Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons Read online

  Breathing hard, she jammed the brake and slammed the shifter into park while the car was still rocking. When she heard a muffled snort from her passenger, Kat spoke between clenched teeth, “You did that on purpose. Why didn’t you warn me the steering was different?”

  “You asked for a challenge.” He wasn’t even trying to hide the amusement now and when she glared at him, he only laughed harder.

  “I fail to see the humor.” But seeing him more relaxed and open than she ever had before did something to her. Zack’s laugh was infectious and before long, she found herself laughing with him. As much as she wanted to stay mad, seeing him cut loose a little showed her a different side of him.

  Between his job, the drama with his family and the worry she could always see hovering over him with Logan still gunning for Gustavia, the man had a lot on his plate. If getting tickled over her aborted attempt to back up helped him release a bit of tension, she could live with that.

  “You want to try again?”

  Providing him with a little comic relief was fine, but her pride would not allow her to quit. “Of course.”

  This time, she was prepared and with some effort, managed a complete circle, then to show off, a second one in the other direction before stopping to swap places with him so he could take her home.

  Chapter 8

  Julie called a few hours later with an invite for a girl’s night at Hayward House. Kat knew from her inflection that Julie had something to share.

  Amethyst picked Kat up on her way.

  “Hey, you changed your hair,” Kat noticed right away. Amethyst’s chin length, blunt cut wedge of hair, which had been tinted with a pale lavender hue for the past year and a half, was now a brighter, more vibrant color.

  “I thought it was time for something different.”

  “I love it. It looks like…” Kat paused to dredge up a long forgotten memory, “cotton candy.”

  “Not entirely what I was going for.” Amethyst’s deep voice always seemed at odds with her tiny frame. “Julie seemed excited, ten on what’s got her going?”

  “Always.” Kat had already run through the various options. Logic told her wedding photos were the safest bet.

  “She’s pregnant.”

  “Wedding photos.”

  Kat thought Amethyst seemed quieter than usual during most of the drive to Julie’s and was surprised when she pulled over and turned in her seat with a searching look.

  “Your aura is all twingly.”

  “Is that bad or good?” Kat wondered since it was obviously a made up word.

  “Can I…” without waiting for an answer, Amethyst thrust her hand toward Kat and began plucking at whatever it was that she alone could see.

  “What are you…?”

  “Shh, let me do this.”

  Kat subsided and let Amethyst poke, pick and prod her aura then smooth it with her hand.

  “That’s better,” Kat felt no different until the car started to move again. Whatever debris had been twingling up her aura must have been connected to the dimensional aspect of her vision because Ammie had just corrected that pesky depth perception problem.

  _,.-'~'-.,_

  “Hurry up. We’ve been waiting for you.” Julie called out from somewhere inside when Gustavia swung open the door. Tossing their coats on an empty chair, Amethyst asked, “What’s the big news?”

  “I picked up the wedding pictures this morning.”

  Amethyst groaned and passed over Kat’s winnings.

  Julie pulled the box out and with great anticipation started leafing through the pages of the photo albums contained inside. They could have looked at the images on her computer since a disk of the images was also part of her package but this way seemed more ceremonial.

  As a wedding gift, the owner of the gallery where Julie showed her work had gotten another up and coming art photographer to shoot the wedding. His name was Johann and since Julie had opted for him to do primarily candid shots, he had remained as unobtrusive as possible and still managed to capture the entire night with shot after exquisite shot.

  For the next half hour, there was nothing but a chorus of oohs and ahs and giggles and sniffles as they relived the day through the images in the book. Then Julie turned over the last page and Kat nearly choked as the color drained from her face.

  Somehow—impossibly—Johann had captured the exact moment her eyes had locked onto Zack’s. It was all there, in living color, the look on his face almost a sneer, her eyes, clear and snapping at his tone.

