“You had it engraved?”
“Look at it in the car, Dutch. I don’t care. Just leave….” and the sob that I’d managed to hold in check burbled up anyway.
Dutch stepped forward and grabbed me, hugging me and Eggy. “Hey, there,” he said as I sobbed into his shirt. “Come on, Edgar, don’t do that. Listen to me. All I’m saying is that I need a little room to focus on my job. Some time to concentrate on what I need to do until things quiet down a bit. And I’d really like you to be okay with that, please?”
I sniffed loudly into his shirt. The void in his energy told me more than any words that there was no future for us, so his even bothering to ask if I was okay with giving him some space was nothing but a waste of time. “Just go,” I said as I pulled back from his chest and pointed to the door.
Dutch tried to make eye contact with me but I turned away. Finally, he hung his head and walked to the front door. He paused there for the longest moment, and I watched his back while silently begging him to change his mind and stay anyway. Then with a sigh he opened the door and walked out.
Chapter Two
“Hello?” I said into the phone the next morning, my swollen eyes making it tough to read the caller ID.
“Abs?” came a familiar female voice.
“Hey, Ellie,” I managed, my voice sounding hoarse from so much crying.
“You sound bad, girl! What’d you and that hunka hunka burnin’ love do last night?”
“We broke up,” I said, sitting up and squinting at the clock. It read ten A.M.
“Ha! Funny! No, really, what’d you do?”
I sighed heavily and let the silence speak for itself.
“Ohmigod! He really broke up with you?” Ellie asked.
“He said he needed some space. Wanted to slow the train down.”
“On Valentine’s Day?!”
“Dutch always did have great timing.”
“Bastard!”
“Yeah, and the worst part is, he was really nice about it. He even gave me a hug. What guy hugs you when he breaks your heart?”
“Aww, Abs, I’m so sorry!”
“What can you do? It happens,” I said as the water-works started again.
“Get your butt on a plane and come to Colorado. I need you anyway. One of my bridesmaids took off with her boyfriend and now I’m one short.”
I closed my eyes and let my head fall forward. I’d forgotten about the wedding. What was that phrase? Always the bridesmaid? “Ellie, I don’t know that I’m up for that right now….”
“Abigail Cooper, you listen to me. The worst thing you can do is sit in your house and mope around about this guy. What you need is a change of scenery. Something with gorgeous views and lots of activity, and I know just the place and just the party. Now get out of bed, pack your bag and hop on a plane already!”
“Ellie,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“You really need to try the decaf.”
“So you’ll come?”
“I’ll think about it. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Chin up, sweetie. ’Kay?” she said, and we disconnected.
I tossed the phone to the other side of the bed, then pulled the covers over my head and curled up around Eggy again. He snuggled up under my chin and let out a heavy sigh. I couldn’t agree more.
A few hours later, Eggy and I were both downstairs when a small knock came on my back door. I looked down at my disheveled self, in my baggy sweats, raggedy robe and socks that didn’t match, and thought about not answering it. Then the knock came again. Moaning, I shuffled over to the door and peeked through the curtain. A Hell’s Angel grinned back. Rolling my eyes, I opened the door a crack and said, “Hey, Dave.”
“Hey, honey! You ready to go look at another property?”
Dave McKenzie was my former handyman and current business partner. Recently we’d purchased one of those “handyman specials” which is a cute real estate term for “condemned—enter at your own risk.” However, due to the house’s rather spooky condition, Dave refused to go near the place and had hired a crew to fix it up so we could sell it. That didn’t stop him from looking for another property to invest in. His thinking was that if I went with him before we actually bought a prospective fixer-upper, perhaps we could avoid such haunted circumstances again.
“Not today, Dave. I’m not feelin’ so hot.”
“You got a cold or something?” he asked, taking a step forward to inspect me through the crack.
“Or something.”
