“I think I will, Billie.” She gives a forlorn smile. “I’m sorry to say your insane night’s not over yet.” She closes her eyes a moment too long, and when they open again, they’re glowing a magical shade of lavender. “I’m not Morgan. I’m Mabel.”
Chapter 6
“A ghost?” The words stumble from me as Morgan grips me by the shoulders.
Sunny drove us straight back to Teddy’s place as soon as I got Morgan on the horn and initiated the world’s biggest freakout. Mabel—or her ghost as it were—did a disappearing act as soon as I began to howl like a loon.
“Don’t worry”—Morgan shakes her head like maybe I should—“you’re not alone. I can see my sister, too.”
“What?” I glance past her at Teddy and Sunny who are looking at me wild-eyed as if I were a feral cat they were unsure of.
“We can’t see her.” Sunny shakes her head. “Teddy and I aren’t transmundane like Morgan, but if we hold her hand, she acts like a spiritual conduit of some sort and we can listen in on whatever Mabel has to say.”
“Transmundane?” I give my niece a questioning look.
She gives a quick nod. “Apparently, that’s what I am. It’s what they call people with special supernatural abilities. Our ability to see the dead falls under the subcategory of supersensual. And Bizzy, the woman I met in Cider Cove when Mabel was murdered? She’s telesensual, which means she can read minds. There’s an entire slew of abilities that fall under the transmundane umbrella. And I’m guessing you have a few abilities that fall under there, too. From what I hear, these abilities can run in families.”
“Oh, sweet Lord, what about Harper?” I wail. “No offense to Mabel, but I don’t think teenagers should be talking to the dead and having them talk right back. If she so much as whispers the fact she’s garnered the ability to communicate with the other side, it might cost her a few friends, not to mention secure her a seventy-two hour unwanted vacation in a locked psychiatric unit.”
“She may not be transmundane.” Morgan shrugs. “But let’s focus on you right now. You said you saw Mabel outside of Rex’s place—right after you went to the bookstore.” She gives a slow nod as if trying to connect the pieces.
“That’s right,” I say.
On the way back to the house, I told them all about my little jaunt in time and all three of them agreed that I have some serious issues with my noggin. Sunny suggested a CAT scan. Teddy suggested I get every nook and cranny checked out pronto, and right about now, I don’t think that’s a bad idea.
I clear my throat. “I was talking to Elliot, and boy, did he get me good and steamed—then, well, I think a genuine hot flash hit me, and the next thing I knew the floor was giving way, the room was spinning, and I was standing in the Haunted Book Barn. Elliot was there, too, and we exchanged a few words. I asked him what day it was and he said Monday. That’s when I saw you, Teddy, and you basically told me that you couldn’t get involved.”
The three of them exchange a glance before Sunny shakes her head.
“Morgan”—Sunny swats her on the arm—“you’d better take her to that woman you met in Cider Cove and see if she can figure this out.”
Morgan nods my way. “She’s right. Get some good rest tonight, Billie. I should be done with what I have to do at the bookstore by noon, and then you and I are headed to Cider Cove, to the Country Cottage Inn, to speak with Bizzy Baker Wilder. She’ll know exactly why you’re getting your days and nights mixed up.”
“Infants get their days and nights mixed up,” I’m quick to point out. “I’m getting my time continuums confused in the worst way possible.” A horrible thought comes to me. “Morgan, if I disappear for good one day, you’ll have to promise me you’ll take care of Harper as if she were your own daughter. Lord help her if Harold and his hussy are all she’s got left in this world.”
“You don’t even have to ask.” She pulls me close and I wrap my arms around her. “But you won’t disappear. The only place you’ll be going anytime soon is to Cider Cove, tomorrow afternoon.”
Sunny gives a mournful smile. “I’d go with you, but I have to work crazy hours tomorrow. Rex says I’m the eye candy that keeps his customers coming back for more, and he’s not wrong about that.”
Teddy steps in close. “And just try to keep me away. Don’t worry about a thing, Billie the Kid. I’m heading to Cider Cove with you. We ride at noon!” she cheers.