  And off to one side, nearly in shadow and slightly fuzzy in the shallow depth of field the photographer had used, a face she could swear belonged to her own grandmother.

  All Kat could think was that it was a good thing she was sitting down because knees made from Jell-0 might not hold her. She pointed a trembling finger at the image and tried to speak but her mouth was too dry.

  Gustavia looked over at Kat and saw nothing but huge eyes in a shocked white face. “Kat, are you all right? What’s wrong?”

  Though she opened her mouth, words just wouldn’t come.

  “Here, drink this.” Gustavia pressed her own glass of water into Kat’s hand, helped guide it to her lips.

  “What happened?” For the second time that day, Amethyst busied herself flicking bits of dark, fear-stained light from Kat’s aura.

  “Julie, do you know who is this? Right here.” She pointed to the partially visible face. Maybe it was just someone who looked like her grandmother. One of Tyler’s aunts. She’d been too caught up to look at every guest.

  “I don’t recognize her. Let me get Tyler.” With a concerned glance back at Kat, Julie hurried from the room to return with her husband in tow.

  “Doesn’t look familiar but it’s hard to tell. If the photo was just a bit lighter or clearer.”

  “Oh, I can fix that.” Julie grabbed the pack of image disks from the box and walked out of the room.

  More composed now, Kat followed the others to the studio where they all watched as Julie booted up her computer and opened up an image manipulation program.

  A few minutes of fussing with the controls and she had the shadowy face about as bright and clear as it was going to get. At Kat’s intake of breath, Julie turned toward her.

  “It’s her. The original Madame Zephyr.”

  Before she could help herself, the words burst out of Julie’s mouth, “Well, now you know how that feels.”

  Shocked stares prompted Julie to offer an apology, which netted her a snort from Kat. “Had that coming, didn’t I? I’m not sure why I was so surprised to see her there. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it is all.”

  “You’ve never heard from her since she passed?”

  “Not even a peep.”

  “Sometimes intense emotions make it more difficult to get through,” Estelle observed. Kat had felt her enter the room a split second before she spoke and was already turning to confirm the suspicion that Estelle knew more than she was saying.

  “You’ve been in contact with her all along,” Kat accused. “That’s how you found me in the first place.”

  “Let’s just say we found a mutually beneficial way to help our granddaughters.” Judging by the self-satisfied look on her face, Estelle was not interested in forgiveness for her meddling ways. “She’s quite a force, your grandmother. The name Zephyr suited her well.”

  “She could have just contacted me herself.” Anger and resentment swirled like a poison seeping into Kat’s bones. “There are a few things I’d like to say to her.”

  “Have a care before you start slinging blame around like knives, young Kat.” Estelle shook a finger of warning and when she spoke, there was steel in her voice. “You can’t fault someone for a genetic predisposition. She had no more choice than you did in receiving sensitivity as her birthright. Now that you can see, it is time for you to begin looking.

  “Riddles, Estelle?”

  “There’s a locked box in the second bedroom closet. The key
is in the kitchen, she says you’ll know where. Open the box and learn about the woman you thought you knew.” With a last wagging of her finger, Estelle was gone.

  “Guess I’m not the only one who got on Estelle’s bad side.” Amethyst commented hoping to lighten the mood.

  _,.-'~'-.,_

  Inevitably, the topic of dating came up, and considering everyone else was matched up, Kat’s first date became the centerpiece for the conversation.

  “Disaster—of King Kong-like proportions. I thought you were exaggerating about how bad it could be but I was wrong—so wrong.” Kat shook her head. “How am I supposed to take a guy seriously when his dead aunt tells me all his childhood secrets? He’s probably a really nice guy but between his family butting in and him freaking out over what I do, it was an epic fail.”

  “Wait here.” Gustavia’s long legs flashed under a slim confection of a skirt that just skimmed her ankles. Sewn out of cloth from her own design, she’d found a website offering printed fabric using any image of her choice. Today it was a water scene complete with pink flamingos.

