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

  The three dissolved into laughter as Julie shook her head and grinned. Crazy they were, every single one of them; but it warmed her heart to see Gustavia take to someone so quickly. Even though she was the most generous, caring person Julie had ever met, people were often put off by her outward appearance and what was considered, at best, a quirky personality. Watching her bond with Tyler throughout the course of this strange afternoon had been a joyful experience. Since she was about to get outed for seeing ghosts, she supposed she should take her enjoyment wherever she could find it.

  Finally, Amethyst turned to Julie and said, "Well, what in the world have you done to yourself now? Your aura is totally wonky."

  First rumpled, now wonky. Her aura was taking a beating this week. Face red as a fire engine, Julie looked away and mumbled, "I saw a ghost."

  That did it; now all their attention was focused on her. She looked into three pairs of widened eyes and repeated more loudly, "I saw a ghost, okay. Well, two of them actually; Grams and great-grandfather, last night in the library. They talked to me, and I know it was real because he was smoking a pipe and the ashes were on the chair this morning. I wasn't hallucinating, and I'm not crazy." Her voice rose in self-defense, though it needn't have because all three nodded at her as if this were the most ordinary news in the world.

  "Well, of course you did. Kat opened the door, and it's obvious you have some latent psychic abilities," Gustavia nodded as she spoke not noticing this pronouncement nearly blew the top of Julie's head off.

  "I am not psychic," Julie spoke through gritted teeth. "Nothing like this has ever happened to me before; and, in fact, I blame you Gustavia for taking me to see that Kat woman in the first place." Tears burned in her eyes as the frustration of the past few days overwhelmed her again. Immediately Gustavia went to her and enveloped Julie in a comforting hug.

  "It's been a bit much for her to take in all at once," she said, glancing up at Tyler to see his reaction. Satisfied by the look of empathy on his face, she once again installed her friend on the cushioned area and went to make tea while Amethyst began a guided meditation.

  Tyler watched the entire spectacle with interest. This was a new world with the most incredible inhabitants.

  This time Julie actually paid attention as Amethyst directed her to imagine herself walking through a sunny meadow. Inch by inch she relaxed into the suggested rhythmical breathing pattern until, with a sigh, she fully surrendered. In that split second, all the tension left her body and she heard Gustavia say, "That's done it."

  Seeing absolutely no difference other than Julie being truly relaxed for the first time that day, Tyler accepted that her wonky aura had been healed and now it was time for tea. Today's special was a nice cinnamon flavor with a touch of agave nectar. It tasted like the Atomic Fireball candies he had loved as a child.

  There was little he could contribute to the conversation, but he was captivated by the idea of seeing an aura. Finally, he asked if there were a trick to it and if anyone could see them. Amethyst asked Julie to sit in a chair in front of a blank area of wall then had Tyler sit directly across from her.

  Amethyst explained how he needed to relax his eyes and his focus. Then she told him not to look at Julie but to look at the wall around her using his peripheral vision. He should expect to see the aura hovering a couple of inches away from the wall. "Think of it like those 3D image things so popular in the 90's; it works about the same way," she said. "And once you start seeing them, sometimes it becomes hard to stop."

  "How will I know if I'm seeing it?" he asked.

  "It will look a bit like a rainbow."

  It might have been easier to see the aura if he weren't distracted by looking at Julie herself. She sat in the chair, clearly caught between embracing the concept of aura-viewing and being embarrassed by the very idea, humor at herself and also at the situation evident in the sparkle of her eyes and the quirk of her lips. Tyler could tell she would rather not believe in something that might be considered nonsense, but she was beginning to take it seriously in spite of herself. He doubted she would start wearing bells in her hair and gossamer clothing; but in her own quiet way, once committed to the reality, she would never waver.

  He liked that about her. He liked that, in the space of one bizarre afternoon, he was starting to get to know her. She was reserved in some ways, yet still open; and it was clear she cared about her friends enough to step into their world even when it made her uncomfortable. That told him she had an adventurous side.

  Too bad she was engaged. Though, if that scene today were any indication, she might not stay that way. It hadn't taken him long to see there were big problems with that relationship. The biggest one being she was engaged to a weasel, but it looked like she was beginning to catch on. When she did, he figured she would do the right thing. One could only hope.

  Since conversation on the ride back centered mainly on auras, Julie stayed quiet. She was feeling better; less chaotic in her thoughts, but still anxious. If those papers Logan was so insistent she sign contained betrayal and treachery as Grams and Julius had said, then she needed to see them right away. There had not been time to grab them before the wonky aura trip. She also needed to make an appointment of her own with an attorney, one she could trust. Then, depending on what she found, there would be some decisions to make.

  It hurt to think she might have made a mistake with Logan; but she was starting to think she had, and a big one. She had been so sure in the beginning, but lately, he'd been acting churlish and had belittled her at every opportunity. It was humiliating to think her decision to enter a relationship based on logic might be faulty: that romantic feelings might be vitally important and that Logan did not respect her in the way she'd thought. Looking back on their relationship, Julie began to see how often she'd turned a blind eye to any number of warning signs that things were not going well. Maybe passion shouldn't be the sole basis for a relationship, but it was becoming obvious that the lack of it wasn't healthy either.

