The final book in the Not Like Paradise trilogy, Mirrors and Blue Smoke, will be available in just a couple of weeks!! đ But you can get started on it now…read the first scene below!
And if you haven’t read the first two books in Not Like Paradise, check out my website or find them on Amazon!
Not Like Paradise website
Urban Legends on Amazon (Not Like Paradise book 1)
Pandora’s Box on Amazon (Not Like Paradise book 2)
1st scene from Mirrors and Blue Smoke:
That was the summer Jansen started dying her hair black.
Opera on the Pier was the night after Corinne and Jacobâs twentieth anniversary party. Jansen, Jason, Hersh, Clint, and Jessie went, and Jessieâs reaction was about the same as Tierneyâs and Brynnâs two years before. Jansen looked at her once during the afternoon, before the opera, and saw her glancing around, her nose wrinkled, repulsed by the mix of people dressed in shorts and t-shirts and eating junk food from vendor carts who would gather at the South Street Seaport for such a distasteful event.
âWhatâs wrong, Jessie?â Jansen asked. âNot a fan of Opera on the Pier?â
Clint, Jason, and Hersh all turned to look at Jessie as Jessie flicked her eyes to Jansen, caught off guard, then quickly plastered on a smile.
âOh, no!â She grabbed Clintâs arm and twirled the fabric on her long, flowing, definitely designer dress. âThis is so cool! I canât believe I havenât been before. I canât wait for the actual opera later!â
Jansen gave Jessie a bright smile, then picked up her hotdog in its paper holder from the lap of her jean shorts and took a huge bite.
Nobody mentioned Jansenâs overdose, which had been last year on this night and which Jessie of course knew nothing about. But Jansen knew the boys were thinking about it, because Hersh didnât even offer any coke or E to anyone, and Clint, in a vast departure from his normal behavior, didnât ask for any.
Finally Jessie asked for some, and Hersh offered her coke but took none for himself. Clint turned it down and ignored Jessieâs surprised look.
âWhatâs wrong with you?â she asked.
âNothing,â Clint said. âNot in the mood. You go ahead.â
Jansen and Jason spiked their Mountain Dews with vodka but didnât do anything else.
School got out the following week, the last Wednesday in June.
Hersh left Saturday morning for the Vineyard and Summer left the same day for the Hamptons. The Niyots summered in the Hamptons too, and Summer was looking forward to a romantic couple months with Geoff, whom sheâd been dating since the Plaza prom, and her best tennis season ever. Jansen figured she wouldnât see Summer till school started the Tuesday after Labor Day. Perfect.
Tierney was still dating Johnny Drake, who was spending the summer in Hollywood auditioning for parts, as heâd told her the night of prom. Tierney had been bitching nonstop for weeks about having to go to the Hamptons, but she was going to visit Johnny in LA at least twice; sheâd already booked her plane tickets. Jansen thought it was good Tierney wouldnât be spending any more time with Johnny this summer, because if she dropped all her own plans and went to LA with him instead, that would kind of ruin the âcontrolâ thing she and Jansen had talked about.
Taylan had fallen hard for Troy, with whom sheâd gone out every weekend since prom and would be spending the whole summer living right next door to in the Hamptons. She was hoping he would be her boyfriend before long, and Jansen hoped so too.
Tierney and Taylan left Sunday afternoon for the Hamptons, and Clint left Monday morning at four for the airport with his dad and Jessie. His dad may have given up Mistress of the Sea, but he apparently wasnât so invested locally he couldnât still take his summer yacht trips. Jessie had been beside herself with excitement for the last month of school and her gushing had fluttered right through Jansenâs ears with Jansen paying no real attention.
Sunday night Jansen dyed her hair in her bathroom. Monday morning Corinne and Jacob left for work shortly before 8:00, and at 8:30 Jansen and Jason were in a car on their way to Lakeside, Vermont.
Jason had hired the car to pick them up at the Plaza so Culver or Elliott wouldnât see. Theyâd decided they had to go with the car this time because it would take a little less than six hours, while on the bus, and then with the cab ride afterward, the trip had taken almost ten. They had to be back in New York tonight so as not to arouse any suspicion from Jasonâs parents. And they left for Europe on Wednesday, so this was their one chance to dig up some info they could analyze during their month abroad.
