Rings On Her Fingers (Psychic Seasons

by ReGina Welling

  "These two over here aren't yours, are they? Zack deflected the conversation away from himself.

  "No, Julie's grandmother painted those. They were birthday gifts."

  "Are they insured? I know one of her pieces sold well at auction recently. These could be worth money." It was a simple question; and Zack couldn't have predicted the reason it caused such a reaction when Gustavia informed him through clenched teeth that, to her, the paintings were priceless, but not insured. How could he not understand their value lie in the fact that they were gifts given with love? That Gram’s love, while it meant the world to Gustavia, couldn't quite make up for the lack of it she'd received from her own family. She set the table with barely controlled fury, placing the plates and utensils none too gently in their places then gestured for him to sit.

  Yep, she was mad again. What had he said this time? He went over the conversation in his mind and couldn't see where he'd gone wrong. He'd complimented her—not once, but twice—and asked a perfectly normal question. This was the longest time they'd spent in the same room without shouting at each other. He didn't understand why but his gut, the one he listened to every day on the job, failed him around his sister. It was easy to understand a perp's motivation for stealing, but she just wasn't readable; he had never been able to get a handle on her.

  She'd come from a good family, a family of normal people. Sure, maybe they weren't the most demonstrative of people, maybe they had expectations for each other; but they were still decent, upstanding citizens. Why couldn't she just be normal like the rest of them? She could still write her books. All she had to do was buy some decent clothes, go to a hairdresser once in a while, and stop hanging out with those psychic nut jobs.

  Eyes narrowed, Gustavia watched his face and knew exactly what he was thinking. It wasn't hard to figure out since these were the same themes he trotted out every time they were in a room together for more than ten minutes. For just a fleeting moment, she'd thought he'd changed, that he might just have begun to understand her a little; but, no.

  It was futile to keep expecting things to ever be different between them, so Zack turned the subject back to Logan; the rest of the meal was spent speculating what he might do next. An hour later, Zack was out the door congratulating himself; they'd spent more than an hour together and there'd been no shouting.

  Meanwhile, Gustavia was washing dishes and thinking nothing had changed. She would have been shocked if she'd known Zack had driven around the block, and then parked his car a few hundred feet from her driveway. She would have been royally miffed if she'd known he'd flattened a clump of daffodils while navigating the perimeter of her property to see if Logan could find an easy way in. She would have been stunned if she'd known he settled into his car for the night in order to keep watch over her. They might fight like cats and dogs, but no one was going to mess with his sister.

  No one.

  Chapter 21

  "How do you make sense of this?" Julie asked Tyler as she frowned at his computer screen.

  "It's a mind map, which is just a different name for a flow chart. It helps me see connections between the information more dimensionally than a simple list.

  "Geek." Julie smiled. He just smirked.

  "I have lists, too," he pulled up several more pages, "a time line, and I scanned my grandfather's notes so everything is here. It felt like we were getting somewhere earlier with the ideas about where the most sensible hiding places might be. Leaving the magic garden thing out of it, the library or Julius' suite seems logical. If we had a better idea of what we were looking for it would help, but I think we are beginning to narrow it down."

  "Then there's the key. All the keys I have fit locks somewhere in the house; there are none I can't account for. I've barely given it any thought since I figured we needed to find that magic garden before we knew what kind of key to look for."

  "Sensible, as always," Tyler smiled.

  "Right." Julie thought for a moment. "The clues we have are pretty cryptic."

  "True. So, if the magic garden will bring the light and you are not supposed to think literally, the question is what are we missing? Whose words provide the most information?" Tyler's fingers flew over the keyboard as he opened a new document. “Since he is the one who did the hiding, let's start with your grandfather; can you remember exactly what he said to you?"