  Clearly something was wrong and had been for some time, but she wasn't quite sure where it had gone off the rails. At what point had Logan begun to think his recent treatment of her was justified? Now, it was time to take a good, long look at how things had evolved. She'd known Logan for several months; they'd only been engaged for a few weeks. Was that really enough time to be sure? Was he the right man? Was this the love of a lifetime?

  Grams had not raised Julie to be a fool. Instead, she had instilled in her granddaughter a healthy self-esteem and a rather large dose of common sense. It wasn't that Julie totally discounted romantic love; she knew the best relationships had some spark, some sizzle, as long as it was balanced with respect and admiration. Physical attraction shouldn't be the only priority; but now she could see that she had been so focused on avoiding a relationship based solely on romance that she had chosen one completely devoid of it. She also realized that she was missing another element in her life: today, even with all the ups and downs, had shown her she needed to have more fun.

  Spending time watching Gustavia, Amethyst, and Tyler spar with each other had been entertaining; she hadn't realized how heavy her emotions had become until the laughter had lightened things up. It seemed it was time for a change. Grams would not want her to be sad and serious forever, and Julie wanted more out of life.

  Chapter Ten

  "Did you see that?" Estelle, better known as Grams, asked Julius. "I gave him a nudge, and his carefully constructed facade slipped enough for Julie to start to see through to the evil under the surface. Since she noticed, maybe now the blinders are off, and she will come to her senses.

  ”The two ghosts perched on the roof of the gazebo in the formal garden. From their vantage point, they could see the house, the driveway and a large portion of the rest of the property. Even if they couldn't physically do much to protect the house, they both felt it was worth keeping an eye out for anything nefarious. Neither of them had a good feeling about Logan.

  “Di
d you hear his thoughts?” Julius asked. “He was broadcasting pretty clearly. He means to harm our girl. We have to stop him, and fast. She isn’t the only one he'll hurt if he gets the chance. That nice gypsy child is also in danger."

  Estelle snorted, "Gustavia's no gypsy, but she has become part of the family; I love her as though she were my own granddaughter, and I won't have him hurt either one of them. We need to come up with a plan. After hearing his thoughts, I want him gone from here, gone from Julie's life. She deserves so much more," she continued.

  Julius considered his daughter-in-law. They'd had a good relationship while he was alive, and he had genuinely liked the girl his son had married. Now, he liked her even more. She had spunk. He approved.

  As the only son in a long line of only sons, Julius had continued the family tradition: passing Hayward house down to Edward, also an only son, who had forged a complicated relationship with his father. Julius was innovative, a free thinker, and flamboyant in his tastes while Edward was cautious, unimaginative, and unmotivated. Neither had much respect for the other, and the only time Julius thought the boy had had any sense was when he married Estelle.

  Edward had disapproved of his father's ongoing search for the next great invention. He was of the opinion Julius was wasting the money that should become his inheritance while Julius thought Edward was spoiled rotten and didn't deserve money that he hadn't done a thing to earn. A true man would make his own fortune; but Julius denied having wasted all of his money, though he was adamant if Edward could not handle his own finances, there was no reason for him to have control over what his father had earned. Having no other skills with which to make a living, and convinced his father was frittering away his entire inheritance, Edward decided it would be best if he joined the army and went to war. Injured during battle, he returned home but never fully regained his health.

  Father and son continued their strained relationship until Julius became ill, but by then, it was too late to repair the rift. Edward followed his father only two short years later and did not live to see the birth of his son, Julie's father, Thomas.

  Newly widowed, Estelle and her mother-in-law, Mary Lou, turned their home into rooming house for other war-widowed women and their children. The women worked hard at converting a portion of the spacious grounds into vegetable gardens. They, with the help of their children, tilled the ground, planted and harvested the vegetables, fed themselves, then sold what was left over to pay expenses and keep their kids in clothes and shoes. Several years after Edward's death, Mary Lou suffered a burst appendix and died, which left the house to Estelle.

  Eventually all of the Weeping Widows, as they called themselves, had remarried and moved on, leaving Estelle alone in the big house with a young son and precious little income. Edward had been convinced there was a fortune still hidden somewhere on the grounds of Hayward House. He had often repeated the story of his father's dying declaration.

  "He lay on the bed, barely breathing. Then he sat straight up—I don't know where he got the strength—then he said, 'use the key with the magic garden', and I think he tried to point toward his left. 'It's all hidden; follow the light. Don't forget. Key--magic garden,’ Then he was gone."

  Estelle the story; knew it well, since she had been sitting there with her husband and mother-in-law at the foot of the bed. It was into her eyes Julius had been looking when he spoke his final words, but she also knew the story comforted her husband every time he told it. Still, she hadn't paid it much mind. If there had been anything of value to be found, surely Mary Lou must have known the hiding place and would have saved herself years of struggle with the proceeds from its contents.

  Family records documented that quite a lot of heirloom silver and jewelry had been handed down through several generations. After Julius inherited, no one knew what had become of the items and Estelle suspected they had been sold to fund another of her father-in-law's contraptions. It was possible he had hidden them somewhere, but she just didn't think so.

