Please read the previous chapters before this one to understand the story up to this point. None of these chapters are stand-alone. This chapter does contain erotic scenes including a mild anal scene.
Enjoy.
Early Sunday morning, I awoke to an empty bed. Normally, I'm the first up but not today for some reason. I put on a robe and headed to the kitchen. Pam was sitting on one of the counter stools, sipping coffee and reading a book.
She looked up as I walked in. "Good morning, sweetheart."
"Good morning, young lady. So you learned how to use the coffee machine."
"It took a while but I figured it out. I've never used a Jura coffeemaker but it's kind of like the commercial units in restaurants where I've worked. It makes very good coffee."
I walked over to the machine, pressed a button and listened to the grinding of the beans. The coffee was dispensed in just a minute.
"What are you reading?"
"I strolled through the library early this morning and found many interesting books on childhood education. This one caught my eye as it was written by Lydia."
"She wrote it on home schooling practices and it was published only a few months before she died. She was very pleased with the way it came out."
"I imagine she was. It's very readable and the illustrations and resource references are wonderful."
"I think it's still selling on Amazon. The publisher sent her 50 copies that are down in the storage area. Why are you up so early?"
She looked at me with a concerned expression. "I had another dream last night. I woke up in the middle of it and couldn't get back to sleep."
I pulled out the stool next to her and sat. "What was the dream about?"
Pam paused and was obviously upset. "Lydia appeared and told me she was very happy I was with you. She knew that I had named her car 'Angel' and she said that you and she had sex in it one time."
I suddenly felt flushed and light headed. It had been four years before and I'd almost forgotten. No one knew we had sex there.
"Yes, we did. It was just after I bought it. But it was so cramped in the car that we had to get out. She sat on the trunk lid while I held her legs up. Is that all she said?"
"No, she said that I should be your biggest supporter and helper. She said that your love has no limits but there will be difficult times ahead that will test us both. That was when I woke in a cold sweat. The difficult times prediction scared me."
She smiled, "I wonder how she knew I had named her car?"
"Remember what I told you her last words were? She said she would never leave me. She must have been with me when you named Angel."
"So she has been with you since we met?"
"I've no idea. Maybe she comes and goes somehow."
"Were you thinking about her while we were talking about the car?"
"Yes, you asked me if Lydia had given it a name and I was thinking about her when I answered."
"Is it possible that her spirit comes to you when you think about her?"
"Now that's a good question. I don't know. Where you thinking about her before you went to sleep last night?"
"Yes. After I saw her photo, all the other things you told me about her suddenly had a face and I thought a lot about her, this house, her clothes and her car. I suppose I fell asleep thinking about her."
"And then she appeared to you in a dream."
"Yes."
"The same thing happened to me the second night in the cabin. You had asked me about her and what she was like. After I went to bed, I continued thinking about her until I fell asleep. Then she appeared to me in the dream. Maybe this means that if we are thinking seriously about someone before we fall asleep, we will dream about them."
"And as I think about it, I was thinking about my dad that night he later appeared in my dream to tell me he was worried about me. But just because I thought about him doesn't explain his prophetic warning."
I responded, "Maybe you're right, our spirits somehow connect with our departed ones when we think about them? Is that possible?"
We stared at each other. Pam responded, "With God, anything is possible, I suppose."
I continued, "That would explain how Lydia knew I had continued to mourn her death for the last two years. She begged me in the dream to let her go. Maybe by me continuing to mourn her, I was causing her spirit to remain with me at least part of the time."
Pam finally said, "I'm going to continue reading the books we bought on dreams. Maybe someone else has thought about this or there are other examples of it. This whole subject is new to me and I'm fascinated by the possibilities."
*****************************
Before breakfast, we decided to take a jog.
"There's a nice circular route we can take that's about two miles. You want to do a lap?"
"Sounds perfect. Let's go."
