Bells On Her Toes (The Psychic Seasons Series Book 2) Read online

  “Did they find him? Is it over?” She asked as she tried to pull Julie into the room but was met with resistance.

  “No, sorry. It’s not that, it’s just—I have a surprise for you. Just wait here; I’ll be right back.” She led Gustavia to a chair and practically pushed her into it. “No peeking.” Julie went back outside.

  Gustavia loved surprises.

  Through the door she heard Julie’s voice, then the door opened and a white ball of energy shot through and launched itself directly into her lap. The little dog wiggled twice then laid his head on the arm of the chair to gaze alertly into Gustavia’s eyes.

  “His name is Fritzie, and he’s a Jack Russell terrier.” Gustavia ran her fingers through the uncharacteristically long fur with a frown. Fritzie had a much longer coat than was typical for the breed.

  “He’s adorable, but you didn’t tell me you were thinking of getting another dog.”

  “I’m not getting another dog. He’s for you. Look at him. He’s already in love with you.”

  It was true. One look was all it took to see that he’d immediately adopted Gustavia as his own. Julie’s eyes filled with tears as she watched the bond forming. “Where did he come from? How did you find him?” Gustavia asked as Fritzie bounced in her lap and tried to swipe his little tongue over her face.

  “Tyler’s sister has an elderly neighbor who recently became ill and needed to move to an assisted living facility. She could have taken Fritzie with her; but he needs a bit more play than she can handle these days, so she was going to have to send him to the pound. When we heard the news, Tyler thought of you.”

  “So it’s not payback for dropping Lola on you unannounced?”

  “Oh, I didn’t say that. Isn’t serendipity one of your favorite words?” Julie’s grin turned devilish. “But payback wasn’t the primary reason, just a nice side benefit. This little guy needs a home; and, as a new dog owner, I can highly recommend the experience. Can he stay?”

  “Yes, of course. I love him already.”

  “His things are in the car; I’ll have Tyler bring them in.” She grinned. “He waited outside in case you said no. He didn’t want to end up on your list if you had a negative reaction.”

  “Wimp.” They spoke in unison, laughing over the shared thought.

  Julie went to the door and gestured for Tyler to bring in Fritzie’s things. He’d fallen for the dog himself; and, if Gustavia had refused, they’d have become a two-dog family. He had already made his mind up on that.

  Putting the little dog down, Gustavia watched as he ran to the sliding glass patio doors and then looked at her pointedly. “Oh, I hope he’s not a digger. My poor flower beds.” But she opened the door, and they all followed him out into the back yard. He circled around once to get his bearings, then made a beeline for the farthest corner where there was a small patch of taller grass and nothing planted. That was where he did his business.

  “Polite little thing.”

  “Wish Lola was a bit more polite. She just bombs the yard wherever she happens to be.” Tyler had been trying to train her to confine herself to a given area but had not been entirely successful unless he kept her on leash. He hoped she would eventually make the connection.

  Changing the subject, Tyler asked, “Have you spoken to Zack lately?”

  “Yes, he filled me in. I’ll be careful and keep the security system on.”

  “See that you do.” Tyler gave her a hug; she was one of his favorite people.

  Julie suggested that Tyler give Fritzie a game of catch. She wanted to talk to Gustavia in private. It only took one lifted eyebrow for him to get the message. He grabbed a tennis ball and lobbed it for the dog, who wiggled in ecstasy and raced for the catch.

  “Can we go make a pot of tea?” Julie asked, then once in the kitchen, “You look tired.” She tilted her head, “What’s going on.”

  “I’m having trouble settling into the writing today. Well, again today. It’s been a problem off and on since the showdown with Peter and Janine. Doesn’t help that I’ve been staying up later at night.”

  “What’s the protocol? Should I be dragging you off to visit Kat or Amethyst? Maybe both?”

  Gustavia busied herself with the tea-making, and Julie got the impression there was more to be learned. “Don’t make me call Tyler in here; he’s getting better at seeing auras. If he says yours is wonky or wrinkled or whatever, I’ll take his word for it.”