“We ride at noon,” I echo without nearly as much enthusiasm.
It’s hard to get excited when you have so much to worry about—like getting lost in the Mesozoic Era. And I think my hair is unruly now? Just wait until I’m stuck in a cave with a pterodactyl for a decade or two.
This is going to be way worse than the time I caught my hand in a car door. Far worse than my quasi-natural delivery with Harper. And only a little better than catching Harold plowing a coed in our bedroom.
Just when I thought things were going to turn around for the better—things took a turn for the worse.
Seeing ghosts?
Time travel?
And Harold said I had no skills to speak of.
At least I get the satisfaction of proving him wrong.
Although this one time, I wouldn’t have minded him being right.
“I’m stumped.” Bizzy Baker Wilder, the woman who Morgan and I were hoping would have the answers to everything, says as we sit out on the back patio of the Country Cottage Café sipping hot cider while staring out at the majestic Atlantic.
It turns out, Bizzy, a cute twenty-something brunette, is the owner of the Country Cottage Inn. The inn is a large blue stone building covered in ivy with a smattering of cottages spread over the property, which belong to Bizzy as well. There’s a blue cobblestone path that snakes around the main arteries that surround the inn and the back of the place butts up to a sandy cove where currently Acorn is running loose with Bizzy’s dog Sherlock Bones, a cute little red and white freckled mutt, and her cat named Fish, a black and white tabby. But the biggest surprise is the cinnamon-colored labradoodle, a doppelgänger to Acorn, who just so happens to be a pup from the very same litter. Acorn’s sister is aptly named Cinnamon, and the four of them are running to the shoreline and back, having the time of their little furry lives.
Apparently, Bizzy can not only read the human mind, she can read the animal mind as well, and they seem to understand her, too.
Why couldn’t I have that superpower?
I would have been happy to spend each day having a perfectly sweet conversation with Acorn. Lord knows I’m an expert at speaking to dogs. I was married to one for nineteen years.
Bizzy chuckles. “Sorry, Billie.” She wrinkles her nose. “But I inadvertently just listened in on your private musings. Trust me, my abilities aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. I don’t always like what I’m hearing. And not only that, I feel terrible invading people’s privacy like that. I think time travel sounds amazing.” She grimaces a bit when she says it. “I mean, as long as you’re staying close to home and are just moving a few days in and out of the present.”
“So far so good in that department,” I say. “But I have no control over where I go next, or if I go at all.”
Georgie Conners, the woman who Bizzy introduced as her good friend, is here with Morgan, Teddy, and me. Georgie has shoulder-length gray hair that rivals Einstein’s in its fullness and rather possessed body. She’s about eighty-something and is wearing a fun pink and green tie-dyed kaftan. Teddy is seated next to her and is clad in hot pink from her coat to her boots. I’m starting to suspect a theme here.
Georgie has been nothing but a hoot from the moment we met her. And believe me, had we met under other circumstances, I’d be slapping my knee at every word that’s come out of her mouth, much the way Morgan and Teddy have been doing. Georgie isn’t transmundane, but she’s aware that Bizzy and Morgan are and has promised to keep my secret as well.
Bizzy was present the day Mabel was murdered right here in the café
behind us. Apparently, stumbling upon dead bodies is something Bizzy does on the regular, and she uses her telesensual abilities to track down the killers as well. Georgie has detailed out a few of their cases and they’re all as equally grisly.
Bizzy told me all about the day that Mabel was killed, and it broke my heart hearing her detail the story to me. But I had asked her to because I genuinely wanted to know.
“I can only imagine it’s hard to hear.” Bizzy looks pained just saying the words. “But I guess you can find comfort in the fact that you can see her again.”
“It will comfort you,” Morgan adds quickly. “Just like it has me. And Mabel wanted to apologize for scaring you right out of your skin last night, but she said she was worried for you when she saw that you appeared from out of nowhere. I guess she was in the right place at the right time.”
Bizzy leans in. “And you said that ‘day-hopping dilemma’ happened along with a hot flash?”
