Water Signs: A Story of Love and Renewal

The soulful sounds of the Spinners' ballad Then Came You roused Ken out of his late afternoon catnap. He awoke to find himself

comfortably ensconced on his new bed with Madeline nestled against him,

the picture of pure contentment in a deep, restful slumber. She was lying

in the typical fashion he remembered, curled up on her side with her small

hands tucked beneath her chin; her once neatly coiffed ponytail had

transformed into a disheveled mass of auburn spread across a contrasting

forest green pillow sham. He smiled at the endearing image.

A quick glance at the nightstand revealed the impending arrival of

dusk; it was hard to believe that several hours had passed, but he was

thankful to have had this time with her. She'd finally demonstrated

something he'd never before seen and had immensely desired ever since

meeting her-an unshakeable faith and trust in him. It had taken a

tremendous amount of courage for Madeline to come clean regarding the

events of her past-events for which he felt at least partially responsible,

though none had directly involved him.

During the recounting of her narrative, she'd willingly, in fact, eagerly,

qualified every incident as a necessary lesson on her path of personal

growth, no matter how devastating. And as he fulfilled his promise to

simply listen without commentary until she'd finished, Ken had been

consumed by varying degrees of guilt, anger and sorrow.

Recalling Maddy's horrific experience with Ray Smith-a vile,

disgusting excuse for a human being-visions of pummeling the former

New York police detective into oblivion flooded his brain. What was it with

some of these older jerks anyway? Their arrogance seemed boundless in a

geographic region rife with shallow, surgically enhanced women. So why go

after someone like Maddy? Had it been the thrill of the chase? But why? Although

physically beautiful, anyone could plainly see the differences between her

and the stereotypical South Florida female; why not choose a willing

partner instead of preying on an innocent victim?

Ken surmised correctly that an expansive ego had driven the scumbag

to play a deceitful game wherein he hoodwinked her by speaking of his

attendance at weekly church services, initiating a couple of "safe" lunch

dates and claiming a patently false adherence to the traditional values she

cherished. Then, he moved in for the kill. And one bad decision, one

lapse of judgment later, Maddy was forced to cope with the resulting

physical and emotional upheaval of having trusted this despicable man

enough to allow him into her home-as if having to deal with panic and

anxiety disorder hadn't been enough of a challenge. Thank God for her

good friend, Elyse.

Her panic and anxiety phase. Wow. Now that was an amazing tale.

While Ken had always enjoyed reading his daily Pisces horoscope, his

knowledge of all things metaphysical basically ended on the Lifestyle and

Entertainment section of the newspaper. It had been so cute when Maddy

prefaced her story with the disclaimer that she was still a devout,

practicing Catholic-as if he of all people would've held a defection from

the Church against her.

After all, it was her influence sixteen years ago that had led to his

recommitment to weekly Mass. More recently, though, in light of his

messy divorce and the fallout from the clergy pedophilia scandal, he

found himself grappling with issues of faith once more; not that he

doubted the theology for a moment-just the flawed human mechanisms

upon which some of the man-made rules were based.

Much as it pained him to admit it, he truly had played an active role in

this particular hardship, though Maddy vehemently denied it. But the

heartbreak he'd wrought upon her, first by moving away and then by

subsequently marrying another woman, had been severe. Both

transgressions joined with other enormously significant occurrences in the

deep recesses of her unconscious mind, where she'd thought they'd

remain dead and buried. Such erroneous beliefs eventually wreaked havoc

later in the form of a five-year bout with concurrent depression,

agoraphobia, panic attacks, oppressive headaches, a perpetually sour

stomach and frightening physical sensations that made her doubt her own

sanity.

And yet through it all her gutsy determination fueled an unwavering

persistence to get to the root of the problem. When efforts to resolve the

issue through traditionally acceptable channels-including behavioral and

cognitive therapy, prescription medication, deep breathing and exercise-

all failed her, Madeline stumbled upon an unlikely alternative. He could

only imagine what it must've felt like to have a complete stranger recite

the intimate contents of your soul out loud, as Ann had done in front of

Maddy's peers at her monthly women's networking meeting.

How that woman, psychic or not, could have possibly known about

Louis being Madeline's "handicapped middle brother" and the fact that

she'd still been in mourning for a grandmother who'd passed away when

she was six was beyond Ken's comprehension. Was the psychic gifted by God

to help other people? Or was there something more sinister at work? Given the

undeniable results of Maddy's one private hour-long session with Ann, a

conversation that had yielded a successful recovery that was still going

strong nearly ten years later, it seemed only logical that Ann's abilities

sprung from a good-if not traditionally acceptable-source.

Whatever the case, Ken was incredibly grateful for her triumph; the

thought of her suffering through something like that to begin with made

his heart ache. He glanced over at her sleeping figure again, noting the

peacefulness of her expression. Funny, Maddy had often joked about the

Rose family's ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat-a genetic trait

she'd most definitely inherited.

He chuckled softly remembering that very early morning long ago in

Somers Point when he'd been unexpectedly called into work at the power

plant and spent almost 30 minutes trying to wake her up to say goodbye.

Gazing at her now with a newfound respect, he felt an even more deeply

abiding love and pride that-unbelievably, exceeded anything he'd felt

before. Then again, Madeline Rose always did possess an innate ability to

rock his world.

She stirred in her sleep as if his silent thoughts had somehow

managed to find their way into her physical hearing mechanisms and

transport her back to the land of the living.

"Mmm," she sighed, stretching her arms over her head as she shifted

onto her back. "Oh my gosh, how long have I been out?" she inquired of

a smiling Ken, who promptly encircled her with his arm.

"Hey sunshine, not long. Don't worry, I fell asleep too-just woke up

a few minutes ago." Maddy giggled.

"Is this what happens on a date after 40? You end up taking naps

together in the middle of the afternoon?" He cracked up.

"Well as I recall sweetheart, we both did this a lot at 25, so I'm not

sure if age is a factor here."

She settled her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his

waist. "That is true," she agreed. "Ok, I feel better now."

Then suddenly becoming serious, she asked, "Ken? I hope I didn't

scare you with my tales of horror. I mean, if you wanted to walk away

right now I wouldn't blame you. I just couldn't live with myself if I hadn't

been completely honest and aboveboard with you about all of this. No

matter what you decide-"

"Madeline! Is that what you think, that I'm so easily scared away?

That's about enough of that kind of talk! Honey, the only thing I'm

feeling right now is anguish for not having been there for you through

this any of this crap. There's nothing you could ever say to me that would

make me walk away from you-not after finally being free to love you

again!"

A shiver of excitement electrified her entire being in response to his

genuine plea. Lifting her head to stare directly into his eyes, she repeated,

"Love? Kenny, are you telling me you still love me?"

"No sweetheart. I'm telling you I never stopped." Still in a state of

disbelief, a choked up Maddy sought further confirmation. "Even after

everything I just shared with you?"

"Especially after everything you just shared with me. Don't you get it?

Madeline, I want to protect you forever, for the rest of my life. I love you,

sweetheart. That will never change. And there is nothing you could ever

say or do to make me stop loving you. Nothing."

He held her face in his hands as he spoke. For awhile, they just lay in

the stillness of the semi-darkened room, each trying to absorb the blessed

reality of this long anticipated reunion.

"I-I'm blown away," she finally admitted. "I've desperately wanted to

hear those words from you for as long as I can remember, Kenny. Longer

than I even realized. And I love you, too-so very much. I never stopped

either."

Her sobs pierced the air as he held her close.