“I can’t make it out,” Gigi said. “It looks like—”
“The one from your past has the answers,” Skyler said in a hushed whisper.
Gigi let out a startled gasp, pain shooting through her heart and nearly breaking her as she realized what the message meant.
Sebastian had known what happened to her mother all along.
Chapter Three
Skyler blinked at Gigi as his face drained of color. “Gigi, did you know your house is haunted?”
She nodded, unconcerned about the fact that she lived with a few ghosts. She sometimes saw the Hannigan sisters. They’d made an appearance when she’d first purchased the place, though she didn’t think either of them had animated her mother’s dress. They would’ve shown themselves to her. But now she couldn’t help but wonder who exactly had written that message. Was it possible her mother had just made an appearance? Her heart both ached and swelled with the idea. “Don’t worry. The ghosts are friendly.”
He glanced around as if one might suddenly pop up again. “Does that happen often?”
She shook her head. “Only when emotions are running high.” In fact, the ghosts were mostly just a presence she felt but didn’t really see often. And that was fine with her. The house had been owned by the Hannigan sisters and wanted someone who wouldn’t displace them, so she felt a connection to them and was actually comforted that she didn’t feel alone.
“Well… that’s interesting, isn’t it?” Skyler ran a hand through his blond hair and blew out a breath.
Gigi placed a hand on his arm, meaning to comfort him. “Don’t worry. They aren’t the sinister type.”
He let out a nervous laugh. “I guess that’s something to be grateful for.”
“Yeah,” she said absently, staring at the message in the dust and biting her lower lip.
“Do you know what it means?”
She turned to Skyler and nodded, unable to speak. How could she say out loud what she was thinking? That the person she’d trusted most in the world had betrayed her.
“Who needs wine?” Grace Valentine asked, holding a bottle of Pinot Noir in the air. She was dressed in a smart black business suit and was wearing the fabulous blue stilettos she always wore when she had an important house showing. It was obvious she’d dressed to impress that day, but her put-together look was offset by her auburn locks sticking out all over the place due to her messy bun. She was sitting on a log around a small fire pit on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was the spot where the coven met at least once a month to brush up on their spell casting. But mostly they just drank wine and got caught up on each other’s lives.
“Me,” Gigi said, thrusting her wine glass in the other woman’s direction. “Fill it up.”
Hope Anderson, who was sitting to Gigi’s right, chuckled and pushed her dark curly locks out of her eyes. The curvy event planner was vivacious and never failed to bring energy to their gatherings. She smiled at Gigi playfully. “Looks like someone has something they need to get off their chest.”
“You have no idea.” Gigi swallowed a few gulps of the wine Grace poured for her before turning to Joy Lansing, the tall actress who was sitting quietly on the other side of Gigi, thumbing through her phone. “Whatcha looking at, Joy?”
“Work emails,” she said with an irritated sigh.
Grace raised an eyebrow. “Too many auditions and not enough time?” she teased.
Joy let out a bark of laughter. “If only I had that problem. You’d think with a hugely successful movie under my belt, that directors would be lining up to offer me at least small television roles, right?”
“They aren’t?” Gigi asked her. “Looks like you’ve got at least some interest going on there if your mailbox is full.”
Joy grimaced. “Sure, if I want to do menopause commercials or print ads for incontinence.”
“Adult diapers?” Hope sputtered, barely able to contain her laughter. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Joy turned her phone around and showed them the email. “It says right here that they want someone to model these special ‘urine collecting bottoms that are made to look like underwear.’ Kind of like that period underwear I keep seeing advertised all over social media.”
Gigi grimaced. “They want you to model underwear?”
“You’re lucky you have such great legs,” Grace said solemnly. “You could model underwear with no issues. I’d have to get some sort of cellulite treatment first.”
“I’m not modeling incontinence underwear!” Joy said, looking scandalized. “That’s almost as bad as appearing in an STI ad.”
“Do they want you to do one of those, too?” Hope asked. “I hear the largest segment of new STI outbreaks are in retirement communities.”
Joy pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “No, thank the gods. But do remind me never to move to a retirement community.”
“Oh, honey. You’ll be fine. Just remember to use a condom and get tested regularly,” Hope said, patting her friend’s knee.
Gigi chuckled, enjoying the exchange between her friends. Contentment settled around her, making her feel both strange and happy at the same time. This dynamic was new for her. She’d never had a group of friends to lean on before and the more time she spent with them, the more she started to feel something mend inside of her that had been shattered years ago. The thought made her think of Sebastian again, and she involuntarily scowled.
“Whoa. What’s that about?” Hope asked, reaching over and squeezing Gigi’s knee. “You look like you’re ready to murder someone.”
Tears suddenly stung Gigi’s eyes while her throat tightened. Oh, gods, she prayed to herself. I can’t fall apart like this. Not now.
Joy sucked in a sharp breath as her body went rigid.
Gigi stared at the woman, watching with wide eyes as horror flashed over Joy’s pale face. She reached out suddenly, grasping at the air, and then let out a choked sound before blinking rapidly.
“What did you see, Joy?” Grace asked gently.
Tears streamed down Joy’s face unchecked as she turned to Gigi and grabbed her hand tightly in both of her own. “I’m so sorry, Gigi. I just… um, I just saw the moment when your mom was abducted.” Joy glanced around the circle before meeting Gigi’s eyes again. “Did they ever find out what happened to her?”
Gigi’s head started to spin as her heart sped up, making her feel like it was going to beat right out of her chest. “She was abducted? Are you sure? What did you see?” she choked out, having no doubt that her friend had really had a vision about her mother. She’d known all along that her mother must have been taken by someone. She would’ve never left Gigi like that. But this was the first time there had been any sort of confirmation. Hope and dread warred for dominance, making her chest ache even more.
“I…” Joy closed her eyes as if concentrating, and then when she opened them again, she turned to Gigi, but her voice dropped to a whisper as if she didn’t want to put the words out into the world. “All I saw was a person larger than her, wearing a mask and gloves, come up and grab her from behind. The next image was the police arresting Sebastian.”