Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(39)

“But far less cool,” Emma said. “What do you say, Mom? Psychic or metal detector for finding lost things?”

Well, this was awkward. “Metal detector,” Robin said. “Definitely. You can rent those down at Glimmer Lake Sports. I don’t have any idea where you’d rent a psychic.”





Chapter 14





Shopping for cars had to be Robin’s least favorite thing to do ever. But since the Subaru was totaled from the crash, she needed a vehicle. Something sturdy. Something good in snow. She’d been depending on friends and borrowing Mark’s truck for way too long.

“What about this?” Mark pointed to the largest SUV on the lot.

Robin glanced up at him. “Are we moving someplace that doesn’t have any roads?”

“It’s nice, right?” He opened the door as the hopeful salesman hovered in the distance. “Leather interior. This has all the modern guidance systems—”

“Most of which won’t work up here because there’s no cell signal,” Robin said. “I don’t need anything fancy.”

The salesman’s face fell.

Mark slammed the car door shut. “We’re not getting you a piece of junk.”

Emma was leaning against a neighboring pickup truck, playing on her phone. She’d be no help.

Robin said, “I think there’s something between a giant luxury tank and a piece of junk, Mark. What about another Subaru?”

Mark made a face. He’d never liked the Subaru.

“Subarus are very safe,” Robin said. “Maybe they’re not sexy-looking but—”

“I don’t care about sexy.” Mark walked to the next giant SUV. “I just want you driving something… substantial.”

“Substantial?”

“Big, okay? When it comes to being in accidents, size does matter.”

Emma snorted.

“Hey,” Mark barked. “You’re not supposed to think that’s funny.”

“Sure, Dad.” She never looked up from her phone. “Mom doesn’t like giant cars. She thinks they’re hard to park.”

Mark frowned at her. “You have no problem parking the truck.”

“But I don’t drive that every day. Plus it just seems wasteful. Emma’s going off to school next year. Austin’s gone already, along with all his football gear. I don’t need a giant car. Buying all this seems silly.”

“I don’t think keeping you safe is silly.” Mark left her and walked over to the salesman. “Which of your cars has the best safety rating? I mean, the absolute best. Do you have brochures about that?”

The two men walked back toward the office and Robin joined Emma, leaning on the truck opposite Emma’s as she surveyed the car lot in Bridger City.

“He’s just worried about you,” Emma said. “You should probably let him get you a giant car.”

“No, I shouldn’t. I have to drive it every day. The only reason for me to have a big car is to take them to estate sales. And what happens when I go to an estate sale?”

“You take Dad’s truck because you always end up getting tall stuff.”

“Exactly.”

Robin watched as a man in a retro-looking suit walked toward them. It took Robin a moment to realize the man was a ghost. He had the same faint aura Billy did, and his hair and clothes were straight out of the 1970s. He didn’t look at Robin. He hadn’t noticed either of them. He was strolling through the car lot like it was his regular routine. It looked like he might be whistling.

Had he died at the car lot? He carried no visible injuries. Had he suffered a heart attack? Stroke?

Why did some ghosts get attached to a place? Could they move? Travel? Or were they stuck in one place for eternity? Why had she only seen Billy’s ghost near the lake or the sheriff’s office? Could he move other places? Why had he become a ghost in the first place?

Obviously, not every person turned into a ghost after they died, otherwise she’d see way, way more of them. Counting Car Lot Man over there, she’d only ever seen four. Billy Grimmer, the little girl by the lake, Nurse Hawkins, and Car Lot Man. Why did ghosts stay in one place instead of moving on? Why did some seem to know what had happened to them, like Billy, and others not have a clue, like the nurse in the hospital?

Car Lot Man looked happy. He looked content even. He wandered up and down the rows of freshly washed vehicles, nodding at the living people he passed, not noticing or maybe not caring that they didn’t wave or nod back.

He was happy. Maybe he didn’t want to move on. Maybe the old car lot was his favorite place in the world.

“Where’s the one place you feel most at home?” Robin asked Emma.

“Other than home?”

“Including home.”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Emma looked up from her phone. “I feel most at home when I’m at home.”

“Good.” Robin’s heart was doing the warm-fuzzy dance. “Sadly, it’s not obvious. I never felt all that at home in Grandma and Grandpa’s house.”

“That’s because Grandma sees her house as a showroom.”

How did her daughter get to be so wise? “I guess that’s true,” Robin said. “Half the stuff in my house growing up was for sale. I think she even sold my dresser once.”