“Glenn isn’t with you,” Heather said, clearly understanding what Lorna wanted to know. She pressed her fist against the center of her chest. “I’m so sorry. What I felt from you when we touched…” She took a deep breath. “That level of betrayal while feeling so much grief. The public embarrassment. The isolation afterward. I don’t know how you carry all that as gracefully as you do. A few seconds of it and I feel like I’m being pulled down into the floor. All I want is a blanket to hide under.”
Lorna sat back in her seat. How could she complain about Glenn when Heather had lost a son?
“Julia says he’s the source of your pain.” Heather pursed her lips tightly together and cupped her hands over her ears. “Your unasked questions, that deep betrayal, it’s why you were drawn to come here. You were meant to find us. That is why you moved here. It’s fate.”
Lorna wasn’t sure her decision to move to the seaside town was destiny. The decision had been impulsive, spurred by her need to escape her situation. Heather dropped her hands from her head.
“I’m not sure I would call it fate. The truth is, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to go. When my kids were around eight and ten, we drove through here on a family vacation,” Lorna said. “Even though we didn’t stop for longer than it took to fill up with gas, I’d always remembered this town and wanted to come back. Jennifer had too much junk food and threw up in the car. Glenn was in a bad mood and hated it here. We drove back to Vermont with the windows open. It’s a hard vacation to forget.”
All of those family memories were tainted now. They were followed by the thoughts whispering through her mind as if a force outside herself mocked her.
He wasn’t your husband, not really, you old fool. All of those moments were built on a lie. Every touch between the two of you was meaningless.
“Maybe that is fate. You felt drawn here the first time you drove through.” Heather turned to the security monitors. “I think the ballerinas are done.”
“I can go out front.” Lorna flipped the switch by the office door to turn on the auditorium lights for the patrons. She made a move to leave.
“No, stay,” Heather said. “They’ll rush the front door and the restrooms. We’ll go when they’ve filtered out. I don’t feel like making small talk with anyone tonight.”
Lorna lowered herself back into her seat. She still felt like someone stood in the office with them. “You were right about your brother. William indicated he strongly doesn’t believe in this kind of thing.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Heather agreed. “He’s just like my mother. I think that’s why he’s her favorite. Grandma Julia always embarrassed her. She married into the Warrick family and never understood what she called the family eccentricities. But I told you that earlier.”
“What about your father? If he was born a Warrick, than did he see things too?”
“My father was sensitive, but I think he ignored that part of himself to keep my mother happy. If William has any of the family traits, he would never admit to it. We don’t talk about our family’s magic.”
Lorna glanced at the empty corner, wondering if she would feel something if she put her hand through Julia’s invisible body. Or would that be considered rude? Then again, how could it be rude if she couldn’t see her? “Are there other ghosts? I mean, not here, but around?”
“You told her?” Vivien appeared behind Lorna. “And it looks like you’ve been getting an earful. Have the headaches started?”
Heather gave a small nod.
“Grandma Julia, or are there others trying to talk to you?” Vivien asked.
“Just Julia,” Heather said. “She’s chatty tonight. I can barely make out what she’s saying she’s talking too fast.”
Vivien slipped a hand on Lorna’s shoulder, giving a small squeeze as she passed. A tiny jolt ran down her arm at the contact but was short-lived. “The tiny dancers are finished, by the way.”
“We saw.” Heather gestured at the security monitor.
“They’re adorable, but I don’t think we have any future Swan Lakes on our hands.” Vivien chuckled as she took a seat close to Lorna. “I think that Bronwyn girl might have a future as a soccer player, though. She kicks like she’s mad at the world.”
“I’d maybe keep that opinion to yourself,” Heather instructed. “They’re just children. If they want to dream about being ballerinas, let them.”
“I only say what I sense,” Vivien said.
Heather shared a look with Vivien, before saying, “See. I told you Viv is intuitive. She feels things.”
“And I see you told her for me too.” Vivien studied her fingernails.
Lorna looked back and forth between the women.
“By intuitive, she means I’m psychic,” Vivien said, holding up her forefinger to show the ring. “It’s how I knew we were destined to be great friends.”
“Psychic?” Lorna looked to Heather, who gave a small shrug. Heather had already admitted before that Vivien thought as much. “So you see Grandma Julia too?”
“I’m more empathic. I can’t hold a conversation with the dead. I’m not a medium like Heather,” Vivien said. “I sense things about people—who they are, what they would be good at, if I want to know them or not, and if they’re lying to me. Some of my ancestors worked for a carnival doing tarot card readings and telling fortunes, though I’ve never seen the future myself, so I can’t tell you how effective they were at it. They call people like me clairsentient because I feel what other people are feeling and understand why they might be feeling that way. But also I’m considered claircognizant because I just sort of know things to be real or not without always being able to explain how I know. Heather could talk to the ghost and be directed to the dead body. I would just know where to look for the dead body. I’ve never been good at explaining it.”
Lorna glanced at the lobby security monitors watching the dancers and their families make their way out the front door. She wasn’t sure what to say to all of this. Part of her believed it because she felt the tingling in her hand and the transfer of emotions. Another part of her wanted to believe it because that would mean life wasn’t dull. Yet a third part of her—the doubtful part raised by practical parents in a no-nonsense society—was highly skeptical when it came to people who claimed to be psychic.
She ignored that third part.
“You’re not good at explaining because we don’t tell people,” Heather said. “And if we ever start, maybe don’t use the dead body analogy. It’s a little disturbing.”
“Says the woman who sees dead people,” Vivien answered. “What about you, Lorna? What’s your secret?”
“I don’t have a secret. Not like that.” Lorna frowned. They both stared at her expectantly. “I think it’s obvious to the whole world that I don’t know when I’m being lied to. I can’t see ghosts. Of course I have empathy, but I wouldn’t say that makes me empathic, just empathetic.”
Vivien leaned closer and stared at Lorna. “You have…” She gestured her hands around Lorna’s face. “Something.”