Thanks for all the reviews! Again, the usual disclaimers on the BSC characters and on Mona and just another one...Shane Arrington is also a creation of Betsy Haynes, not the current author. So, here are the latest developments!

Edge of Darkness

By: CNJ

PG-13

7: July 2023

Stacey:

Our divorce was finalized in July. Both Jon and I were relieved. It was a good thing we weren't bitter.

Syrie was on her way to see him for the weekend. Most of the summer had flown by and slowly we all were getting on with our lives.

Mary Anne had e-mailed and told me that the counseling was a big help to her. She still had nightmares, but they weren't as frequent as they had been in the spring. She was teaching a couple of summer courses as well.

"Have a good time..." I called as Syrie got in her dad's car.

"Bye, Mom," she called. I leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Hi..." Jon looked back.

"Hello. How've you been?"

"Better. How're you holding up?"

"Better."

"I should have Syrie back by six on Sunday," Jon told me.

"Sure," I nodded. "Hey...both of you look out for each other this weekend, all right?"

"We will," Syrie said and Jon grinned.

It brought back a time when Jon and I had made a good married couple while we lasted, but now that time was over. Maybe Jon and I would wind up as friends, I thought as Jon drove off and I headed back inside.

Some divorced couples do succeed at that and it's supposed to be so much better for the kids. It's never good when divorced couples continue warring and being bitter.

I sat down and checked my e-mail. There was an ee from Kristy. She asked how Syrie and I were and then told me that KAT furniture and lefty appliances opened up another branch in Colorado, so she was there for two weeks and had just gotten back yesterday. She's turned it into a sort of vacation with her five kids. I smiled.

She also told me about meeting someone again whom she'd known in college, a Shane Arrington. Shane. Yes, I vaguely remembered Kristy had dated him for a few years at Fellowdean. He'd gone to the same middle school as Mona Vaughn.

He'd met her again in New York City since Mona and Mary Anne were at college in the Big Apple also at nearby Staten U. After Kristy and Shane had graduated, Shane had gotten a job offer overseas and had moved.

The relationship had naturally lapsed and they'd lost touch. Kristy told me that he is now a veterinarian and is divorced with twelve-year-old twin daughters. He shares custody of them with his ex-wife and both of them live in Two Skies Minnesota now. Wow. I'd met Shane once.

I wondered if he and Kristy would get serious again. Maybe we'd all see him when we went over there at Thanksgiving. It was a plan we'd made last Christmas, that all of us BSC would fly out to Kristy's for a huge Thanksgiving bash.

Mary Anne:

I leafed through the e-mails including the one from Kristy saying that she was seeing Shane again. Wow. I remembered when Kristy dated Shane way back in college. He'd been nice. I wondered if things would get serious between them again.

"Mom...do you still want to go out to the Cheesecake Factory?" Tam poked her head in.

"Oh...sure, honey," I looked up. "Just let me close the computer down and we'll be on our way."

It was Friday night and we were headed out to eat. My summer teaching session was almost over and I'd be taking August off. We'd also be going down to New Jersey to see Abby for a week in mid-August and spend it at the beach.

This summer actually hasn't been too hot; it's been mostly pleasant, I reflected as I made sure the girls were buckled in, got into our cornflower blue BMW and drove toward the Cheesecake Factory.

I feel very lucky that we live so near downtown New York City; there are so many places to eat. I suspect there are at least a dozen in the city I haven't tried yet.

I was pleasantly surprised to feel a sense of normalcy, like things were getting in place again. The counseling helped both my girls and me. Slowly, I was gaining a measure of control over the anxiety. I still was reluctant to take out my yellowish lamp again, but I told myself that soon I would. I'd face down the fear like I'd always tried to do.

Fear has been a part of my life since infancy. I'll face down these fears again and again if I had to.

By the time we'd reached the parking lot, my family and I were chatting up a storm. My family. There was still a huge gap without Owen, but as we entered the restaurant, I felt us pulling together and moving on, bit by bit.

Sure, we still had some crying left to do and each of us had a lot of feelings to work out, but I felt we were getting stronger. Stacey and Syrie sounded stronger too whenever I talked to them on the phone.

I'm so glad Stacey and Jon aren't bitter. I knew Stacey would always miss her son, but she is moving on and is continuing to raise her surviving daughter as well as she has.

As we ate, I also realized that neither the girls or I have had much trouble eating lately. I didn't need the stomach pills much anymore.

Tamara:

It felt good to curl up on the couch with my mom and sister and watch a good video after we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. We were getting out more again now and it felt better.

We still sometimes felt sad over Dad, but I think we're getting better. Mom seems to be getting her feelings aired out more and doesn't have as many nightmares as she used to. Alma was also sleeping peacefully through the night.

I still had the bouts of numbness and I suspect Mom did too, but now that we'd talked it out with Dr. Behres, those odd-seeming feelings weren't as frightening.

We made caramel popcorn, got out sodas, then watched the movie, Peanut Gallery which was part comedy, part-psychology, managing to genuinely smile through the funny parts.

Of course, it was hard for any of us to laugh, but we'd made progress toward being able to smile and enjoy a peaceful evening. It was enough for now. We still sat in contented silence after the movie ended and Mom put the tape on rewind.

It was around eleven-thirty and the late news was on. At first, it was the usual stuff about the stock market and all. I smiled as I remembered Mom telling us that it was Stacey who taught her and the rest of her friends from the original BSC how to invest their money wisely.

After a commercial break, there was a story on the huge hurricane that had hit Virginia and the Carolinas hard this week. As the cameras rolled over the devastation wreaked in those areas, my heart contracted just feeling sorry for those people who'd lost homes and possessions.

Front Royal, Virginia was especially devastated. The camera zoomed in on a wrecked desk, then a ruined boombox. The sight just brought tears to my eyes.

"Oh, girls, isn't this so s-sad," I heard Mom whimper. Looking over, I saw her brows slant as her eyes filled with tears. I reached over and grabbed her hand.

"M-my heart...just hurts for those poor people," Mom wept as she grabbed some tissues. Tears ran down both of our faces. I then heard Alma start to cry too and reached out for her hand.

"They m-must be so s-sad..." I sobbed.

I stroked my sister, who I suspect was trying to stem her tears. "Alma, go ahead and cry too if you feel sorry...it's...it's as sad as when Dad died..." I wept.

I don't know how long we sat and cried, but it felt good getting it all out.

The video plocked to a stop in its task of rewinding, but we sat for a while and kept crying. It hurt, but felt oddly relieving.

I gulped hard as I wiped my eyes and I could see by the way Mom was catching her breath in deep sobs that she was releasing a huge vat of emotions also. I suspect Mom has even more to get out than us since she had been through the trauma of the actual crash.

It was partly our pain over missing Dad so much and it was partly our sorrow over the suffering we imagined the people in Hurricane Elmo's path were going through.

Mary Anne:

It really did feel much better for all of us to cry this pain out together, I realized as we got ready for bed a little later that night.

It certainly was better than earlier back in the spring when I'd gone through the day dully with that dreadful mechanical feeling, then crying alone at night and suffering the horrible nightmares.

I suspect the girls felt the same way too. Tam and Alma slept in Tam's room that night as they'd done on and off since Owen's death.

"Goodnight, darlings," I whispered, giving them each a kiss and stroking their silky dark hair.

"Gu-night, Mom," Tam murmured, already drifting off.

"Night..." Alma whispered. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thank you," I whispered, touched. "I'm glad you girls are too." I headed to bed, feeling so fortunate and blessed to have such wonderful daughters. I read a while before drifting off to sleep.