“Cool.” She reached for a pen.
It had taken a good amount of legal finagling to make sure everything lined up and both Russell House and Misfit Mountain Coffee Company were covered and insured and happily independent, legally speaking. Now that all the details were out of the way, Val was starting to feel excited. Eve would be managing the new stand, and JoJo would be taking over as head barista at the main shop. Eve was excited about the promotion and the profit sharing idea Val had dreamed up. JoJo was excited about the raise.
And Val?
Val was… still busy.
She had her boys and her parents. She had the coffee shop and a new stand at the fancy-schmancy boutique hotel on the shores of Glimmer Lake, which would need to be up and running in only a few weeks.
She continued to take her antianxiety meds and felt like she was finally gaining control over the psychometry—she’d finally done some research into her gift—that had become a part of her life. It was starting to feel less like a curse and more like a superpower.
That’s what her newest tattoos were about. She glanced down at the lightning-like branches inked from her inner arms down onto her wrists. The ends of the lightning ended under the fine black gloves that had become her signature fashion accessory.
This power wasn’t going away, so Val was claiming it. It was hers, and she wasn’t going to hide it from the people she loved.
Well, maybe her boys. For now. The last thing they needed was a complex about how much their mom could spy on them.
Not that she did. Much.
“Hey, boss!” Ramon called from the kitchen. “I’m finished cleaning up back here. I’m heading out.”
“Good man.” Val took a breath and quickly signed her name. “Tell Honey I said hi.” Just another day in the coffee shop. Minding her business. Opening a second location.
Ramon said, “She’s making bear claws tomorrow morning.”
Monica caught Val’s eye. “Save me one, or I will break your wrist.”
Val blinked. “Um, a little violent over a bear claw, don’t you think?”
Robin shrugged. “I mean, it’s one of Honey’s…”
To be fair, Honey didn’t make bear claws every week. It was more a once-a-month thing because they were so huge and took so much work.
The bell rang again, and Val looked up from leaving her signature on the papers spread across the table. This time it was Sully walking through the door.
“Wow,” he said. “Someone plan a party and not invite me?”
Monica said, “Honey’s making bear claws tomorrow morning.”
“Oh shit.” Sully’s eyes went wide. “What time do you open?”
“For Pete’s sake, they’re just pastries, people.”
“I don’t know who Pete is,” Sully said, “but he doesn’t make bear claws like Honey.”
“Bye, all!” Ramon waved at the crowd and disappeared into the back.
Val put the cap back on her pen. “Okay, there is officially another branch of Misfit Mountain Coffee Company.”
A cheer went up from Sully, JoJo, Robin, Monica, and the boys.
Sully’s smile was wide and generous. “That’s awesome.” He looked at Monica and Robin. “So I’m gonna be able to get decent coffee up at Russell House when I have to come break up the fights there, huh?”
“Ha ha.” Monica rolled her eyes. “That was one guy who brought a flask to a business retreat. It’s not exactly Chaco’s bar up there.”
“I don’t blame him for the flask,” Robin said quietly. “Who does trust falls in the snow?”
“We did warn that manager about the slush,” Monica said. “She overruled us.”
Jackson walked over to Sully. “Hey, check out my new ink.”
Sully glanced at Val, who nodded, before he looked at Jackson’s arm. “That’s cool. Science stuff, huh?”
“Yeah.”
He was good with her boys. Sully hadn’t spent a ton of time around Jackson and Andy yet. They were keeping things pretty casual for now. But when he did run into them, Andy was his usual bursting ray of sunshine and Jackson played it cool, but Val could tell he liked having Sully’s opinion on things.
She put her copies of the contract in the folder Monica brought and stared at it, thinking about everything that had changed in the past year.
New business.
New perspective.
New man in her life.
She looked up to see Robin and Monica smiling at her.
Some things never changed. Some things didn’t need to.
She stared at the two greatest friends in the world.
Love you, she mouthed.
Monica blew her a kiss and Robin mouthed, Love you more.
Val was still staring at the folder with her shiny new contracts when Sully sidled up next to her and leaned down. “So can a hardworking law-enforcement officer get some coffee this time of day, or am I out of luck?”
“I don’t know. Did you bring your own mug?”
Sully gave Val the secret smile she loved. “Of course.”
He’d taken to leaving hidden messages on his coffee cup. Well, hidden to everyone but Val. Sometimes the images she saw when she touched his coffee cup were sweet. Sometimes they cracked her up. She slipped off her right glove and reached for his silver travel mug, letting the metal warm in her hand as the image became clear.
As soon as Val saw the memory on Sully’s mug, she burst out laughing so loudly she clapped a hand over her mouth.
