The 45th Parallel Read online

  Kat started to ask Greg a question, but was interrupted by Anna. “Oh, I love this song,” she said as she grabbed Kat’s hand and dragged her across the deck and in through the great room doors. The room was crowded with people dancing to loud music. Kat wasn’t sure if it was the wine, the loud music, or the lack of oxygen in the crowded room, but her head was swimming. After two songs, she had to go out to the deck for some fresh air. Anna followed her out, and they noticed the crowd was starting to thin out. Kat glanced at her watch and it was midnight. She couldn’t believe it was that late. How had time passed so quickly?

  “Is that shirt warm enough?” Kat heard John’s voice behind her. “I can get you something else to put on if you like.”

  “It’s fine. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

  “Come over and sit by the fire. I’ll bring out some more wine.”

  Anna and Kat went over to the fire pit to sit down. They both plopped in a loveseat close to the fire. John came out with a few more bottles of wine and placed them around the tables.

  “Anna,” Chris called from the other side of the fire, “come over here and keep me warm.” Anna giggled and popped out of the seat next to Kat to go sit on Chris’s lap. Trish emerged from the house and sat next to an empty chair. When John walked by she looked up expectantly. To Kat’s surprise, he walked past Trish and sat in the love seat next to her. Kat could see Trish glaring at her in the firelight.

  “Would you like more wine, Kat?” John asked.

  “No thank you, I have switched to water now,” she answered. John stretched his arm out on the back of the seat behind her. What kind of game is he playing? It was obvious Trish thought they were an item. Helene looked over at Kat and raised one eyebrow and smiled.

  Kat smelled the subtle scent of John’s cologne again and had the sudden urge to cuddle into him and put her head on his chest. How ridiculous, she had just met the man a few hours ago.

  “Helene, why don’t you grab the guitar and play some music?” John asked.

  Without saying a word, Helene jumped up and went into the house. She returned with an acoustic guitar, sat back down, and started strumming. It wasn’t long before Anna joined in with her beautiful voice. The warmth of the fire and the gentle music was starting to make Kat sleepy. She looked over at John, and he was watching her. Although his face was relaxed, his eyes were intense, and his stare made Kat uncomfortable.

  “You can lean on me if you’re tired,” he whispered. Kat could feel Trish’s eyes burning into her.

  “John,” Trish called, “can you get me a jacket? I’m getting cold.”

  John looked over to Trish and said, “Sure, anyone need anything while I am up?”

  “Maybe a few waters,” Chris replied. John got up, and Trish followed him inside the house with a little smile on her face. She obviously didn’t think he would be returning to the party. Greg took the opportunity to move into John’s spot next to Kat.

  “So, do you think you will stay in Northport for a while?” Greg asked.

  “I’m stuck here until I can make enough money to finish my degree.”

  “There are much worse places to be stuck,” Greg said, sounding a little offended.

  “Oh, I know, Northport is beautiful. It’s just a little quiet.”

  “If you think it’s quiet, you have not been hanging around the right people. Looks like you are getting a good start tonight, though,” Greg said.

  “So, how does one become a vintner?” Kat asked.

  “Well, I got my degree in viticulture and enology at University of California Davis, and decided I would either be a winemaker, or a wino.”

  “Eno what?”

  “Enology is the study of wine and winemaking.”

  “God, why couldn’t I have picked a major like that?” Kat laughed. “How did you develop an interest in winemaking?”

  “My grandfather owned a wine co-op in northern California. I used to spend a lot of time there helping out. By the time I was eighteen, I had the whole process down.”

  “Being a vintner, I’m surprised you didn’t stay in California.”

  “I needed a change,” Greg said quickly. “I figured as long as I stayed on the 45th parallel, I’d be able to make great wine.”

  “Why on the 45th parallel?”

  “The 45th parallel is a pathway for wine regions. It runs through the Bordeaux and Cotes du Rhone regions of France, Italy’s Piedmont, the Black Sea, and Willamette Valley in Oregon. Leelanau Peninsula was the first stop on my quest.

