by Deanna Chase
Jared took her hand and whispered, “Pregnant and engaged? Is this one of those future visions you were telling me about?”
“Well, I couldn’t just say girlfriend, she would never take my opinions seriously,” she whispered back and bumped her hip to his. “Besides, won’t it fun to pretend for a little while?”
They walked around with Grace and she showed them some living room and kitchen sets. Kate dismissed the friendly saleswoman with the request that they browse alone to talk over choices. Jared looked at her and didn’t bother to suppress his yawn. “This is mind numbing. I tuned out once the two of you got started on the benefits of marble and tile finishes for kitchen tables.”
“Well, I’m having fun,” Kate retorted. She had narrowed down the choices in her head and figured she would tell Jared to make the final call on what sets to purchase. Kate suggested, “Let’s go test out the mattresses—it’s my favorite part of going to a furniture store.”
“But I don’t need a bed,” he responded.
“Just come on.”
Kate pulled him eagerly through the store as Jared laughed at her enthusiasm. Once they arrived at the mattress section, she positioned his body in front of one of the memory foam beds. She instructed him to face away from the mattress and hold her hand. Kate explained, “Now, on the count of three, we fall back onto the mattress. We’re judging the spring and level of support. Medium firm is usually ideal.”
His eyebrows shot up and he gave her a disbelieving stare. “This isn’t weird to do?”
“No, why would you buy a mattress without lying on it first? People do it all the time,” she enlightened Jared. Kate gave him a stern look. “Now on the count of three, fall down with me. One, two, three…”
Jared collapsed on the bed next to her and shot her a grin. “This is ridiculously comfortable. It might be time to upgrade my bed.”
“Hmm…” she murmured as his face moved to her.
It took a lot to keep Kate from pointing out she wouldn’t know since she had never been in his bed. Instead, she turned her head to study his perfect countenance. Their faces were only inches apart and she felt a blush creep on her skin. It was hard to not be hyperaware of his closeness and the fact they were lying on a bed next to each other.
“What do you think are the chances we could kick everyone out of the store and be alone?” Jared asked in a hypnotic tone. He was close enough that his warm breath tickled her skin.
The naked lust on his face prompted the blush to deepen. The air felt charged and she knew what she was feeling at that moment was more than simple desire for him. Last night was a wake-up call. Losing Jared would be disastrous to her life. Although the people in her cases meant a lot to her, Kate vowed to never take her boyfriend for granted again. It was on the tip of her tongue to confess her feelings when she heard someone clearing their throat. Grace looked down at them on the bed with a tolerant smile. “Are you considering a bed set as well?”
Chapter Thirteen
Melanie looked down at the note. Will you go to the dance with me? Circle Yes or No.
It was written in Billy Fraser’s loopy script. He had passed the note to her before history class. He would barely look at her when his hand brushed hers. Thinking back to the moment, Melanie guessed that he might actually be nervous about her response. This surprised her since she was certain Billy had thought Melanie wasn’t pretty enough to pay any mind to.
Melanie had to cover her mouth to hide a smile. Billy was one of the cutest boys in Dewey Middle School. He wore his black hair longer than most boys in seventh grade and always could be seen on his skateboard before or after school. She had been majorly crushing since school started and had confided to Allison during gym last week. Her best friend had lasted until Friday and then the whole school seemed to know about what Melanie had assumed was her unrequited crush.
On Monday Melanie had begged her mother to stay home. She didn’t want to face the severe embarrassment of having the entire school knowing who she liked. She was such a bad liar that every time someone asked her about Billy, she turned scarlet and could barely stammer out an answer. Her mother didn’t want to hear any of it and instead ushered her out of the house in the morning despite her protests. Her mother assured Melanie that the seventh graders would soon move on to another target for their gossip.
Then, the most amazing thing happened. Billy had cast her shy glances all week. They weren’t the looks that translated into repulsion over her very presence. The looks said he was interested in her too. On Tuesday he had even given her a nod and hello in the hallway.
At first, she thought maybe it was a cruel joke on her. She wasn’t the most popular girl in school and pimples had started to erupt on her face seemingly overnight. Yet, Billy Fraser wasn’t like that. He was sweet and didn’t hang out with the boys who thought it was hilarious to ask you out as joke and laugh at you with all of their friends when you said ok. Melanie could never like any of the imbeciles that populated the rest of her school.
Just as the bell rang, she took her pen and circled “yes” in the note. As she made her way down the hallway, her heart stopped in her chest as Billy came down the hallway in the opposite direction. Gathering all of her nerve, she dropped the note on top of his pile of books. She couldn’t even make eye contact as she did and continued to hurry down the hallway. As she dared a glace behind her, she saw Billy turn in her direction. She gave him a shy smile as he grinned at her. Thursday was going to be the best night of her life.
“I experienced Melanie’s thoughts. I wasn’t inside her head for any of the other visions. What do you think that means?”