There was Sully, freshly showered and dressed only with a bath towel around his waist, shaking his hips in front of his foggy mirror to Sophie B. Hawkins’s “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover,” and singing into his travel mug like it was a microphone.
“Val?” Robin looked up with a curious expression, but Val couldn’t stop laughing. There were tears running down her cheeks.
Before she could slip away, Sully pinched her ass and cleared his throat. “Jeez, Valerie, get a handle on yourself. All I asked for was some coffee.”
She shook her head and walked behind the counter, still wiping her eyes.
Robin and Monica were watching her with amused expressions. Jackson was rolling his eyes, and Andy was listening intently to whatever JoJo was talking about. Probably some new meme on YouTube.
Sun poured through the windows, and Val took off her gloves, pressing both her hands to the counter behind the register.
It was warm. The counter shouted memories of laughter and frustration and yelling and singing. Voice after voice of employees she adored, customers she cherished, and the cacophony of love that filled her life.
She poured Sully’s coffee and added cream to the brim before she looked around the business and life she’d built.
In a world where she’d never fit in, she’d somehow managed to build a family like no other. Silence? Who needed it?
Her coffee cup runneth over.
* * *
Thanks for reading Semi-Psychic Life! I hope you enjoyed Val’s story. Monica’s book is coming in August 2020 and you can preorder it now, but turn the page if you want your first look at the synopsis of Psychic Dreams.
First Look: Psychic Dreams
Coming August 2020!
Available for preorder now.
It’s been three years since Monica Velasquez lost the love of her life to a sudden and devastating heart attack. She’s held her family together and picked herself up with the love and help of her two best friends. Now the kids have moved out, and Monica has a new business, a new wardrobe, and a new vision for the future.
As in, actual psychic visions. Dreams that manifest in reality. Monica still isn’t sure why or how it happened, but she’s been seeing everything from unexpected visitors to visions of fire and destruction.
Separating psychic premonitions from morbid imagination is proving harder than she expected, and Monica starts feeling the heat—or is it a hot flash?—when the town’s new fire inspector grows suspicious of her accurate and a
nonymous tips.
Is their town about to feel the burn of a serial arsonist, or can Monica, Robin, and Val figure out the dangerous secret smoldering at the heart of Glimmer Lake?
Psychic Dreams is a standalone paranormal women’s fiction novel in the Glimmer Lake series by USA Today best seller Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Elemental Mysteries and the Irin Chronicles.
* * *
Order today for delivery on your e-reader in August 2020.
Sign up for my newsletter for all the latest updates or visit ElizabethHunterWrites.com for information about my books.
Afterword
Dear Readers,
Thanks for returning to Glimmer Lake! I hope you enjoyed reading Semi-Psychic Life as much as I enjoyed writing it. This series has been an absolute joy to write, and I’m so excited to continue creating stories in the Paranormal Women’s Fiction genre.
The next book in the series will be Psychic Dreams, which will be coming in August 2020. You can preorder it now, and in the meantime, I hope you’ll check out some of my other series like the Cambio Springs Mysteries, the Irin Chronicles, or the Elemental Mysteries.
I also hope you take the time to sign up for my newsletter to receive a free short story, or subscribe to my blog at ElizabethHunterWrites.com. Those are the best ways to keep up with all the latest news, teasers, and contests happening for my books.
And of course, honest reviews at your favorite retailer are always very welcome and help a writer out!
Thank you for reading,
Elizabeth Hunter
More Paranormal Women’s Fiction
Looking for more paranormal fiction featuring women at midlife and later who are ready for adventure? Check out the amazing authors in the paranormal women’s fiction genre at:
www.ParanormalWomensFiction.net
Books included:
Robyn Peterman, It's a Wonderful Midlife Crisis
Shannon Mayer, Grave Magic Bounty
Michelle M. Pillow, Second Chance Magic
Mandy M. Roth, Cloudy With a Chance of Witchcraft
Darynda Jones, Betwixt
Denise Grover Swank, Let It All Burn
K.F. Breene, Magical Midlife Madness
Eve Langlais, Halfway There
Jana DeLeon, Wrong Side of Forty
Deanna Chase, Witching For Grace
Kristen Painter, Sucks to be Me
Christine Gael Bell, Writing Wrongs
Acknowledgments
First of all, because this book was published during the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to thank all the people around the world working in essential jobs:
The nurses, doctors, and scientists finding answers and treating the sick.
But also the postal carriers, the grocery clerks, the agricultural workers, the truck drivers, the warehouse personnel, and all the countless men and women around the world who make our lives possible. Thank you for all your hard work.
We are stronger together.
