“I wish he was,” she said, and looked away. “I just don’t think so, though. Morgan isn’t one to hold back… he would have told me.”
“Well… don’t be so sure of that. He may be confused because you’re such good friends. I have a feeling Miles and Nate will straighten him out.”
Sarah sighed.
“I wish they would, if that’s true. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been miserable ever since I started having feelings for him. I love him, and I’m not satisfied being just friends anymore. I can’t believe I’m telling you all this!”
Lizzie and I smiled sympathetically.
“Well, you can’t talk to your best friend,” said Lizzie. “He’s a guy, and you’re in love with him.”
“That’s right,” I said. “You need girl friends to talk to, and we’re girls, and we’re friends—so go ahead, get it all out.”
Sarah smiled, and so did Lizzie and I.
“I wonder if he’s afraid of the same thing,” said Lizzie, looking over at the guys. “He might be afraid you don’t care about him that way.”
Well...
“Trixie,” I said quietly. She came and sat beside me, watching expectantly. “I need you to give Miles a message.”
Trixie glanced at Lizzie and Sarah.
“It’s fine, Trixie. Tell Miles that Sarah loves Morgan, and she’s afraid that he only cares about her as a friend. She’ll be very glad if Morgan tells her how he really feels. Okay? Tell him I asked you to deliver that message. He’ll know what to do.”
Trixie nodded, and with another brief glance at the other two girls, she went directly to Miles and told him. He’d take care of the rest. Miles had a general rule of not playing matchmaker, but this was totally different. These people were best friends and crazy in love with each other, already. They needed help figuring out they both felt the same way, or they’d continue to drive themselves insane.
“That’s—amazing, it looks like she’s really delivering a message,” said Sarah, watching Trixie.
“Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for,” said Lizzie slowly. She should know, she has a service dog! “That’s… sure what it looks like she’s doing.”
I didn’t comment any further on the subject.
We had a great visit, and then Nate, Lizzie, and Samson had to say goodbye. Sarah and Morgan then got down to business and told us about her family mystery. Miles and I glanced at each other several times. He wasn’t the only one that knew exactly what they were talking about, and had all of the answers to their mystery. But… as much as I wasn’t going to tell any lies, I wasn’t going to be forthcoming in a way that would require that certain truths be told, either. There had to be proof somewhere in the estate to support what Miles knew, and what he’d told me about his little brother, and what he’d been up to about a hundred and fourteen years ago. So we told them we’d have our people go through all of the documents that were being collected during the inventory of the estate’s many storage rooms, and let them know what we found as soon as it was found.
We made plans to get together with Sarah and Morgan again sometime, and said goodbye. As soon as their SUV was completely out of sight, Miles turned to me eagerly.
“You figured out your ability. Tell me about it!”
I grinned back at him.
“I did, I know what I can do! If someone says something that’s not true, I know that it isn’t—and I know what the truth is!”
“So you heard the voice clearly, then?” asked Miles.
“Yes! I wonder if being honest with Pastor Gary and Annie had something to do with it… she said lies would weaken my ability. Or maybe I understood because Annie said my ability is truth. Whatever it is, I heard it loud and clear!”
“Anika, that’s great!” Miles hugged me and swung me around. “Don’t ever tell me again that my abilities are cooler than yours.”
I laughed.
“I’m so excited about this! I can’t believe it! Hurry, tell me something that isn’t true.”
Miles laughed.
“You are probably the first wife in history to ask her husband to lie to her.”
I laughed, too.
“Do you realize what this means?” I asked, bouncing, I was so excited.
“What does this mean?” asked Miles, smiling.
“It means all we have to do is get Professor Mead to talk, and deny he’s ever done anything wrong! And I’ll know the truth!”
“Good plan,” said Miles. “Remember to get him to deny there’s any proof, too.”
I calmed down a little, then. Miles had found a way to be supportive and point out that it wasn’t going to be that easy, all at the same time.
“You’re right,” I said. “It’ll take brains and teamwork to pull this off. It won’t be as simple as that. We’ll get it done, though!”
“Yes. We will,” smiled Miles.
“In the meantime,” I said, my enthusiasm returning full force, “how cool is it that I have a superpower!”
“It is very, very cool,” said Miles. “My wife, the superhero.”
I laughed, and kissed him, then grabbed him by the hand.
“Come on! I want to go back to Glen Haven and practice on our friends.”
I discovered it’s not easy to drag Miles when he’s laughing.
“Come on, Miles! We either go practice on our friends, or I practice on the staff! Classes start Monday, and I’ve got to get my skills down before going into the lion’s den.”
“You’re right,” he said, suddenly serious. “Classes do start Monday, and I really can’t tell you how much I don’t want you practicing on the staff!”
That made me laugh.
We went back inside the estate and packed up our cats, suitcase and dogs, and drove back to Glen Haven.
Chapter 8
The drive from Cedar Oaks to our apartment is only an hour and a half, so we were back before dark. We unloaded everyone, and our one suitcase, and trooped through the lobby on our way to the elevator.
