Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(34)

“Speaking of that, I wanted to go up to the lake with Monica.” She thought quickly. “She lost a bracelet, and she’s thinking the EMTs might have taken it off when they got her out.”

Monica looked at her and Robin mouthed, I’m sorry.

“A bracelet?” Mark sounded skeptical. “Kind of a needle in a haystack, don’t you think? How are you going to find a bracelet on that beach?”

“It’s not that big. And she at least wants to try. I offered to help. Can you pick up Emma from the library?”

“Yeah, sure. What am I cooking tonight?”

Mark would cook, but Robin had to plan everything out and make sure all the ingredients were on hand. She’d tried to get him involved in meal planning years ago, but he’d complained that he liked to be spontaneous when he cooked. That led to various interpretations of pasta and jarred sauce three times a week, so Robin had taken it over and held his hand.

At least he cooked. Most of the married men she knew did nothing to help around the house.

“There’s ground beef in the fridge,” Robin said. “I thought you could make meat loaf.”

“You got it.”

“Okay, bye. I’ll see you later.”

“See you.”

She ended the call and walked back to Monica and Val. “Okay. Who wants to go ghost hunting?”





Robin sat on a large granite rock on the edge of Glimmer Lake and stuffed her hands under her arms. “It’s cold.”

“Yeah, pretty cold.” Monica’s teeth had chattered a couple of times.

“Do you think we should move back into the woods?” Robin asked. “M-maybe he won’t come out in the open.”

“I know nothing about ghosts. Maybe he can’t come out when it’s daytime.”

“I saw him during the day by the sheriff’s station.”

“Okay” —Monica turned to Robin— “speaking of the sheriff, were you getting vibes from him and Val?”

“Vibes? Like… what do you mean?”

Monica raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“What? I didn’t notice anything. Like they’re mad at each other? Why would they be mad at each other?”

“Not mad!” Monica huffed out a breath. “Like vibes, Robin. Like his boy parts would like to hang out with her girl parts, and maybe they already have?”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“You don’t get that at all from them?”

“No! I mean, I haven’t looked.”

Monica rolled her eyes. “That’s ’cause your own girl parts are probably desperately in need of attention.”

Robin’s mouth dropped open, and Monica reached over and tapped her chin. “Do that the next time Mark is naked. You’ll both have fun.”

“Monica!”

“What? I can tell it’s been way too long. You’re super uptight lately. What is going on with you guys?”

“Why are we talking about this?”

Monica threw her head up and groaned. “Because we’re sitting on the edge of the lake waiting for a ghost to magically appear, and I’m cold and I’m bored, and also you’ve been kind of bitchy lately and I think you’re not getting laid enough.”

“When am I supposed to get laid? He’s in bed at nine thirty and awake at five in the morning. We’re never awake in bed at the same time.” She could feel her cheeks burning.

“Aha.” Monica’s expression was triumphant. “So you are orgasm deprived. I knew it.”

“I’ve been orgasm deprived for like five years.”

Monica’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Five years?”

“I mean… we’ve had sex. It’s just been kind of… blah.”

“Oh.” Monica put her hand on her chest. “Blah is not okay.”

“I don’t know.” Robin could still feel her cheeks burning. “Isn’t that just kind of how it is? We’ve been married for twenty-three years. Everyone has dry spells.”

“Not five-year dry spells. That’s just wrong.” She patted Robin’s hand. “You need to make time for sex.”

“Says who?”

“Says your body. It’s not healthy to go that long without an orgasm. And I promise Mark’s not happy either. He’s probably just trying to ignore it.”

“He ignores me, that’s for sure.”

“Since when?”

“Since…” Robin shrugged. “I don’t know. Since a long time. I can’t remember. I’ve honestly wondered whether he’s just going to leave me when Emma’s out of the house. He has no friends here anymore. He ignores me. He pays more attention to his work friends online than he does to me.”

Monica was staring at Robin with wide eyes. “You think Mark’s gonna leave you?”

“I mean… maybe.”

“Robin, how do you say a thing like that like it’s no big deal?” Monica glared at her. “‘So I’ve been thinking we might get a fake Christmas tree this year. Also, I think I might paint the living room, and oh, Mark might leave me when Emma goes away to college.’”