Georgie waves off the idea. “That was no hot flash. That was a power surge! You’re a phenom, Billie.” She nudges Bizzy with her elbow. “We’re in the presence of greatness.” She nods my way. “You’re a time traveler. But here’s the thing. You’re not any good at it.”
“I can attest to that.” I don’t mind at all debasing myself because it happens to be true. “And I don’t want to get good at it either.”
Georgie wags a finger my way. “You take that back, missy. God chose you for the job. This is your calling. Just like Bizzy here was called to snoop around in other people’s minds, you were called to hopscotch in and out of yesterday and tomorrow.”
Bizzy winces at me. “She’s sort of right.”
“Well—okay then.” It’s hard to digest that my higher calling has to do with running around in time continuums, but then who am I to question the Man Upstairs?
Teddy grunts my way, “Word to the wise. You’d better take good care of yourself or your little Harper might end up with front-row seats to the cheating chauvinist show. If I were you, I’d get checked out under the hood from head to toe. You’re basically the kid’s only parent at this point. You may as well strive to arrive at a ripe old age in prime condition.”
“Good thinking. I’ll make every doctor’s appointment known to man. Who knows what they’ll find wrong with me. But I guess I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken. Hey!” A thought comes to me as I look to Morgan. “Do you think it’s any coincidence that I started drifting in and out of time on the very same day I got hit in the head with an hourglass?”
Morgan and Bizzy exchange a look.
“I don’t know,” Morgan says. “But I do know that I don’t believe in coincidences anymore.”
Bizzy nods. “Something is definitely up.”
“For sure,” I say as I take a deep breath and soak in the surging Atlantic. “Let’s hope whatever it is, it’s a temporary situation.” I look to my niece. “Who did you say gave you that hourglass again?”
“Marceline Greenly,” Morgan says while cutting a glance in Teddy’s direction.
“Elliot’s mother.” I nod. “The one with the dairy farm.”
Well then. It’s strange how the good detective has wiggled his hot self into this predicament even if it is in a roundabout way.
Bizzy’s brows jump. “Interested in the hot detective, are we?”
Teddy claps her hands and hoots, “Knew it!” She smacks Morgan on the arm. “You owe me ten bucks.”
“It was five,” Morgan flatlines. “And we were betting on the same side.” She takes a moment to frown my way. “Iona won’t like it, but I say to heck with Iona. Let’s get you some of that good Greenly lovin’.”
“I’ll take a hard pass.” I shoot Bizzy a look without meaning to. “I’m not interested in Elliot that way. He’s a man. And I’m angry at his kind. Besides, I’m just getting used to not having to share the remote, or being criticized at every turn for every little thing. And I’m especially getting used to not finding a naked coed in my bed with a man I pledged to spend the rest of my life with.”
Teddy nods. “And don’t forget the fact he gave her your engagement ring.”
Georgie grunts upon hearing it, “The man was a dog’s anus. It’s a gift from the universe that you’re rid of him now.” She lifts her hot cider.
“Amen to that,” I say, lifting my hot cider as well, and soon we’re all toasting to the fact I’m down one dog’s anus in life.
Let’s hope I don’t go on to become a collector of such offensive body parts. And the only way to do that is to put a moratorium on men until kingdom come.
I sigh at the thought of spending an eternity alone.
“So I’ve been meaning to ask…” Bizzy bites down on her lip as she looks to Morgan and Teddy. “What’s going on over in Glimmerspell? I took Georgie, my sister, and mother out that way last month and we couldn’t believe how enchanting the town was. But all that lore—”
Georgie leans in. “Vampires, and werewolves, and fairies, oh my.” She fans herself with her fingers as she sings the words. “But, boy, you haven’t been kissed until you’ve been ravished by a werewolf beneath a full moon.”
Teddy moans and fans herself in the very same fashion. “Tell me about it, sister.”
Bizzy shakes her head. “It’s not just lore, is it?”
“Of course, it is.” I look to Morgan with a look that says don’t you dare rock my world with another paranormal terror. I don’t think my mind could take much more.
Morgan goes rigid a moment as if assessing her position on it.
“Let’s just say there’s a kernel of truth to just about any lore.” She offers Bizzy a peaceable smile before her eyes flit back to mine.
