“So what’s up?” Dawna asked softly as we began to shorten the rose stems under cool running water. “Are you upset about something?”
I let out a little frustrated puff of air and whispered a reply: “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. I didn’t know about the tai chi and you did. And you seem to know all about the travel brochures. I guess I should be asking what’s up.”
She shrugged. “You’ve been really busy lately and she’s been lonely. Sometimes she calls the office just to chat. I suggested the tai chi lessons to Bá Nôi. Emily needed something to do, since most of the events here aren’t things she enjoys very much. Pili’s been spending time with her and so has Bá Nôi. They’ve all gotten really close in just these few weeks. I think Pili’s probably empathic as well as a seer. She’s been encouraging Emily to plan for the future—not just live in the past.”
I started arranging the trimmed flowers in the vase. “Why hasn’t she told me any of this?”
Dawna sighed and turned around to lean on the counter. “Honestly? You should talk to Pili about it. She knows a lot more than I do. Let me get your gran to show me and Emma the gardens. I’ve actually already seen them, but it’ll take a while.”
Without giving me a chance to reply, she walked back into the living room. “Emily, could you show me and Emma the rose garden? I’m sure Celia and Pili would like a chance to catch up with things on the siren island.”
And just like that, Pili and I were alone. I sat down on the floral tapestry couch cushion Gran had vacated and looked at the small ancient Polynesian woman. “So … Pili. How are you liking retirement?”
She smiled so calmly and gently that my muscles relaxed. “We have no need for small talk, Celia. I know you’re wondering about your grandmother, and that’s understandable. She hasn’t wanted to worry you because she knows you already carry such great burdens of your own. You speak so little of your problems that it makes others reluctant to speak of their troubles with you. Please don’t take that as any sort of criticism. But you must remember that your grandmother has been affected by her minister’s death, the revelation of the death curse, and everything that’s happened to you and to her daughter. And now she’s had to leave the only home she’s known as an adult. She’s needed time to adjust. Time to find a new way of living, just as you have.”
My face felt hot and my stomach was roiling. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put all that together before. My poor gran!
“I don’t know what to say. Do you think I should cancel my trip and spend some time with her?”
Another soft smile as Pili touched my hand. “Not at all. You need time to heal as well, just as Emily does. I’ve become a bit concerned that she’s attached to Ahn and me so completely in such a short time, which is why I suggested she explore herself a little more … meet new people, do things she’s never done before. She’s very healthy and may outlive many of her peers. To balance the continued loss of friends and family, she needs new friends and new experiences.” A quick pat of her fingers didn’t make me feel much better. “Please don’t worry. I’m working very hard to get her to a place where she’s not spending all her time worrying about you and Lana. To keep her heart light, we must make her mind and hands busy.”
The continued loss of friends and family. Ouch.
14
Emma and Dawna laughed and the three of us simultaneously raised our margarita glasses. I felt a cool swirl brush around us in a ghostly hug. Dawna clinked her glass, first with mine and then with Emma’s on her other side. “To the girls! No boys allowed. Although…” She paused and lowered her tortoiseshell sunglasses to the tip of her nose as one of the staff walked through carrying another tray of lime-topped refreshments. “Pretty boys are always allowed.”
I leaned back with a sigh and stared up at the stained glass and carved wood above the heat lamp for a moment before raising myself on one elbow to look at my three friends lounging next to the shining turquoise pool.
Yeah, Vicki was here, and while we couldn’t see her directly, there was a distinct body mark denting the thick white towel on the otherwise empty-seeming chaise. Emma and Dawna were bronzing under tanning lamps, but I was just as “allergic” to artificial sunlight as I was to the real thing. But a heat lamp is just heat without UV rays and such, and even if I wasn’t particularly cold, I wanted to share in the luxury of the moment. The heat lamp, fourth lounge, and framed mirror for communication with our dead friend had thrown the staff into a little bit of a tizzy, but they’d recovered quickly.
I was done worrying, at least for a weekend. I’d promised Pili I’d do my best to relax while she helped Gran do the same. Then maybe Gran and I could go back to the warm, loving relationship we’d shared for so many years. I looked forward to getting to know Pili better, too. I not only trusted her; I liked her. Finding a new relative who was both wise and wonderful was one of the better side effects of the last few weeks.
The cabana boy saw Dawna flicking her eyes up and down the length of his body and responded in kind. His sly, confident smile was enough to make me roll my eyes and shake my head. If Dawna didn’t get lucky this weekend it would be a miracle. Emma wasn’t above gawking, too, but the last thing I needed was another man in my life. After all, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the ones I already had.
After our drinks had been replaced—I’d sent the cabana boy back to get me an energy shake instead of another alcoholic margarita—I relaxed into the wave of warm air. “So what do you think about the mystery heir thing? Do you agree with me?”
Vicki had been noncommittal about my thought that she’d chosen Mick Murphy because his daughters were younger versions of me and Ivy—and because if Mom had had money to buy off the kidnappers Ivy might still be alive.
“I guess it’s possible,” Dawna said after a few seconds. “But it’s not the sort of thing she normally saw in her visions, right, Vick? If she’d seen something, it would have been the actual kidnapping. Why see a happy family with no trauma?”
Dunno appeared on the mirror that was propped on an easel next to Vicki’s lounge so she didn’t have to get up to write. It was interesting to me that after she’d first died she could only write a word or two. Now she’d often do five or six with ease. Could a ghost get stronger, or had she just learned the trick to it?
“That makes sense, really,” Emma said from the far end. “If she remembered why, she wouldn’t have asked you to investigate.”
“True. But I really think we need to follow the money. That’s a lot of freaking cash. Why not a hundred thousand, or even a million? Why give them a quarter of the estate?”
Yes. About the money showed on the mirror. It was the first acknowledgment that I was on to something. Needs to buy …
“Needs to buy … what?” She’d disappeared. The room got warmer and the heat lamp was abruptly almost too hot. I sat up and looked around, searching for the sparkling cloud. But she was gone. “What’s up? Where’d she go?”
Dawna shrugged and sat up fully, setting her feet on the floor. “Maybe she had an idea. She’ll be back. Anyway, we need to get to the salon. We have a haircut and style in fifteen minutes. Then facials and makeup. Ladies, we are going to rock that debut tonight!”
So true. Who knew the spa would have such an amazing boutique? Absolutely everything fit and looked good on me. That was saying something. “Can you believe the dresses we found? There’d better be cameras there, because I want a picture of us for my album.”