Their driver dropped them off just outside town around 2:15. Jansen and Jason pulled their rented bicycles off the back of the car and threw their backpacks, packed full of random clothes, over their shoulders. Jason put on the UVM hat heâd ordered online. âDo I look like Iâve been biking around the state for a month?â he asked.
Jansen laughed at his appearance because he did. âYeah,â she said. He was wearing khaki shorts and a plain white Hanes t-shirt, along with his backpack and UVM hat. Jansen was wearing short jean shorts with a green UVM t-shirt, and her newly black hair was in a low ponytail, a style she never normally wore.
âOkay, letâs do it,â Jason said.
âWeâll be back in a couple hours,â Jansen said. âWeâll call you when weâre on our way.â
The driver nodded and saluted them. âIâll be waiting in the last town we passed.â
Jansen and Jason climbed on their bikes and started pedaling. âHoly shit!â Jansen laughed as she swerved halfway across the road and back. âI havenât ridden a bike since I was like five!â Her parents had taught her in the Hamptons one summer. By the next summer Jansen had been bored with it and picked up rollerblading instead.
âI know,â Jason laughed. âMe either. I probably learned up here, actually.â
They rode to the courthouse, which theyâd seen last time they were in town. It was down Main Street a few blocks from the bar, luckily in the opposite direction from the bed and breakfast. They were praying they wouldnât run into Nancy.
They parked their bikes outside and were able to walk right into the courthouse, no metal detectors or anything. There was an information desk in a kiosk in the first-floor hallway, and they approached it.
âHi, kids, how can I help you?â the woman behind the desk asked after she hung up the phone.
âWeâre from UVM and weâre doing a project on old houses in the state,â Jansen said. âWe heard thereâs one here. Le Chalet or something? We wanted to look up the property records.â
âOh, you mean Le ChĂąteau.â The woman looked at them with a small frown. âWhat kinda class is that for?â
âItâs this summer class weâre taking on architectural history,â Jason said. âWe had two weeks of class, and now we get to spend two weeks doing research on a topic, and then we have to write a paper on it and do a presentation.â
âOh,â the woman said, standing from her desk. âWell I donât know if the property records are gonna tell you much about architectural history.â She went to where several keys hung from hooks and removed one.
âWe were hoping to try to find some of the owners or former owners of the houses and interview them,â Jansen said. âWeâre just biking around the state doing that.â
âOh, have you found any other nice old homes so far?â
âA couple,â Jason said. âOne in Burlington and one outside Montpelier.â
Jansen almost laughed. Those were probably the only other names of towns in Vermont he knew. She tried to think of any others and drew a blank.
âAll right, well sign in on this sheet, and then you can follow me.â
Jansen signed her name as Raina Williams, and Jason signed his as Michael Atley. They had planned everything ahead of time, right down to the story they had just told and the names they would use. They had decided on their middle names and bland, non-memorable last names. Had they been asked for their IDs, Jansen had been going to give hers and use her real name and just hope they didnât notice that based on her age, she probably wouldnât actually be a University of Vermont student, and Jason had been going to look for his in his backpack and act like he couldnât find it. He couldnât use his real ID, because there was a chance this woman would recognize the name Auerbach as being Corinne Westinâs married name. Maybe they would have let Jason in anyway, if he said heâd lost his ID, and if not, at least Jansen would still have gotten in. But Jansen was glad they were both getting to go; it would be a lot more fun this way.
âRight this way, please,â the woman said.
They followed her down the hall and onto the elevator, and she took them up to the fifth floor, which was the top one. On the elevator it was labeled as County Clerk. They got off the elevator and went down a long, dull hallway. Some doors were open, and the rooms looked like offices inside. Jansen saw only a few people. One office was labeled State and Federal Tax Records, and another was labeled Lake County Civil Court Records. Finally the woman unlocked a room on the right and flipped on a light. The sign above the door said Property Records. No one worked in this office; it was more like a storage room full of files. The overhead light was dim and the shelves were an old 1970s shade of green. It looked like no one had been in the room in years, and that was probably close to the truth. Who really cared about the history of property ownership in Lake County, Vermont?
The woman walked to the left and around a corner, leading them to the very back of the room. She stood on her toes to read the names on files along the top shelf, and finally she pulled one down. She handed it to Jansen. Parker Road, Lot #1, the front of the folder read.