It had been almost a week since the fitness instructor was last seen. There had been no breaks in the case and new evidence had yet to surface. For the entire week, the psychics had attempted to garner some type of information from Melanie’s memories. Since it was Saturday, Kate had off from both school and work. She had dedicated the day to getting into Melanie’s head. Although Melanie’s memories were touching—they didn’t provide any clues to her whereabouts. After this latest vision, she had phoned Declan immediately for his input. It seemed strange for her to suddenly get inside the girl’s head when their previous visions had been as outside observers.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but it may not be good,” he replied solemnly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the only time I got inside someone’s head is if the person was very young or they had something mentally wrong with them. What if something is happening to her that’s affecting her mental state?” Declan questioned.
“You’re such a pessimist.”
“No, I’m a realist. The fact is we need to find her fast. Every minute we have, we need to be trying to see into her head,” he advised.
“Believe me I have been. When I’m not at school or at work, I’m trying to connect with her. Jared has been super busy at work and I haven’t even seen him this week,” she complained. She chewed on a strand of chocolate hair as she waited for Declan’s reply.
“Trying to have a normal life when you’re a psychic is nearly impossible. At least you could quit your job if this works out. It will give you more time to devote to our cases.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” she said dryly. “I just can’t quit my job and be a full-time psychic.”
“Why not?” Declan demanded. “I am. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not doing badly on my own.”
“Do you offer medical? Dental? A 401K plan?”
“Ha-ha,” he said dryly. “Let me know if you have another vision.”
“Ditto.”
As Kate hung up the phone, she tried to rally for the dinner at the obscenely expensive restaurant that her dad had chosen. Although she had turned twenty-two, her father seemed to still suffer from an acute case of weekend dad syndrome. Whenever she saw him, he spoiled her with lavish gifts to make up for his absence from her life.
She was completely wiped from al
l the time she had been spending trying to get into Melanie’s head. Trying to juggle her personal life and psychic life was proving to be taxing. Memory after memory of Melanie’s past had come to her over the last few days, but nothing about her disappearance. It made her run all sorts of possibilities through her head. Was Melanie unaware of anything happening to her and that was why these memories were coming to her? Maybe she was in a coma and these were the thoughts filling her head as she remained unconscious.
Kate picked up her cell phone again and sighed when she didn’t see a message from Jared. He was already ten minutes late to pick her up. They had to leave soon or they would be late meeting her father at the restaurant. She tried his cell again, this time he picked up on the first ring. “Kate, I’m sorry, I was just dialing your number. Something came up at work, so I’m going to be a little late for dinner.”
“That’s crappy,” she replied. “My father’s really looking forward to getting to know you,” she sighed.
Actually that wasn’t completely the truth. When she mentioned Jared was coming, her dad questioned why she was dating someone twice her age and who was partially responsible for her almost being killed last month. She had to keep reminding him that Jared was only seven years older and had not plotted her abduction with Cori’s demented kidnapper.
“I’ll get to the restaurant as soon as humanly possible, I promise. Don’t wait on me to order though. I wouldn’t want your father to end up not liking me because I’m holding up your dinner,” he quipped.
Her high pitch laugh rang false. “My father not like you? That’s preposterous.”
“Gotta go, but I’ll see you soon,” Jared promised. Kate was learning to hate the Franklin detective bureau. They were forcing her to endure her father’s interrogation without Jared present for moral support.
Kate’s father was already seated when she arrived at the restaurant. He was sipping what she guessed was Scotch and browsing over the menu. As much as she was dreading any lectures he had in store for her, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of happiness over seeing him. She hadn’t seen him since Labor Day weekend and they had a nice time together at the beach. Quickening her pace, she rushed to the table. “Dad!”
“There’s my little girl,” he said affectionately.
Robert Edwards stood up and wrapped his strong arms around her body. She savored his presence and felt moisture cloud her vision. With everything going on, she was feeling like an emotional train-wreck. It would be good to have a normal evening with her father and her boyfriend. They had been too far and few between lately. He gave a dramatic look around the restaurant. “Aren’t we missing someone?”
Kate took a seat and placed the napkin on her lap. “Jared is terribly sorry. Something came up at work and he’s going to meet us here as soon as he can. It’s a shame Carly couldn’t make it tonight.”
At the mention of his girlfriend’s name, Kate’s father blinked in surprise. She learned the art of being passive aggressive from the master, she thought silently. Kate liked Carly enough when they met for dinner, but she didn’t exactly forget the woman’s part in breaking up her parents’ marriage.
After a non-committal grunt, he peered at her over the menu. His eyes raked over her face and his mouth set in a grim line. “What’s going on with you?”
“What are you talking about?”
He sat back into his chair. “You look exhausted. You’re pale and I can see the bags under your eyes. What’s wrong?”
Damn, Kate cursed silently. As she put on makeup for the evening, she was more heavy handed than usual on the concealer. Guess, she should’ve been more generous or swiped one of her mom’s Ray Bans. The pale comment stung more. As a resident of New Jersey, being called pale was one of the worst insults.
“I’m fine, Dad. I swear. It has just been a rough week, that’s all.” She shrugged and her hazel eyes moved back to the menu. Although her father was trying to accept the paranormal aspects of her life, he would never be a total believer. Kate tended to gloss over things when her visions came up in conversation.