Dave nodded his head and said, “Yeah, you look like hell, girl. Dutch give it to you?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Want me to get you some chicken soup?” he offered helpfully.
“Naw, I’m okay,” I said. Just then Eggy, who’d been clawing at the door, anxious to greet Dave, wiggled his way through the small opening and began jumping up and down by Dave’s feet.
Dave bent over, picked up my pooch and got a faceful of wet, slobbery kisses. “Hey, there, buddy,” he said in between licks as he eyed me curiously. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked as he stepped forward expectantly, and I had no choice but to open the door wide and let him in.
“The truth?” I asked.
“Bring it,” Dave said as he crossed the threshold and shut the door with his foot.
“Dutch broke up with me last night and I’m kind of a wreck.”
“He what?” Dave said, setting Eggy down.
“He broke up with me.”
“But you two just got back from Toronto. I thought everything was great.”
“Me too,” I mumbled as I pulled down a mug from the cabinet and poured Dave some coffee.
“So what happened?” he asked, nodding as he accepted the mug and reached for the sugar bowl.
“I’m not really sure. I mean, yesterday Dutch happened to catch a glimpse of my wedding file—”
“Your what?”
I did a combo heavy sigh and eye roll as I explained. “My wedding file. It’s a file that girls keep so that when you guys get down on bended knee we are fully prepared to walk down that aisle one year later. It takes a lot of preplanning, ya know.”
“You keep a file?”
“Oh, get over it, David,” I chastised. “Of course we keep a friggin’ file. It doesn’t mean we want to get married tomorrow; it just means that we are prepared should the occasion arise…you know…someday…down the road…a ways away….”
“And you’re wondering why Dutch got a little cagey?”
“No. I can see it from his perspective. I mean, he doesn’t know that my file is about a hundred years old, so I’m assuming he thinks I’ve been hoarding these clippings and pictures ever since we met. For the record, though, I’ve only cut out two photos and clipped one article in the past few months.”
Dave was making a face at me that seemed a cross between “yikes” and “what were you thinking?”
“It’s not like I let him see it on purpose!” I said rather loudly as the tears started and I began to sniffle.
“Okay, okay,” he said, setting down his cup of coffee and hurrying over to fold me into a hug. “Listen,” he said in a soothing tone as he patted me on the back, “I’m sure all he needs is a little time. He’ll start missing you, and wondering what he was all worked up about. Then he’ll call and want to talk, and before you know it the two of you will be back together again.”
“Is that what you’d do in the same situation?” I asked.
“Hell, no, I’d run like hell and never look back,” Dave said.
I shoved away from him. “Thanks, that makes me feel so much better, Dave!”
“Yeah, but that’s me, Abby. That’s not Dutch. I never wanted to make it official.”
“You don’t get it,” I said as I plopped down in one of my kitchen chairs.
Dave picked up his coffee and came over to the table. “What don’t I get?”
“I’m not in his energy, Dave. I’m gone.”
r /> “Come again?”
I sighed, searching for a way to explain. “It’s like this. You know how you carry photos of your wife and kids in your wallet?”
“I don’t have any kids,” Dave said.
“Not you, Dave,” I groused. “Normal people. You know, how normal people carry around pictures of their family in their wallet?”
“I’m with ya.”
“Well, it’s like that. When I look at you intuitively, I get this picture in my head of your basic outline, and then over your left shoulder is this woman with blond hair, who I assume is, uh…what’s her name?”
“My old lady,” Dave said with a sly smile. Dave had never shared the name of his common-law wife with me, and I’d been trying to trick him into telling me ever since I’d heard him use the term. It was our little game, and so far he was winning.
I rolled my eyes at him and continued. “Your significant other is located right there over your left shoulder, and that’s how, when I do readings, I can tell if someone’s attached or not. They carry the imprint of their lover in their energy field.”
“Tell me about how this relates to Dutch,” Dave said.