  “I’ll go see Amethyst if I need to. It’s because he’s been calling me.”

  “Who? Zack?”

  “No, Finn. At night.”

  Aha, Julie thought. And there it is. “Is that becoming a problem for you? Did he turn into a breather?”

  “No. Nothing like that.” A genuine smile. “We just talk about random stuff: like telling each other our most embarrassing moments or sharing secret vices. It’s like he’s this different person on the phone. We aren’t openly flirting with each other, but there’s some subtext.”

  “So, he’s interested, wants to get to know you better. What’s wrong with that?”

  “It’s putting me off balance, and I don’t like the feeling.”

  Yes, you do, Julie thought. You like it too much.

  “I don’t get it. On the phone, he can be charming, funny, engaging; but in person, he turns into an ogre half the time.”

  The word ogre sparked a few lines of story in her mind. Gustavia’s eyes widened as she felt her whole body relax. “I think you just healed my aura or woke up my muse. Give me a minute.” She grabbed a pad of paper and jotted down a few notes. When she lifted her head, it was to turn shining eyes toward Julie. “That’s done it.”

  Gone was the pinched and hopeless look she’d had on her face when she had answered the door. Julie watched in delight as Gustavia got up to dance around the room, whooping and laughing. Once Tyler let him in, Fritzie joined his new owner, dancing and bouncing with joy.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Finally back in the groove, Gustavia wrote through the day and into the night. She caught up on the first draft of the new Ember book by adding a surly ogre with a split personality to the cast of characters.

  Back on track with her work, that night’s call from Finn was unable to alter her newly restored sense of balance.

  In the morning, she breezed through another two chapters and then decided to take Fritzie over to meet Lola. Feeling especially light and airy, she chose every rainbow colored item of clothing she could find in her closet. When she left the house, she was wearing an eye-wateringly vivid skirt with a bull’s-eye tie-dyed pattern topped with an equally brilliant rainbow-hued tank and matching rainbow flip flops. She’d woven her new, shorter braids around her head in a coronet formation with rainbow printed shoelaces hanging from them. The usual assortment of beads and bells complemented the outfit.

  A quick text reassured her that Julie was free for the afternoon; so she loaded Fritzie into the car and drove on over. It had only been a day, but he was already fitting into her life as though he’d always been there. Happy to accompany her on her ritual pre-writing walks, his only demand was a game of fetch before he settled down at her feet while she typed. His absolute joy in the activity delighted her.

  At this moment, life was good.

  During the short drive, she talked to Fritzie about Lola. “Now, Lola is a big girl compared to you, but she is very sweet so be on your best behavior. If the two of you get along, you can count on frequent doggy play dates since Jules and I spend a lot of time together.” She thought he was listening; he was one smart cookie.

  Gustavia pictured herself writing in the gazebo while the two dogs enjoyed time together. It was good to change it up sometimes.

  Lola must have had her radar running hot because she was already gamboling toward the rental car before Gustavia brought it to a full stop. Tawny fur shining in the sun, tongue hanging out with a manic look in her eye, the boxer weighed in at nearly a hundred pounds. What she lacked in coordination she
made up for in passion, running with abandon though not with any particular agility.

  When she saw Fritzie jump out of the car, she detoured and practically ran right over him before she could stop. He yelped once and shot Gustavia a look that plainly asked what had just happened. Maybe they weren’t destined to be best doggy buddies after all. But, when Lola had gotten herself stopped, she circled around and, little stump of a tail wagging like crazy, swiped her tongue across the top of Fritizie’s head. He shivered once, then returned the favor, and the two of them ran back the way Lola had come.

  Figuring Julie or Tyler must be around back if Lola was outside, Gustavia didn’t bother going in the house and, instead, strolled across the lawn. She could see that the front side of the roof had been completely stripped, re-sheathed and was already dried in. She knew from her previous visit with Finn that the crew had already finished the two flat sections since those had been in the worst shape.

  Rounding the corner, she saw she’d been correct in her assumption. Julie was in the backyard plying the roofing crew with her favorite beverage next to tea, fresh lemonade.

