This morning I would meet with Jeremy Pike, the clairvoyant who’d told me I had five kids even before I knew it. He’d contacted my people and said he wanted the meeting. I liked him personally, so I was looking forward to it.
“So, what are you going to ask him? What will you be when you grow up? Oh, I know. Is there love in your future?” Lexi teased as we pulled up.
“You should ask if you’ll get a new PA,” Chuck suggested.
“You mean, one that doesn’t harass me first thing in the morning?”
“Exactly.”
“You two are dorks. This should be fun,” Lexi predicted.
“You realize you don’t get to come in with me, don’t you?” I asked Lexi.
“Please,” she begged. “I’ve never been to one before.”
If my niece couldn’t get me to buy her a horse, Lexi didn’t have a shot at going in there with me. She must have seen I wasn’t going to budge, so she tried a different tack.
“I’ll make it worth your while,” she purred.
“Chuck, cover your ears,” I quipped and then raised my eyebrows at Lexi.
“I know what makes David a happy boy.”
I shrugged and opened the front door. We both recognized that I knew what made Lexi a happy girl, so her suggestion didn’t carry much weight with me. Besides, if I was just looking for a good time, I could count on Halle to show it to me. Then again, Lexi was fun to play with.
“How about I get a session, and you can come in for it?” Chuck offered.
Lexi dismissed Chuck with a look and turned her pleading eyes on me. I suspected she’d seen my drowned-puppy-dog expression and had practiced it since the last time I’d seen her. If I hadn’t seen Lexi cry at the drop of a hat to get her way, that might have swayed me.
I gave her high marks for the little quiver of her bottom lip. I decided I would have to steal that move.
“Okay, you can come in if Jeremy allows it,” I caved.
What a guy wouldn’t do to be a ‘happy boy.’ In my head, I heard Tami calling me a ‘stupid boy’ for thinking with Mr. Happy’s brain and not my own.
◊◊◊
Jeremy and I had met when I was on a press junket for Star Academy. He’d been there to promote his reality TV show where he did readings for celebrities. That was a long way from his upbringing. Jeremy had grown up in a small town, and his parents were extremely religious. It had been tough for him because they didn’t understand their son was different.
Jeremy hadn’t ‘come out,’ so to speak, until he was in college. He had told me he could talk to the departed and had a sense for what would happen to someone.
In the brief time I’d spent with him, I’d come to I like Jeremy. He was probably eight to ten years my senior, but I was used to everyone in ‘the business’ being older than me. What made Jeremy likable was his outgoing personality; it also didn’t hurt that he had the looks for TV. I’d heard his show had only aired for one season, so I was interested in finding out what he was doing now.
When we walked in, the door chimed. Jeremy came out from the back to greet us.
“David, I’m so glad you agreed to stop by. I was worried about you, then I heard you’d been shot. I was afraid I was too late to warn you,” Jeremy said in a rush.
“Getting shot sucked,” I admitted. “Did you still want to see me?”
“Of course. You have a lot going on,” Jeremy said as he ushered me to the back room.
I’m not sure what I expected, but he had it set up as an informal seating area with a leather couch and a couple of comfortable chairs.
Lexi followed me in, which gave Jeremy pause.
“This is Lexi, my PA. She begged to sit in if it’s okay with you,” I said.
“Why don’t I give David a general reading, and if I need to get personal, maybe Lexi could step out?” Jeremy compromised.
“No problem,” Lexi said.
Jeremy relaxed into his chair and closed his eyes. He took a couple of deep breaths and slowly let the last one out. Then his eyes snapped open.
“There are a couple of people fighting for attention. The most insistent is a young man who claims to be your best friend.”
“Jeff,” I supplied.
“Jeff wants me to tell you that you have to help your friend Alan. He’s lost his way and is angry with you and the world. Jeff is afraid Alan has lost sight of what’s essential and will sabotage his life out of spite.
“I get the impression that Alan hasn’t been the most pleasant person, and this is something you don’t want to do,” Jeremy said.
“I really don’t. When Jeff passed, our friendship began to fall apart.”
“There was a fourth in your group. A girl who you have strong feelings for.”
“Had,” I clarified. “We’re still friends, but we don’t have anything beyond that anymore.”
Jeremy shook his head.
“All this makes Jeff very sad. You four called yourselves the four musketeers. It was you against the world. Since his passing, you’ve all drifted apart. Jeff says that you and the girl …”
“Tami,” I supplied.
“… Tami are meant for each other. He’s sad because he thinks your chance to have happiness may have passed you by.”
I started to get emotional, which caught me off guard. I hadn’t experienced those feelings about Tami in a long time. The idea of talking to Jeff about them ripped that wound wide open again. He was one of the few people who understood how close Tami and I were at one point. All I could say was that for now, being her friend was all I could be.
“What does Jeff think I can do for Alan?” I asked to change the subject away from Tami.
“He doesn’t know, and he thinks Alan won’t be receptive to you offering him an olive branch. Jeff says it’s not just about Alan. You need to forgive both him and Tami for you to move on. He won’t reveal why this is, but he says in your mind, you realize it wasn’t their fault, but you’ve never given yourself a chance to heal your heart. I get a sense of betrayal,” Jeremy guessed.
“Okay, I’ll work on that,” I promised my friend.
Jeremy rocked back into his chair and smiled at me.
“Your grandfather is here. He wants me to tell you how proud he is of you. He wants you to know, though, that you’re not your grandmother’s favorite grandson.”
“What? He’s full of it. Grandma loves me best,” I shot back.
Both Jeremy and Lexi chuckled. Jeremy shook his head.
“He says that she loves you and your brother equally.”
I rolled my eyes because I didn’t believe that for a second. Grandma Dawson had told me I was the favorite all my life. Of course, she’d told Greg the same, but she was just trying to make him feel better. At one time, we called her on it. She’d explained that whenever she said it to either of us, she meant every word.
“Last time you and I talked, you told me I had five kids. Tell me what their futures hold,” I said.
“Your grandfather suggests you start calling Little David, Dave. He will be the smallest of your boys, stature-wise, and he doesn’t need that reinforced with his name. Your grandfather also says you plan to adopt Dave and encourages you to make that happen.”
This was the first thing Jeremy mentioned that I thought he would have no way of researching to find out. All the others, he could have pieced together via social media and the like. I was suddenly taking what he said more seriously.
“I’ll do that,” I agreed.
“Dave will be an important part of your family’s dynamic. He’s the one who the rest of your kids will go to when they have a problem or need someone to listen to them. He’ll be the glue that keeps them all together and will mediate any disagreements they will undoubtedly have.
“There’ll come a time when his mother might feel she needs to take him with her. Don’t let that happen. In the long run, it will be better for both of their happiness,” Jeremy foresaw.
“That couldn’t be any more vague.”