by K. J. Emrick
“She never even told me what she was going to do that.” Darcy grinned from ear to ear. She couldn’t be happier for Grace and Aaron.
Baby Addison turned her head just enough so that she was facing Darcy. She really was a cute baby, Darcy thought to herself, and she already looked like Grace…
Something tugged at her thoughts. She couldn’t quite place what it was.
“I’m happy for Grace,” Jon said. “But now I’m out another partner. Will is going to be off for at least the next three weeks. They’re going to have to reconstruct part of his leg. God alone knows how long it will take him to get back on his feet. Uh, literally.”
Darcy shrugged off her stray thoughts and turned him to look at her. “Sorry to hear that. I guess that means you’ll have less time for me?”
“Never,” he promised, kissing her lips tenderly. “I can do my job and be there for you, too. I kind of got the impression Will wanted the time off anyway. He said something about wanting to help Lindsay get her memory back. Whatever that means.”
Darcy knew exactly what it meant. It meant Wilson was still in love with Lindsay, after all this time. Sometimes good things came from bad times. Hopefully it would be that way for Wilson and Lindsay.
Her attention was drawn to baby Addison again. When she looked, her niece’s little baby lips moved, almost like she was trying to talk. Silly, Darcy knew. Such a cute baby…
Again, something moved through her thoughts and this time Darcy knew it hadn’t come from her. It was a warm something, like the feeling of comfort and peace she got when she looked into Jon’s vivid blue eyes, flooded her senses.
Darcy stared. Could it be?
In the viewing room, baby Addison turned her head away and the feeling that had weighed so strongly through her mind was simply gone. Darcy stepped right up to the glass, put her hand flat against it, wanting to reconnect with that sensation, that bond, that she had felt when baby Addison had turned her way.
The feeling had come from the baby. As crazy as that sounded Darcy knew it was true. They had made a connection, through Darcy’s sixth sense. Through her gift.
The same gift that baby Addison had.
She smiled, although she had to contain her enthusiasm. Should she tell Grace that the same abilities that had been passed down to their Great Aunt Millie and then to Darcy were now developing in her and Aaron’s baby?
That was something to think about. Definitely. For now, she would keep it to herself and just be happy for baby Addison and what her future might hold.
“Should we go home?” Jon asked her. “It’s very, very late. Grace is already asleep, remember.”
Darcy nodded. After a three hour labor she would probably be exhausted, too. Aaron had been snoring in the comfortable easy chair in the corner of Grace’s hospital room for a while now. Everyone else was taken care of. Jon would have to give his statement to the Meadowood police investigators about this whole entire mess but they had promised there was already enough to charge and hold Alan Harlow for the night. They wouldn’t need to speak to Jon until tomorrow.
“Yes,” she said to him, leaning back against his chest and letting him wrap his arms around her. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Eleven
Their house was on a lonely road leading away from town. Izzy and Lilly lived next door, but otherwise they had their space to themselves.
They were alone in bed for hours, very carefully expressing their love after a long and grueling day. They laughed at the lengths they had to use to keep Darcy’s wounded arm out of the way, and finally settled down against each other, exhausted, happy, and together.
Sleep claimed them both shortly after.
Darcy wasn’t sure when Smudge came bounding up onto the mattress. He woke her up from the middle of a dream where the Town Hall was in flames and people ran from shadows that reached out and consumed them.
She definitely did not mind being woken up from that. Especially by her favorite tom cat in the world.
“Hey, Smudge,” she said, carefully untangling Jon’s legs from hers so she could roll over onto her right side. “Did you miss me all day? I missed you. Careful of my arm, okay?”
Smudge let her scratch between his ears and under his chin. When she stopped, he stepped over to sniff at her arm. Then he sneezed like the smell bothered him and jumped away down to the floor.
He stopped at the bedroom door and looked back at her over his shoulder, his green eyes flashing gold. Oh. Of course. He needed some food.
“I’m coming,” she said, stifling a yawn behind her good hand. “You know, you could always go out and catch some mice to eat. It’s going to be winter soon. You won’t have the chance after that.”
He sniffed and turned away as if to say, mice are all well and good but cat food will always be better.
She laughed silently, carefully easing her way up off the bed to make sure Jon wouldn’t be woken up. He turned into the warm spot she had just given up and stayed blissfully asleep.
Smudge’s bowl in the kitchen was empty. That wasn’t unusual for him. Her big boy cat had a healthy appetite and every morning when she got up she had to make sure to refill his bowl. He didn’t usually come begging at five in the morning like this, though.
“Been out all night causing mischief?” she asked him as she poured food for him directly from the bag. He twitched an ear. He didn’t cause trouble, he was saying. He fixed trouble.
It wasn’t easy filling his bowl without making a mess, not with just the one hand, but she managed, and put the food away, and went to go back upstairs to bed.
She padded in her bare feet up the carpeted steps, wondering if maybe Jon would let her sleep in or if he would want to get up early to head back to Meadowood. There was so much to do tomorrow. They both had to give their statements. Darcy wanted to stop in to see Grace and Aaron and baby Addison, as well as Rosie and Lindsay and Wilson. She had to check on her new window, too, and find out from Izzy how the book club meeting had gone.
When had life become so complicated, she wondered to herself.
“It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better, sweetheart.”
She looked up to find Great Aunt Millie standing at the top of the stairs, in the same black dress Darcy usually saw her wearing whenever her spirit presented itself. Her steel gray hair was up in its tight bun, like usual, and she smiled a sad smile that stopped Darcy in her tracks three steps from the top.
“Millie? What did you say?”
Millie raised a finger to her lips and shushed Darcy. “Don’t wake the baby. Mustn’t let it know the baby is awake.”
“What? Aunt Millie you aren’t making any sense. Why are you here?”
She took another step up.
“Poor child,” Millie said. Her sad smile turned into a frown. “You’ve been through so much. What comes next will be…well, hard, I’m afraid. Will you be strong enough?”
Darcy raised her left arm as best she could. She was getting a little strength back in it already. At least, in her shoulder and fingertips. “Not until this heals. I’m kind of working at half my usual self right now.”
Millie nodded. “That’s what I thought. Oh, my poor Darcy. I left you with so much to do. So much to do.”
She reached out, and gently stroked Darcy’s cheek.
With a start and a little strangled gasp Darcy sat bolt upright in bed. Her arm flared with hot pain as she managed to drag it at the wrong angle across the mattress. Jon woke up immediately, snorting in a breath and asking her what was wrong.
Smudge picked his head up to look at her too, from where he was curled up between her feet. His steady gaze spoke to her in his silent way.
Trouble. There was trouble coming to Misty Hollow.
-End-
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About the Author
Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick is an up and coming talent in the writing world. She is a new Kindle author/publisher and brings a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.
Based in Australia, Kathrine has wanted to be an author for the majority of her life and can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal. Like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.
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