My shoulders slumped again and my smile faded. “Just like you, Dutch used to carry me in his energy. Only last night I was completely gone. I mean, it was as if I’d never even been part of his life, like he’d erased even the memory of me.”
“You sure you weren’t just having an off night?”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out again as I thought about that. “Anything’s possible,” I said. “But I checked his energy a couple of times. I might have gotten it wrong once, but not several times. He’s removed me from his life….” And with that I began to cry…again.
“Hey,” Dave said as he rubbed my shoulder, “I’m sure that with a little time, he’ll come around. I mean, Abby, you’re the whole package. You got looks, brains and superpowers. How could any guy resist all that?”
I sniffled into the sleeve of my robe and blinked back some tears. “I don’t know, Dave. I really thought we made a good pair. I guess there were signs, and maybe I missed them. Maybe I was just projecting that our relationship was progressing.”
Dave gave me an awkward pat on the head, and offered, “You know what you need?”
“Some Kleenex?”
He smiled. “That, and a vacation. Sometimes getting the hell outta Dodge helps give you some perspective.”
“Funny you should say that,” I said. “My friend Ellie’s getting married in ten days, and she’s invited me to Colorado to take my mind off things.”
“So go.”
“It’s more complicated than just up and going,” I said.
“How ya figure?”
“I have clients who have waited weeks for an appointment. I can’t cancel on them.”
“Reschedule them, or arrange for phone readings. My sister’s been going on and on about how good you are over the phone.” Dave’s sister, Annie, lived in Texas and was married to some rich oil tycoon. I’d given her a phone reading two weeks earlier. The difference between the siblings had given me a whole new perspective on Dave.
“Then there’s Eggy. I can’t simply dump some dog food in a bowl and leave him.” At the mention of his name, my pooch came over and put his front paws on my knees, nudging my hand with his nose. I bent down and picked him up, cradling him in my arms.
“I can cover you with that,” Dave offered. “My old lady’s grown fond of him and it wouldn’t be any trouble. He’s a good little guy.”
I scowled at him. He was making this way too easy. “I don’t know. I just don’t think it’s a great time to go away right now.”
Dave sat back in the chair for a moment and studied me. “You’re thinking Dutch may change his mind and come knocking, and what if you’re not around, am I right?”
I avoided his eyes and buried my face into Eggy’s fur. “Yeah. Something like that,” I mumbled after a minute.
“If Dutch wants to get a hold of you, he’s got your number, Abby. The more you sit around here and wait for that phone to ring, the more depressed you’re gonna get when it doesn’t. I’m with your friend Ellie. Get the hell outta here. Go to Colorado and get your head on straight.”
I looked up into Dave’s gray-blue eyes for a long moment, wavering. Finally, I nodded and said, “Yeah, okay.”
“Good girl. Let me know when you want me to pick up the munchkin and I’ll come back over. In the meantime, chin up, kiddo.”
I saw Dave out and laid my head against the door, depression thick and heavy all around me. Getting dumped was always such a struggle for me. It was an ancient war wound. I’d been rejected by my parents as a child, so every time I was faced with this particular karmic issue I had to fight that “what’s wrong with me?” battle all over again. Maybe Dave and Ellie were right. Maybe what I needed was a big fat distraction until I had a little distance; then I could face the music that Dutch and I were finished.
Anyway, I’d be helping out a friend. Ellie had actually called me a month or two earlier, when she was planning her wedding, and asked me if I’d like to be one of her bridesmaids. I’d been flattered, but I’d politely declined, since I wanted to bring Dutch and show him off, and I felt he would feel uncomfortable if I were seated with the wedding party and he was stuck next to someone’s aunt Gertrude.
Besides, Ellie had always been there when I needed her most. When it had become clear that my parents wanted nothing to do with me, I’d found comfort and solace in her friendship. And even more than that, Ellie’s whole family had taken me in as a sort of surrogate daughter. Yes, going to Colorado might be just what the doctor ordered.
