Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(57)

“Don’t get me started on random chin hairs, because I’ll never stop,” Robin said. “And I don’t know if my opinion counts for anything, but I think you’re really good at being a psychic detective.”

“Thanks. You’re as much of an expert on that as I am. But thanks.”

Robin closed her notebook and started putting pictures back in boxes. “Have the dreams gotten any better?”

“Nope. I’m not getting any new ones either. Just you and Billy by a house in the woods, and a bloody knife in a dark room with stained glass.”

“Did you go to the church?”

“Yes.” Monica rolled her eyes. “Every single church in town. None of them have stained glass like what I saw. It doesn’t look like a church either. It looks more like… You know those Tiffany stained glass lamps they have at the lodge?”

“Yeah.”

“Like that.”

“Is it the lodge?”

“Nope. It’s definitely a window. And yes, in case you were wondering, I drove up to the lodge too. They do not have any stained glass windows. They only have the lamps.”

“This is maddening.”

“Tell me about it. I think maybe the next step should be trying to find that cabin I keep seeing.”

“Where do we even start with that?”

“With you learning how to call ghosts better.” Monica threw her purse over her shoulder. “You ready to go?”

“Yep.” They walked out of the library, waving at Gail behind the desk, and to the dark parking lot shared by the library, city hall, and the post office.

Monica grinned when they got to Robin’s new car. “I love your car.”

“Thanks.” Robin couldn’t stop her smile. “I’m starting to like it a lot. I’m not in love yet, but it’s heading there.”

“It’s sexy.”

Mark had jumped at the task Robin had given him and bought her a deep red, low-slung crossover SUV that was halfway between a station wagon and a Jeep with all-wheel steering, a state-of-the-art navigation system, and tan leather interior.

“It’s very… red.”

Monica elbowed her. “And you said your husband thought you were boring. That is not the car of a boring woman. That is a sexy car. It’s sexy red.”

“Monica—”

“And it has all the things you love, but it’s not a boxy Subaru. Just take the sexy car as it was intended and do bad things to your husband with your newfound sexiness.”

“Could you say sexiness one more time?”

“Sexiness.” Monica made a purring sound. “Sexy. Sex-ay. Sexy.”

“This is bordering on disturbing now.”

“Shut up, sexy.”





Taking Monica’s advice, the next night just before dusk, Robin went out to the edge of the lake where she’d seen Billy’s ghost twice. She sat on the rocks with her sketchbook and started picturing Billy in her mind. She sketched him walking in the forest near the edge of the lake in his plaid flannel and worn jeans. The image was so clear in her mind her pencil flew over the paper.

As she drew, Robin felt like her mind opened. She could sense everything around her. The scent of lake water and pine. The cold clear air laden with the coming winter. The birds grew louder, then fell silent, and when she looked up, Billy Grimmer was there, looking more than a little disoriented.

“It worked.” Robin couldn’t stop her smile.

“That was strange.”

“I did it. I called you.”

“Is that what you did?” Billy walked toward her, his ghost looking more solid the closer he came. “The other times I’ve felt you close, and I followed you, if that makes sense.”

“Not really, but I’m not a ghost.” Robin kept the sketchbook open. She had no idea what would happen if she closed it. Would he disappear? She had a few questions she wanted to ask. “So this time what happened? What was different?”

“I felt a pull. You weren’t just a bright, warm spot in the fog—being here is kind of like living in the fog—but I felt a tug in my mind. Like that feeling when you know you’re forgetting something, so you go to the last place you were? It felt kind of like that.”

“Huh.” Robin wondered how far it worked. Did geography matter? Or did ghosts not really work like that? “I have some questions for you.”

“I’ll answer them if I can.” Billy picked up some small stones along the lakeside and skipped them across the water.

The ripple wasn’t in her mind. She saw the water splash. “You’re picking things up again.”

“I feel really strong.”

“Do you know why all this is happening to me?” Robin asked. “To us? Monica, Val, and I—we all went into the lake. Before that, I hadn’t been able to see ghosts. I’d never seen anything like that before.”

Billy frowned. “Hadn’t you?”

Robin hesitated. “I think I’d remember seeing ghosts, don’t you think?” She dismissed her childhood “fairies” as nothing but a vivid imagination.

“I don’t know,” Billy said. “I forget a lot of things. Like now that I’ve seen you, how did I not recognize you as Helen’s granddaughter? You’re the spitting image of her, but I didn’t see it before. You just looked familiar.”