  During the years following the loss of his father, Edward—so sure the magic garden was somewhere on the property—had dug holes all over the acreage in his zeal to find the family fortune. He never found a thing; but neither did he give up on the idea there was a treasure to be found, one that would take care of his family for a long time to come. Family legend said some of the silver pieces were of historical significance, as was at least one of the pieces of jewelry.

  Estelle had not put much stock in the dying words of an eccentric man. Before her marriage, she'd worked for a short time at the hospital and knew the effect lack of oxygen had on the brain. This is what accounted for her father-in-law's rambling words. Whatever items of value he had once had, she was Julius had sold them and used the money on the odd inventions in the old workshop. None of them were worth anything. All of the money he had made, plus whatever had been handed down to him, was gone.

  She struggled along for a few years, taking in boarders, keeping up some of the vegetable gardens, and selling the produce for extra money. Estelle was a talented painter and sculptor, but it was hard for a woman to sell artwork under her own name so she used the pieces to decorate her home.

  One bright, summer day a gentleman named James McLaren had come to her door asking to board for several weeks and sparks flew: between he and Estelle, yes, but also between he and her artwork. James was a traveling salesman—quite a successful one—but after falling in love with Estelle's paintings, he became her agent. Soon the two were married, and Estelle was making a comfortable living from her talent.

  James was the perfect mate for Estelle: where she was expansive and flamboyant, he was understated and serious. He understood her creative needs, and she received commission after commission for large-scale paintings and sculpture. James became the only father young Tom had ever known, and the two got along famously. Tom inherited his mother's artistic bent and became a well-known, but underpaid, documentary filmmaker. He married Lisa, whom he met in film school; and, two years later, in the middle of shooting a documentary in South Africa, Julie was born.

  Julius, unable to move on, had watched over Estelle, trying to communicate with her to let her know his last words had been true; but she never heard him, and he concluded the task of finding his hiding place was not for her. So he waited in frustration until she passed. Now she, like him, could not move on until this business was cleared up.

  "I've been dead a good while longer than you; I've got a few tricks up my sleeve you aren't able to do yet. If he gets physical, I can take care of it, at least to a point."

  "Okay. I can work around the edges of his mind, nudge him, get him to make a few more mistakes."

  A shimmer of light is the most the naked eye would have picked up, even if looking directly at the gazebo roof. The only sound that carried across the still air was a faint whisper as Estelle and Julius made plans for dealing with Logan. Logan wouldn’t know what hit him. He had picked the wrong mark this time, and he would pay for his mistake.

  "And what about that nice blind psychic girl? What are we going to do about her? I feel pretty bad about using her the way we did, but desperate times and all."

  “I think I can help her more. I already did help her a little. Did you notice you could see when you were speaking through her? Well, so could she. That means we might be able to do something to bring her vision back all the way," Estelle answered.

  "Isn't that meddling? She told the other girl she chooses to be blind." Julius avoided saying Gustavia's name, finding it just too odd for his taste. Even in death, he was a bit of an eccentric.

  "Well, what we need to do is give her something she wants to see; I have some ideas on that front already. Nothing like a good man to open a woman's eyes."

  Julius smirked, "That's not a very modern viewpoint."

  "Modern has nothing to do with it; relationships are what make the world go around. Besides, if my hunch is right, we can kill two birds with one stone: by getting Gustavia to contact her brot
her about Logan, maybe she will reconnect with her family and her brother will catch Logan. Someone has to stop Logan or he will go on and do something like this again.

  "So, what is our next move? Should we talk to Julie again, tell her...well, never mind, there isn't much we can tell her now, is there?"

  "No," Estelle said, "she has to take the next step on her own. I have faith she will do the right thing; she is already starting to see that reprobate more clearly."

  Julius ran a nearly transparent hand through his hair and sighed. "Do you think she'll find the first clue in time? I know she's smart, but she has to think creatively or she's never going to find it."

  "We have told her all we can; now it's time put the plan into action. Besides, that nice reporter boy was already beginning to get the right idea; he'll help her."

  Streaks of light flew off the roof, headed in opposite directions. Estelle's first stop was to check in on Julie, then find a way to communicate with Gustavia. She felt badly about the necessity of this because she knew Gustavia's family had given her such a hard time. She had not been accepted or loved—quirks and all—but pressured constantly to change in order to fit in. This had been a painful situation. Estelle had no illusions that her actions might make things worse before they got better, but she still felt it was time for a reunion. Maybe even past time. She would do what she had to do.

  Julius zipped into the city to keep tabs on Logan and see if he could learn what that scoundrel planned for his next move.

  He quickly located the young man, pacing and ranting in his home office, doing a fine job of getting himself all worked up. It wasn't difficult to figure out he was beginning to realize Julie was not the pushover he had expected, and he was blaming Gustavia. From the sounds of Logan's thoughts, Julius became certain that the gypsy girl, as he preferred to think of her, was in danger. Estelle was right: the policeman brother needed to come help, and soon, or things could turn ugly.