With new determination, I stepped away from the door and walked into my study, flipped on the computer and logged on to a discount travel Web site. As I searched the cheapest fares, I felt my intuition buzzing in the background of my thoughts. I didn’t answer the buzz. I didn’t want to hear from my crew right now; I simply wanted to get away. If only I’d listened, I might have avoided the whole death thing in the first place.
Chapter Three
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be docking at gate six-A momentarily. Current temperature at Denver International Airport is an unseasonably balmy fifty-six degrees, and the time is five P.M. Please remain seated until the airplane has come to a complete stop at the gate. However, it is now safe to use your cell phones and other electronic devices. As always, we appreciate your choosing to fly the friendly skies with American Airlines, and hope you’ll fly with us again real soon.”
I closed the magazine I’d been flipping through and pulled out my carry-on bag from underneath the seat in front of me. Sifting through it, I pulled out my new cell phone, flipped it open and pressed the ON switch. I watched the display light up with a map marked with a small red star, designating my exact location. I clicked a button, which made the map disappear, and looked for the little envelope to appear in the right-hand corner. Crap. I had no new messages.
I frowned and closed the lid. Dutch hadn’t called. Not that I really expected him to. It was just that I was trying to hold on to this little speck of hope that we’d get back together. That speck was getting smaller by the minute, as it had now been three whole days without a word from the guy.
I shook my head, trying to focus on the positive, and stared out the window. It would be good to see Ellie again. It had been a long time for us, nearly three years. Just then the plane came to a stop and the internal lights clicked on. I moved out into the aisle to stand cramped there between the other passengers until the doors opened and we could exit.
A man to my right knocked against me as he pulled his bag from the overhead compartment. “Sorry,” he said, his face blushing. “Tight quarters in here.”
“No problem, and make sure you let your wife know that this move is only temporary. You’ll be back home in no time.”
The man smiled at me as he turned his head away, then whipped it back in my direction. ?
??Excuse me, but what did you just say?”
“Hmm?” I asked, then realized that I’d just blurted out a bit of intuitive insight.
“What you just said, that bit about my moving. How did you know that?”
I smiled gamely at him as other people stared at us. The man’s voice was a tad on the alarmed side. “It’s okay,” I reassured him. “I’m a professional psychic.”
“I don’t believe in psychics,” he said warily.
“No problem,” I said, putting up my hands in a surrendering motion and giving him my best Bo Peep smile. “Good luck in California, and tell your wife that she can find a nursing job anywhere. Oh, and don’t worry about your daughter. She’ll make new friends. Especially with her love for theatrics. California’s the place to be if she wants to be an actress. And one last thing,” I said, turning the volume up on my intuition. “Your house will be sold within the month. It’s the family with the army connection. They love what you’ve done with the studio over the garage.”
The man stood there staring at me for the longest moment, his eyes large and round and his mouth hanging open stupidly as someone from behind me said, “Hey, can you move it forward? I gotta use the john.”
Shaking himself out of his shocked state, the man turned and bolted off the plane. I allowed myself a small chuckle and followed at a slower pace. I made my way to baggage claim, where I spotted Ellie. I shouted her name as I crossed the terminal, and we crashed together, squeezing each other in a gigantic bear hug. “Ohmigod!” she said as she pulled back from me and held me at arm’s length. “Look at how gorgeous you’ve gotten!”
The way she was looking me over made me laugh heartily for the first time in days. “Me? What about you?” Ellie had been a swan since childhood. Tall and elegant, she had gorgeous smooth skin a shade or two darker than mine, big brown eyes the shape and color of almonds, long blond hair and a smile that could light up any dark room.
She was one of those people you simply liked to stare at—just supremely pretty in a natural, earthy way. Her personality matched her good looks, and she always had a horde of friends, both male and female alike. She made everyone around her feel at ease, and she had a knack for remembering all of the small details that made you believe she was genuinely interested in you.