Stranger in the Mirror [Shades of Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) by Tina Wainscott

Did he look a little shell-shocked, or was it her imagination? Probably the latter.
    She followed him into the house, ducking under pilgrim and pumpkin decorations hanging over the door. A fat pumpkin squatted on the coffee table, surrounded by a variety of smaller squashes in wacky shapes. A football game blared on the television, and the aroma of roasting turkey filled the room. Marti couldn’t help but smile, feeling her anxiety slip away.
    “Hi, Ma!” Jesse hollered.
    “Hi, hon, Marti! Happy Thanksgiving!” Helen called from the kitchen. She appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Marti, why don’t you come in and help me get the feast process started? Caty’s helping Dr. Hislope with one of Nolen’s cows. Bessie Blue’s having a hard time calving, and Donna’s nowhere to be found.”
    “I’d love to help. I will warn you, though, that I can’t cook.”
    Jesse picked up one of the strangely shaped gourds and regarded it curiously. “Mom, give her a few lessons, will you? I can’t cook all the meals now, can I?”
    Helen cocked her head at him. “Aw, that would be awful, wouldn’t it?”
    He raised his hands in surrender. “I know when to exit gracefully. I’m going to see if Billy needs any help fishing. We’ll be in shortly to help.”
    Helen headed back into the kitchen. “I didn’t raise my boys to depend on a woman to eat and have clean clothes.” She handed Marti a peeler and several potatoes and set her up in front of the sink.
    “Jesse’s one of the neatest men I’ve ever met,” Marti said. “Most bachelor pads are pretty disgusting, but not his place. Not that I’ve seen a lot of bachelor pads,” she felt inclined to add.
    “He’s always been that way. I hardly ever had to tell him to wash his hands before dinner either. Billy, unfortunately, was always a slob.” Helen whispered, “I even put him over my knee and spanked him once after he said it was a woman’s place to cook and clean. He was twenty-three years old.”
    “That must have been a sight.”
    Helen’s brown eyes twinkled with mischief. “It was. He never said anything like that again, at least in my presence.”
    “I guess not. Well, it’s a good thing you taught Jesse to be independent, being that he’s not the marrying type.”
    Helen’s laugh was more of a sputter. “What do you mean? He is married.”
    “Yeah, but against his will. And I’ll be heading back to California soon, so he’ll be single again. According to him, he’ll be that way for a long time so he can concentrate on his racing.”
    “Don’t let him send you away, hon. A good woman can bring happiness to a man whether he wants it or not. And vice-versa.”
    “Oh, he’s not sending me away. I feel the same. We’re a perfect match, in that respect.”
    Helen gave her an odd look, but Marti’s attention had been snagged by the scene outside the window: Jesse stealthily approached Billy from behind, then tossed a small rock into the water. The resulting splash made Billy perk up, then quickly reel in the lure and cast it in the area of the splash. After the third time, Billy turned around and pointed at Jesse with a menacing finger. The two wrestled for a few minutes. Oh, to have that kind of sibling camaraderie.
    “Are they goofing around again?” Helen asked, basting the turkey with an oversized syringe.
    “They were wrestling, but now they’re starting a game of horseshoes.”
    “They never grow up. And frankly, I don’t want them to. They’re still my little boys when they wrestle and tease each other.” She smiled wistfully. “These are the times I miss Bernie the most. When you love someone, it doesn’t go away.”
    Marti felt a twinge in her heart. She would probably never love someone like that. She’d end up hurting them, no doubt. “Doesn’t that make you wish you’d never felt that love if it hurts so much to lose it.”
    Helen tilted her head, giving Marti a sad look. “Haven’t you ever loved someone