Riches to Rags

Riches to Rags

Excerpt:

Surrounded by the warm glow of the afterlife, Mrs. Templeton sat in her favorite rocker and stroked Ginger, the longhaired white cat curled in her lap. Though the light supplied everything she needed in this serene domain, her soul felt like a lump of burnt coal. She missed her husband, Wally, who’d died fifteen years ago. He’d left her a fortune, so much money she couldn’t have spent it all in ten lifetimes, even if she’d tried. As it turned out, that money had become the root of her despair.
Ginger purred.
Mrs. Templeton understood the rules. As long as she harbored hatred in her heart and the burning desire for revenge, she would not be allowed to cross over to everlasting peace and happiness. She could not be reunited with Wally until she let go of her hate. Let go of everything earthly. Let go of the good that her favorite charity could have done with the money.
The light began to shimmer. A visitor was approaching. Her ethereal heartbeat stuttered. She was about to meet with her last chance for redemption. One man possessed the power to set her soul to rest.
Justin Graves.
In a dazzling display of radiance, a man materialized from the white light. His cowboy hat shaded a clean-shaven face and chiseled good looks. A circle-star badge glistened from the left lapel of his long brown coat, and she detected the fragrance of Stetson cologne. If a saddled horse had clomped up behind him, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
Smiling at the man, Mrs. Templeton offered him a chair, which appeared from the light with a sweep of her hand. “I’m so glad you could come, Justin.”
“You’re looking well.” He tipped his hat and sat down facing her. A cup of steaming tea materialized, which he set in the palm of his hand. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“No trouble at all.”
Meow.
“Ginger says hello.”
Justin tipped his cowboy hat to Ginger. “How can I help you, Mrs. Templeton?” He sipped his tea, even held his little pinky up properly.
Mrs. Templeton felt comfortable in the presence of this handsome man in spite of their age difference. She could have chosen to look twenty again, with flowing blond hair and the long legs of a goddess, the bronzed and blue-eyed beauty of her youth. But remembering those days, her insecurities and flightiness, how naïve she was back then, she’d opted for glimmering silver hair and pure white skin still wrinkled with the wisdom of her years. Her short stature and upright posture made her feel like royalty sitting with Justin as he sipped his tea.
“Wally and I used to have tea every afternoon at four o’clock,” she said, feeling a twinge of déjà vu.
Justin set his cup on his knee. “I’m a little pressed for time, ma’am. I...”
“Now, Justin,” she cut in, “I know all about you. The light has told me everything. You’re in a rush to get Billy Denton’s soul for the devil.”
Justin’s good looks took on a hard edge. “I don’t want him breathing one more day than necessary.”
“His time of reckoning will come.”
“I’m afraid he’s going to escape that rinky-dink jail...”
“Take the advice of a wise old lady.” She stroked Ginger’s fine white hair. “Let sleeping dogs lie, get a good cat, and cross over to your wife. She’s waiting.”
“You should take your own advice.”
“I know what you’re going through, Justin. I can’t cross over either. If it wasn’t for Ginger...” Tears shined in her eyes. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. That horrible, horrible man, what he did to me. I can’t shake my contempt for him.”
Justin nodded. “We all have our Billy Dentons.”
“Mine is Dwaine DuBois. I trusted him with my financial affairs. He stole my inheritance and left me for dead in a state-run nursing home, buried me in a pine box, in a pauper’s grave. I don’t even have a headstone, Justin.”
“I’m sorry,” he said and sipped tea.
“What’s worse than that...” A tissue materialized from the light. Mrs. Templeton dabbed her eyes. “He doesn’t like cats.”
“Cats mean a lot to you?”
“The money he stole was supposed to go to Kitty Rescue. Sarah Wells, she’s my hero. Now her organization is suffering because of that conman.” She waved her hand at the light. “See for yourself.”
The glow parted and revealed a scene in the land of the living.
***