A kernel of truth.
Why does that sound an awful lot like baby steps to a much harder truth?
Vampires, and werewolves, and fairies, oh my, is right.
I’m still stuck on ghosts and time travel.
Someone out there has the answers I seek.
And I have a feeling that someone is Marceline Greenly. But considering the fact she’s Elliot mother, I’m not all that anxious to run in her direction. It’s probably best I stay away from anything or anyone that has to do with that obnoxious man.
Griffin Barker’s dead body comes to mind.
Last night, Jenny suggested that Vera Henley might have had something to do with it.
Vera would be my contemporary counterpart in that twisted perverted professor scenario.
Maybe I’ll track down Vera and have a word with her.
That sounds like the perfect way to get my mind off Elliot Greenly.
And ghosts.
And time travel.
And vampires, werewolves, and fairies.
Oh my, indeed.
Something tells me I’d better schedule those doctors appointments asap. And I just might have to add a shrink to that list, too.
Chapter 7
Bright and early Monday morning I drop both Harper and Sadie off in front of Glimmerspell High. Last night I told Sunny not to worry about driving Sadie to school and to sleep in since I was headed in that direction anyway. But she just laughed it off and said she hasn’t given Sadie a lift in years—one of Sadie’s boyfriends always does the trick.
I wasn’t laughing. Considering the fact Sadie is due to pop out a bundle of joy on the Fourth of July, I have a feeling I know what other tricks her boyfriends—yes, plural—are up to as well. And once the drop-off was complete, I hightailed it right to the Haunted Book Barn.
I was up half the night wondering how this day might play out. It’s the day I traveled to last Saturday night at the bar. And I ruminated over every detail of that short jaunt through time and space. All I know is that I walked in, saw my present self run and hide—which I totally plan on doing—then Elliot snuck up behind me and mentioned that he spoke to Jenny, right before he said he was going to interrogate me. I asked him what day it was, skedaddled my way to Teddy, then poof, I was gone.
T
here is a very morbid part of me anxious to see myself do a supernatural disappearing act.
The Haunted Book Barn is brightly lit inside compared to the dank winter wonderland just outside its door. I’m not sure how Morgan does it, but it’s nice and toasty in here despite the cavernous size of the structure. The scent of fresh brewed coffee competes with the heady scent of paperbacks, and something about that intoxicating combination gets my blood pumping more than Harold could ever hope to do.
Morgan got here at the crack of dawn to get the café up and running, and I spot her behind the counter as she gives a friendly wave.
“Are you nervous?” Her eyes widen a notch with mischievous glee as I head in her direction. “I won’t lie, Billie. I wish I had the ability to do what you do.”
“I won’t lie either. I wish it was you, too.” I stuff my purse and my coat in the back office, and by the time I get back, Morgan is standing in the kitchen in duplicate.
“Judas Priest!” A wail of a scream jumps from me just as unexpected as the poltergeist before me.
“Sorry.” Mabel winces as she glides my way without her feet ever touching the floor. Her dark hair floats like tendrils behind her as if she were underwater, and there’s an overall eerie glow that surrounds her entire being. “I just thought maybe you would be ready to see me now.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready,” I say, lunging for her and pulling her in for a warm embrace. “Oh my goodness, I can feel you.”
“Yup.” She bounces with a laugh as she backs up a notch. “I’m not sure why, but I can feel as solid as I like whenever I want. But look at this.” She pokes her arm right through my stomach and I gasp.
“I don’t feel a thing.” The laugh of a madwoman escapes me and then a thought hits me and I stop on a dime. “You haven’t been around Harper lately, have you?”
“Nope. I thought we might cross that celestial bridge together.” She removes her arm and floats right back to her doppelgänger.
“Girls,” I coo at the sight of them. “I’m so glad you’re back together. I can’t imagine the pain of a separation like yours. You’ve been best friends since utero. And I’ve missed you so much, Mabel.” I sniff hard as hot tears roll down my cheeks. “Hey? You wouldn’t happen to know anything about my newfound time-traveling quirk, would you?”
Midlife in Glimmerspell Page 9