Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(74)

“But maybe he knows other priests who do exorcisms.”

Monica rolled her eyes. “Dude, do you think exorcism is covered in Being a Priest 101? I don’t think they really deal with that much. Also, that’s for people who are possessed, not weird, murdery grandparent ghosts.” She winced. “No offense.”

“I’m over it.”

Val said, “You know what I think?”

“That you need to bone Sully?”

“Are you twelve, Robin?” Val glared at her. “Just forget I said anything!”

Monica was biting her lip, clearly trying not to laugh.

Robin cleared her throat. “You were saying?”

“I think” —Val shot her a dirty look— “there are two people in this house who’ve probably run into more spirits and ghosts and all sorts of weird things than any of us ever have.”

Monica frowned. “The… kids?”

“Teenagers are hormonal, not possessed,” Robin said. “Not that it doesn’t feel like the same thing sometimes.”

“The nurses,” Val said. “Think about it.”

“Oh, that makes sense. They’re hospice nurses.” Monica kept her voice low. “People die around them all the time.”

Val cringed. “Wow, that sounds so bad.”

“You know what I mean! If there are people who have been around spirits—”

“I’d be willing to bet every single nurse you’ve ever met has a story or two,” Val said. “Didn’t they have one in the hospital in Bridger City with that ghost Robin saw there?”

Monica asked, “Robin, what do you think?”

“I don’t know.” She thought about sensible, kind, and thorough Lily. The last thing she wanted was to make her grandmother’s caretaker think she was nuts. Then again, they weren’t likely to spend that much time with her after Grandma Helen passed.

“Sure,” she said. “Let’s ask Lily first.” Robin glanced at the clock. “It’s two now, she usually comes in at three.”

“Okay.” Val nodded. “And I’m getting some sage.”

“Grab the salt gun too,” Monica said. “Just in case.”





Chapter 27





Lily frowned. “Are you asking me if there are ghosts in the house?” She looked between Val, Monica, and Robin. “I mean… I’m your grandmother’s nurse. I don’t—”

“I know it sounds completely bizarre,” Robin said. “Just… I’m so sorry. Forget we asked.”

Lily kept her voice soft. “I was going to say I don’t usually encounter spirits of the deceased until after they are, in fact, deceased. Your grandmother is not.”

The library was dead silent for a few awkward minutes.

“So you don’t think we’re nuts?” Val asked.

“Not at all,” Lily said. “I think anyone who’s worked in palliative care has at least one or two stories about spirits of the recently deceased doing strange or unexpected things. It’s not uncommon. I had a patient a few months ago who showed up in her sister’s room shortly after she passed; then her prized flock of chickens all went insane for about a half an hour, squawking and making a horrible racket even though it was the middle of the night.” Lily shrugged. “There’s a lot about the world we don’t really understand. I accept that.”

Monica put her head on her folded hands. “We thought for sure you were going to think we were the crazy granddaughters.”

Lily frowned. “Are you all granddaughters to Helen?”

“Not technically,” Robin said. “But she was a big part of all our lives. And thank you for not thinking we’re crazy. I guess you could say that we recently went through some fairly big life changes that we weren’t expecting.”

Lily nodded. “Menopause can surprise anyone. I know when I was going through the change—”

“Not exactly menopause,” Robin said. “Though I’m definitely sweating more at night, so that’s probably coming too.”

“Don’t forget the chin hairs.”

“I found three yesterday!” Val huffed out a breath. “What is that about?”

“No one understands chin hairs,” Monica said. “I feel like I’m always finding new ones.” She turned back to Lily. “But we’re not talking about hormones. We’re talking about being a little bit psychic for the past couple of months.”

“A little bit” —Lily’s eyebrows rose sky-high— “sorry, did you say psychic?”

“Just for the past couple of months,” Robin said. “And regarding what you were saying before, it’s not Grandma’s spirit we’re worried about. It’s my grandfather’s.”

Lily looked even more confused. “Did he pass recently?”

“No, it was about thirty-five years ago.”

“Wow, okay.” Lily cocked her head. “Um… I guess I did notice that she has no pictures of him in her room. No mementos that look like they belong to a man. She doesn’t even wear a wedding band.”

“She told us years ago that she lost it,” Robin said. “We never questioned her. It wasn’t a happy marriage.”