In book #1 of The Necklace series, Susan and her best friend from elementary school, Lynn, go on a cruise where they meet two women from Haiti, one of whom has magical powers.
When the older of the two women, Mika, tells Susan she can send her back in time to meet James, the man of her dreams, Lynn encourages her to do so, believing Susan will find out that James is not the perfect man she’s made him out to be in her mind.
But as Lynn observes via a cell phone app what happens to Susan when she travels into the past and meets James, she realizes it was a mistake. Susan and James are obviously falling in love, which means nothing but heartbreak for Susan when she will soon have to return to the future.
Lynn asks Mika to send her back into the past to bring her friend back to the future, but when she arrives, it is to no avail.
Some excerpts from Lynn’s POV…
Lynn had been checking the App on her iPhone periodically since Susan had been sent off into the past. She was a little shocked when James had singled Susan out within minutes of her arrival, but then again, Susan was like a magnet to guys in the club in her seventeen-year-old body, her California girl tan, long blonde hair, and, of course, the dorky dress. She smiled in amusement when Susan stuck out her hand for James to kiss it in the hotel’s lobby, knowing Susan was overwhelmed at the attention he was paying her.
However, she had been distraught to learn later that a wager had been made on Susan’s virtue. In fact, she was still steaming mad about it.
Susan was no match for James and his beguiling ways, and she wished there was some way to communicate with her and warn her against him. Lynn had also heard what Sara said about James having just about every girl who came to the club and thought Susan was right at the afternoon practice when she accused James of wanting to just carve another notch in the wall with her regarding the wagering business.
A wager! A bet!! How disgusting was that??!!
The guy took arrogance to a whole new level, and she was certain Susan was his newest prey. The fact that she’d resisted him the first night only meant he would increase his efforts on the next one. And then when she heard the song James had sung to Susan…“Make it happen for us tonight…”
Well, that took the cake!
Lynn was starting to feel that this whole trip into the past was a big mistake. She and Susan had been close to drunk at dinner when they’d met the ladies from Haiti. She could hardly recall the conversation but thought she might have played a significant role in convincing Susan to take the journey. What was it Mika said? That Susan would learn something important from this trip? Was Susan going to discover that James was nothing more than a shallow, self-indulgent jerk who screwed every girl in sight then discarded them like used up toys?
If so, Susan was going to be badly hurt, and she hadn’t meant for her very best friend in the world to get hurt…especially by her dream prince.
Yes, this going into the past was a mistake. Susan needed to get over her “James thing” some other way. She didn’t belong with him. She belonged back in the present with her husband, who worshiped the ground she walked on. Lynn thought this was almost like cheating, and if James had his way with her, it would be cheating.
Oh my! Why had she encouraged Susan in this craziness??!!
**************************
It was 9:00 at night in the Caribbean as Lynn turned on her iPhone and touched the App Mika had installed to check on Susan again. The scene in the hallway outside Susan’s hotel room door unfolded in front of her. Lynn’s eyes opened wide.
“Oh Suz,” she cringed, “What are you getting yourself into? And you’ve only been there a little over twenty-four hours! Kissing already?” And not only lip kissing, but all that hand and arm kissing! James looked like he was gobbling her up.
She started pacing the floor, wishing there was some way she could communicate with Susan. What was going to happen next? It looked like Susan was on the brink of letting him in her hotel room door. She’d seen the look on his face, knowing he was plotting Susan’s surrender, and she knew it probably wouldn’t take much. She vowed to keep a close watch on events, telling herself again that this whole trip into the past was a mistake.
Lynn was very uneasy.
**********************
It was four o’clock in the morning on the ship, and Lynn couldn’t sleep. She had watched Susan as James kissed her in the hallway and as she slid down the back of her hotel room door onto the floor after James had left her the night before, and she thought something was about to happen that Susan would regret.
Things were moving way too fast. She could sense that her friend was confused at the speed of events. She knew that Susan was a romantic, probably thinking she’d go back, meet James, he’d sing to her, and they’d walk down English lanes or something holding hands for seven days.
As she looked into her iPhone for the tenth time in the last twelve hours, she saw them in the lobby of Susan’s hotel. They were talking. She heard James say that whatever happened today was going to be up to her. After that kiss in the hallway last night, what exactly was that supposed to mean?!
Then, it dawned on her. She’d heard what James’s dad had said to him regarding Auntie Annabelle not being at the cottage, and she knew James intended to have his way with Susan even if she didn’t. He was well aware she couldn’t resist him. All he’d have to do was crook his finger.
“Suz! Pay attention!” Lynn cringed, thinking that was pretty damn arrogant of him, and knowing that Susan was doomed. She had seen the desire burning in her eyes and her reaction to his kiss. It was pretty much all over for her. What would happen after James had his way with her? Would he just take her back to her hotel, drop her off, and carve another notch on a wall somewhere?
Lynn toyed with the idea of going to Marta and Mika and asking to be sent back. Susan looked confused and vulnerable, and she wanted to cry, thinking how hurt she was going to be once James bedded her then discarded her. But, what would she be able to do? How could she stop what was about to happen anyway? Susan would never listen to her and would likely be upset at her interference.
Then she started to laugh. Being an old lady and having been married for forty-four years, Susan was quite experienced in the act of lovemaking. Their “girl talk” over the years sometimes strayed into that subject area. It was easy to see that once Susan gave in, James would be in for the surprise of his life. Forty-four years of experience combined with a seventeen-year-old body – what a combination! What would he think? She chuckled again and tried to forget about the “cheating” aspect of the situation.
***********************
It was 10:00 in the morning on the ship when Lynn woke up. Even that was early for her, but she felt as if something was nudging at her brain and telling her to wake up. She needed a Diet Coke, and there wasn’t any in the cabin. She sat up, thinking to get dressed when she saw her iPhone, and thought she should check in on Susan. It was Sunday and would be mid-afternoon in England, around 3:00. When she turned it on, however, all she could see was a wooden door. She waited a minute then checked the volume to see if she could hear anything, but there was no sound. Then the phone picture changed to show a black and white cat sitting in a window. It was licking one of its paws. It looked just like Susan’s cat in the present named Checkers! What was Checkers doing back in the past, and what could the door mean? It certainly wasn’t Susan’s hotel room door. Where was Susan? Where was James?
A sick feeling came into the pit of her stomach.
*****************************
It was late morning on Monday when Lynn switched on her iPhone and tapped into the App Marta had installed. James and Susan were in the kitchen in the cottage, Susan standing in front of the stove stirring something in a large pan. She saw James enter the room and come up behind her.
Where were they? It certainly wasn’t Susan’s hotel room, that’s for sure! They must be at James’s house or somebody else’s house. She laughed. It figured Susan would be in the kitchen. Lynn knew Susan had a passion for cooking.
Lynn listened to their conversation, a worried expression coming over her face.
“Okay, this is worse than bad,” she thought. “What should I do?…She’s so caught up in the moment; she doesn’t even know what she’s saying. She obviously surrendered to him…but, they’re in love already? Oh, my God!”
After only a few moments of contemplation and another peek into her iPhone that reflected a way too sensual moment between the two new lovers, she flicked off the phone and made her way to Marta and Mika’s cabin. Time to throw a wrench in this before the craziness went any further.
Susan didn’t belong with James! She belonged back home with her husband!