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

fiercely?”
    “I’ve been in love, and I thought I loved someone, but turned out it wasn’t the real thing. I’ve never hurt the way you’re obviously hurting, so maybe that’s a good thing.”
    Helen put her hand on Marti’s arm. “Surely you’ve heard the phrase, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’?”
    “Yeah, but I figured it’s just a way to make yourself feel better, like sour grapes and all.”
    Helen smiled, soft and sweet and a little sad. “To feel the real thing, whether it’s family love or friendship love or romantic, is worth every bit of heartache when it’s gone.” She fisted her hand at her chest. “Because it’s always here. It touches you and changes you, probably for the better. And it never goes away.” She sighed, bringing herself back to the task at hand. “Once we get the potatoes going, we’ll start the green beans and sweet potatoes. This kind of dinner is like orchestrating a production.”
    Glad to be focusing on something other than love, Marti shook her head as she took in the steaming pots and piles of beans. “I could never do this. Cooking’s not in my genes.”
    “Nothing to do with genes, hon. It’s a matter of learning. It’s a labor of love, an adventure.”
    Marti watched as Helen deftly shaved the carrots clean. “Maybe if my mother had taught me how to cook. She was more of the Hamburger Helper type.” Even in a lacy apron, Helen didn’t visually fit in a kitchen. Yet, she worked like a pro. “Where are you from? Not here, right?”
    Helen gave her a sheepish grin. “I’m still not Chattaloo’d, am I?”
    “Well, I can tell you weren’t born in any small Southern town.”
    “I was born in a prestigious Connecticut community. I went to private schools, attended the dances and all that social poopoo. I had fun, but it wasn’t me.”
    Marti raised her eyebrows. “You look like you’d fit into that kind of world. I mean, you’re so pretty and classy.”
    Helen curtsied, never missing a beat with her carrot peeling. “Why, thank you. Everybody thought I’d marry the senator’s son and have three bright, beautiful children, and live in a big white house. I did, too. But there was something inside me that was still searching. After I graduated from college, I drove down to the Keys by myself.
    “My Jaguar broke down here in Chattaloo. I thought I was going to get ripped, a young woman alone in a small town. Bernie gave me a reasonable estimate, and his Southern drawl made me melt. He had to order the part from the dealer, and it was going to take a day or two. He took care of me, making me dinner at his house, taking me horseback riding. When my car was ready to go, I wasn’t.”
    Marti was trying to pay attention to how Helen was kneading the biscuit dough, but she was too entranced by her story. “It sounds so romantic.”
    A melancholy haze fell upon her face. “It was, but it wasn’t perfect. I had hoped once Billy was born that Bernie would stop racing so much, but he didn’t. We had problems, and I made mistakes. By the time Jesse was born, we’d come to an understanding about the racing. And I’d learned an important lesson about the value of love.”
    Marti blew out a long breath. “I know about making mistakes. I made a lot of them in my marriage to Jamie. I sure learned my lesson about love: I’m not good at it, and I don’t want to try anymore.”
    Helen turned to her. “Surely you don’t mean that.”
    “I do. I had my chance, and I blew it. If I couldn’t find love with Jamie, who was loving and tender, how can I find it with anyone else?”
    “Oh, I think you’ll find it again. Or more likely, it will find you. Probably in the most unexpected place.”
    Billy and Jesse busted through the door then, panting and slick with sweat. Billy stripped off his T-shirt, baring a tattoo of an eagle stretching from one shoulder to the other on his back.
    “Billy, get your half-naked sweatiness