”

“I don’t know,” Kate mused. “Kevin’s a lot of things, but he’s no killer.”

Simon leaned in toward her and lowered his voice. “And you’ve got a pre-nup that says he gets half of your money if you die. I’m sorry to say so, Kate, but I’m really glad you’ve got a hunky policeman and a steely-eyed cousin looking after you right now.”

Kate looked unconvinced, but Simon made a mental note to tell Nick Stone all about Kate’s pre-nup and his suspicions.



Later, after Kate had gone to bed and was sleeping a dreamless sleep, she was jolted awake by the sound of a siren. No, not a siren. She looked around to find herself standing in a kitchen that was not her own, watching a teakettle whistling on the stove. She felt two arms snake around her waist from behind and heard a soft voice in her ear. “How are the two most precious people in the world feeling on this fine morning?”

Two people? Kate saw nobody else in the room. Then she turned to the man behind her and saw the enormously handsome face of Jess Stewart. Addie’s husband. The man who killed her. Kate was terrified but felt herself smiling. “I am feeling like taking a walk down to the market after you leave for the office,” she heard herself say. “Your child is feeling like kicking her mother repeatedly.”

Child. Mother. Kate put her hands on her stomach, gingerly. There was no denying it, Addie was pregnant. Kate closed her eyes and reveled in it. She had longed for this feeling herself for so many years. Tried so many times. She rubbed her hands across her belly—Addie’s belly—and just then felt a small thudding inside. My God. I feel the baby kicking. I can actually feel it moving inside of my body. This is what it feels like to be carrying a baby.

“He’s getting his morning exercise.” Jess smiled at her. It was one of the warmest smiles Kate had ever seen. His eyes shone with love as he patted her stomach. “Running a race in there, little boy?”

“Yes, she is,” Kate heard herself teasing. The moment between this husband and wife was so intimate, so loving, Kate felt somewhat embarrassed to be intruding on it. It wasn’t the first time Kate had felt this way while dreaming about Addie’s life.

“I wonder, darling, whether it will be a boy or a girl,” Jess said as he sat down at the table for breakfast. “What do you think? You women always have a sense about these things.”

Kate put two plates of scrambled eggs and toast on the table—where did those come from? I must’ve been making them—and sat down across from Jess.

“I’m truly not sure,” Kate said. “I feel as though I know this baby so well now because it’s a part of me, living and growing inside of me, but I do not have any idea whether it’s a boy or a girl. Do you have a preference?”