“Perfect timing, there was this scruffy looking guy staring me down as I ate lunch,” Kate said in greeting.
“Scruffy creepy or scruffy hot?” Julie inquired.
“There’s a difference?”
“Of course there is,” she retorted with a derisive snort. “Scruffy creepy makes me think of the hobo that stands outside of the McDonald’s on Third Avenue flashing high schoolers. Scruffy hot is more like Ryan Gosling in The Notebook.”
“I guess scruffy hot,” she admitted. Kate clutched her books tighter to her chest and picked up the pace to her car. “It made me very uncomfortable the way he was looking at me. It seemed like he knew me although I’ve never seen him before in my life.”
“Kate, I know you’ve been a shut-in for awhile, so I’ll bring you up to speed on a few things. Guys like to check out pretty girls. He was probably just trying to work up the nerve to talk to you,” Julie impatiently explained.
She let out a long sigh. “I guess you’re right. So, what’s going on?”
“Nothing much, finished class for the day and now I’m waiting on Gage so we can head to the movies. I haven’t talked to you in a couple of days and wanted to see how things were going with the hottie boyfriend.”
“Everything’s good. I’m heading there for dinner again tonight and maybe to watch a movie.”
“So…are you going to make me ask? Did he seal the deal?”
Kate remained silent for an uncomfortable moment. She wondered if it had been a good idea to have confided in Julie about how slow things were moving with Jared. Julie had provided her with several suggestions on how to speed things up. “We actually had an argument about it last night. He wants us to wait for a special night before we take things to that level.”
“When? Like your wedding night?” Julie asked incredulously.
“Nothing that extreme. He wants it to be romantic, so he’s planning something,” Kate explained. Unlocking her Toyota, she did a quick check of the backseat before entering. She wanted to make sure the scruffy guy wasn’t back there with a knife ready to slash her throat.
“You’re certain that’s the only reason? I mean you’ve been dating a month…” Julie trailed off before questioning, “You don’t think he has a problem with his equipment, do you?”
“No, we’ve gotten to third base…”
Julie cut her off with a snort. “Third base? What, are we in middle school?”
“Anyway,” Kate continued, “my point was that his equipment is in perfect working condition.”
“Well, I hate to say it, Kate, but it’s your fault things haven’t gotten as far as you want them to.”
Kate countered incredulously, “My fault? Why do you say that?”
“Because you probably gave him your whole born again virgin spiel about how you only had sex one time and it was the worst experience of your life,” Julie chided.
“Well…I may have mentioned it,” she said as she pulled out of the college parking lot. She had a few hours to kill before Jared got home from work, so she headed to her house.
“It’s actually kind of sweet if you think about it. He wants to erase the memory of your first time and give you a night that will knock that god-awful memory of Pete completely out of your head.” Julie paused before continuing, “I don’t know why you even bring that loser up. After you broke up, I heard a rumor that he collects his own belly button lint in a jar.”
“Julie, you spread that rumor,” Kate reminded her matter-of-factly.
“Anyway,” she said pointedly, “you normally have terrible taste in men. I think you should appreciate the fact that Jared cares enough about you that he wants your first time together to be incredible.”
“I hope that’s his intention. I’m just concerned that maybe he’s not really ready to jump into something serious again after breaking up with Nikki. Maybe he’s just not into me,” she wondered aloud.
“Believe me, he’s way into you,” Julie emphasized each word. “Remember when I met him? I had totally awesome cleavage going on and he didn’t sneak a peek once. He could barely tear his eyes off of you.”
Kate smiled to herself. Jared and Julie had met briefly a couple of weeks ago when he met the friends for coffee. Thankfully, Julie’s boyfriend Gage hadn’t been around to scare Jared off with his potent blend of extreme obnoxiousness and boorish manners.
“I am not used to these boyfriend problems,” Kate confessed. “Thanks Julie for letting me vent.”
“No prob—I do really miss our girl talks. Now that we both have boyfriends, I feel like we hardly see each other,” Julie complained.
Kate pulled into her driveway and noted that her mother’s car was parked outside. She must have finished up dropping off her orders. Her mom sold beauty products and had a pretty successful business going. Along with the money from the divorce settlement, it allowed her mother to keep them in the house Kate grew up in.
“Let’s make plans, I miss you too,” she replied to Julie.
“Why don’t we go on a double date? Maybe the boys will become best buds and we can hang out all the time,” Julie enthused.
Kate would have to dump Jared immediately if he and Gage got along like long lost best friends. Despite this, she said, “Sounds good. I’ll see when Jared is off of work and we’ll all have dinner together.”
“Great, can’t wait! Me and Gage need to have more couple friends,” she replied. “Speaking of Gage, have you had any visions about him?”
Kate groaned. Julie had been asking her for weeks to use her psychic powers to spy on Gage. For some reason, Julie had suspicions that Gage was seeing other girls on the sly. Since her best friend had been accepting about Kate keeping secrets from her in the past, she felt like she owed it to Julie to comply.
“I really wish you would stop asking me to get into his head,” she pleaded. “I did in fact have a vision of him the other night. It was at some party and he was participating in a rousing game of naked mattress riding.”