It was a beautiful, but very cool, morning and we enjoyed the run and watching the sunrise over the valley. Pam was impressed that I didn't beg for a rest stop this time.
For breakfast, I decided to fix scrambled eggs and a ham steak that I knew Pam would like. She stood near me the entire time studying the controls on the Viking range and then opening all the cabinets to see what kind of cookware and dinnerware we had. She was pleased that Lydia had chosen All-Clad products.
"Tom, I can't believe how well-equipped this kitchen is. You have everything."
"Not really. Lydia loved to cook. It was one of her passions and she deserved to have the best I could give her. But I haven't bought anything new in the last four years so you might find a few things missing that you'll want."
"If I can't make do with this kitchen, then you need to just drop me at the local mental hospital. But why is the island so long?"
"She loved to have friends over to cook and visit. She would invite four or five of her friends over at least once a month. They would cook and talk all afternoon, learn new techniques from each other and then take the food they prepared home to their families. She called it her bonding time with the sisters she never had. I've seen as many as ten people working around this island all at the same time."
"That's a fantastic idea."
"You may want to do the same thing with new friends you'll have."
After breakfast, Lydia headed to the Jacuzzi and I showed her how the controls worked. I went back to the kitchen and cleaned up while she soaked in the frothy water.
At 10:15, we dressed and headed down the mountain to a church that Lydia and I attended. My friends were excited to meet Pam and welcomed her to the service. The message was on forgiveness and how we must forgive others like God forgave us.
After the service, many of the couples that had been so helpful to Lydia and me surrounded us and introduced themselves to Pam. Some of the ladies wanted to take her to lunch and Wednesday was chosen as the best day for everyone.
On the way home, Pam talked about the warm welcome. "I really felt a friendly atmosphere in the church and everyone was super nice to me. They obviously love you, Tom, and were happy for you."
I immediately thought about Madison, one of the loving young church friends of Lydia.
"Many of the ladies you met were close friends of ours. They helped with her care during the really rough times near the end. Only real friends will walk with you during times like that and I'm very happy to say they were for real. They will also embrace you if you let them."
"Of course I'll let them. I need all the true friends I can get."
"We all do. Now let's get ready for lunch. I promised Donna we'd pick them up in about 45 minutes."
"Where are we taking them?"
"I'm a member of a local country club; so we'll go there. The dining is really nice."
Pam touched up her makeup and put on a beautiful light tan knee length dress and a combination of jewelry from Lydia's and her own collection. She was gorgeous and I was very proud to be in her company.
We arrived at Rick and Donna's house a couple of minutes early. The reception they gave Pam was just amazing.
Donna answered the door. "Pam, so very nice to meet you! Tom, you look very happy and I can see why. What a lovely young lady! Please come in."
I formally introduced Pam to Donna as we stood in the entry hall.
"Donna, I'm delighted to meet you. Tom has told me so much about you and Rick that I feel I already know you."
Just then Rick walked in and was all smiles. I introduced Pam and there was a brief awkward moment when they couldn't decide whether to shake hands or hug. Finally Pam took his hand and hugged him at the same time. They laughed. Pam captured the moment perfectly when she said, "Rick, I'm more of a hugger than a shaker."
Donna then said, "Well, I should get a hug too!" They both embraced and smiled.
Rick said they were ready so we walked to the car and drove to the club, which was about 30 minutes away. The car was full of pleasant chatter the entire time as each got to know a bit more about Pam and vice versa.
Once seated at our table, Donna asked, "How in the world did you two meet?" Pam looked at me and the smile on her face told me I should tell the whole story.
"That's what we wanted to tell you in person. It's a strange but wonderful story."
Donna interrupted, "Before you begin, just let me ask. Did you two meet for the first time at the cabin on Tom's birthday?" Pam gasped.
That sudden tingling chill raced through my body once again. She knew about Lydia's dream! We both smiled and Pam reached for my hand.
I asked, "Did Lydia tell you about her dream?"