“Hello, Steve,” said Miles, greeting our favorite security guard.
“Good evening, Mr. Bannerman,” said Steve.
How are you, Steve?” I asked, smiling as he buzzed open the door.
“Just fine, thank you Mrs. Bannerman,” he said.
But that’s not what I heard.
“Steve, have you worked more than one shift today?” I asked.
“Well… yes, ma’am.”
“How long have you been here, Steve?” asked Miles, stopping on his way to the elevator.
“I’ve been here since my shift yesterday,” said Steve. “Don’s wife is awfully sick, and she needs him…”
“I can understand that,” said Miles. “It doesn’t mean you need to make yourself sick taking on the work of two men, though.”
Miles already had his phone in his hand.
“Consider yourself free for the next two days,” said Miles. “I’ll get someone else to cover for you and Don.”
“Thank you,” said Steve in relief. The poor guy had covered well, but now it was easy to see how exhausted he was.
“You’re welcome, Steve. And thank you for being so conscientious.”
“Have a good rest of your evening,” I said, and waved goodbye as Steve left for home.
Miles completed his call to the security company, informing them we needed a sub for Don and Steve, then we continued to our apartment.
“I love, love, love this ability,” I said. “Think of the good I just accomplished!”
“I love, love, love your ability too, for exactly the same reason,” smiled Miles. “You are very cool, superhero wife.”
The elevator opened on our floor, and we walked down the hall to our apartment. The door to Xander and John’s apartment opened as we walked past.
“Hey! You’re back,” said Xander. “That was a quick trip.”
“Anika figured out what her ability is, and wants to practice on you guys,” said Miles, and he smiled at
the look on Xander’s face.
“Well, you wouldn’t let me practice on the staff, dear,” I said, also smiling at the look on Xander’s face.
“What… can you do?” Xander asked, curiosity overruling surprise.
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt,” said Miles. “But I suggest you never lie around Anika, because she’ll know you are. What’s more, she’ll know the truth.”
“No way!” said Xander, excited. “Oh, man! This I can’t wait to see.”
“Let us get settled in, and we’ll order pizza. Have the rest of you eaten yet?” asked Miles.
“No, we were just talking about it. I was on my way to see what Jenny and Annette wanted to do.”
“Well find out if they want pizza, then let us know,” I said, as Miles unlocked our door.
“Will do,” said Xander, as we went inside and he went on his way to the girls’ apartment.
As soon as we were in our apartment and the door closed behind us, I started talking.
“Maybe we should tell our friends everything.”
“What?” said Miles, looking perplexed. “You can’t be serious. That’s an about-face, you were adamantly against it just a couple of days ago.”
“Remember what Annie said? Lying will weaken my ability.”
“Okay…” said Miles, considering that.
He set the cat carriers down and I let Night and Pandora out, much to their relief.
“I trust our friends,” said Miles. “However, the more people that know, the more chances there are that someone will forget and say something outside of the group. Weren’t you the one reminding me that loose lips sink ships?”
“Yes, but… I’m afraid of weakening my ability. I can do a lot of good with this, but not if I damage it.”
“Okay,” said Miles. “Let’s come up with a different solution,a then.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Annie also suggested that we can choose not to talk about certain things. We don’t have to answer questions.”
“Okay, but what if we slip and say something we can’t elaborate on without saying more than we should, kind of like I did back at the estate?”
“Then… we don’t elaborate.”
That sounded a little too simple.
“So… what do we say?” I asked.
“We say ‘forget I said that, it isn’t something I can talk about.’”
“Really?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “That’s your suggestion?”
“Yes, dear. It is.” Miles kissed my forehead, then carried our suitcase to the bedroom. I followed him and helped unpack and put away what little we took with us on our brief trip.
“Yeah, but… what about the things they already believe are true, but aren’t? If we continue to support those things, that’ll be like lying,” I said.
“I’m sorry, I’m still dealing with whiplash from your rapid change in direction. Elaborate on that please, give me an example or something,” said Miles.
“Like if someone mentions the coma, or what if someone asks how long we’ve known each other, or what if someone asks how George Frank got stuck in that wall?”
“I don’t want to talk about that, not nearly long enough, I’m not at liberty to discuss it,” said Miles.
“You’re on your toes in the response department today,” I said.
There was a knock at the door, so our conversation was halted for the time being.
“Don’t think I’m not going to bring this up again!” I said, on the way to the door.
“Anika, dear, I never doubted for a moment,” Miles replied, which made me laugh.
He opened the door wide for Xander and the rest of our friends.
“Everyone’s in favor of pizza,” Xander said, as I led the way to the living room, and Miles called the pizza shop and placed our standing order.
“So tell us what you found out,” said Jenny eagerly.
We all found seats, and Miles joined us.