  Julie made a face. "Most of it, I guess. I was kind of freaked out that first time. It all starts with the magic garden was the gist of it. He kept repeating that. Then the second time he told me not to sign Logan's papers, and that's about it. Oh, and there's the story of his last words about the garden, the key, and possibility he was gesturing to his left." She paused a moment to picture the room in her mind. "The way his bedroom is laid out, he would have been pointing toward the empty wall; doesn't make sense. Oh, and Grams also said we don't have much time before this cycle ends, whatever that means."

  Tyler recorded these statements then added his conversation with Julius from the night before. It was not much to go on, next to nothing really. Still, there had to be something they were missing. Julie's words triggered that feeling he was missing something obvious, but what?

  "The magic garden brings the light, that's an odd turn of phrase. Gardens don't generally bring light, but they do need it. He didn't tell you to start in the magic garden but to start with it. That means there must be a magic garden that exists right now. Don't think literally probably means there is no book called the Magic Garden in the library, or that the garden isn't the kind planted in the dirt."

  "I thought there might be, but when I looked for the family history, I didn't notice any books by that title. The only thing I found was a copy of The Secret Garden. But I still have the feeling I've seen those words written somewhere."

  As she was talking, Tyler Googled the phrase, just in case, and found that Gene Straiten-Porter had written a book called the Magic Garden. It had been published in 1927, which fit perfectly into his timeline. He showed Julie a picture of the plain green cover with the title inside a decorative frame, both in gold. "Maybe this will jog your memory. Do you remember ever seeing this book?"

  "I'm not sure. A lot of old books have plain covers like that."

  "We may be getting closer, but it doesn't feel that way. I keep circling back to my conversation with your grandfather. He said something I thought was important at the time, but it was such a surreal experience—and by the time it was over, the thought was gone—and now I just can't seem to pull it back into focus."

  Julie nodded, "I know, I've been feeling the same way. It's so frustrating." Tyler patted her knee then saved his work and closed the laptop.

  "Look, let's take a break from all this, watch a movie or something, let our subconscious work on it for a while."

  Julie made popcorn while Tyler browsed her DVD collection. She returned to find him slack jawed in front of the open cabinet.

  "There's nothing here but chick flicks, musicals and documentaries."

  "Guess you'll have to deal with it," Julie shrugged, "I have a thing for 80's movies. Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, The Goonies, Say Anything. C'mon, you have to admit the boom box scene is iconic." Tyler quirked an eyebrow and shrugged.

  "You've never seen it?" When he shrugged again to indicate no, it was decided. They settled on the couch with the popcorn between them, but each hyper aware of the other.

  Tyler was amazed to watch out of the corner of his eyes as Julie mouthed each line along with the actors. Clearly, she had seen this movie many times before; he found it charming. However, within a few short minutes, he became absorbed in the story. By the time Lloyd Dobler, with his sleeves pushed up, coat billowing, held up his boom box to serenade the girl of his dreams, Tyler was rooting for him. Using her peripheral vision, Julie watched him as he got into it; he couldn't help himself.

  She needed this break from the craziness that had become her life. Had it only been a week or so? It felt like longer. Taking stock of the c
hanges, she thought that, on balance, they were mostly for the good. She'd made some new friends and come to accept their unique abilities. Pretty hard to discount aura readings when you were being visited by dead relatives on an almost daily basis.

  Ammie might not look normal, but she was a sweet person who beat a mean drum. Julie figured it wasn't likely she'd be scheduling weekly tarot card readings, but spending time with Kat didn't scare her anymore. The psychic had a great sense of humor, and her description of how she came to sense spirits showed she was more grounded and down-to-earth than she seemed. That made Julie a lot more comfortable.

  There was a possibility, even if it was slim, that they would find something valuable enough to pay for fixing up her house without having to subdivide and sell off bits of the property. Finding out Logan was a criminal who was trying to con her was still a bit hard to swallow, though.