“Because if that man isn’t treating you right, I’ll have a few choice things to say to him…” he threatened.
Kate didn’t let him finish his rant. “No, Jared has been great. I’m hoping by the end of the fall, we’ll even be going steady and he’ll give me his varsity jacket to wear.” When her father didn’t laugh, she sighed and continued in a serious tone, “It has just been overwhelming trying to juggle school and work. Plus, I started working on a new case.”
“Holy Christ, Kate. You’re like the psychic version of an ambulance chaser,” he mumbled. “I thought when we last talked you said you were giving this psychic stuff a break.”
“No, you suggested that,” she said pointedly. “I have the visions whether I want them or not. It’s not possible to take a break from it.”
“You need to start thinking about a real career,” he replied.
“It’s hard for me to explain why I have to keep up with the psychic side of my life.” When he didn’t respond, Kate continued, “It probably sounds stupid, but I want to do something that matters. I’d like to contribute more to society than permanent butt prints on Mom’s couch and increasing McDonald’s annual revenue.”
“There are plenty of worthwhile things you could do that don’t involve claiming you’re psychic,” he pointed out.
Her father would never concede an argument and despite all the proof she supplied to him about her second sight, he still remained skeptical. Kate decided to retreat. “Come on, this is supposed to be my birthday dinner. Let’s not fight.”
Nodding, he gave her a kind smile. “Of course, hon. I’m sorry to bring it up.”
Her father was reluctant about ordering without her date present. They compromised and ended up splitting an appetizer. After an hour, she could tell both her father and their waiter was growing impatient. Just as she took out her phone to give Jared a call, she saw him stride their way. Shooting them both an apologetic grin, he reached out to give her dad a handshake before leaning down and kissing her cheek. It was hard not to envy his coolness under pressure. She wondered if it was too late for her to go to charm school and try to achieve half of his poise.
“Thanks for coming, I know it has been a long day for you,” Kate said softly as he settled into the chair next to her.
“Yes, I appreciate you coming,” her father agreed. He adjusted his tie and added, “I didn’t get a chance to speak with you the last time we met.”
“Of course I wanted to join you. I wish you would’ve ordered, I didn’t mean to hold up your dinner,” Jared apologized.
If Kate had to be honest, his politeness was sort of a turn-on. She grabbed his knee and gave a tender pat. He smiled at her and all felt right in the world. At least for a minute, until her father decided to play twenty questions with her boyfriend.
Her father looked back and forth between the two of them before speaking. “I was surprised when Kate told me you two were together. If I remember correctly, there was a published article stating you were engaged to that missing girl’s sister.”
Kate clenched her jaw. “Dad, you know that Jared and Nikki were broken up when we got together. Why would you bring that up?”
Kate knew what article he was talking about. No one at the paper had taken her seriously when she demanded a retraction or she would sue them for every last penny. They kept transferring her to different departments until she finally gave up and slammed the phone down in frustration. Jared had shrugged the whole thing off and said it didn’t matter since they knew the truth.
Jared spoke in a neutral tone. Kate appreciated his attempt at keeping the peace. “Sir, I was never actually engaged to Nikki. We ended things amicably before I began dating Kate.”
“Jared, I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from. Kate is very naïve about the world, especially in regards to men. As her father, I want to protect her and make sure the people in her life have the b
est intentions,” he said emphatically. Kate was beyond mortified. The snarky girl who was usually quick with a comeback was utterly at a lost for words.
Jared took her hand in his. His reassuring squeeze signified to Kate he understood how troubled she was by her father’s words. Jared’s gray eyes turned towards her as he answered her father. “I care about Kate…a lot. I would never hurt her.”
Kate swallowed hard. “If you excuse me, I’m going to use the restroom.”
Both men looked upset by her sudden departure. Tears were threatening to burst from her and drown them all. Her father had made Kate feel like a child pretending to be an adult. Mistakenly, Kate had thought he was beginning to respect her and they could move forward. It had taken them awhile to maintain any sort of civility after he left her mother and moved in with another woman.
The women’s restroom was thankfully empty. Taking shallow breaths, she tried to keep her composure. Kate gripped the sides of the sink and waited until her heart slowed. Lifting her head, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Melanie stared back at her.
Kate gasped and almost fell backwards. Stumbling, she was finally able to right herself after a few seconds. When she looked in the mirror again, her own frazzled appearance was there. “I’m really losing my freaking mind.”
“Yes and the first sign is talking to yourself in the bathroom,” a heavily perfumed woman grumbled as she walked past her to the stalls. “Nut job.”
Chapter Fourteen
The wind whipped past her as Melanie raced down the mountain. She tilted her body to the left and right to control the movements of the snowboard. Since the minute she had hopped on a board, she had fallen in love with the sport. Flying down the mountain at breakneck speeds made her feel free.
Snowboarding had become her escape. Although she loved the social atmosphere of the gym, Melanie also liked some time alone with her thoughts. Going up to the mountain by herself afforded her the opportunity to work things out in her head. Long trails through the quiet mountains allowed her to reflect on all the aspects of her life that were bothering her.
