Tug of Attraction (27 page)

“Yes. I finished it yesterday and she loved it.”

“That’s seems quick. I don’t know how much time it takes to make a coat, but it sounds as if you made it in a couple of days.”

“Well, with nothing else to do...Besides, it was easy. We’re about the same size, so I didn’t need to alter the pattern. And she liked the style, so I just made a duplicate of mine in a different material. You’ll see it. She chose a pretty herringbone print.”

“I know what a herring bone looks like, but I wouldn’t have thought dead fish bones were that attractive. I have the feeling you’re talking about something else.”

She laughed. It was so good to hear her laugh again. “I can show you the remnants.”

“Nah. Don’t get up. I’ll take your word for it. Dead fish bones are pretty.”

She rose, “I can’t let you go around thinking I made Myranda a coat out of dead fish bones. Hang on one minute.”

She strode out of the room and returned a moment later with a print he’d seen before, but just didn’t know the name of. It looked like a lot of intersecting letter V’s.

“It’s black and white, so it must look very different from your multi-colored Indian blanket coat.”

“Yes. That’s the beauty of print. I can make the same coat in different fabrics and sizes and no two will look alike. Plus I can add a belt to some for non-pregnant women.” Brigit set the fabric on her coffee table and settled next to him again. “And here’s the best part. The store wants six of them! Two small, two medium and two large. 

“Congratulations! No wonder you were in a good mood.”

“No shit.” She giggled. “Guess how much she’s going to charge for one coat?”

“I don’t know. How much?”

“Three-hundred and fifty bucks. I get sixty percent of that.”

Ethan took a few seconds to calculate. “That’s two hundred and ten dollars per sale for you.”

“I know. Not too shabby, right?”

“Right.” Ethan didn’t want to burst her bubble by taking into account the work hours spent and the possibility of less than stellar sales, so he just kissed her temple and stroked her arm. She cuddled right into him.

“I don’t want to get too excited. It’s not like I can count on that income long term, but it’s something.”

He swept her hair over her shoulder. “
You’re
something.” His lips descended for a kiss and she raised her face to meet his.

H
anna paced the dirt road and waited impatiently for Fayleen to show up at the garbage dump. The odors assaulting her nose made her shut down her sense of smell for a while.

At last Fayleen appeared in front of her.

“What? No floating upside down? No descent from the tree tops?”

“I didn’t have the energy for a grand entrance,” Fayleen said.

Hanna placed a hand on her Fayleen’s forehead. “Are you feeling all right?”

She gave her a weak smile. “I’m fine. Just a little depressed. I didn’t find a trace of Raven’s car in either of the Carolinas.”

“Well, I have some news that might cheer you up.”

“Oh?”

“I found the bill of sale in Florida.”

Fayleen jumped in the air yelling, “Eureka,” and then floated to the ground.

“I remembered her saying she had moved back to New England from Florida,” Hanna continued. “Apparently her step-father moved to Daytona Beach when she was in high school. She missed her friends up North, so as soon as she graduated she moved back to Portsmouth.”

“I’ll be darned. So, do you think she’s staying with her step-dad?”

“It’s possible she was there for a while, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she found another place. I don’t think they got along.”

“Damn. So she may or may not be in the vicinity of Daytona Beach.”

“Correct. We have another clue though.”

“Oh?” Fayleen rubbed her hands together. “What is it?”

“Her mother was a friend of mine, so I know her step-dad’s name. He signed the bill of sale, and now I have his address.”

“You did it! You found someone who knows where she is!” Fayleen tackle-hugged Hanna, who landed on her back in the dirt.

“Oomph.” She pushed her friend’s shoulders. “Get off of me, you fool.” As much as she pretended to be mad, she wasn’t. It was about time they caught a break.

* * * *

I
t was Christmas Eve and Brigit hadn’t made the same oversight that she had at Thanksgiving. She’d invited Ethan to her family’s home for Christmas dinner. She even managed to hold back a huge sigh of relief when he said he couldn’t come. Apparently every three years or so, he got to leave the area and go to visit his family in Arizona.

