Free Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 by David Pandolfe Page A

It’s Rose, your neighbor!”
    “This should be interesting,” Henry said.
    As they approached the door, Nikki happened to glance
into a mirror hanging on the wall. She took a sudden breath and stopped.
“Henry, look.”
    He stopped and turned toward the mirror.
    “Do you see it too?” Nikki asked.
    “Okay, that’s strange.”
    So, he did see it. Nikki took another moment to stare at
the two of them reflected in the glass, no longer teenagers. Not here,
evidently, in Rose’s dream. Nikki somehow understood what she was seeing. She
saw herself and Henry as Rose imagined them—suddenly in their early twenties.
Maybe mid-twenties, Nikki couldn’t be sure. Henry stood dressed in jeans and a
light green golf shirt, his hair now short with just a bit of length where it
touched the top of his ears. Nikki herself wore a crisp sundress with a light
floral pattern, her own hair tied back in a ponytail.
    Henry started walking toward the door again. “Martha did
say everything would be different.”
    “She wasn’t kidding. Do we look like that when Rose isn’t
around?”
    “No idea,” Henry said. “I didn’t even notice that mirror
last night with all the weird stuff going on. Kind of over the top, if you ask
me. Hope they didn’t mind us not being scared.” He placed his hand on the
doorknob and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
    Nikki understood his meaning and she nodded. “Here we go
again.”
    Henry opened the door and Rose smiled at them. “Hi, I
hope I’m not intruding.”
    Nikki had noticed yesterday how Rose spoke more formally
than she would have expected for someone her age. She wasn’t sure if that was
due to the era in which Rose imagined herself still living or because she’d
been wealthy. Probably both was Nikki’s guess.
    Nikki smiled. “Not at all. Please come in.” The words
sounded stiff to her own ears, falsely mature. But she wondered if, at least
for now, it might be a good idea to try speaking in a similar way.
    Rose looked back and forth between them “Are you sure? I
can come back some other time if it’s more convenient.”
    “It’s absolutely fine,” Henry said, apparently also
deciding to keep things a little formal. “We weren’t busy at all.”
    He opened the door wider and Rose stepped into the foyer.
She looked around but Nikki couldn’t tell from her expression what she was thinking.
Or, for that matter, what she saw, although she assumed Rose saw the same space
with its old, dark wood and the ornately carved staircase.
    “Sorry, I meant to ask for your phone number yesterday,”
Rose said. “Anyway, it’s not like you were hard to find since this house has
been on the market. How do you like it so far?”
    “We love it,” Nikki said, trying not to think about the
sounds they’d heard the night before trying to warn them off.
    “I was wondering who might buy it. I’m so glad it was the
two of you. Originally, Joseph and I were going to find a new home of our own
but we decided to stay here for the time being. Anyway, it will be refreshing
to have another young couple in the neighborhood.”
    “We’re so glad to be here too.” Nikki started walking down
the hall toward the kitchen and Rose followed. “It seems like such a nice place
to live.”
    They entered the kitchen, its counters now cluttered with
boxes. More boxes stood stacked against the wall in corners. For a moment,
Nikki was confused. The boxes hadn’t been there last night, she felt sure of
it. But they were in Rose’s dream, she reminded  herself. Things could shift at
any moment.
    “When are people arriving to unpack for you?” Rose said.
    Henry shrugged. “We thought we’d just do it ourselves.”
    Rose placed her hands on her hips and scanned the room.
“Wow. That’s a lot of work. But I guess that way you make this house your own,
right?”
    “Exactly,” Nikki said. She made eye contact with Henry
and willed herself not to smirk. “Henry and I want things to be perfect. The
best