“Sure,” she said. “I know just the place.”
CHASING RAINBOW 129
She directed him to the Paradise Beach Bar. It was getting near sunset, and from where they sat on the porch, they could see the Gulf of Mexico and the slowly lowering orb of the sun.
“It’s not going to be much of a sunset,” Rainbow remarked. “Not a cloud in the sky.”
“I thought this was supposed to be the rainy season here.”
“One of them. We sure could use some rain.”
The menu ran mostly to sandwiches and appetizers. Jake ordered the club sandwich and Rainbow opted for an appetizer of chicken fingers and stuffed mushrooms. She treated herself to a fancy tropical cocktail that was a rainbow of colors with fruit sections around the rim of the glass. Jake wanted a more prosaic beer.
“Ah, that’s good,” he said, when he’d taken a long draft. “It can be really difficult to get plain old American lager overseas, and it’s almost never this cold. Sometimes I used to dream about ice cubes. Glasses full of ice. Mounds of ice.” He shook his head and gave her a grin. “Of course, when I was on the North Sea I used to dream about tropical beaches. It can be amazing, what you miss.”
“I’ll bet.”
“When I was in the marines I was stationed for a year in Okinawa. The surprising thing about the place was that it had a continuing water shortage. Water was rationed, of course, and for days on end we weren’t allowed to take showers. And when we got to take one, the water was cold. So I started dreaming about long, hot showers.”
“How long were you in the marines?”
“Just four years. The GI Bill got me through college. I figure it was a more than fair trade.”
“It sounds like you’ve lived just about everywhere.”
He shook his head. “Not really. I’ve lived in a lot of places where they’re looking for oil. And most of what I’ve seen has been drilling sites. Once we find the oil, I move on, take a new contract.”
“So you don’t work full time for an oil company?”
“I did at first. That’s how I worked on the North Sea. Later I discovered I could do better as a consultant, especially since I seem to have a nose for the stuff. There are a lot of governments who want to find oil but don’t want to invite a big oil company in. That’s what I was doing in Indonesia.”
“Will you be going back after you finish you book?” She found herself hoping not.
“I’m not sure. I’m getting tired of living out of a duffel bag. But I’ve got a whole year to figure that out.” He sipped his beer and shook his head. “Besides, I’ve got a more pressing problem right now— a chair on my ceiling.”
“That’s really something, isn’t it? I believe in ghosts, but I’ve never seen anything remotely like this. And I can’t imagine how it could be happening, anyway. I mean, ghosts are incorporeal. They have no real substance.”
“Not even ectoplasm?” he asked sarcastically.
“I’ve seen ectoplasm,” she said, trying to keep the defensiveness out of her voice. “It really does exist.”
He raised a hand as if to say, “Have it your way.”
“But it couldn’t do that, I’m sure,” Rainbow continued. “I mean, it’s barely there. It’s this shimmery substance that you can almost see through. I’ve heard of apparitions looking as solid as you or me, but…” She trailed off, thinking for a moment. “This looks more like poltergeist activity than a standard haunting.”
“Don’t most of those poltergeist cases turn out to be kids playing tricks?”
“Some of them.”
“Well, we don’t have any kids in the building. And frankly, I can’t imagine any possible way that chair can be hanging on my ceiling without being bolted there, but if it were bolted, it wouldn’t move.”
She nodded.
“On the other hand,” he continued, “I’m not entirely ready to capitulate.”
She had to smile at that. “I didn’t think you were.”
He sat back in his chair, returning her smile as he sipped at his beer again. The breeze was warm, the Gulf was beautiful, and the woman across from him was entrancing despite all her wackiness. Relaxation began to uncoil the tendrils of tension that had been tightening his muscles most of the day. Hell, he thought finally, so what if there were ghosts? Maybe he could live with the idea—as long as it didn’t force itself down his throat.
“What about you?” he said.
“Me?”
“Well, I told you something about my background. What about yours?”
She flushed faintly and looked out to sea. “My background is—well, unconventional.”
“I kind of thought so.”
“My mother has always been, urn … well, unique. She was living in a commune in the seventies when she had my sister and then me. I don’t think she was ever sure who our fathers were.”
“Oh.”
Rainbow smiled faintly. “So we both got the made-up last name of Moonglow. Unfortunately, she left the commune while I was still in diapers, and being called ‘Rainbow Moonglow’ was something of a disadvantage.”
“I never knew my father, either,” Jake said sympathetically. “He died when I was young.”
“At least you know his name.”
“You’ve got a point. What’s your sister’s name?” “Dawn.”
“Dawn Moonglow.” He shook his head. “Memorable. Is she psychic, too?”
“Not at all. Lucky Dawn. She works as a court reporter, and evenings and weekends she transcribes my mother’s channeling sessions. She feels cheated that she’s never had a psychic experience, but I keep telling her she’s the lucky one.”
“It’s tough, huh?”
Her green eyes returned to his face. ” ‘Tough’ isn’t exactly the word I’d use. But it can make you quite an outcast when you know what other kids are thinking before they say it, or when you know what’s going to happen before it does.”
