Rings On Her Fingers (The Psychic Seasons Series Book 1)

by ReGina Welling

  "Oh," Amethyst exclaimed at the same time Kat's head dropped to her chest. Walking to join the other three she whispered, “her aura just totally changed; something is going to happen." She was right.

  Kat lifted her head; Julie’s heart leapt into her chest and began to pound as those familiar gray eyes sought hers again. Oh, my giddy aunt, she thought. Grams was here earlier; I saw her with my own eyes. That didn’t wig me out; but this, this is just downright creepy. Behind her she heard Tyler’s swift intake of breath and figured he had just noticed the eyes, but he said nothing.

  "Whoa." Amethyst breathed the word on a sigh while Gustavia just kept grinning. Gram's features settled gently over the mediums' in that eerie double exposure way as finally, she spoke.

  "Well, hello, everyone; it's nice to see you here helping Julie. She is lucky to have such people in her life."

  "Hey, Estelle. Nice to see you," Gustavia said warmly, "I've missed you."

  "And I, you. I love you more than I can say, never forget that."

  Kat/Estelle shifted her gaze to Amethyst and Tyler saying, "I don't think we've met."

  Julie performed introductions thinking this entire situation was becoming more and more surreal by the day as her grandmother greeted her new friends.

  "I am only sorry I cannot properly greet the generous child who has allowed me the opportunity for this visit. But maybe I can repay a little of her kindness. Please give her this message for me. Tell her blue eyes will meet brown eyes and she will know them by their color."

  Julie sighed. "More cryptic messages, more riddles. Not especially helpful, Grams." Caught somewhere between frustration and respect, Julie wanted to scream; but held her emotions in check.

  For once, Tyler had little to say, no glib remark, nothing. He did comfort himself by thinking he had managed to not just stand there with his mouth hanging. At least not long enough for anyone else to notice.

  Grams sighed. "I know, and I wish I could be more helpful. All I can do is tell you my firsthand account of the day he died, could we go to his rooms?"

  It was a quiet group that walked down the hall, not least because Kat led the way and it was obvious her eyes were working perfectly. Julius' suite consisted of a sitting room with a small bathroom off to the left and a bedroom to the right. Off the sitting room was a balcony that, during the day, would present quite a view of the property. Most of the wall opposite the balcony was taken up by the fireplace with its ornately carved mantel which housed several family photographs and some mechanical trinkets. Above the fireplace hung a mirror that was not quite large or imposing enough for the size of the space it occupied; around its perimeter was a darker band of wallpaper indicating something larger had hung there at one time.

  The bedroom was decorated in a spare, yet functional, manner with storage provided by a large wardrobe and a medium-sized dresser. The simple, metal framed bed sat in the middle of the far wall flanked by a small table on each side. On the wall to the left of his bed was one of the famed stained glass windows; the large floral scene, totally at odds with the rest of the furnishings, dominated the room. Plainly, Julius had had his way with the decorating because other than that floral window, there was no other feminine touch in any of the rooms he had shared with his wife.

  As they passed Tyler's open briefcase on the desk, he grabbed the voice recorder he used for interviews. It was the best way he knew to be sure he had an accurate record of whatever Estelle had to say.

  "Once he was gone, we put things back to rights; and, after that, Mary Lou never changed a thing. She kept it like a shrine after he died." They were led into the bedroom where Kat sat down on the bed. "It was here in this bed that he sat up with the firelight glittering in his eyes, stared over our heads and said, Use the key with the magic garden; they will show you the hiding place. Follow the light. Then he looked right at me and said, Don't forget: key--magic garden. He was upset, agitated. At the time I thought it was just restlessness. In his last weeks he was in a considerable amount of pain and his muscles twitched a lot, but I think he was gesturing toward something to his left."

  Kat's head began to fall forward again and, before anyone could utter another word, Grams was gone. Gustavia sprang into action, kneeling before her friend, chafing her cold hands and talking to her in a soothing voice. She knew the psychic had been scared the last time this happened, and she was going to make sure this time was different. As Kat lifted her head, eyes once more vacant and unseeing, everyone breathed a sigh of relief to see she appeared relaxed and confident.

  Still, everyone remained quiet until they were all back downstairs, comfortably seated on the vintage, but still solidly-built, sofa and chairs. Gustavia had gone to the kitchen to round up a bottle of wine and some glasses, thinking they needed something a bit stronger than lemonade after that experience.

  Quiet up until now Tyler, who had been typing at a furious rate on his laptop, finally looked up and opened the conversation.

  "Well," he said hesitantly, "Is everyone okay?"

  Satisfied with the nods and quietly voiced affirmatives, he let out a whoop that managed to make every one of the women jump in their seats. "That was amazing." Nearly shouting, he got up to pace around the room excitedly before leaning down to take Kat's face in his gentle hands and plant a smacking kiss on both cheeks. "You were amazing," he told the now blushing psychic.

  "I'm not exactly sure how all this stuff works, Kat; could you hear anything while it...while she..." Julie trailed off, not quite sure if the question was appropriate or not.