  “I visited North Light Winery and John was working, pouring tastings and flirting with all the pretty women. When he found out I was a vintner, he talked me into coming to work with him. I’m not sure how he did it, but I’ve been here two and a half years now. He didn’t know a lot about the wine business when he took over the winery, but he is a fast learner! How would you like to see the wine cellar downstairs? Since John may be preoccupied for a while, I can show it to you.”

  “I’d love to see it,” Kat said.

  Greg stood up and motioned with his hand toward the house. “After you,” he said. They went back into the great room and Kat followed Greg toward the kitchen and then down a flight of stairs. The basement didn’t look like any basement Kat had ever been in. There were two sets of glass doors that opened out onto the lower deck. There was an area for playing pool, a bar, a media room with a projection TV, and another fireplace.

  “This way,” Greg said. Kat followed him past the bar and through two heavy wooden doors into a very large wine cellar. There were thousands of bottles of wine stored from floor to ceiling. In the middle of the room, there was a round wooden table with a large black glass bowl in the center. The floor of the cellar consisted of oversized gray stone tiles except for an area encircling the table which had intricate designs. There must have been some sort of pump in the bowl because it was filled with water and slowly gurgled up in the center. Kat walked over to the bowl and peered into the water. The black shiny surface of the glass reflected the dim lights in the room and made the bowl appear bottomless.

  “That bowl belonged to my mother,” John said. Greg and Kat both jumped at the sound of his voice.

  “For God’s sake, John, what are you a friggin’ cat?” Greg complained. “You scared the heck out of us.”

  John smirked and walked over to the bowl. “Supposedly, you can see visions in there if you look long enough.”

  “What happened to Trish?” Greg asked. Kat noticed a tone of disappointment in his voice since John had reappeared.

  “She decided she wanted to go home. Jason gave her a ride.” John gave Greg a sly look and Greg rolled his eyes. Kat wondered what that was all about.

  John turned toward Kat. “Patrick has disappeared and he was your designated driver. Everyone else here has been drinking. You, Helene, and Anna are welcome to stay here. I know your aunt’s house isn’t too far, but these dark country roads can be tricky at night, especially after a few drinks.”

  “What do you mean Patrick has disappeared?”

  “He disappeared in the guesthouse with a couple female companions.” John smiled.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see what Anna and Helene want to do.”

  “Anna and Helene have already picked out their rooms. Anyone else who is staying has already found a place to crash. I did save one room for you,” John’s voice sounded smooth as silk. Now Kat was starting to become suspicious. She looked over at Greg and he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

  “I’ll call my aunt and let her know I’ll be home in the morning.”

  “I’ll show you your room,” John said as he motioned toward the stairs.

  “I’ll sleep down here on the couch,” Greg said. He sounded a little defeated.

  Kat followed John upstairs to a first floor bedroom. The walls of the room were a soft cream color. There was a large white bed in the middle of the room and two French doors which lead out to the back deck. One of the doors was open and the whi
te sheers were billowing out in the breeze.

  “This is a beautiful room,” Kat whispered to herself. John looked at her and smiled. She hoped this was not his room. Kat wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but she did not plan on being another notch in his belt.

  “There are clean towels in the bathroom, and I left you one of my T-shirts on the bed to sleep in. Don’t worry. You can lock the door so no one stumbles in here by mistake.”

  “Thank you,” she said. John reached over and brushed Kat’s hair back from her face.

  “Sleep well,” he said as he turned and walked toward the front stairs. Kat watched him go and wondered if she had been dating Daniel for so long that she forgot how to read cues anymore. Maybe he does have someone waiting for him in his room after all.

