Brenda’s Dreams

This is my adaptation of “Out Of A Dream” by Diana Stuart.

Chapter 21

Sand gritted underfoot as Brenda walked along the deserted hallway. Parts of the roof
had fallen in and fog slipped in like a temporary guest. She passed room after room. All
the doors gone. All the rooms were empty.

She knew what building she was in...a ruined deserted hotel, the hotel in the painting
above Jax’s bed. Why was she here? Where was Jax?

Sand lay in drifts inside the rooms where windows had shattered. Tendrils of fog shaped
like ghosts stretched out gray fingers to keep her from finding Jax. She called his name,
but the fog swallowed the sound of her voice.

Panicky, she started to run, but the slippery sand made the tiles slippery underfoot and
she was forced to slow down her pace to keep from falling. If only she could find a room
with a door. Somewhere behind a door, Jax waited. But this nightmare of a hotel had no
doors, and the corridor was endless.

“Jax!” she cried. His name echoed desolately back at her. Grief twisted through her
heart. She’d lost him. She was doomed to wander forever in this nowhere place
searching but never finding.

A sudden gust of wind swept along the hallway spiraling the fog into a gray flannel that
blocked out the light, covering her and everything in darkness...

Brenda woke with a start, her heart racing. She sat up and hugged herself.

“A nightmare.” she whispered. “Just a nightmare.” But the dream shreds clung to her,
reminding her of her childhood dream of the tornado sweeping away her brother Ben and
how, soon after, death had truly taken Ben away forever.

No, she thought, this isn’t the same thing. Nothing will happen to Jax, I’ve had a bad
dream that’s all. She reached for him.

He wasn’t in the bed. She shivered in fear.

Stop it! she told herself silently. You’re all worked up over nothing. The dream came
from that horrible picture over the bed...remember you didn’t like it in the first place.

Brenda slid from the bed and without bothering to turn on the light, padded to the door
and looked down the hall towards the bathroom. Jax wasn’t there. She grabbed his robe
and put it on, then walked into the living room where moonlight flooded in through the
open curtains. No Jax. She checked the kitchen next and there was still no sign of Jax.

Brenda returned to the living room and noticed for the first time that the front door was
open. Frowning, she asked herself if she’d missed hearing the phone and decided that
she hadn’t. She walked outside onto the porch to see if Jax’s car was gone.

A cool ocean breeze stroked her hair. The moonlight shimmered on the water and
outlined two figures embracing on the beach in front of the cottage. She hurried down
the steps. Jax’s car sat next to hers and a third car was parked behind his, a red BMW.
She glanced towards the couple standing near the waterline, saw they were no longer in
each other’s arms and caught her breath.

The man’s silhouette looked like Jax’s.

Brenda stood in front of the steps, staring at the man, trying to make up her mind whether
it really was Jax or not. The grit of the sand beneath her bare feet reminded her of her
nightmare and she decided she *had* to know, one way or the other.

“Jax?” Her voice was tentative.

He turned and saw her. “Brenda!”

Numbly, she watched him urge the woman...who’d been in his arms only moments
before...toward the house.

“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Jax said when he reached her. He wore nothing but a pair
of jeans.

Brenda could only stare at him.

“This is Miranda,” he added, his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Miranda, Brenda
Barrett.”

Brenda couldn’t find the right words to acknowledge the introduction. In the pale
moonlight she tried to asses Miranda. She had dark eyes, blonde hair and she wore a silk
wraparound dress that showed off all her assets.

“Charmed,” she said with a quick glance at Brenda, then she turned her attention back to
Jax. She held onto his arm. “Promise me you’ll come by before you go to the office,”
she begged him.

“I promise.”

Miranda released Jax’s arm and started towards the cars. She stumbled and he caught
her in his arms.

Holding her, he said, “Maybe I better drive you home.”

“I’ll make it okay on my own. I-I feel better now.” Miranda’s voice quavered. “You will
help me won’t you?”

“You know I will?”

The tenderness in Jax’s voice as he patted his ex-wife’s arm made Brenda’s stomach knot
up.

He led her to the BMW and helped her into the driver’s seat. “I’ll follow you and make
sure you get home okay,” Brenda heard him say.

Jax watched the car back out of the drive before tuning and striding over to Brenda.
“Sorry we disturbed you. Go back to bed. I’ll be back in a half an hour or so.” He
kissed her lightly on the mouth before sprinting to his car.

She after him in disbelief. Go back to bed and wait for him? Despite what had just
happened? How insensitive could a man be?

It gave Brenda little satisfaction to slam the front door when she returned to the house.
The door made a poor substitute for Jax. The digital clock in the master bedroom read
fifteen minutes to four as she collected her clothes and brought them into the guest room.
By four she had showered and dressed, and by the time she heard Jax’s car pull into the
drive she was sipping freshly brewed coffee at the kitchen table.

An hour. She tapped her fingers on the table as she waited for him.

“Great idea,” Jax said, smiling as he came into the kitchen and grabbed a mug. “I could
use a cup of coffee.”

She couldn’t deny that he was good to look at, his blue/green eyes sparkling, one strand
of blonde hair had fallen across his forehead. Couldn’t deny either the physical thrill that
shot trough her at the sight of him standing over her, naked to the waist, his jeans
stretched tightly over the rest of him.

She cleared her throat. “What was your ex-wife doing here?”

Ann Marie