  "Yes, I heard everything. I felt—this is hard to explain—but I felt she was sure the information was important, but not why; and she is just as frustrated about this whole thing as you are. Julius knows and can't tell anyone, not even her, where to find the secret." Then Kat provided a single clue. "She kept thinking about two things: one was a book—I could see it clearly—not a large book, blue with gold writing; and the other was the painting of your great-grandfather."

  Julie and Tyler looked at each other; it was that family history again. They had been over that thing with a fine-toothed comb and found nothing helpful. Obviously, they were going to have to read it again.

  "Isn't anyone going to ask me if I saw anything?" Ammie asked with a wicked grin. "I mean really, someone channels one little spirit and no one remembers the aura reader."

  Laughing, they ordered her to spill her guts.

  "Well, most readers only see auras around living, breathing things. A few of us sometimes also see them around objects. When someone handles an object with strong feelings of intention, I sometimes see the object's aura with the faint echo of the human aura attached to it. Sort of like a double rainbow, but not. I know it might not make sense, but that's the best way to describe it.

  "So, did you see a double rainbow?" Eyes alight, Gustavia had to ask.

  "Why, yes, I did." Amethyst was delighted to be able to add some useful information. She'd begun to care about Julie, and more than anyone in the room understood how much worry the woman was carrying. Her aura told the story, even if she tried not to burden her friends with it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  While Julius sat watching with interest, Logan raged through his apartment like a two-year-old having a temper tantrum. It would have been funny if throwing a fit helped release his pent up anger, but it seemed to be intensifying it instead. A vase shattered against the wall followed by the half-full glass of single malt scotch. He muttered imprecations punctuated by growls of witch and who does she think she is dealing with and I'm the one who decides. Julius was disgusted. Real men did not act like spoiled children. Then again, real men did not try to cheat a woman out of her land or consider physical violence.

  Logan was considering all kinds of physical violence. Against Julie; against Gustavia; and, now that he had finally registered his presence, against whoever that man was who kept hanging around. Probably some dweeb who was banging the freaky chick. He would show them all. Nobod
y screws around with a Thornton.

  With an effort, he began the process of calming himself enough to think. The beast inside had nearly broken free, and that would have been a bad thing. He needed to be lucid, to take stock and see what he could salvage of the situation. That business of hitting himself in the face--that had been just weird. Never before had he taken his anger out on himself like that. It was the only explanation. There was just no other way it could have happened. No, no other way.

  At that thought, Julius chuckled. The boy had gotten a taste, but that was all. Let him try to hurt Julie again and see what happened.

  Finally, settled enough to sit, Logan sipped from a fresh glass of scotch and closed his eyes to think. He needed a plan B. After today, he didn't think Julie would take him back, so the wedding was a non-starter and no wedding meant she wasn't going to just sign the house over to him. Maybe there was another way. Much as he would love to do it, killing her wouldn't get him anywhere. As it stood now, if Julie died, the house went to that hippie freak; and she hated him as much as he hated her. No, that plan was off the table. The investors were dicking around anyway so maybe, this once, he would be better off to just cut his losses and move on.

  Then he remembered that ridiculous story she'd told him about her grandfather and something about hidden valuables. It was probably a huge pile of BS, but he could at least check it out, salvage something for his time. A house that old usually had something worth money in it. If there was something valuable, he had as good a chance as anyone of finding it. After all, he was smarter than everybody he knew.

  Now, what had she said again? Something about a magic garden. Well, he wasn't about to go digging up the place; no way to do that without leaving a lot of evidence, and the twit had said some family member had already done that anyway. Stupid to bury valuables, even on your own property; no control, you never knew what could happen.

  Best thing to do was to try and think like a crazy old man; see if he could come up with some idea of where else to look. Now, Logan might have a twisted sense of right and wrong, but he was logical and methodical. No matter what the old man said about magic gardens, it made sense to keep his valuables close, either in his rooms or in his office. You wouldn't want just anybody to find your stash; so it had to be someplace obscure. He wouldn't be the kind to stick money in a mattress and take the chance that his legacy would be accidentally sold or given away. No, anybody smart enough to make that kind of dough would not be dumb enough to take a chance on losing it so easily.

  That boy, Julius thought, may be a criminal but he has a darned fine mind.

  Logan continued to speculate. It depends on what you are hiding, also. He thought about the words Julie used to describe her great-grandfather: eccentric, inventor. Guy like that, he'd probably had some family money to begin with; a family with cash usually has other valuables: probably antiques, jewelry, or art, maybe some gold or silver.

  I have to get back in that house and look around, he thought. If there's anything there, I'll know it. Not tonight, though. She never leaves the house at night. It will have to be during the day.

  Now that he had a plan and no one was actively trying to stop him, Logan was totally calm.

  Julius had heard enough for now. Julie was safe for the night, and he had some plans to make of his own.

  ***

  "And..." Gustavia exclaimed when Amethyst did not begin to speak right away.