He nodded, not sure how to reply. In the first place, he didn’t believe in such things, but even if he allowed their existence, there didn’t seem to be any safe way to sympathize with a wacko for being a wacko … although Rainbow was a genuinely nice wacko.
“By the time I was in high school, I learned to hide it pretty well, so that wasn’t as bad. I even managed to keep it mostly under wraps when I was going to college.”
“Mostly?”
“Well, I had this terrible premonition that my roommate was going to get hurt if she went out with this guy she had just met. I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want her to think I was weird.”
“I take it she got hurt?”
“He tried to rape her.”
“That’s awful.”
“Anyway, the experience changed my mind about pretending I wasn’t psychic. I mean, if I know something that can help people, I can’t keep my mouth shut. It doesn’t matter what it costs me, but if I say nothing I become a kind of accomplice, you know?”
He shook his head slowly. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself, Rainbow. You didn’t make that happen to your roommate. You didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Except that I might have prevented it if I’d cared more about her than about myself.”
“Maybe. If she’d listened to you. And maybe not. One of the things that bothers me about this psychic business is that it seems to imply the future is fixed, somehow. Instead of having numerous probabilities out there, you’re saying that one particular thing is going to happen.”
“Not at all. What I say is, if you do certain things, other things will happen. I believe I pick up on a likelihood at any given point in time, but if we change our actions it might never materialize.”
“On the other hand, if the future is fixed, your roommate would have nearly gotten raped anyway. Say she listened to you and didn’t go out with the guy. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have attacked her in some other place and at some other time?”
“No one can say that for certain.”
<
br /> “Of course not. So what’s the point of premonitions?”
Rainbow gave a little laugh. “You’re beginning to sound fatalistic here.”
“I’m not really. I’m just arguing for the sake of arguing, I guess. I’m not comfortable with the whole idea of predicting the future.”
“Neither am I, but I do it all the time. Sometimes I’m right, and sometimes I’m wrong. There aren’t any guarantees.”
He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. The sun’s globe was riding the crest of the waves now, heavy, huge, and orange. The water sparkled with sharply contrasting shades of blue and lavender.
“What about tarot cards?” he asked. “You mentioned them. Do you think they really have some kind of magical power?”
“Of course not, but they act as a kind of focus for me. They’re a means of organizing the impressions I get, a means of helping me concentrate. Sometimes I read tea leaves. A crystal ball would probably do the same thing. I’m just more comfortable with the cards because they represent various aspects of life and human nature, so when I look at one of them, I concentrate on the impressions I’m getting in that particular area of life for the person I’m reading for.”
“Are you sure you’re not just exceptionally good at reading people?”
One corner of her mouth lifted in acknowledgment. “I’m sure that’s part of it. But that’s not all of it. It couldn’t be.”
“Then why did you say your mother’s an embarrassment?”
“I really shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not? Everybody’s been embarrassed by a parent at one time or another.”
“But she doesn’t embarrass me anymore. She can be wonderfully outrageous, and terribly dramatic, and sometimes even silly, but that’s just the way she is. It was hard to live with at times when I was a kid. You know how that goes. Every kid wants June Cleaver for a mother. Instead, I had Mae West talking to ghosts.”
He laughed at that, but it was a friendly laugh, and she didn’t appear to take umbrage. “She sounds like quite a character.”
“She is. I came to appreciate that she was also a wonderful mother. While other kids had June Cleaver, I had an ongoing adventure. And all the other kids forgot how weird we were when she threw a birthday party for us. They used to be just fabulous, with the whole backyard turned into a fantasy of one kind or another. She worked in the circus for a while before she joined the commune, and she had lots of friends there while I was growing up. I was the only kid in town who had acrobats or elephants or a sword swallower at my birthday parties.”
“So for one day a year you didn’t get snubbed?” he asked, almost gently.
“Actually, it was more than one day. For a couple of months before my birthday, everyone wanted to be my best friend.”
“That wasn’t very fair to you, was it?”
She shrugged one smooth shoulder. “I knew who my real friends were. And I wasn’t above taking advantage of my mother’s friends to bribe all the other kids to be nice to me for a while.”
“It sounds like your mother loves you very much.”
“Yes, she does. And she really was a good mother to me. It wasn’t her fault that I wished she’d act like the other mothers at parent-teacher night. Or that she’d dress like other people. The problem wasn’t Roxy, Jake. It was me.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were just acting like a normal kid. Even children who have perfectly average parents get embarrassed by them.”
After they ate, they walked for a while on the darkening beach. When Jake reached out and took her hand, Rainbow didn’t object. They might be poles apart, he found himself thinking, but surely they could find some common ground. With her small, delicate hand tucked in his, that suddenly seemed very important.
It grew even more important when they paused to watch the moon rise between the buildings. He turned to look out over the water at the ribbon of silver moonlight and found himself facing Rainbow.
