Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(107)

“No.” Her father started flipping pages, looking at his own documents. “I remember…” He stopped. Read. Then looked up. “I have a copy of

the same newspaper clipping.”

Burnett sat back down but looked worried. Miranda shared his concern.

“We don’t know if the accusation is true,” her mom spoke up.

“Which is why I’ve asked Miranda to do a blood test,” Ms. Wales said. “I had mine drawn at the FRU agency. Thanks to Mr. James, here.”

Her father shot out of his chair so fast his chair hit the floor. He directed his comments to Burnett. “This is ludicrous. My daughter is

kidnapped, you bring me in here to talk about a distant relative?”

Burnett stood up to explain, but once again, Ms. Wales, with her English-accented, commanding voice, intervened. “Please calm down, Mr. Evans.

As far-fetched as it may sound, our relations may have something to do with your daughter’s abduction.”

Burnett nodded. Her father yanked his chair up and dropped back down. Holiday finished the story. No one interrupted for a good five minutes.

Until … “What!” her mom asked, smiling. “Are you saying my daughter is mystic?”

“No,” Holiday said. “I’m saying that Ms. Wales’s mother and grandmother were mystic. I’m saying that Ms. Wales’s grandmother was and Ms.

Wales is dyslexic like Miranda. And then there’s the tattoo. It may or may not have anything to do with being mystic.”

“But are there any signs that it may be true?” Her mom directed that question to Miranda.

“A few.” Miranda explained about Perry hearing her voice and she his, and about Tabitha’s text. While talking about hearing things, Miranda

started hearing things again. Not just things. But the sound of cascading water. Shit!

A short time later, Ms. Wales announced she had to get back to Houston. Her mom went to the restroom, Burnett walked out with her father to

stretch their legs.

Holiday let go of a deep sigh and rested back in the chair. “That went tons better than I expected.”

*

Miranda and her mom walked out to the front porch of the office to have their “talk.” Holiday went to check in on Hannah and the baby.

Burnett and her father sat in Holiday’s office to discuss the case.

Miranda’s nerves hadn’t calmed down from the meeting they’d just had, and now she was having another one.

Yes, she wanted to clear the air with her mom.

Yes, she loved her with all her heart.

Yes, she wanted to just run back to her bed and cover her head.

She couldn’t.

Instead, she mentally reached down and yanked up her big-girl panties so hard she got a wedgie. Then she dropped down in one of the rocking

chairs and prepared herself for yet another difficult talk.

The sound of rushing water in her ears made this hard. The devastating feeling she got every time she thought about Tabitha, made it harder.

Tears started welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away.

Her mom scooted the second chair closer to the one Miranda occupied and sat down. Then she reached for Miranda’s hand.

“Aren’t you the least bit excited about being a mystic witch?”

Several choice replies danced on her tongue. She swallowed the more offensive ones. “Right now I don’t give a son of a monkey spank about

being mystic.” She wasn’t sure what it meant. She’d probably heard it from Della, but it felt appropriate.

Her mom’s eyes widened. “Oh, I shouldn’t have … I’m sorry. I know you’re worried about Tabitha. I am, too.”

Miranda looked at her mom, her anger too close to the surface. “You don’t even like her.”

Her mom exhaled. “I don’t dislike Tabitha.” The tears in her mother’s eyes caught Miranda’s attention. She’d seen her father cry more

than she had her mom. And her mom wasn’t one to fake anything. So those tears were … real.

Her mom blinked. Tears fell. “After our argument, I went to see a therapist.”

“You did?” Just like her mom didn’t cry, she wasn’t the type to go talk to therapists. That would imply she had problems. And her mom, of

course, was perfect. Just ask her.

Her mom inhaled. “What you said…”

Guilt rose above Miranda’s anger. “I was wrong to say…”

“No. I needed to hear it. I’ve been terrible since … since you learned the truth and Tabitha came into your life.” Fresh tears filled her

eyes. “No, I’ve been terrible long before that, since I found out about Mary Esther and her pregnancy. I didn’t know your father was

married, Miranda. But I was pretty sure there was another woman. His pager went off way too much. And he’d never make a call in front of me. I

let … things happen quicker because … I thought he’d forget about whomever it was paging him if we slept together.”

She sat up straighter. “When he told me he was married, I was meeting him to tell him that I was pregnant. He told me about his wife and her

pregnancy. I told him I never wanted to see him again. I left.”

She inhaled then continued, “He came to see me the next week. He told me his marriage was basically over and that … he loved me. But he