* * *
You know, when I wrote Semi-Psychic Life, finding reasons for Val to wear gloves seemed like a challenge. In a few short months, she became an early adopter.
It’s not often that the things that are most important in life come into such stark focus. Food. Home. Safety. Health. Coffee. (Kidding, but not really.) For that reason, I want to thank all the essential workers above.
I also want to thank my family. My husband and son are so crucial to my mental well-being, I doubt they realize how much of their love and care go into every book I write. When you read about an awesome boyfriend or husband, or a funny and (generally) great teenager, you’re seeing a little bit of them. David and Colin, I absolutely adore you both. You make my life so rich.
To my readers, who buy my books and (an even bigger compliment) talk about them to their friends and family, I love and appreciate you so much. People often thank me for writing books, but a novelist isn’t going to make much of an impact (or an income!) without readers. My readers are the absolute best, and I love to brag about them, especially all the fabulous Hunters in Hunters’ Haven.
To the administrators of my reader group, Hannah, Meg, Tiffany, Danielle, and Fiona, you are wonderful and I owe you so many rounds of your favorite adult beverages. Someday, my friends. Someday.
To my wonderful Jenn and Gen, I miss you. Oh, I miss you. Video chats are not nearly enough. I’m in the office completely alone now, except for the dogs, and they are way harsher than they look. Don’t let the cute furry faces fool you. Brutal. Absolutely brutal critics.
To my awesome editing team, Amy Cissell at Cissell Ink and Anne and Linda at Victory Editing. You guys are amazing and I’m so sorry that I will never spell grey with an “a” like a proper American but it just looks wrong—wrong, I tell you! Please forward all complaints to my father and the British schooling system.
Author’s Note: Also, they didn’t edit these acknowledgements because I always leave them to the very end, so if there are typos (which there probably are) it’s all on me.
To my fabulous cover artists at Damonza, thank you for always making my book covers so eye-catching and gorgeous. The covers for Glimmer Lake defied every expectation.
To all the folks at Social Butterfly PR, but especially to Emily Kidman, thank you for your love, faith, and the numerous and frequent reminders that are necessary to keep me on track. (Seriously, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing to promote this book. For the love of toilet paper, Emily, please text me and remind me what to do.)
To the wonderful ladies of the Paranormal Women’s Fiction Fab13, I want to give love, kudos, and shoutouts! Michelle M. Pillow, Mandy Roth, Jana DeLeon, KF Breene, Shannon Mayer, Darynda Jones, Eve Langlais, Robyn Peterman, Kristin Painter, Deanna Chase, Denise Grover Swank, and Christine Bell. You are a consortium of awesome, and I don’t know why you agreed to let me hang out with the cool kids, but I’m so glad you did.
Cheers, everyone! Stay home and stay safe. We’ll get through this together, and I’ll see you online.
EH
About the Author
ELIZABETH HUNTER is a USA Today and international best-selling author of romance, contemporary fantasy, and paranormal mystery. Based in Central California, she travels extensively to write fantasy fiction exploring world mythologies, history, and the universal bonds of love, friendship, and family. She has published over thirty works of fiction and sold over a million books worldwide. She is the author of Love Stories on 7th and Main, the Elemental Legacy series, the Irin Chronicles, the Cambio Springs Mysteries, and other works of fiction.
ElizabethHunterWrites.com
Also by Elizabeth Hunter
Glimmer Lake Series
Suddenly Psychic
Semi-Psychic Life
Psychic Dreams
(August 2020)
The Cambio Springs Series
Long Ride Home
Shifting Dreams
Five Mornings
Desert Bound
Waking Hearts
Dust Born
(Newsletter Serial)
Contemporary Romance
The Genius and the Muse
7th and Main
INK
HOOKED
GRIT
The Elemental Mysteries
A Hidden Fire
This Same Earth
The Force of Wind
A Fall of Water
The Stars Afire
The Elemental World
Building From Ashes
Waterlocked
Blood and Sand
The Bronze Blade
The Scarlet Deep
A Very Proper Monster
A Stone-Kissed Sea
Valley of the Shadow
The Elemental Legacy
Shadows and Gold
Imitation and Alchemy
Omens and Artifacts
Obsidian’s Edge
(novella anthology)
Midnight Labyrinth
Blood Apprentice
Night’s Reckoning
Dawn Caravan
(Summer 2020)
The Irin Chronicles
The Scribe
The Singer
The Secret
The Staff and the Blade
The Silent
The Storm
The Seeker
Linx & Bogie Mysteries
A Ghost in the Glamour
A Bogie in the Boat
Semi-Psychic Life: Glimmer Lake Book Two Page 22