  Moments later, she returned with a gaudy plastic tiara, popped it on Kat’s head and announced, “Welcome to the club. Here’s your tiara, wear it with pride.”

  “There’s more, though.” They were going to tease her, Kat knew, but in the end, they would also help. Still, she was embarrassed to admit, “I figured out that I don’t know how to flirt.” When her statement was met with neither laughter nor sympathy, she shrugged off the feelings of uneasiness, “I mean, knew how when I was fourteen but it can’t be the same, right?”

  Whatever she had expected, it had not been the glint of an accepted challenge mirrored across three faces. Now why did she feel like she had just started a game of Whack the Hornet’s Nest?

  “Show us,” Julie commanded.

  Face flaming red, Kat wished she had just Googled it instead. “It was nothing,” she muttered, “just a smile and a hair twirl.”

  “Show us,” Gustavia, a huge grin on her face, waved a hand to indicate that Kat should get on with it. Friends like these were a blessing—mostly.

  “I’ll be the guy.” Amethyst volunteered. She lowered her already deep voice another octave or two, effected what she considered to be a manly swagger, strolled across the room, leaned over and gave Kat an obvious up and down look, “Hey, baby. How’s it going’?”

  It was too much for Kat who burst into peals of laughter.

  Amethyst couldn’t have looked less like a man. She was wearing a simple sheath dress in a color that nearly perfectly matched the new shade of her hair topped with a garment loosely crocheted from some fuzzy type of yarn that was not quite a sweater but not quite a cape in a deeper purple tone .

  Expressive eyes under a sweep of long, thick lashes—several blended tones of brown shading their lids—framed by a swing of blunt-cut hair, were utterly feminine. When Amethyst chose a signature color, she went with it totally. The tiny woman almost always reminded Kat of a woodland fairy.

  “No, let me.” Gustavia was even less masculine in pink and bottle-green with no fewer than eight beaded necklaces draped around her neck. When she waggled her eyebrows and gave an exaggerated head toss Kat shook her head. “No, please. Just don’t. There’s no way I can do this. Absolutely. No. Way.”

  “Want me to get Tyler? He’d make a better guy than the two of you.” Julie frowned, “Wait, that didn’t come out right.” Her words cracked them all up again.

  Finally, Amethyst sobered up. She didn’t need to see the muddied colors of Kat’s aura to know there was more going on here than just a bit of insecurity. Kat had chosen to cut herself off from certain rites of passage—Prom, that fumbling first kiss, stepping on his toes during an awkward slow dance. Ahead of her still lay so many firsts that most women remembered for the rest of their lives and that most men of a certain age never expected to be part of again. No wonder she was nervous.

  What Kat needed was for them to pass on their collected wisdom and help smooth the path for her. It was a sacred duty and once Amethyst understood that, the last lingering vestige of laughter fell away.

  This was no laughing matter; this was more like a sacred charge.

  Amethyst sat down on the table in front of Kat, ignored Julie’s pointed look about sitting on furniture not made for the purpose, and took hold of Kat’s hand. Then, she did her best Yoda imitation. “Hmmm. Dating wisdom so you want to know.”

  Okay, fine. It was a serious situation, but there was no reason not to have a little fun with it. Kat would probably feel more at ease if things stayed on the lighter side. She ignored Kat’s rolling eyeballs and Julie’s snort behind her and jumped in.

  “Did your mother ever tell you boys only want one thing?”

  “No.”

  “Well, good. Because it’s not true. Men want lots of things, mostly the same things you want. Love, companionship, someone to grow old with, someone who understands them. The whole package.” Behind her, Julie and Gustavia nodded in agreement. “Just as long as the whole package includes plenty of that one thing.”

  “Flirting hasn’t changed that much from when you were fourteen…” Gustavia broke in, “…because half the men you meet will still have—on a hormonal level anyway—a teenager in their pants,” her interruption garnering her a quick grin from Amethyst.