  The men all stared as Gustavia came into view, and there were a couple of snickers until Finn’s expression made it clear that he did not appreciate the attitude.

  Even if the others thought she looked like a hot mess, Finn saw the joy. How could you not? It radiated off of her in waves. Julie watched the man watch Gustavia. Saw the play of emotions as attraction turned to apprehension and he tamped it down.

  Doing a mental face palm, Julie knew that unless he found a way to let go, he was going to screw this up, royally. Hurt himself, hurt Gustavia, and hurt his daughter in the process. Barely resisting the temptation to smack him on the back of the head, she poured a fresh glass of lemonade and greeted her friend with the refreshment.

  “Looks like the dogs are getting along fine.” She gestured to where they were playing tug a war with a fairly large stick, Lola clearly winning. “You’ve got to give him credit for trying.”

  Gustavia chuckled, “He is lionhearted, even in the face of incredible odds.” Lola was about four times his size, but he was holding his own.

  “Your mood has improved a great deal since yesterday.”

  “The work is coming along nicely. I’m back on schedule.”

  “That’s great news.” Julie slung an arm around Gustavia’s waist as they walked toward the gazebo leaving the men to finish their break on the patio.

  Standing quietly while they walked away, Finn was still trying to fathom his own reaction to this woman. The sight of her nearly bare feet alone was enough to set a slow fire kindling in his blood. He pictured her dancing for him in that floaty skirt, the colors whirling and whirling until his head spun. He felt all the tension falling away, felt himself falling into her. She was light; she was color; she was all. And what was she doing in his head anyway? He had to get her out, had to stop imagining those deep brown eyes staring into his as his lips lowered to hers. Stop imagining the silken texture of her hair, wavy from the braids as it brushed across his heated skin. She was a witch, which was the only explanation for how he could be both drawn to her and repelled at the same time.

  Bands of fear tightened around his heart, strangling the words he wanted to say to her—the words he might forget himself and say to her from the safety of his phone, but never in person.

  With an effort, he shook off the mood and made his way over to the gazebo. He needed to talk to Julie. The weather report was calling for some much needed rain and he wanted to reassure her that they would be prepared. Of course, he didn’t need to tell her at that exact moment, but he couldn’t see any reason to wait.

  Watching him walk toward them, neither woman could quite suppress an appreciative, “Mmmm.” He was fine in every way with a rolling walk that drew attention to his hips and how they moved. Pulling her thoughts away from that topic, she and Julie, reading each other’s thoughts, exchanged a quick grin. It was all Gustavia could do not to leer at him, but she restrained herself.

  As he got closer, the look on his face told her she’d made the right choice. This was not the easy, playful man she talked to late at night; this was the sneering jerk she’d met a couple times before. Julie saw neither of those men; she saw a scared little boy whose only way of connecting with girls was the childish act of hair pulling and poking. Sad really.

  Finn did his best to avoid having to speak directly to Gustavia as he briefly told Julie about the expected weather and the steps he had taken to protect the roof from the rain. He turned back toward the house and almost managed to get away clean when Gustavia asked, “How’s Samantha?”

  “Fine, she’s fine.” He took another step.

  “I’d be happy to hang out here for a day so she can come visit with Lola again.”

  He turned abruptly; his eyes firing. “That won’t be necessary, thank you.”

  She responded by lifting an eyebrow. Clearly he had strong feelings about keeping her away from his daughter.

  Even after that searing kiss the other night, after endless conversations on the phone, he was back in rejection mode and, this time, it flat ticked her off.

  “Suit yourself,” she said, her tone one of derisive amusement.

  “Suit myself she says. As if I’ve been able to do that since the day I met her,” he mumbled.

  “Wake up on the wrong side of the world this morning, did we?” Julie knew that tone; it was Gustavia’s you’ve-hurt-my-feelings-so-I’m-going-to-be-nasty tone. Most people only saw the snark; Julie saw the pain behind it.

  He strode away, his posture stiff.

