The Price of a Gift (The Price of Secrets Series) (27 page)

I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled into a gas station, found a parking spot, and turned the car off. "Miss Price, what are you doing?" Harold asked.

I had nothing to lose, so I told the truth. "I know I've failed this test, but it is not my fault, because your mother is in my backseat and she will not be quiet!"

The old woman clapped her hands together and laughed. "Finally, after all this time, someone I can talk to."

Naturally, Harold was looking at me as if I were a mental patient that had just escaped. "I think I should drive us back to the..."

"Please," I stopped him, "give me a chance to prove it." I turned around to face the old woman. "Give me something to show him you are really here." I asked.

"Tell him I used to call him Little Man when he was growing up." Her tone softened.

"Her nickname for you was Little Man. She is not going to leave me alone until I tell you something." I said, sounding defeated. I saw the flicker of acknowledgement in Harold's eyes.

"What is it?" He asked cautiously.

I turned again to the old woman. "What is your name?" I asked her.

"Etta." She replied with a smile.

"Ok Etta, what do you want to tell him?" I heard Harold gasp when I said her name, but I ignored him and continued to listen to Etta. Once she was done, I turned to Harold. "Your mother is one feisty lady."

"You really are talking to her!" He said while wiping sweat off his forehead and receding hairline with a handkerchief he had in his pocket.

"Yes, and to make a long story short, she doesn't want you to sign the divorce papers until you go back to the house. Upstairs in the attic there is a box of your mother's stuff. Inside you will find
several valuable things. But Etta is most concerned with the wedding ring set that's in there. It belonged to your grandmother. She wants you to take the box with you. She doesn't want, and I quote, ‘that spawn of Satan to lay her filthy hands on it.’"

Harold started laughing and crying at the same time. "Oh Mom, you always did call Patty that. I love and miss you so much, Momma." Etta tried to touch her son's face without success. But Harold felt her energy. "She's right here isn't she?" He was holding his hand up right at Etta’s hand. Even though she couldn't make contact, Etta got as close as she could to Harold and went through the motion of kissing his cheek.

"Yes," I said, "and she just gave you a goodbye kiss." I teared up as I watched Harold in wonder as he placed his hand on the same cheek that Etta had kissed. Etta gave me one last message. "She can pass over now. She says she can't wait to see your daddy. And that she loves you very much and will see you again one day."

"Bye Momma, love you. Give Daddy my love too." His voice was thick with emotion.

Etta turned to me before fading away. "Thank you child." And she was gone.

I sat there and waited for Harold's mind to catch up with everything that had just happened.

"She's really gone?" Harold asked. I shook my head yes. I didn't know what to say. I mean, I know he has to be in shock or something. He took his handkerchief and wiped away the remaining tears that streaked his face. "We better be getting back."

"I guess I will come back tomorrow and try this again." I said as I cranked the car.

"Miss Price, after what you just did for me, you passed. Just follow my driving instructions on the way back to the station and we will get your picture taken."

"Thank you so much." I was so relieved.

"Has that ever happened to you before?" He asked.

"No, never."
It wasn't a lie, talking to a ghost while taking a driver’s test hasn't ever happened to me before.

"Well?" mom asked while standing up when she saw me walking through the doors. "
Awww Hannah, it's ok. We will come back in the morning. You were probably just nervous." She must have misread my expression.

"I was extremely nervous, but I passed." I said.

"That's wonderful! Then what's that face for?" She looked worried.

"I will tell you when we get in the car." With that I followed Harold to the back to get my driver’s license!

"And he didn't ask you any more questions?" Daniel asked after I had told him about my morning adventure. He followed me home from school, and since Mom and Dad's not here, we decided to hang out in the back yard. Because heaven forbid we go in the house without parental supervision.

"Nope, although he wouldn't make eye contact with me after we got back to the station. I can't believe that happened, which was just the cherry on top after that dream I had last night. On the bright side, my life is never dull." I said, trying to be all glass half full.

"We are going to help Samantha pass on very soon. You, Jaycee and I are going to figure out a plan, with a time and place." Daniel tried to reassure me. I still don't understand why he wants Jaycee involved so badly. Daniel says it's because Jaycee knows my secret and is my best friend. He wants her there for moral support, but I'm not convinced.

"Thanks to my dream, I'm pretty sure of the place." I smiled up at him. He bent down and gave me sweet, tender kiss. "What are you grinning about?" I asked him.

His grin spread wider and exposed those gorgeous dimples of his. "Ever since we started dating, I can't keep a smile off of my face. You make me happy."

I decided to be brave. This time I was going to initiate the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You make me happy too." I said right before my lips made contact with his. This kiss was deeper than the one before. This is my boyfriend, my friend, my confidant and the one person that I share such an amazing connection with. I wanted him to feel the joy that was in my heart, all because of him. His arms went around my waist and he pulled me closer into him. There was an electrical hum that made its way back and forth between us.

He pulled away and broke the current. "Let's try something." Uh oh. I definitely wasn't ready for trying anything more than kissing. Fear and embarrassment must have shown on my face, because he quickly followed up on his statement. "Nothing like that." He smiled smugly and kissed the tip of my nose. "Every time we touch there is a jolt of electricity. There must be a reason for it. I think that it's both of our energies that are literally trying to connect. So I thought we could do some experiments."

He took his necklace off. Then walked behind me and pulled my hair to the side, and took mine off as well. He lingered a bit, planting kisses on the nap of my neck, sending shivers all the way down to my toes. Wow. "I will give you thirty minutes to stop that." I tried to say seriously.