  By now, Julie had also picked up on what was at the heart of Kat’s problem. She was having a 13 Going on 30 moment, one that had less to do with flirting than with knowing what to expect. “Just be yourself. Flirting is mostly a nonverbal way of letting a man know your level of interest. Making eye contact and smiling lets him know he has a shot at not being turned down whether he is asking for a first date or a third or to take things to the next level.”

  “How will I know if I’m going too far? You know, what’s the difference between I like your smile and take me here on the table?”

  “Sadly the only way to learn is by experience.”

  “It’s true,” Gustavia agreed, “trial by fire and speaking of, I gave your number to a guy I met at my dentist’s office. Just my way of adding a little kindling.”

  Chapter 9

  Dufus. Do people still say dufus? Doesn’t matter. It’s the best word to describe Kevin. Only a dufus would take a woman out to dinner and bring his parents on a first date. Kat’s mind had been running on this track all during appetizers.

  Then, when she learned his mother was a psychologist who was inordinately interested in everything to do with how Kat had come to be blind and how she had managed to restore her vision, she decided Gustavia’s matchmaking days were over.

  “And your parents? How do they feel about what has happened to you?” Kevin’s father had not said a word yet but his mother just would not stop asking personal questions.

  “They’re thrilled. If you don’t mind, I need a moment.”

  Excusing herself, Kat grabbed her purse and hurried toward the restroom. After pulling out her phone, she was walking and typing a 911 text to order Gustavia to ride to the rescue when she rounded the corner toward the restroom and rammed full force into someone coming the other way. Inattentive woman meets immovable object. Kat bounced back a step from the impact.

  Trying to get her breath back, she opened her mouth to apologize, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was….” And looking up, found herself staring into a pair of familiar brown eyes.

  “Zack. I didn’t expect to run into you here—literally.” Kat smiled hoping that he would be a gentleman and give her a ride home.

  “Kevin Hale huh? I wouldn’t have pegged him for being your type.” The chill in his voice surprised Kat; she frowned.

  “I have a type?” Did two dates in a lifetime translate into someone having a type? She didn’t think so. “What’s wrong with Kevin?” And how did I end up in a position to defend the man when all I really want to do is get away from him and his mother? That last she refrained from saying out loud.

  “He’s an accou
ntant, very down to earth.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Maybe she wouldn’t ask for that ride home after all. What had gotten into him? He was not acting like himself.

  He ignored the question. “His father has the personality of wet dishrag and his mother is a psychologist who volunteers with a troubled youth program in the city.”

  “I’m aware of that since he brought them both on our date and she’s spent twenty minutes grilling me about how I feel now that I can see again.” She couldn’t keep the exasperation from slipping into her voice. “I had no idea I’d been the topic of so much gossip.”

  “Wow, how long have you been seeing him?” Why hadn’t he heard about this? Meeting the parents, that’s a big step.

  “It’s our first date.” The flood of irrational annoyance drained out of him leaving amusement in its place.

  “Who brings their parents on a first date?”

  “I’ve been asking myself that very same question. I was just texting your sister to see if she could help me pull a Houdini. I don’t think I can face going back to that table but I don’t want to be rude.”

  He took pity on her. “Go back, give me two minutes and I’ll come to your rescue, whatever I say, just go with it.” He’d have to miss dinner with his own parents but that was a common enough occurrence given the unpredictability of his line of work. A quick stop at their table to say hello and then he could save Kat from her woeful dilemma.

  As Zack approached her table, he knew the moment she sensed his approach. Trained to observe, he noted the subtle change in her posture, the slight turn of her head that let her eyes slide toward him, then the way she relaxed in relief.

  With a wicked glint in his eye, he decided to make a show of it. No way would Kevin be getting a second date. Zack cast a fulminating look at the man, ignoring how justified it felt, and stepped up beside Kat who looked up at him in feigned surprise.