  On one hand, she was glad she'd found out now, before he'd been able to follow through with his plan; but, on the other, she was annoyed she hadn't seen through him sooner. Julie had always considered herself to be a good judge of character. In that context, her relationship had been an epic fail. Why hadn't she seen it, and why didn't she feel more upset over the breakup? Sure, meeting Tyler may have had something to do with her response; but, to be brutally honest, what she actually felt was relief and a weird sense of detachment as though the whole thing had happened to someone else.

  Sitting on this couch watching a movie and holding Tyler's hand felt more real, more comfortable, yet more exciting, than any moment she'd ever spent with Logan; that was something to think about. Later. Right now, she'd rather think about Tyler, those toe curling kisses, the strength of the long fingers firmly clasping her own, the feel of his thumb as it caressed the back of her hand sending tingles through her body. Yeah, next time Grams showed up, they were going to have a talk about setting some boundaries.

  * * *

  Estelle, in her customary perch on the gazebo roof, was elated. Her girl had finally found the one, and he was just perfect. Julius shimmered in beside her.

  "What are you so happy about?"

  "Julie and Tyler kissed." Julius grunted his indifference. He'd been hanging around here long enough; he wanted to get this mess sorted out so he could move on. Whatever else happened, his granddaughter was now in control of his own afterlife, and it grated. He also knew she was trying her best, but he was getting anxious. If they missed this cycle, it would be another year before they could try again.

  "Any news on the search? Are they moving forward at all? There's less than a month before she has to use the key."

  "How should I know? Since you can't or won't tell me what they're looking for or where to find it, I don't have a clue if they are getting any closer. I told her the magic garden will bring the light; and I don't even know what that means, just that I was supposed to say it. They've decided to concentrate on the library and your rooms, but that's all I know."

  At that, Julius smiled. "They're on the right track. I gave that young man a vital clue, but he didn't quite catch it. All they need to do now is put their heads together, and they'll figure it out. What's more important at the moment is that we need to sort out some kind of plan. That Logan intends to break into the house. He's decided to believe there's something to find and has already narrowed his focus down to those same areas. He's got a devious mind; too bad he uses it to hurt instead of help."

  "Can you teach me that trick you used on him before? Or at least show me how to put up a barrier. Between us, we should be able to keep him from getting inside."

  That was only a last resort, he explained. It took a little energy to show yourself to someone with sensitivity enough to see; it took a lot of energy to affect the physical world strongly enough to create a barrier and hold it for any length of time. He figured, between the two of them, they could delay the inevitable by only a few minutes before their energy ran out. That would leave the house vulnerable for as long as it took to recharge. Not an ideal situation. Guys like Logan didn't deter easily once they had a plan. So if they were going to stop him, it was time to up the ante. Julius knew he just needed to figure out how.

  * * *

  Throwing the covers off her heated body, Julie tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Overwhelmed by the events of the past few days, she couldn’t seem to settle; and knowing Tyler was just down the hall didn’t help one bit. The man had gotten under her skin, and it also didn’t help that he kissed like the devil; which was unexpected since he came across as a nice, low-key, sort of nerdy type of guy, the kind that wouldn’t kick her out of bed if she just happened to crawl in there with him. No, he’d made it pretty clear he was uncomfortable with the idea of peeping spirits. She didn’t blame him; it was a bit weird for her, too.

  Okay, you have to relax, she told herself, relax and clear your mind. That reminded her of Amethyst’s guided meditation; well, it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. Settling back on her pillows and focusing her attention on her breath, she pictured a golden meadow with sun-kissed grasses and colorful wildflowers gently swaying with the faint, freshly scented breeze. It was peaceful here where nothing was expected of her other than to just be in the moment. Slowly, the tension drained out of her body as her mind calmed and she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 22

  When Tyler wandered into the kitchen the next morning, Julie handed him a cup of coffee and the plate of pancakes she'd kept warming in the oven for him. Judging by the bags under his eyes, he hadn't slept well either; and she wickedly hoped she'd had something to do with it. It was only fair. Since she'd already eaten, Julie dropped a kiss on the top of his head and went into the studio to finalize the first batch of prints from her latest series of photographs.

