Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(15)

“Brent? Of course he is, Mom.”

“Are you sure?” She leaned forward. “He’s just not the same since Easton left him.”

“What?”

Grace raised her carefully groomed eyebrows meaningfully.

“I honestly don’t know what your eyebrows mean right now.”

Grace whispered dramatically, as if Brent could hear through the walls and across the parking lot, “He’s put on a lot of weight.”

Robin closed her eyes, determined to get her mother out of the shop before Brent came over to help. “How’s Grandma today? Did you go by already?”

Robin’s grandmother, Helen Russell, was still living in Russell House, the home where she’d raised her children, but it was beginning to look more and more like a bad idea for her to live alone.

“I’m going to have to fire the maids,” Grace said.

“What? Why?”

“They’re lazy. And Mother can’t see well enough to spot the dirt anymore.”

“Shoot.” Robin hadn’t had a great feeling about the new cleaning service, but since Carla, her grandmother’s longtime housekeeper, had retired, it had been one service after another, none of which understood how to clean an old home as large as Grandma Helen’s.

“I think it’s time for her to move,” Robin said. “She’s ninety-five, Mom.”

“I know how old my mother is,” Grace said. “Where do you think she’s going to go? Is she going to move in with you and Mark?”

“I mean…” The thought hadn’t occurred to her, but it wasn’t out of the question. “If she wants to, we can manage. Emma will be gone in the fall, and Austin’s room is empty.”

“And on the second floor,” Grace said. “Mother would hate living with you or me. She’s too independent, and she’ll never leave Russell House. It’s her home.”

“What about Partridge Valley?”

Grace looked offended. “Russell women do not move into old-folks’ homes, Robin.”

“It’s a retirement community. Val’s grandmother loved living there.”

“Absolutely not.” Grace rose. “We just need to find some live-in help.”

Her grandmother was rolling in money, so it wasn’t out of the question. “Should we ask Uncle Raymond what he thinks?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Grace’s eyes were scorching in their disapproval.

“It was just a suggestion. She’s his mother too.”

Robin wished her mother had a better relationship with her Uncle Raymond, but that bridge had burned long ago, and Robin had never been sure why. Uncle Raymond had never gotten along with her grandfather, who’d been a hard, unforgiving, and judgmental man with exacting standards for everyone in the family.

Not unlike his daughter.

Robin sighed and stood, ready to face the shop and the day.

In the weeks since the accident, Robin had been trying to be more focused on her family, which meant more time with her mother and father. Mark and Emma were still in their own worlds. Austin had called a couple of times, but the conversations hadn’t gone well. Robin felt out of sorts, discombobulated, and she wasn’t sleeping well.

They were raising her car this week, and Robin was hoping that something about seeing it and settling the insurance mess would allow her to move on. Plus she really needed a new car. She was tired of borrowing Mark’s truck or asking for rides, but she also couldn’t decide what sort of car she wanted.

The world around her seemed like it was covered in gauze some days. Nothing was clear or urgent. It was difficult to concentrate, and she often lost track of time.

Both Val and Monica seemed fine. They still texted regularly, and they talked on the phone. They’d been busy, but everything seemed normal. Why was it so much harder for Robin to get back to her life?

She was still haunted by the face of their rescuer. Despite fleeting glimpses on the edge of sleep that she put down to posttraumatic hallucinations, she hadn’t seen him. No one had seen him. Val and Monica had no idea what she was talking about. She’d stopped bringing it up because she was starting to feel crazy. None of the police had seen anyone matching her description at the scene. No one appeared at the hospital, ready to take credit for saving three women from drowning.

Nothing.

She had to move on. She didn’t have a choice.

After an hour of prodding, Robin convinced Grace that she was fine and didn’t need any help. No doubt the lack of customers helped her argument. It was a Tuesday morning in the middle of fall; Robin wasn’t expecting much.

She filled out online orders and texted Brent when she heard the delivery truck arrive.

“Okay,” Brent huffed as they moved the midcentury desk. “Where are we putting this beauty?”

Robin pointed at the corner. “Right there.”

“Where there is already a dresser.” Brent’s face fell. “Are we stacking them now?”

Robin smiled. “No, we’re moving that one out and waiting for Monica to come pick it up.”

Brent cleared his throat and shuffled adorably. “Oh. Monica?”

Her cousin had had a crush on Monica when she’d still been Monica Morales and the prettiest girl water-skiing on the lake.