energy around you and a very beautiful aura.”
“I do?”
She nods, her smile radiant. There’s something peaceful about her, and I find myself thinking she must be a good person. I hope this isn’t a con. I don’t want to believe that anyone with such a beautiful smile could be conning me.
She touches her hand to her crystal necklace. “I knew you were coming tonight.”
I frown. “You did?”
“Your mother told me. She’s been here for hours.”
I rear back, looking over at my friends to see if this is some sick joke they’re all in on, but their eyes are huge with shock. I look back at Mirvana. “Is this a joke?”
She shakes her head, and gives me that serene smile again. “Your mother has passed, hasn’t she?”
“Yes,” Amy blurts out, and I pin her with a shut-the-hell-up look.
“She’s so sorry she had to leave you, and she knows how sad you’ve been. She wants you to know how proud she is of you.”
“Proud?” I whisper.
Mirvana nods, her eyes sparkling. “She says you’ve been feeling lost.” Mirvana reaches over, and touches the compass shaped pendant that hangs around my neck. “The man that gave you this, she says she sent him to you.”
I feel my eyes fill, but shake my head. “I don’t believe in this stuff.” I cut my eyes to my friends. “You set this up, didn’t you? You told her all this stuff.”
They all shake their heads in denial.
Mirvana covers my hand again. “It’s okay if you don’t believe. I just want you to know that your mother is watching over you. Things won’t always be easy. There will be struggles and hard times, but she wants you to know its all going to work out.”
I huff out a laugh, deciding to play along. “And am I going to be rich some day?”
She shakes her head. “That I can’t say.”
“What about the rest of my family?”
She’s quiet a moment, closing her eyes, almost as if she’s listening. “Your father and brother will heal. She knows you worry about them, although you pretend not to care sometimes. That’s okay. It’s not for you to fix them. Their paths are set.”
“You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just passing her messages to you.”
“What else?” I can’t help asking.
“Something about a twin or twins.”
Amy covers her mouth, squealing in happiness. “You’re going to have twins!”
But I know that’s not it. Memphis is a twin.
Mirvana looks in my eyes, and it feels like she can read my mind. “You understand what that means, don’t you?”
I nod.
“She says she was with you at the carnival. She even rode the Ferris wheel with you, but she doesn’t care for Fun Houses, so she didn’t go in.” Mirvana giggles. “Your mother is a hoot. She says you should have played one of the arcade games, she would have made sure you won.”
“You are really freaking me out, now.” I know the girls didn’t tell her any of that, because I didn’t tell them about it; not about the rides, not even that we went to a carnival.
“What’s she talking about, Lola?” Katie asks.
“Hush,” Josie cuts her off.
“She says if you need a sign that she’s with you, look around you, the signs are everywhere.”
I stare at her but she leans back.
“I hope this brought you peace, and I wish you well.”
We stand and shuffle out. I barely remember walking to the car. No one says a word until Josie pulls out onto the highway, then they’re all talking at once. It’s a blur what they say, and I can only stare out the window at the passing headlights zooming past.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Memphis—
I hunch at the end of the bar, and grunt for a refill. The bartender obliges, refilling my glass with Tequila, and staring at me like he’s trying to figure out why I’m in his upscale bar. He’s tried once already to pull me into conversation, but I met his questions with a steely stare and silence.
I suppose my Royal Bastards cut broadcasts how badly I don’t belong in a place like this, but it was the first bar I saw heading back through Phoenix.
I ignore the people stepping in next to me to order, and I blow off every makeup-caked cougar who tries to hit on me, even the attractive, rich ones with their cloying perfume, dying for a walk on the wild side, and thinking I can give it to them. I’m in no mood for their come-ons. My only mission in being here is