In that instant, the night stood still. The sound of the surf faded away and all he could hear was the heavy beating of his heart. He wanted her. He wanted her in ways he had never wanted a woman before. He wanted to take her right here on the damp sand, to fill the night with the magic he was sure they could create together. He wanted to hear her soft cries mix with the rhythms of the sea, wanted to find that oneness that could come only in the moments of deepest intimacy.
And it was only with the greatest effort he turned away and resumed their walk.
The gap between them seemed unbridgeable.
Jake drove Rainbow home and dropped her off around nine o’clock. Gene was still out with Nellie Blair and Rainbow felt the silence of her cottage in a way she’d never noticed it before. In the past she’d always found it cozy and welcoming, but tonight it felt abandoned. Empty.
She wished Gene would come home but doubted she’d see him before midnight, if that early. So she decided it was a good time to try to put a call through to her mother on the cruise ship. Roxy would probably be busy entertaining guests, but Dawn might be available and could take a message.
It took nearly ten minutes for the operator to put the call through, and Rainbow was astonished to hear her mother’s voice.
“What’s wrong?” Roxy demanded, as soon as the connection was completed.
“Nothing, really, Mother. I’m fine. I thought you’d be working.”
“I’m between shows right now. Why? Didn’t you want to talk to me?”
“Of course I wanted to talk to you. I just didn’t think I’d be able to.”
“Then why’d you call?”
This was one of the reasons Rainbow didn’t call her more often. Conversations usually wound up being fractured. “Because I wanted you to call me when you could.”
“Oh. Well, Mustafa has been warning me that big events are about to happen in your life.”
Mustafa was one of Roxy’s spirit guides. Rainbow felt her heart jump nervously. “That’s the impression I’ve been getting. Did he say what it was going to be?”
“No. He’s being awfully coy about it. Said he isn’t going to interfere, no matter what. I gather it’s nothing bad, or he’d be sending out warnings like smoke signals.”
“Red Feather is the one who uses smoke signals, Mother.”
“Whatever. Anyway, why are you spending all this money to call me?”
“Well, I’ve got a ghost problem.”
“In that cottage of yours? No way, not unless you killed Walter and buried him in the backyard.”
Rainbow couldn’t help laughing. “You know I’d never do anything like that.”
“I can’t see why not! If anyone deserves killing, it’s Walter.”
“Be that as it may, I’m not keen on spending the rest of my life in jail.”
“No, I guess I can see that.” Roxy sneezed. “Sorry, I’m allergic to something on this damn boat. It’s a wonder I can even get into a trance.” She sneezed again. “Well, if you haven’t killed anyone, there’s no reason you should have a ghost. Are you sure you aren’t just suddenly developing new powers? I was about your age when my trancing started.”
“No, no, Mother, the ghost isn’t in my cottage.”
“Well, that’s good. Mustafa assured me that house was perfectly safe for you, and I’d have some words for him if it turned out he was wrong.”
“Well, he wasn’t.”
“Good. I’ve got to check up on these guides of mine from time to time. Their sloppiness could ruin me, you know.”
“I know, Mother. But about the ghosts—” “Well, if they’re not your ghosts, what’s the problem?”
“They’re not my ghosts. They’re in a condominium building here in Paradise Beach.”
“In a condo? That shows poor taste!”
“Regardless, the building’s residents have asked me to help.”
“Well, of course. That shows some common sense, at least.”
“Maybe not. I’m in over my head.�
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Roxy fell silent a moment. “You know, I always felt you should develop your talents in another direction. Fortunetelling with tarot cards is a very seedy business, full of frauds.”
“But—”
“You wouldn’t be in over your head if you’d listened to me, Rainbow.” “Yes, Mother.”
“But when do children ever listen to their mothers?”
“Rarely—or so you tell me.”
Roxy laughed heartily. “I’m amazed I lived long enough to hear you admit it!”
“Well, I just did. But this call is costing me a fortune, so could we please get down to business?”
“This is business. I’m telling you that if you’d listened to me, you wouldn’t be in over your head in your business.”
Rainbow stifled a sigh. “Yes, Mother.”
“You could at least try to sound like you truly agree with me when you say ‘Yes, Mother.’ “
“I’m trying.”
“To get back to these ghosts—you really need to learn to stay on the point, Rainbow—what exactly are they doing?”
“Haunting the entire condo building, some sixty units. There’s been a lot of poltergeist activity, but there are no children in the building.”
Paranormal research had established that poltergeists—ghosts which moved objects, started fires, and threw things—were most often associated with the presence of children in puberty.
“None?” Roxy sounded thoughtful. “That’s very rare. What have you got so far?”
“A very strong impression of a couple who died in a violent accident nearly a year ago, and a chair that seems to be firmly attached to the ceiling.”
“Really?” Roxy was suddenly almost breathless with excitement. “A chair on the ceiling?”
“Yes. When you push it, it moves around, but no amount of pulling will bring it down.”
“Oh, my. Oh, my! This is wonderful! Actual physical proof! I’m transported with joy!”
“That’s all very well, Mother, but believe me, the residents aren’t. I don’t know enough about this, or what to do about it, so if you could give me some advice—”
Chasing Rainbow Page 12