âIâll leave you guys. Feel free to take as long as you like, make notes, whatever. Return the file to me up front when you leave, and Iâll put it away for you. I will warn you though, I donât think youâll have much luck talking to the woman who lives there now. Sheâs pretty much a recluse. She never talks to anybody. You might have more luck trying the Westins, who used to own it. They were always real friendly people.â
âOkay,â Jansen said. âThanks. Do they still live around here?â
âOh, no, honey, it was just their summer house. They live in New York.â
âOh, okay. Well thanks.â
âYeah, thanks,â Jason said.
âAll right then, I hope you find what you need.â She left the room.
Jansen and Jason sat on the floor and opened the file in front of them. They both leaned over it. The first paper was a copy of the deed that had been gifted to Corinne Westin on June 20, 1980 from her mom, Di Westin.
âThat was right before my parents got married,â Jason said. Jansen nodded.
Stapled underneath was a copy of a new deed that had been drawn up in the name Corinne Ella Auerbach on August 19, 1980.
Jason flipped those papers to the side. The next deed showed a transfer of ownership from Katalina Longmont to Di Westin on September 12, 1957. This transaction was also labeled as a gift.
âThatâs probably a few years after my grandparents got married,â Jason said. âI know they had their forty-fifth anniversary a few years ago. And yeah, thatâd make sense, âcause my momâs forty-two, right? So she was born in NovemberâŠâ He figured in his head. â1957, and her brotherâs a few years older.â
âSo was it like a tradition to give the house to the next girl in the family when she got married?â
âMaybe, but I donât know who Katalina Longmont is. My Grandma Diâs mom is dead, but I remember her a little. She died when I was like, six. Grandma Diâs dadâs still alive, but heâs really old and he never does anything anymore. Their last nameâs Forsythe. William and Elizabeth. Grandma Liz, I used to call her, and my mom always told me she didnât like Liz.â
They flipped to the next page. The deed was yellowed with age and was dated July 17, 1936.
âOh my gosh,â Jansen and Jason said together.
This transaction had also been a giftâŠfrom Anabelle Hendrick to Katalina Hendrick.
Jansen and Jason stared at each other.
âKatalina was Anabelleâs daughter,â Jansen said. âHoly shit. I remember that name now, as a Circles of Eight member. Katalina Hendrick. I realized at the time she was probably Anabelleâs daughter but I didnât look into it that much âcause I didnât know there was some secret about Anabelle.â
âBut why would she gift the house to my grandma?â Jason asked. âInstead of her own daughter?â
âMaybe she didnât have a daughter,â Jansen said. âMaybe she was friends with your Grandma Diâs mom. Elizabeth.â
âWas she a member? Grandma Liz?â Jason asked.
âI donât remember. I didnât look that closely at the records from back then. That name wouldnât have jumped out at me âcause I donât think I even knew your great-grandmaâs name.â
There were a couple documents left. The next one was a redrawn deed in the name Katalina Longmont, dated August 3, 1936. The last one was the original deed, in the name Anabelle Hendrick, dated 1911.
âThatâs weird her husband didnât own part of it,â Jason said. â âCause it looks like she had it built after they were married. Itâs under Anabelle Hendrick, not Townsend.â
âMaybe he didnât even know about it,â Jansen said. âMaybe it was a secret house at first, where she kept all her Circles stuff. Or maybe she always intended for it to be passed down to the girls in her family, but then Katalina never had her own daughter.â
âWell she must have approved of Katalina giving it to my grandma,â Jason said. â âCause that was in 1957, and Anabelle didnât die till 1973.â
âI wonder if your Grandma Di was friends with Anabelle. You know, like friends of the family. Like Iâm friends with your grandparents or something.â
âWell I never thought about it, but probably.â
âDo you think your mom was? Thatâs what I really wanna know.â Jansen had wondered whether the letter mentioned in Corinneâs diary, the one Corinne had found in the Vermont house in the summer of 1973, had been left specifically for Corinne, or if Corinne and Anabelle had even been in on something together. But it had seemed more likely the letter was something Corinne had randomly found in the house, something meant for a completely different person long before her.
But now it was clear Anabelle would have known who was living in the house in the summer of 1973âŠand if sheâd written a letter with some big secret in it, or if the letter had once been hers, why would she have left it lying around for anyone to find? She would only have left it for the right person to findâŠ
Hope you enjoyed the scene! I will say…the action only picks up exponentially from here. đ
Check back soon for more details about Mirrors and Blue Smoke!
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