“Quit his job.”
Megan blinked. “Quit the police department?”
“That’s what I just said. And soon, girl. His birthday’s next week, you know.”
“I’m afraid I don’t under–”
“His thirty-fifth birthday,” she said, as if that was significant somehow.
“I didn’t know. But I still don’t see why–”
Lily leaned forward in her chair and gripped Megan’s forearm, her clasp powerful. “His father–my own son–was a policeman, you know.”
“I know. I’m so sorry for the way you lost him.”
She shook her head. “We all lost him. That wife of his keeps his den like a shrine. Won’t even let anyone in there. Hasn’t changed a thing since he died.” She sighed deeply. “Shot down in his prime, he was. The week of his thirty-fifth birthday. Just like my husband.”
And suddenly the light dawned. Megan met the old woman’s piercing blue eyes. “And you believe Sam will be killed as well?”
She nodded slowly. “I know he will. It’s...it’s some kind of curse,” she said.
The word “curse” seemed to echo endlessly in Megan’s mind. It made her knees go weak, and she sank into a chair near the older woman.
“If he doesn’t quit that damnable job in time, I’m afraid we’ll lose him, too.” Her lips thinned. “I’m a tough old bird, but I think it would kill his poor mother. And those sisters of his. It’s not right they should suffer like that just because he’s too stubborn to listen.”
So that’s why Sam’s family tended to panic every time they heard what seemed like a dangerous situation on the scanner. “Have you talked to Sam about this? Maybe if you told him–”
“Talked myself blue, girl. He says he doesn’t believe in curses, doesn’t believe in any of that sort of hoo-ha. Much less my intuitions.”
“You have intuitions?” Megan asked, lifting her brows.
Lily nodded slowly. “I knew something bad was coming before my husband went to work that day. I had that same bad feeling the day Sam Jr. died, and I think he did, too, the odd way he’d been acting all week.” She tipped her head to one side. “You get feelings, too, don’t you?”
It wasn’t a question. “Sometimes. I... see things.”
“You have the sight,” Lily whispered. “I knew it. Felt it when I took your hand.” She bit her lip, shaking her head slowly. “You’re not just another one-date-woman. You’re with my grandson for a reason. God didn’t send you to this family by coincidence, and I think you know it.”
Megan drew a breath. Her gift had changed since she’d met Sam. The visions had grown stronger, more important, more frequent. And never before had they hit her with such crippling impact.
“You’re the one who can break this curse and end this family’s grieving once and for all. You can do it. You can save Sam.”
Break the curse. Save his life.
Megan took Lily’s papery-soft hand. “I’ll try my best.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
“What’s all you can ask, Lily?” Sam said, coming in from the kitchen.
“I’ve just promised her my favorite recipe,” Megan said, seeing the note of panic in the older woman’s eyes and knowing, as Lily apparently did, that Sam would be furious if he knew what they’d really been discussing.
“You cook, too?” he asked with a smile. “You’re just full of hidden talents, aren’t you, Meg?”
“She’s a keeper, this one,” Lily said. “And if this wasn’t a date, then you’re a damn fool. Now, are you people gonna put some food on the table before I starve to death or what?”
Sam shook his head slowly. “Dinner–or rather, an all-out Sheridan-family midnight snack–is served,” he said.
Megan only ate enough to be polite, since she and Sam had already enjoyed one luscious meal that night. Sam’s mother, Evelyn, seemed naturally friendly, and the sisters dropped their attitude at a single, swift, meaning-laden glance from Lily. The old woman had apparently decided to view Megan as her ally.
When the meal was over and the dishes were done, they didn’t linger. Just said their good nights and left.
Sam stood in the doorway, waving and smiling until they were all out of sight, then he closed the door, turned, leaned back against it, and heaved an exaggerated sigh.
“Oh, come on,” Megan said. “They’re not so bad.”
“They’re not bad at all. Just a little exhausting.” He straightened from the door, looked at her, then beyond her, to where her overnight bag sat beside his sofa. “Hell, you didn’t even get to settle in.”
“From the sounds of things, none of your dates ever do.”
He scowled at her. “I meant for the night.”
“So they usually spend the night, then?”
“Megan.”
“The way your sisters talked, I got the idea you hustled them out of here before the sweat began to dry.”
“Oh, that’s lovely imagery.”
She shrugged. “You’re the one they call One-Night Sam.”
“This is pretty irrelevant.”
“I don’t think so. After all, I’m not just a witness to a crime you’re trying to solve. You did kiss me in the park tonight. Or was that just a part of whatever game it is you’ve been playing with me?”
He narrowed his eyes on her. “I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you. That wasn’t part of anything, not the case, not your abilities. Nothing. I’m sorry if things my well-intentioned sisters said are making you have doubts about that, because I’d really like to kiss you again.”
“Oh, I’d like that, too,” she said. “But I’d kind of like to know what to expect afterward.”
He came to her, slid his arms around her waist, and tugged her close. “Haven’t you ever heard of living in the moment?”
“Heard of it. Never practiced it much.”
“No time like the present.” He leaned closer, and she tipped her head up. He kissed her, slowly and softly. It was wonderful. It was also revealing. And this time the knowledge didn’t come to her as a vision, and it didn’t knock her off her feet or snap her head back. It just slipped gently from his mind to hers.
When he lifted his head away, she blinked up at him. “You don’t get involved because you don’t want to leave someone behind, the way your mother was left behind. And your grandmother.”
He frowned down at her.
“The way you were left behind.”
He shook his head. “Grams has been talking again.”
“She believes there’s a curse on the Sheridan men.”
“It’s silly superstition.”
“But, Sam, what if it’s not? Don’t you think you should...take some precautions, just in case?”
He released her, turned, and paced across the room. “She convinced you to try to get me to quit the force, didn’t she?”
“Before your birthday, if possible.” She smiled. “It’s only because she loves you.”