“We talked to Pastor Gary,” I said. “Annie was there too, and she had a lot to say, and knew somehow that my ability had to do with truth. So the next day, someone said something that wasn’t true. It wasn’t bad, just a friend of Miles’ who was really confused and didn’t realize he was in love with the girl he’s been best friends with all his life, and who he bought an Inn for, and who in the world couldn’t figure that out? But he didn’t know… anyway, when he said what he did, I heard the voice in my head. But it was clear, and it was the truth, that he’s hopelessly in love with her.”
Everyone stared in fascination.
“That’s amazing,” said Annette.
“Yeah, it’s so cool!” I said. “Think of how much good I can do with this!”
“As Anika pointed out to me though,” said Miles, “she needs to practice and get to know her ability before class begins next week. She’s only had two opportunities to use it so far.”
“Okay… said John. “Then I’ll start. Tell me if what I’m saying is true or not. My mother is older than my father.”
“That’s not the truth,” I said. “Your father is older.”
“Yeah, that’s right!” said John.
I looked up at Miles and grinned, and he smiled back. I wasn’t sure whose superpowers were more cool, but mine were definitely cool!
“I had a dog named Sparky when I was a kid. He had three legs and rode a skateboard,” said Xander.
I listened.
“That must be true, I don’t hear anything,” I said, and Xander nodded.
“Okay… my turn,” said Annette. “I’m an only child.”
I looked at her funny.
“I heard something, but it was very faint,” I said. “Not clearly enough for me to understand.”
“Try moving a little closer,” suggested Miles. I stood, and took a step forward.
“I’m an only child,” said Annette.
“That’s not the truth, you have a brother in high school,” I said. “But tell me something I don’t already know!”
I took a step back again.
“I once dyed my hair blond,” said Annette.
“The voice is too faint,” I said, and stepped forward again.
“I once dyed my hair blond,” said Annette.
“That’s not the truth,” I said. I turned to look at Miles. “So I have to be fairly close to a person to hear the truth, I guess?”
“It looks like it. Annette is somewhere between six and seven feet away from you right now. That may be your range.”
“Okay, then hold on,” I said, walking outside of the seating area of our living room so that I was outside of that range, and we tried again with no results.
I moved, our friends moved, we experimented with distance, and consistently we discovered that I had to be within a six to seven foot range in order for me to understand what the truth was when I heard it. For several more feet outside of that range, I’d know if something was untrue because of the faint voice, but not what the truth was. Beyond that, I heard nothing.
“You know this could be a good thing in some ways,” said Miles. “Imagine you’re in a room filled with dishonest people, all talking at once.”
“Yeah, like a political convention,” said Xander, and everyone laughed.
“I see what you mean,” I said. “That would have the potential to be an awful lot of voices at once. But, it also means I have to be fairly close to the bad guys if I’m trying to get information.”
“Yeah, I don’t like that…” said Miles. “We’ll just have to make it work. As long as I’m nearby to protect you in case you need help, then we know it’ll be fine.”
“I’ll be there too,” reminded Xander, not realizing that my husband’s a superhero and no one could possibly protect me like he can.
“That makes me feel a whole lot better about this whole thing,” said Miles. “When Anika asks questions to get him talking, he may figure out she knows something.”
“Well he isn’t likely to figure o
ut the truth. That whatever he says, I’ll know the truth. All we’ve got to do is get him to say he’s never done anything… and where the evidence isn’t hidden,” I said, and Miles smiled. “I know it won’t really be that simple, but think how much simpler it will be than it was before I knew I had a superpower.”
“You’re right, this will make all the difference,” Miles said, kissing the side of my face. “My wife the superhero. How many guys can say that? And by the way, guys, knowledge of Anika’s ability needs to stay in this room. She could end up in a lot of trouble if what she can do becomes known to anyone else.”
“Of course,” said Jenny.
“We won’t say a word,” said John, and Xander and Annette agreed.
“This is so much more cool than seeing darkness,” I said, smiling again. “I didn’t exactly like that, but this—this, I can use to fight it.”
The buzzer sounded, and Miles went to the door to admit the pizza guy.
“Yeah, it’s very cool,” said John. “They go well together. You know where the darkness is, so you know where to focus this ability.”
“I wonder why you have this?” said Annette. “It’s just so—not an ordinary ability!”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I have no idea.”
Trixie sat down in front of me. She gave me a long look like she does Miles, but I didn’t have a clue what she wanted me to know. I ruffled her fur. Whatever she wanted to say, hopefully she’d remember and tell Miles later.
“Well, it’s amazing, I can see you doing a lot of good with this,” said Jenny.
“Yeah, that’s what I want to do,” I said. “I have a strong feeling it’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Trixie was looking at me again. I ruffled her fur more.
“Pizza’s here,” Miles said, as he carried the boxes to the kitchen and our friends followed.
“Trix, tell Miles later—I don’t understand,” I whispered. She considered that, then nodded, and I hurried to the kitchen after everyone else.
I took plates and napkins out of the cabinet, and Miles set out water bottles. We all loaded our plates, and returned to the living room.
As soon as Miles sat down, Trixie sat in front of him. He looked at her, and she looked back for several long seconds. Then she nodded, and crossed the room to lay by Chip.
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