“To each their own, I guess. As long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. But I’ve seen the other side of it. You wouldn’t believe how many crackpots come out of the woodwork when a kid goes missing. You ask me, they’re a bunch of frauds who prey on people’s tragedies.” He winced. “Sorry. I don’t mean Agnes.”
Whatever he’d picked up on in her expression had nothing to do with her grandmother. It was that he’d hit too close to home. The summer she’d moved to New York, a little boy had gone missing from Central Park. She’d become obsessed with the case, wanting to help. Every time the father had been interviewed on TV, she’d gotten the feeling he was lying. That he knew where his son was. She kept seeing a dark car parked in an alley.
For years Ellie had hidden her gift, afraid that people would mock her, tell her she was crazy like her mother had. But a little boy’s life had been on the line, so she’d pushed through her fears and gone to the police. Two of the investigating officers had brushed her off as just another crazy, but the woman on their team hadn’t. Sadly, Ellie had been wrong.
It hadn’t been the father; it had been his son from his first marriage. The teenager had left his sleeping brother in a parked car while visiting his girlfriend on a sweltering day. The little boy had died and his brother had hidden his body.
In the end Ellie’s gift had proved a curse to that grieving family. Because of her, the father had been hounded by police. The press and his wife had turned against him. But no one had turned on Ellie. The female officer had protected her identity. No one ever knew of her involvement.
“Ellie, you know I’d never say anything like that to Mrs. M, right? I don’t care that she’s into the woo-woo.”
“You think my grandmother’s crazy?”
“No. Of course I don’t.” He shook his head. “I’m messing this up. Blame it on lack of sleep. All I’m saying is Mrs. M is like a grandmother to me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or let anyone else hurt her, for that matter.”
“I know. She feels the same way about you. Sorry for getting defensive. I’m tired too.”
He lifted his glass of wine. “Friends again?”
She touched her glass to his. “Friends,” she said, her smile a little forced at the thought that all he wanted from her was friendship. Then again, given his opinion of her grandmother’s gift and his feelings about psychics, that was probably for the best.
Chapter Six
Ellie, we have a problem,” the judge said, joining her in the kitchen where she was making breakfast.
Her head pounded. She was a lightweight when it came to drinking alcohol, and she and Nate had finished the bottle of wine last night. “A little problem or a big one?” She prayed it was a little one. She didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with a big problem today.
A thunderstorm had moved in at three in the morning, ensuring she couldn’t get back to sleep and that she spent the rest of the early-morning hours tossing and turning, trying to figure out her next move with her mother. There also might have been a small amount of fantasizing about Nate. In her dream state, she hadn’t seemed to understand the difference between friend and lover.
“A rather big one, I’m afraid,” the judge said. “There’s a leak in my room.”
“Big leak or little leak?” she asked, wondering where to fit it in on today’s to-do list. She had eight guest rooms to clean.
“The puddle is growing to the size of a pond as we speak.”
“Wonderful.” She smelled something burning and looked down. The chicken sausages were no longer a lovely golden brown. They were burned to a crisp. It was going to be one of those days, she thought as she moved the skillet off the burner. “Fruit-and-yogurt breakfast parfaits are in the fridge, and pancakes are in the warmer. I’ll make orange juice as soon as I take care of your room.” The judge and her grandfather were fussy about their orange juice. They liked it freshly squeezed.
“I’ll look after the water in my room. All I need is a mop and a bucket. But that’s only a temporary fix. From what I saw from my balcony, there are shingles missing on the roof. I remember your reaction the last time Joe and I tried to fix them, so I won’t bother offering to do so again. Perhaps Mr. Black could be of service.”
“Nate’s leaving this morning. For all I know, he’s already gone.” She’d be disappointed if he was, but they’d more or less said goodbye last night. “But I wouldn’t ask him anyway. I’ll take care of the tiles once the rain lets up.” Thank goodness for YouTube instructional videos. She’d become adept at dealing with minor repairs. She just hoped that replacing a few missing shingles would take care of the leak.
“He hasn’t left yet. I passed him in the hall. He was going for a run.”
That shouldn’t cheer her up, but it did.
“Mr. Black also mentioned that your meeting with your mother didn’t go as well as you’d indicated to Joe. You should have told me, Ellie. I wouldn’t have gone to Sadie and Chase’s for dinner.”
“I know. I didn’t want to upset Grandpa. The tremor in his hand is back, and he was dragging his foot. Did you notice?”
He nodded. “It started soon after your mother’s call.”
“I wish you would have told me.”
He patted her shoulder. “You had enough on your mind. I didn’t think you needed the added stress.” The judge looked out for her as much as her grandfather did.
“I ended up telling Grandpa the truth last night. Not how bad I think it will get, but that it wasn’t over. I don’t think he was surprised.”
“I don’t imagine he was. He’d said as much to me when I drew up the papers.”
“What are you two jawing about?” her grandfather asked, walking into the kitchen. He sniffed the air. “I hope you burned those tasteless chicken sausages and not breakfast links.” He went to the fridge, pulled out the freezer door, and heaved a put-upon sigh. “Not a pork sausage in sight. You’re killing me, Ellie my love.”
“No, your diet will do that if I let you eat whatever you want. But I did make you pancakes.” She lifted the lid on the warming tray. “You and Jonathan sit and enjoy your breakfast while I get started on my day.”
“Aren’t you going to eat with us?” her grandfather asked.
“I have something I need to take care of.” She gave a barely perceptible shake of her head for the judge’s benefit. She didn’t want her grandfather stressing about the leak or offering to help. She walked a fine line between protecting him and not making him feel useless.
“Now, you don’t need to do it all on your own. The judge and I don’t mind giving you a hand, do we?”
“Not at all,” Jonathan agreed, taking the juicer from the upper cabinet.
“Great. You can clean the bathrooms in the guest rooms Abby, Mallory, and the kids were in.”
“You’re an evil woman.” Her grandfather’s grin faded as he glanced at Jonathan. “We’ll take care of the bathrooms for you, but before we do, we have an important matter to discuss. Our plan didn’t deter Miranda, Judge. We need to come up with a new one.”