He invited Brigit to join him, but she didn’t feel comfortable doing that just yet. She knew he had a touchy relationship with his dad and stepmom. Truthfully, he seemed relieved when she begged off too. So here she was, sitting on her couch, taking his advice. She had looked for an experienced medium online. She finally found one close enough to meet in person and called her.

“You say you can see spirits already? You just can’t hear them?”

“That’s right.”

“I think you’d be better off with my grandmother. She taught me how to hone my gift and now I’m pretty busy using it.”

“Ah. So is this a gift that runs in your family?”

“Just the women. And it seems to skip a generation. My mother either shut it off or never had it.

Ah! Another person besides Hanna is able to shut it off. How lucky is she?
Brigit thought.

The woman continued with, “The men have made it clear that they don’t want it, and act like it’s like a communicable disease.”

She remembered she was hoping to earn some money with this ability—if she could ever learn to control it. She briefly wondered if her mother or sister had ever experienced anything of the spirit world, only to keep it to themselves.

“So, your grandmother...is she in the Portsmouth area?” Brigit asked.

“She lives across the river in Kittery Maine. Her name is Evelyn, but everyone calls her Eve.”

“And you think she’d be willing to see me?”

“I’m sure of it—as long as she’s feeling well.”

“Oh. Is she sick?”
Don’t sound so hopeful, Brigit, you bum.

“No, no. She’s fine. I just meant, you know...people get colds and stuff this time of year.”

“But as far as you know, she’s healthy?”

“Yeah. She’s in great shape for her age.”

“Okay. Good. Should I call her or would you rather tell her about me?”

“Well, I’ll be seeing her tomorrow. Why don’t I tell her about you and give her your information. She can contact you when she gets home tomorrow afternoon or evening.”

“Sure. That would be fine. I’m not working at the moment, so I can come to her place or meet her somewhere during the week or on weekends. Whatever is convenient for her.”

“I’ll let her know.”

Brigit gave the woman her cell phone number and was about to hang up with the young lady said, “By the way...not to be nosy, but are you pregnant?”

“How the— Yes. How did you know?”

“Ah!” She said, knowingly. “There’s a spirit hovering over my shoulder that said to tell you congratulations.”

Are you shitting me?
“Uh...that’s some gift you’ve got there.”

She chuckled. “Thanks. I guess you know what it’s like to have them intrude from time to time.”

“Yes. The only difference is that I don’t know what they want. If they only want me to express their congratulations, that’s easy. I can handle that. But, don’t they want you to help them with unfinished business and stuff?”

The woman on the other end of the phone sighed. “Sometimes, but that’s not up to us. We usually connect them to someone they know, and that person can follow up if they want a message relayed.”

“So, I guess Enzo was an anomaly,” she mumbled. “He probably had no living relatives.”

“Who’s Enzo?”

“Oh, a spirit from around the civil war time period. He wanted a Christian burial. I don’t know why he latched onto me and insisted on following me until I helped him. I couldn’t hear him.”

“He must have known you could see him and get him the help he needed.”

“Yeah. I guess so. But how would he know I had friends who can hear spirits, but not see them?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was just hoping you did. You probably have a powerful gift, and they can sense a sympathetic heart.”

Great. Just what I didn’t want to hear.

* * * *

W
hen Ethan returned, he was happy to hear that Brigit had found a medium mentor. They sat on his couch in front of a roaring fire and stared into the flames. She had told him all about her first meeting with Eve.

Apparently the woman taught Brigit that using fire was one way to scry. He hadn’t done much of that, but it made sense. Fire could be mesmerizing, and if stared at long enough, pictures could form.

“I thought you were interested in learning how to hear spirits. Not finding other ways to see them.”

“It wasn’t the spirits I was seeing. It was their messages.”

“Oh. I understand...” Then he shook his head. “No. Not really. Explain it to me.”

“Well, she said I might never develop the ability to actually hear them speak, but I can find other ways to communicate with them—or more accurately, let them communicate with me. It’s not charades, but they can show me things that matter.”

“Ah. I see. But having a fire at Myranda’s shop isn’t feasible, is it?”