  In Photoshop, she selected an image of Gustavia gazing directly into one of the mirrors while the others repeated her reflection from different angles, duplicated then cropped it to remove a small flare in the lower corner. Next, she selected the central image of her friend and, using layer masks, experimented with varying degrees of transparency until Gustavia's face took on a ghostlike quality. She reduced the effect around the eyes to make them appear more intense, then left the rest of the image alone. Satisfied with the outcome, she watermarked the image and emailed a copy to Saul at the gallery to get his opinion, and then went looking for Tyler, finding him upstairs in the library finishing up some work of his own.

  They combed the library shelves looking for a copy of The Magic Garden, just to rule it out as a possibility and, when they didn't find one, chalked it off the list.

  "What next?" Tyler asked.

  "We were going to look for a copy of great-grandfather's will in those boxes of papers up in the attic. I do remember Grams looking at a set of building plans when she was setting up the museum; if there is any hidden space it might show up on those."

  Nestled into the central section of the house, above the main hallway, the attic area was quite small. The room was crudely finished with only two bare bulbs to beat back the dimness; it wouldn't take them long to look through its contents. Julie explained Grams had used file boxes to store all of her papers so they were well organized. Originals of some documents were kept either in a safe or with her attorney to protect against fire or other catastrophe. Thanks to Estelle's organizational skills, they quickly found the architectural drawings for the house and the folder containing a copy of Julius' will, but there were some boxes of older documents that had never been sorted. If there were any records of purchases made by Julius, these boxes might hold them. The cramped, windowless space was not the ideal place to sort papers so they carried the boxes down to the kitchen table and began spreading them out.

  The smaller of the two boxes contained family correspondence and other papers relating to the family history. As they looked through its contents, they surmised that this was part of the source for the family history that had brought the two of them together. Chances were good that they wouldn't find any new inf
ormation there, so they set that box aside and concentrated on the other.

  This box was full of exactly what they thought they were looking for, receipts and bills. Tyler suggested the logical approach of sorting them first by date. They had a fair idea of the time period that would most likely yield anything useful, so this seemed like the best way to start the process of elimination.

  Without looking too closely at each paper, they spent half an hour sorting them into piles by the year. When that was done, they worked backward from the year of Julius's death looking for anything that might generate a lead. It was a bit like looking for a needle in a needle stack; even the most innocuous seeming receipt might be a clue.

  "Hey," Tyler said," have you noticed that Julius wasn't a big spender? We know he had a lot of money and that he sunk a portion of it into remodeling the house, more into his other inventions; but he did not seem to be in any financial crisis when he died. It might be that he kept a stack of cash in some hidey hole."

  "Your guess is as good as mine, and he's not talking. Have you found any bank books or statements? Or canceled checks? It seems odd that no one ever saw a contract detailing the amount he was paid for his invention; maybe his banking records would shed some light. Grams never talked about his money; I don't think she thought there was any left."

  "So far, no banking documents; but dead ends just help us cross off possibilities."

  Frustration made Julie want to stomp and scream, but she pulled it in and controlled her emotions. "So we're looking we-don't-know-where for we-don't-exactly-know-what; and the only clue we have is to find some magic, light-bringing garden that may or may not be a garden at all; and to use a key that I don't even want to think about right now. Seems like that's the situation we've been in from the beginning. What possibilities have we actually crossed off?"

  She was cute when she got cranky. Tyler knew better than to voice that particular thought aloud. So, instead, he picked up the house plans and looked for a clear space to lay them out. Finding none on the table, he carried the sheets to the counter. "You keep looking through the receipts, and maybe I'll have better luck with these." Of course, if what they were searching for were small enough, it was unlikely he'd find any space on the plans; that was another thought that he kept to himself. "Keep an eye out for repair bills or anything to do with building or carpentry."