  Chapter Five

  The first part of the night Kat slept soundly, listening to the surf rolling in and out. Then she began to dream that she was standing on the edge of a roof looking down seven stories to a deserted street. A steady cold wind howled over the rooftops. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing the same tattered nightgown she had seen her mother wearing in her nightmares. Suddenly, Kat felt a hand in the middle of her back shove her forward over the edge. As she was falling, she twisted her body around to grab onto the person who had pushed her, but there was no one there. Kat sat bolt upright in bed gasping for air, her heart thundering in her chest. That was a new twist to the dream she did not appreciate.

  She got up from bed and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Kat looked into the mirror, took a deep breath, and went back out into the bedroom. The glass door to the deck was opened a crack, and she could feel the cool morning air slipping past her. Kat looked out on the quiet lake. A thick mist hung just above the water’s surface. Since she did not have her bike, she thought a swim might help to chase the dreams away. She didn’t have a bathing suit, but she figured she could swim in her underwear and T-shirt. She doubted anyone else would be up for a while. Based on the fact the sun was just coming up, Kat guessed it was about six-thirty in the morning.

  She grabbed a towel from the bathroom and went out the glass door to the deck. She walked down the steps toward the beach. Given the unusually warm weather over the past few weeks, Kat hoped the water was above sixty degrees. She dropped her towel on the sand, braced herself, and started to walk quickly from the beach into the lake. The water temperature took her breath away. Once she was waist deep, she started swimming and was enveloped in the mist. When she began to feel numb, she stopped swimming, tread water, and looked back toward the beach. The mist obstructed her view but she guessed the beach was about fifty yards back. Kat heard a distant sound and turned back to the open lake.

  She froze and listened as the noise grew louder, vibrating off the surface of the water. It was the sound of Indian drums. That’s when Kat saw something moving toward her in the mist. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision. The figure continued to move forward as if propelled by some unseen force. No, it can’t be the dead woman in the gray dress.

  As she got closer, Kat could see her ghastly white skin. The black gashes on her wrists pulling open as she moved through the water. The dress she wore was torn open at the collar revealing a strange symbol carved into her chest. The woman’s dead, filmy eyes fixed on Kat as she moved her mouth, repeating something over and over again.

  In her shock, Kat took in a quick short breath and managed to breathe in a mouthful of water. She whipped her head back away from the water, choking and coughing. The woman was only twenty feet from her now, but moving faster than Kat could swim. The adrenaline kicked in at once and Kat started swimming for the shore. She could hear splashing behind her and envisioned the woman’s dead white hands wrapping around her ankle and dragging her down into the frigid depths of the lake. Kat heard a high-pitched whimper escape from her throat as she frantically kicked to get back to shore.

  As soon as Kat was close enough to stand, she started running through the water toward the beach. Once she reached dry land, she caught her right foot on a rock and fell forward. She immediately flipped onto her back to look out toward the water, expecting to see the woman right behind her. Kat closed her eyes tightly. “Go away, go away, go away,” she groaned. Just as she was opening her eyes, she felt something grab her from behind.

  Kat let out a full-blown scream this time and then she heard John’s voice. “Kat, what’s the matter? What happened?” John had come up from behind and wrapped a towel around her.

  “A woman…in the water,” she gasped between breaths.

  “You saw someone else in the lake?”

  “Yes…I mean no,” Kat said, realizing John would think she was crazy if she told him about the dead woman. “I thought I saw something in the mist, but there couldn’t be anyone else out there.”

  “Shhhhh,” John soothed. “You are shaking like a leaf.” He reached under her legs and lifted Kat up cradling her in his arms. He walked up to the deck and laid her on a lounge chair. He was back in a moment with two more large dry towels. “Try to calm down, Kat. I’m having a hard time following you.” John placed his hands on either side of Kat’s face and stared into her eyes. Kat stared back, unable to pull her gaze from his. John’s eyes appeared to be changing color. The blue began to darken until it was difficult to see where his pupils began. She could immediately feel her heart rate and breathing slow. “Kat, I want you to calm down and tell me what happened.”