Kate almost gagged at the memory. Gage was tall and blonde, but Kate thought of him more as an inbred moron than an attractive human being. Kate didn’t have guilt over these thoughts since she knew the feeling was mutual. “I could have lived without that visual, thank you very much. You know I can’t control what visions I have,” she complained.
Julie couldn’t contain her laughter. “Jeez Kate, you have some lame psychic powers, but thanks for trying. I actually was there that night and he was too stinking drunk to even stand up, no less get it on with another girl.”
“I promise if I happen to see anything inappropriate, I’ll let you know. I’d rather focus on my boyfriend when I lay in bed at night sexually frustrated, if it’s all the same to you,” Kate said before entering the hallway to her house. She shut the door behind her. “I actually just got home, so let me call you back later.”
“Ok, bye and let me know when we can plan our date night.”
Kate disconnected the call and tossed her keys on the end table. Walking into the house, she made out the outline of her mother sitting at the dining room table. Kate studied her for a moment before entering the room. Darlene Edwards had the exact same hair coloring and eyes as Kate. In happier times, her father used to joke that they could be sisters. Her tawny hair was now pulled back tightly in a bun and she had on a pair of reading glasses that she was usually too self-conscious to wear.
As Kate moved closer, she realized tears were streaming down her mother’s face as she clutched a letter she held in her hands. Hearing Kate enter the room, she shot her a forlorn expression. Panicked, Kate rushed over. “Mom, what’s the matter?”
Darlene took off the glasses and wiped at the tears glistening on her cheeks. “I’m sorry, honey. I was cleaning and I saw this letter open on your desk. I shouldn’t have pried.”
Kate swallowed hard and fidgeted with the hem of her tank top. “It’s ok, Mom. I would’ve told you about it, but it’s pretty depressing. I haven’t had any visions abou
t him so I’m really worried that something horrible happened to him.”
The past week she had been trying to connect with a little boy missing from Blaine, a town in Washington State. The five-year-old boy named Max was taken two weeks earlier while out shopping at the mall with his grandmother. There had been no witnesses that came forward and no surveillance footage that showed what happened to him. His mother had sent Kate the most heartfelt letter begging for any help she could offer.
Before Kate had gone to sleep each night this week, she had looked at Max’s picture and tried to concentrate on getting into his mind. When she woke up each morning, she had been disappointed that Max had not been in any of her visions. Alarmingly, one of the patterns she had noticed concerning her psychic gift was that she never had a vision of someone who had died. It made her fear the worse for the little boy’s life.
She sank down in the chair next to her mother. “I wish I could do more. I’ve been reading a lot of books trying to understand more about psychic phenomenon. I haven’t found anything useful yet about how to control my visions.”
Focusing on someone before she went to bed seemed to be the most helpful thing, but it was still no guarantee she’d see a vision of the person. Plus, the visions could be a random memory from their past, not always something useful. After she had found Matt Spencer two years ago, people from all over the country had sent her letters asking for her help in finding their lost loved ones. Many also sent her letters asking her to predict the future—something she was thankfully unable to do. She would never want to give anyone dire news about their future.
Her mom covered her hand with hers. “You’ll learn more about your power as you go through life, honey. It may take you a long time to find the right book or talk to the right person.”
Kate leaned back into the upholstery of the chair and gave her mother a quizzical look. “While I try to figure everything out, I still want to help people. I’m just not sure how to go about it, you know? Should I just search for cases online? Or only help those who want my assistance and contact me?”
“I’m not sure, honey, what’s the right answer to that question. Have you talked to Jared about it?”
“He actually doesn’t think it’s the greatest idea to go around and chase abduction cases. He’s worried it may be too dangerous and I could end up in another situation like last time.”
“That makes sense. Obviously, it’s a concern that you would make yourself a target again.” Her mother nodded in agreement. “You should probably try to remain anonymous if you do offer any help.”
“Well, we know how well my anonymity was protected last time,” Kate replied dryly. Remaining silent for a minute, Kate then gave her mother an earnest expression. “It’s really great we can talk about the psychic thing now. It’s nice no longer being alone and trying to deal with all this craziness.”
“You can talk to me about anything, Katie,” her mother assured. After a second’s hesitation, she gave her daughter a thoughtful look. She ran her fingertips over her pearl necklace before she continued. “Speaking of having a talk…I was wondering how things were going between you and Jared.”
“Good,” Kate answered before adding, “It still feels kind of unreal. Like I keep waiting for him to realize what a weirdo I am and move on to greener pastures.”
Her mother shot her a scornful look. “Katie, don’t talk that way. I know I raised a more confident daughter than that.”
“I know you’re right. I just believe I’ve been an open book with him while it’s hard to tell how he feels about me,” she divulged.
“Although most of my experiences with men come from my time with your father, it seems to me that men are less inclined to discuss their feelings. Every time I tried to get your father to talk about his emotions, he would tell me I’d been watching too many movies on Lifetime,” her mother chuckled.
“Wow, didn’t know Dad could be so sexist,” Kate retorted. “Anyway, it doesn’t even have to be words though—Jared could show me that he cared about me.”
