“I can pay,” Sue said.
“No need,” Heather answered. “Doesn’t cost me anything to have you there.”
“It’s cozy,” Vivien added. “Right downtown. Great Chinese restaurant across the street. An amazing coffee shop down the block.”
“No television, though,” Heather warned.
“I don’t really like television,” Sue said. It might have been a recent aversion, but it was still true.
“Scheduled groups come in and out during the day, and we sometimes show movies in the evenings,” Lorna said. “I’m the manager, so I’ll be there almost every day, but you’ll have privacy when you want it.”
Sue started to shake her head to turn down the offer. The ring sent a vibration down her hand. She found herself saying, “All right. Thank you.”
“I’ll find the extra keys.” Heather pushed up from the table and walked out of the room. Her footsteps sounded running up the stairs.
“I’ll go by the grocery store before work and bring you some supplies. Any requests?” Lorna picked up some of the dirty dishes from the table, leaving Sue’s plate and mug so she could finish.
“You don’t need to trouble yourself,” Sue denied.
“No trouble.” Lorna went into the kitchen.
“Pick up some wine for her, too,” Vivien yelled. “A nice, strong red. She’s out.”
“Her or you?” Lorna called from the other room.
Vivien laughed. “Me!”
Lorna poked her head around the corner and asked Sue, “Do you drink wine?”
Sue nodded.
Lorna smiled and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“You’re not used to people helping you, are you?” Vivien followed Lorna into the kitchen and came back seconds later with her purse. “I don’t blame you for being distrustful after what you’ve been through, but we are here to help. No strings attached.” She came to where Sue sat at the table and touched her shoulder. “I promise you will get through this. Whatever it is, you will get through it.”
Sue nodded, unable to speak. As much as trusting anyone scared her, she felt their concern—open, unwavering, freely offered. When Vivien touched her, she imagined she knew the woman more than she should. She had a kind heart beneath her naturally sassy attitude. She understood loss and had loved deeply in her life.
Sue looked at Vivien’s hand. “What’s happening to me?”
“I’ve never been accused of being overly subtle, and, honestly, I’m too old to start trying it now,” Vivien said. “So I’m just going to lay it all out there.”
“What?” Sue’s shoulder tingled with awareness. It wasn’t attraction, but an understanding, a familiarity that she’d never felt with another person.
Friendship? Could it be that?
“There is a magic in this world that most never recognize or name, but we all seek. It connects us as humans—we suffer, we hurt, we feel loss, we endure, we need, we love, we yearn, we cope, and we have secrets we want to share with others. Call it the human condition. Say it’s because we’re social creatures who instinctively reach out to bond with others.” When Sue started to question, Vivien shook her head to stop her and continued, “That is what you’re feeling between us now. The rings amplify our connection. You can feel me if you try, and you’ll recognize that my intentions are honest, just as I can feel your fear. I don’t know how to explain what you’re feeling other than to say it’s like you’re that young girl in the horror movie hiding from the slasher under a bed as she watches his feet move around her room. You have your hand over your mouth, trying not to make a sound, too terrified to try to run. It’s like you know it’s only a matter of time before he catches you, but you keep hoping someone will make it go away. You’ve been stuck under that bed, watching those feet, for a very long time.”
That was probably the aptest description of her feelings that anyone had ever guessed.
“Don’t tell.” Sue’s voice shook as she glanced at the doorways to indicate Heather and Lorna.
“You know it’s not your fault, don’t you?” Vivien withdrew her hand.
Sue reached for her shoulder, where the sensation of the touch lingered. “Please, I don’t want people knowing. I—” Her voice cracked.
I don’t want anyone to know.
The shame she felt was unbearable.
“I won’t tell because you ask me not to,” Vivien assured her, “but I hope that one day you do. Don’t let this bury you. Whatever he did to you, you did not deserve. You have nothing to be ashamed about.”
“How…?” Sue took a deep breath. “How much do you know?”
“Got them!” Heather returned, holding the keys. “Ready? I texted Martin. He’ll bring Jan by the theater to meet us.”
Sue hated herself for being so relieved that Vivien hadn’t answered her question. If she didn’t have the answer, she could pretend the woman didn’t know how bad it had been.
“Come on, Sue. We’ll take you to the theater and get you settled.” Vivien followed Heather.
Sue stood alone in the dining room. She reached for her coffee cup and took a sip. The liquid burned its way down her throat, and the faint smell of cologne filled the air. Her hand shook, and she slowly set the mug back on the table.
“Hank?” she whispered. “If that is you, I need you to go. You’re not alive anymore.”
There was more she wanted to say, but fear kept her from yelling at him. He’d always hated backtalk.
“I’m sure there is a giant party waiting for you on the other side,” Sue kept her voice quiet, feeling a little foolish for talking to the air. “Fully stocked bar that never runs dry.”
The smell lessened, and the air felt a little lighter.
Sue let loose a deep breath as she looked around the dining room. Had that worked? Could it really be so simple?
Vivien came to the doorway. “Sue? Everything all right?”
Sue nodded and hurried to leave. “Yeah, coming.”
Chapter Six
“Warrick Theater,” Sue read on the plaque affixed to the outside of the building. A small tremor worked over her as she saw Julia’s name. The three friends had kept referring to the jewelry as Julia’s rings. Seeing the woman’s name on a bronze plaque along with a story of how she commissioned the building over a hundred years ago drove home just how much Heather, Lorna, and Vivien believed in their ghosts and magic.
“She was quite the lady, huh?” Vivien said, joining Sue by the plaque. She lightly ran her hand along the words, paraphrasing, “Suspected witch and part of the Spiritualist movement, Julia held séances in this theater to talk to the dead. People would travel hundreds of miles to come to her shows.”
“Was Heather close to her?” Sue asked.
“Yes, very,” Vivien said.
“Julia taught her how to be a medium?” Sue glanced down the sidewalk to where Heather paced while talking on the phone.
“No one had to teach Heather to see things. That happened whether she wanted it to or not. Julia taught her to understand it.” Vivien also glanced at Heather before looking around the downtown area. “She helped me too. Mainly, she helped me realize I wasn’t a freak for feeling the things I feel or sensing the things I sense about people. She taught me to trust myself.”