  “For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s you so much as his own personal demons.” At Gustavia’s fulminating look, Julie raised her hands in surrender. “Fine. I’ll stay out of it, if that’s what you want. But I stand by what I said; it’s not you. Or not entirely anyway.”

  “It’s enough me to be not entirely him, and I don’t know how that makes it not entirely me, entirely.”

  “Normally I’d say he did a number on you, but it looks to me like you’re both the numberer and the numberee this time.”

  The comment earned Julie another disgusted look but she continued, “Way I see it, you can either wallow or turn warrior. Your choice. I love you either way. But I’m going on record with thinking that underneath the attitude, Finn’s a decent guy who’s been through some stuff and has some scars. The kind that can paralyze.”

  “Not denying any of that, but the evidence doesn’t lie. We talk on the phone for hours; he’s charming, open and funny. In person, he acts like he has a cactus up his butt at the sight of me. So, I’m assuming his problem is just that—the sight of me, the way I look.”

  “Ugh. Thanks for the mental image.”

  “I don’t want to be around people who judge based on superficial appearances.”

  “Everybody does it, though. Even you. Tell me you didn’t think I was one of those types the very first moment we met. I can admit I misjudged you at the outset.”

  Gustavia rolled her eyes. “For about a minute, but I take your point.” She sighed.

  “Here’s the thing; you shine through. Not your hair, not your clothes, not your makeup, but you. The beauty of your soul, your Gustavia-ness, no matter what you have on. I saw it, but it took me a minute or two because I was dazzled by your exterior. Why do you think kids fall for you? Because of the quirk? No, because they see what I saw: the light and the love.”

  “So you’re telling me it doesn’t matter what I wear? People are going to judge me whether I look like this or like Nancy Normal?”

  “Have you looked in the mirror today? I think you’re confusing normal with mundane. No. I’m telling you that some of those Nancy types who wear suits are wearing them for the same reasons you wear rainbows and shoelaces—for the protection and to project the image they think they should project. It’s not you versus them, and it shouldn’t be. We all have to choose our armor one way or another. Sometimes min
e is my camera. I can hide behind it and fade into the background.”

  “We women are complicated animals, aren’t we?”

  Julie held up a hand, “Preaching to the choir.”

  “Confession time. I’m enjoying the options with the shorter hair. Now I can change it up and just wear my hair down when I want to, experiment with different styles, put on a mini or jeans and a simple top. Today I felt like rainbows and tomorrow I might feel like something different. But I worry that people used to seeing me like this won’t accept me any other way. Perverse isn’t it?”

  Julie pulled Gustavia in for a hug then held her at arm’s length. “Screw that; screw them.” She tilted her head appraisingly, “I say you wear what you want—what makes you happy. Anyone who can’t see how wonderful you are—their loss.”

  Easier said than done.

  ***

  A dust-coated cobweb decorated Gustavia’s hair as she backed out of the closet on her hands and knees. Three sneezes cleared her sinuses as she grinned at an equally filthy Julie. A tour of the unused rooms had netted them a new possible hiding place when they discovered several closets that had half-height cubbyholes in the back.

  “Nothing but dust.”

  So far, their pile of booty consisted of three old shoes, a battered fedora that was now perched on Julie’s head, and a drawstring bag containing fourteen glass marbles. Not much of a haul and no family portraits in sight, but they still had two more closets to go.

  A generation ago, the house had been used as a boarding home for war widows and their children. These women had banded together to support each other emotionally and financially by planting gardens on the spacious grounds. They called themselves the Weeping Widows. Gustavia fancied she could still feel their energy here in these rooms: their sorrow, their fear, and eventually their hope.

  They’d begun their search in the farthest areas of the house, even though those were the least likely to yield results, and now moved on to a set of rooms that had been used as storage to hold items cleared out to make space for the widow’s own belongings. If there was a missing portrait to find, this would probably be the place; even if it was also going to be the hardest to search. Full of cast-off and broken items, things Grams had planned on repairing and bits of machinery that Julius had cannibalized for his inventions, it was a total mess.