"I wouldn't have the willpower after thirty seconds." He laughed.

Huh? "What does that mean?" I asked.

"Never mind." He said, then changed topics. "Keep your eyes on that chair." He pointed to a chair beside the swimming pool. All he did was stare at it. Within seconds the chair was floating off the ground. He was moving it only with his mind. "Now watch this." The chair instantly started turning in circles. "I can talk to you and keep the chair going at the same time. But if I try to make something else move simultaneously, this happens." His focus moved to the other chair that had been sitting beside the one that is currently spinning in air. As soon as the second chair started to move, the first one crashed to the ground. "I have never been able to move more than one thing at a time. But let’s try this."

He placed his hand in mine causing the stream of energy to flow. I had no clue what to do. So I just imagined that my energy was giving him a boost. The first chair was off the ground again in no time but the second chair hadn't moved. Just when I thought it wasn't going to work, it took flight. Not only was it in the air, but both chairs were rotating. I was astonished. Thinking that was the end of it, I was taken by surprise when the third chair was airborne.

"Oh my gosh! Daniel, it looks like you're juggling them!" Forgetting my part in all this, I let go and clapped my hands in a rounding applause. All three chairs fell from the sky. "Oops, I'm so sorry." I felt like a complete idiot.

"Don't be. Did you see that? That was amazing!" He picked me up into bear hug and kissed me. I could so get use to this. "Let's try something else."

"Do you want me to help you talk to animals?" What else was there?

"No, but I will take you with me one day to the shelter and introduce you." He said with a wink. How can all of his facial expressions be so dang hot? "Here, hold my hands." I eagerly obeyed. "Now, I'm
gonna think of something and you tell me what it is." He closed his eyes.

His thoughts came to me quickly. "
Aww, you are thinking about our first kiss."

"It's hard to think of anything else." He kissed both of my hands that he was still holding.
"Your turn. Think of something and try to send it to me."

I'll give it a try but, just in case he hasn't noticed, I'm not an animal. I tried to think of something simple. I got it! I put all my focus and energy on my oak tree that Daniel gave me as a housewarming gift.
From the little pot that it came in, and the tiny greens leaves, to the smell of the soil when we planted it. I pushed and pushed the best way I knew how. Seeing someone’s thought is like second nature now. On the other hand, sending a thought was all new territory. I could feel tiny beads of sweat forming on my neck. But that was nothing compared to poor Daniel. His eyes were tightly shut and he was pushing his mind so hard that I could see a tiny vein protruding from his forehead. Anybody else would have given up by now, but not Daniel. He was determined to do this.

After what seemed like five minutes, his eyes opened. "Umm, grass? No, it's not grass. It's...a tree.
The oak tree!" He knew he had it before I said anything.

I was dumbfounded. "That's right! I can't believe that worked! Now all we have to do is walk around holding hands all the time and there won't be anything we can't accomplish." I teased.

"I could get on board with that." He cupped my chin in his hand. "You bring out the best in me in every sense of the word. It's like my heart is gonna bust from being so full of... happiness."

My stomach flipped. I was so sure he was about to say love. Right now would be a great time to take a peak since he isn't wearing his necklace. Regretfully I won't, just thinking about it is making me feel guilty. Oh crap, this means that Daniel will be able to read my thoughts. That realization had me letting go, of the one hand of his that I was still holding, pretty quickly. He hasn't mastered it yet, but better safe than sorry.

"What's the matter?" Daniel asked, looking kinda hurt.

"I'm not used to having someone be able to read me. There are some thoughts I'd like to keep to myself." I said.

This gorgeous smile slowly grew across his handsome face and there was mischief in his dark brown eyes. "Oh really? Come here and let me see." I took off running, with him close behind me laughing all the way. Now I can't wait to let him catch me.

"Hey Dad."
I said, standing in the doorway of the study.

He was sitting at his desk and writing in a thick file that he had in front of him. It must have been a patient's file, because he closed it before looking up at me. "Hey H.B., what's up?"

I had to tell my dad that it was time to send Samantha to the other side. I knew it was the mature and responsible thing to do. I also knew that all this was going to do is make him stressed out. Then he will tell Mom so she can stress out with him. "I need to tell you something. I'm not telling you so you will worry. I am telling you so you know what is going on." I caught myself wringing my hands.

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What is it?"

"I am going to try and help Samantha crossover soon, maybe even tomorrow." I gave that a second to sink in for him. "I had a dream and in it she showed me where she's buried. So I think the cemetery is where it needs to happen. Daniel and Jaycee are going to help me."

"Where is she buried? I hope
it’s close by."

"It's only about twenty minutes from here. She's at the old Milton Cemetery. We pass it every time we drive up the mountain."

"I know where that's at." He ran his hands over his face. It's a habit I recognized. He does it when he is struggling with something. "I would ask you if you want my help, but I can feel that you don't. I can understand that." He stood up, walked around his desk, and laid his hand on my shoulder. "Just promise me two things."

"Anything."
I said.

"That, one, you will be very careful. And two, you will let me know when you are about to call on Samantha. So I will be able to send out my energy, to give you an extra layer of protection. It's my way of helping, while still letting you
do this on your own."

"I promise. And thanks. I know you are going against the normal dad instincts by letting me handle this without you."

"Normal is boring and average, and we are neither."

I think that should be my new motto. "Hey, I
kinda like that saying! I think that will be my first tattoo. I can put it right here." I turned around and pointed to my lower back.

He knew I was kidding, but played along. "That would be a great going away present to
yourself." He said all cheery. "Since, you know, you wouldn't be living here anymore if you get a tattoo."