  "I'm not sure if it means anything, but there were a few hot spots in the library: both chairs, near the shelves, and an intensely bright one on the underside of the desk. It could be totally unrelated. It could be from another one of Julie's relatives. It wasn't from her grandmother, though, because I saw her aura mingled with Kat's and it was different."

  "Do you think there might be a hidden compartment or something?" Tyler looked at Julie.

  "I have no idea; I guess we could take a look," and off they went back up the stairs.

  Ammie indicated the area where she could see the aura; and they poked around then searched every inch of the desk for hidden springs, buttons or switches. Tyler removed the drawers and looked behind them to see if there was space enough for a compartment of some kind but found nothing.

  Gustavia commented, "Maybe he picked his nose and wiped his boogers under there; my uncle used to do that to his chair. Drove my aunt out of her mind."

  There was a chorus of groans, and then they all had a good laugh over the idea. It helped settle the disappointment at not finding anything. Ammie did another pass and saw only a glimmer near one of the bookcases, but nothing large enough to warrant investigation.

  By now, it was getting late, and everyone had had enough. It was decided that Julie and Gustavia would bunk in her grandmother's room and the other two girls would take Julie's room. Tyler announced he, too, would be staying and wanted to sleep in Julius' bed. He made a joke about being the only one to sleep alone, so Julie went to her studio and hauled out a large stuffed rabbit that had been a prop in one of her photographs, gave it to him, and—for the third time in an hour—they all trooped back upstairs.

  Estelle watched the group as they joked and laughed their way through getting ready for bed. She was happy to see the house filled with the voices of young people again. And when Julius blinked in beside her, she shushed him until everyone was settled.

  Back on the gazebo roof, the two had a quick conversation to catch each other up on the night's events. Then Julius decided to check out his bedroom. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Tyler being in there. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, it was just he still felt a bit nostalgic about his things.

  Tyler wasn't asleep; he sat in the bed with his grandfather's notes. There was something about these rooms in those notes. He was sure of it. It was important, or at least he had the niggling feeling that it was, so he was searching through the notes instead of sleeping. As Julius entered the room, Tyler felt a slight chill, more like a stirring of the air than anything. He looked up to see Julius sitting in the chair across from the bed. Now the chill turned to goosebumps. This was unexpected, but he recognized the man from the painting downstairs.

  "Good evening, sir. I hope you don't mind me sleeping in your bed," he said.

  Now it was Julius' turn to look surprised. He had not meant to appear to the young man and certainly had not expected Tyler to see him without his intention for it to happen.

  "Quite alright," he answered thinking to himself that it was no such thing.

  "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

  "Go ahead, young man; I will answer what I can."

  "This was your bedroom. Is there anything here that is out of place, or is it just the way it was when you passed?"

  "Nothing different at all; it looks exactly the same. It was a cold, damp winter that year; and unless they kept the fire going day and night, I was always taking a chill."

  "Can you tell me anything about the hidden items?"

  "Nothing. But what I can tell you is I paid that odious young man a visit."

  "Logan?"

  "Yes."

  "By the way, sir--nice move earlier; I wanted to punch him myself."

  Then Julius told Tyler as much as he could about Logan's state of mind, but was unable to warn him that the man was planning to sneak back into the house. It was frustrating to know so much and be able to say so little.

  ***

  Julie and Gustavia settled into the big bed in Estelle's room; neither one thought they would sleep a wink even though it had been a long day.

  Gustavia asked, "Jules are you okay? I mean, about Logan?"

  "Yes, actually, I am. More okay than I expected to be. He totally had me fooled. I'm still waiting for the I told you so.

  "Well, you can wait all you want, but you're not getting it. Yeah, he is a complete moron, but that isn't your fault; and neither is the way things turned out. He must have studied you so he would know just what to say and do. You couldn't have known."

 
"You did."

  "Yes, but I didn't like him on principle. He didn't like me, and that meant his judgment had to be completely flawed."

  Julie chuckled. "You know what, you're right."

  "But, seriously, none of this is in your comfort zip code."

  "Zone."

  "Whatever. Don't dance around the point. Are you scared? How do you feel?"

  "I could never be scared of Grams. Of course, all of this is a little overwhelming, but she came to me earlier and told me to throw caution to the wind. I'm trying to."

  "Hmm, Tyler would be helpful in that capacity." Gustavia waggled her eyebrows.

  "It's a bit too soon for that kind of thing. I only just met him a few days ago. Funny, though, it seems like I have known him forever. Probably because the last few days have been--what's the term--cray cray?"

  "Totally."

  "He does have a nice butt, though." Gustavia snorted at this unexpected pronouncement.

  "Yes, he does; but don't tell him that or it will go to his head."

  "There's a joke in there somewhere, but I am just too tired to think of it."

  And the two women fell asleep without indulging Tyler's pillow fight fantasy.

  ***

  In Julie's room, Amethyst and Kat settled into twin beds. Ammie was slightly concerned for her friend because she had seen overtones of fear in Kat’s aura during the evening. That was to be expected; but she had also seen a burst of elation.

  "Well, that was an unexpected experience."

  "Um." Kat's noncommittal response was not going to deter Ammie one bit.