Her mother cleared her throat. “I just hope there isn’t too much showing going on,” she said pointedly.
Her face flushed and she felt momentarily tongue tied. Kate pretended to have a sudden and intense interest in her split ends as she mumbled, “Um…no worries there, Mom.”
“You’re an adult and I trust your judgment,” her mother assured her. “And I like Jared a lot. I have a good feeling about the two of you.”
Kate laughed and squinted at her mom. “I hope you’re right. People do say that everyone has a little bit of psychic power inside of them.”
“So, what are your plans for tonight?”
“I was thinking of cooking dinner for Jared,” Kate responded. “Any menu suggestions?”
“How about making him my red pepper sauce with tortellini?”
“Yes! Great idea, thanks Mom.”
Kate reached over and gave her a spontaneous hug. Although they had always been close, the past couple of months had really bonded them. Without the psychic secret hanging over their head, Kate really felt like she could talk to her mother about anything. With her newfound desire to help the missing, Kate understood she’d need her more than ever.
Chapter Three
“What kind of person doesn’t have any basil or olive oil in their home?” Kate questioned Jared later that evening with her hands on her hips. She glared at him as she stood in front of his stove.
Jared gave her an amused look. “You make it sound like a crime.”
“It should be! I picked up all of the other ingredients from the store, but figured you would at least have the basics. We need to start cooking here more. Do you know how much weight I’ve gained with all of our takeout dinners?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me,” he teased.
“It’s not funny! I’m already planning to do a fast as it is.”
“A fast?”
She shrugged her shoulders and turned back towards the range to give the pasta a stir. “Apparently you eat nothing but maple syrup and cayenne pepper for a few days and lose like ten pounds.”
“That sounds disgusting. You better not do that or I’ll be mad at you,” he warned.
Jared came up from behind her and pulled her towards him. While still holding the wooden spoon, she ended up sitting on his lap as he returned to his chair at the kitchen table. He nuzzled her neck. “I like you just the way you are. You look particularly cute in that apron.” Over her tank top and shorts, she was wearing her mother’s ‘Shitake Happens’ apron.
Her grin was unabashed. “You’re not so bad yourself.” Kate gestured to the laptop that sat in front of him. “What are you working on?”
“Just a report for work.”
“What’s the case? Maybe I can use my psychic skills to help?” she asked hopefully.
“No, I’m good, but thanks for the offer.”
“Jared, you really should be taking advantage of the fact that you’re dating a psychic. You could be, like, the head of the department!” She threw up her arms for emphasis. “I could be your own personal Cliffs Notes—give you all of the answers without you having to do any of the grunt work.”
“Having a child kidnapped was not a normal thing to happen in Franklin,” Jared emphasized. “If something like that happens again, I promise you’ll be the first person I call for help. The fact is, most of my cases aren’t that important,” he said lightly.
Pulling her eyebrows together, Kate said in a shocked voice, “What a mean thing to say! I’m sure the victims feel that their case is important!” She pulled the laptop closer and began reading his report. “Mr. Melville must really need...” she trailed off before finishing, “to find out who wrote those bad checks. Ok, maybe that’s not exactly a life or death situation.”
“Welcome to the glamorous life of a small town police detective,” he said wryly.
Hoping off his lap, Kate hurried over to the stovetop and gave the sa
uce a quick stir. She hoped the butter and oregano she substituted would still keep her mom’s recipe delicious. Peeking over her shoulder at him, she gave him a long look. “Hey, are you able to get self defense stuff from the department?”
An eyebrow shot up as he asked her inquisitively, “What type of self defense stuff?”
“Brass knuckles? Mace? A stun gun?”
Jared’s tone was weary. “Do I even want to know why you’re asking me that?”
“There was this weird guy at the college watching me. I thought I should carry around something to protect myself,” she explained.
Taking the boiling pot off the stove, Kate decided to bite her tongue when she realized he didn’t have a colander either. So annoying, she thought, and vowed to forward on any hospital bills if she developed second degree burns from using a plate to drain the pasta.
When Jared didn’t answer, she turned to face him. Instead of the concern she expected written all over his face, he looked rather undisturbed. “Don’t you think I should be worried?”
“Not overly.” He continued quickly, “You’re a beautiful girl, Kate. I’m not surprised somebody was staring at you. But if you’re nervous, I’ll get you a can of pepper spray you can carry in your purse. It’s probably a good idea anyway, if you’re walking alone in the parking lot,” he explained. She didn’t respond because she couldn’t put into words what about the boy had bothered her. His look hadn’t conveyed he was attracted to her. Instead, his gaze was predatory.
***
She found herself in an unfamiliar kitchen sitting at a small table cluttered with soda cans and candy wrappers. The air was stale and the temperature stifling. Parts of the floral wallpaper were peeling off the walls and the paint was yellowed with age. From a distance, she could hear someone softly humming, but could not recognize the tune. In her hands, she could see a forest green crayon broken in half and the picture of a cluster of trees in front of her. Except they weren’t her hands she was seeing. They were small with a few miniscule scratches on top.
New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two Page 2