Brigit chuckled. “No. I don’t think the fire marshal would appreciate a roaring bonfire in the middle of her shop. But I don’t have to use fire. It’s just what Eve used to teach me. She didn’t have a crystal ball. Myranda has one and does some scrying. She said she doesn’t get enough practice though. Most people want her to do tarot card readings.”

“So, is that what you’ll be doing? Using her crystal ball?”

“No. I’ll need to get one of my own. Myranda has years of energy stored in her crystal, and I’m sure it responds to her frequency.”

“True. What if I were to give you mine? I’ve barely used it. I can give it a good wash in salt water and the energy should be cleansed from it.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Positive. I know the large ones made of real crystal aren’t cheap.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“No, you won’t. That’s not what I was getting at. I got mine in Salem several years ago. I don’t remember what I paid for it, but as I said, I’m not using it. Call it a Yule gift.”

She threw her arms around him. “Oh, Ethan! Thank you!”

He chuckled. “Wow. And to think I almost bought you a necklace.”

“You don’t have to buy me gifts. I didn’t get you anything.”

“On the contrary...” He rubbed her belly. “You’re making something more precious than jewelry.”

She shrugged. “Well, they say home-made gifts are the best ones.”

He grinned. “Agreed. So, getting back to Eve. Is that how she communicates with spirits all the time? Does she have to have a fire going even in the summer?”

“Oh, heck no. She doesn’t need any props anymore. She sees what they want to show her in her mind.”

“Will you be able to do that someday?”

“Maybe. She said it depends on how much practice I get and how open I am. She’s teaching me how to shut down when I don’t want to be bothered. In the meantime, I like the idea of being able to limit communication to Myranda’s shop when I have a crystal ball—kind of like an ‘open for business’ sign.”

He smiled. “I’m proud of you, Bridge.”

“Really? Why?”

“Just a few weeks ago, you seemed terrified of your gift. Now you’re not just facing it, you’re learning how to use it to help people.”

She smiled, shyly. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“Hey, Ethan, it’s me, Charlotte.”

He almost chuckled and said, ‘Who else would it be?’ until Brigit spoke up.

“Hi, Charlotte. Who is that with you?”

Ethan snapped to attention. “There’s another spirit here?”

Brigit sighed. “I seem to attract them like flies. Oh, sorry, ladies. I didn’t mean that to sound the way it came out.”

“Ladies?” Ethan repeated.

“Yeah. I see two women. Charlotte, of course, and a woman with short hair, wearing more modern clothing.”

“Can you tell Brigit my friend here would like to try communicating with her?”

“Uh, yeah. But why don’t you have her talk directly to me?”

“Because she doesn’t want to talk to you. She wants to talk to Brigit.”

“Okay.” He swept a stray lock of hair behind Brigit’s shoulder. “You have a chance to practice your skills right now, if you want to. The spirit would like to communicate with you, not me.”

Brigit stared at the fire. “Okay. I’ll try it.”

She didn’t say anything at first. Then she said, “I see a mother holding a baby.” After a brief interlude, she said, “Another figure is forming. A man.” She fidgeted uncomfortably. “Um...she seems to be showing me a family.”

He wanted to ask, ‘Is it us?’ but didn’t want to ruin her concentration.

After another pause, she said, “I see knitting.” She glanced at Ethan. “Do you know any knitters?”

He was almost afraid to say it, but he really did want to help Brigit. If this conversation was going where he thought it might, it was going to hurt. In a soft voice, he said, “Yes. My mother used to knit.”

I’m getting a nod. “Are you Ethan’s mother?” she asked, point blank.

He held his breath.

Brigit took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Cox.”

The air went out of his lungs and for a moment, he thought he might pass out. He’d been waiting for his mother. Now she was here, but she didn’t want to talk to him!

“I—I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me,” she said to the air beside the fire.

“Scry, like the medium taught you,” he reminded her, a little sharply.

“Oh, yeah.” She worried her lip, but stared at the fire. After what seemed like an eon with no more information, he stared at her. Brigit had her eyes closed.

“Are you trying to shut her out?”

“No.” she whispered. “I’m seeing what she wants to show me in my mind.”

Wow. Talk about a quick study. She’s already communicating without props. Or maybe my mother is motivated to get her point across.