  “I was swimming,” Kat said; her voice void of emotion. “I looked into the water, and I saw the dead woman in the gray dress swimming toward me. I used to see her when I was a child. She kept repeating something over and over.”

  “What was she trying to tell you?” John asked as his eyes bore into her with a frightening intensity. Kat could feel his hands tighten on her face.

  I don’t know, I can never hear her voice,” she moaned.

  “What did this woman look like?” Kat could not look away from John’s dark eyes. Her head was swimming.

  “Hey, what happened?” Kat heard Anna say. John dropped his hands from Kat’s face and looked at Anna.

  “Kat was swimming and thought she saw something in the water that scared her,” John explained as Anna walked up beside them.

  “Jeez Kat, what the heck were you doing swimming by yourself at this hour of the morning?” Anna asked.

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “What did you see in the water, the Loch Ness Monster?” she asked.

  “She saw a woman,” John said. Anna looked a little startled.

  “Maybe I had too much wine last night.” Kat did not want to continue discussing her fragile grasp on sanity.

  Kat noticed she had gotten John’s shirt and jeans soaking wet. The wet cotton T-shirt clung to his muscular chest and arms. My God! I must be insane, thinking about his body after seeing a dead woman in the lake. She looked up to see John studying her. A smile touched the corners of his mouth.

  “I think she has recovered somewhat,” he said. The tone of his voice sent a warm shiver down Kat’s spine. She looked into his eyes which were back to a beautiful deep blue. “Let me get you some hot coffee.” He stood up and went into the house.

  “Are you all right Kat?” Anna asked softly.

  “I’m all right. I think I’m just over tired. I have had a difficult time sleeping since I came back to Michigan.”

  “Yes,” Anna said slowly to herself. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbed in their own thoughts.

  Kat heard the French door to the kitchen open, and John came out with a cup of coffee and a robe. Kat noticed he had changed into dry clothes. John handed her the robe and she wrapped herself up and clutched the cup of coffee for warmth. John sat in an Adirondack chair across from Kat.

  “Are you feeling better?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Kat said embarrassed.

  “Can you hang out and go sailing with us today?” Anna smiled hopefully.

  “Actually, I
have to work today. Otherwise I would love to,” Kat said.

  “I will drive Kat home this morning,” John said.

  “Patrick can bring her home, John.”

  “No, I will bring her home.” John said sharply.

  “Okay,” Anna paused, “I’ll let Patrick know.” She gave John a strange look.

  “Let me know when you are ready.” John stood and walked into the house.

  “I’ve never felt him react to anyone like he reacts to you, Kat.”

  “Felt him react?”

  “I meant to say seen him react,” Anna said quickly.

  “He is acting like he can’t wait to get rid of me! Maybe he thinks I’m off my rocker and wants to get me out of here before I really lose it.”

  “No”, Anna paused, “it’s like he is drawn to you.” She stared off toward the lake.

  “Maybe it’s because I am so beautiful,” Kat picked up a piece of her wet, stringy hair and made a face. She and Anna laughed.

  “You should take a look around the house at some of the people crashed here. The guy on the couch in the great room looks like he is going to have a rough day,” Anna said.

  “I think I’ll pass. By the way, did Chris stay here last night?”

  “He left just before I came out here.”

  “He seems like a nice guy.”

  “Helene calls him my summer fling. Unfortunately, he is working in Chicago, so I won’t get to see him much.”

  Kat smiled sympathetically and patted Anna’s knee. “I guess I better shower and get dressed. Kat went into the house and back to the bedroom she had slept in. She looked on the bed and John had left her a button-down shirt to put on. Kat jumped in the shower and put on Helene’s jeans and her high heeled sandals. Since she was without a bra, she put on the slinky halter top underneath John’s shirt.

  Kat came out of the bedroom to find John waiting in the front hall, keys in hand. She followed him out of the house to a detached garage. There were two cars in the four car garage, a Lexis SUV and a black Porsche 911 convertible. He went over the Porsche and opened the passenger door for Kat then climbed in the other side.