“Lorna? Anything new happen to you?” Heather asked.
“I haven’t used my healing power,” Lorna said. “It feels a little too much like playing God. I shouldn’t be the one to decide who deserves to be healed and who deserves to be injured.
“I disagree,” Vivien said, not for the first time in counter to Lorna’s thinking. “I think you’re the perfect person. It’s why you have the gift. If there were an injured child and a serial killer, I think you’d know what to do.”
“Life choices are rarely that black-and-white, but yes,” Lorna agreed, “if it comes down to a child and a serial killer, I’ll make a choice.”
“What about your finding power?” Heather asked.
“There has been little need for it,” Lorna admitted. “Though, I was able to find Vivien’s lost earring the other morning, so you know, I’m practically a private detective.”
“There’s a cool job idea.” Vivien clapped her hands in excitement. “We can start a detective agency. Oh, or bounty hunters.”
“I have a job,” Lorna denied, choosing a couple of the tamales. She leaned on her uninjured hip. “Managing the haunted theater is excitement enough. I don’t want to limp after some criminal.”
“What did you mean by psychic rash?” Heather studied her as if she could see some manifestation on Vivien’s skin.
“It’s nothing.” Vivien waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m being dramatic.”
“It’s not nothing. Remember, we all agreed we have to talk about these things.” Heather touched the bag beside her on the couch and patted it. “Or else I will burn this so no one ever finds it again. If we’re going to meddle in the otherworldly, we need to talk to each other. Grandma Julia said we all came together to help each other heal. I think after what happened to Lorna, we all know that isn’t just some easy prospect. I’m willing to travel this path with you, but we have to be smart and open. No secrets.”
“My senses are in overdrive,” Vivien explained. “I see a guy in a passing car, and I know he only dates redheads and hates the rain. I now know Mr. Pete down at the grocery store will only wear blue underwear because his wife said she liked the color once when they were dating. Melba likes to reenact scenes from paranormal romance novels at night when she closes up the bookstore in a one-woman show. She draws vampire bites on her neck with red lipstick. Ace the cat watches the performances.”
“That’s oddly specific.” Heather appeared skeptical, which hurt a little since Heather was the only one who’d ever believed her about her gifts when they were younger. Vivien’s grandmother had raised her not to feel shame about her gifts. That hadn’t meant it was easy to be laughed at by the other children in school or treated like a kook as an adult.
“It’s so random,” Vivien groaned. “And it’s blocking the things that I should see. I had no idea what was coming at the law office today, but I knew Mrs. Cameron planned on tuna noodle casserole for lunch and was rejected for a pet adoption some years back. In the elevator, I was so obsessed with telling some woman not to date a potential jerk that I walked right into…”
“Into?” Lorna prompted.
“Never mind,” Vivien dismissed.
“Viv,” Heather demanded.
“I walked right into giving Troy a ride home.” She rubbed her temples as frustration seeped through her. She couldn’t want Troy. He was all wrong for her. “Then, on the drive, I completely missed that he was about to ask me out and didn’t deflect the question in time. I said all the wrong things. He probably thinks I was flirting with him. Which I wasn’t. And I know he thinks I’m an imbecile. I just can’t… I can’t get… The words are just all jumbled when I am around him. It’s like some invisible force grabs my throat and messes with my brain.”
“I think that means you like him,” Heather said.
“I don’t want that kind of complication,” Vivien said, and she meant it. Her life was decent, and she was secure in her decisions. “I like one-night stands that mean nothing. I get sex, and they get to go home to Omaha or wherever.”
Heather nodded. “So that’s what’s bothering you. A man asked you out and you didn’t see it coming in time to scare him away. Didn’t you mention to me when he moved in that the new neighbor was a professor of some sort? So he’s older, smart, has a job, and by all accounts is a hottie. This guy threw you for a loop.”
“I should have bought more tacos,” Vivien muttered, grabbing another one before she’d even finished the one she was on. She stuffed her mouth to keep from answering Heather’s inquiry.
“Yeah, because two-four-six,” Heather chuckled as she pretended to count, “forty isn’t enough.”
“These are fantastic,” Lorna agreed with a nod.
“Try this one.” Vivien lifted one of the beef tacos toward Lorna.
“You’re avoiding the subject,” Heather said.
“Yes, I am. I’m done talking about it,” Vivien said. “What about you? Anything new happen?”
Heather sighed, and it was her turn to look dismissive of the conversation.
“What?” Lorna and Vivien asked in unison.
“The spirits are becoming clearer, and louder,” Heather answered. “Which means the headaches are getting worse.”
“Can you ignore them?” Lorna asked.
“If I ignore the active hauntings, I get a headache. If I try to listen, I get a headache. If they see me looking in their direction, they sometimes try to follow which means the headache won’t go away.” Heather shrugged. “That’s it. Nothing new. I’ve been dealing with ghosts my whole life.”
“I can sense that there is more to it. The talking-about-it thing goes all ways. You need to tell us what you’re going through.” Lorna placed a hand on Heather’s arm. Her hair lifted off her shoulders at the contact. She took a deep breath and looked at Vivien.
Vivien leaned forward to touch Heather. The mere brush of skin to skin caused a zap of static electricity and they were able to share each other’s emotions. This happened whenever they made physical contact. Their souls connected. She instantly felt the electrical charge flowing through her. Typically, with Heather, there was an underlying sadness she’d carried since losing her son. That emotion was still there, but with it came a feeling of dread.
“You’re feeling the spirits more,” Vivien said, understanding where the emotion was coming from.
Heather looked at Vivien’s hand on her arm. She arched a brow. “You’re terrified because you are attracted to Troy, much more than you let on.”
Vivien snatched her hand back. For a moment, she’d forgotten that the emotional sharing went both ways.
“It’s not true, you know,” Heather insisted. “You’re not betraying Sam by liking someone else. It’s been twenty years. I knew Sam. He loved you. He would want you to find happiness. He would have been pissed that you married Rex because he never made you happy.”
“I’ll be watching you. Save your heart for me. It’s mine.”