Gypsy Magic - J.R. Rain Page 0,42

escape the old house in Los Angeles,” I added.

There was a skeptical silence on the other end of the phone. Marty clearly wasn’t fully convinced about my story. I figured that made sense. The cases he was called in to resolve were probably less than peaceful. The dead stuck around for their own reasons—most of them decidedly unpleasant. But Darla wasn’t a bad ghost, as ghosts went. Vapid, certainly, but not evil. She didn’t deserve to be exorcised, no matter how annoying she was. She might deserve a good Hoovering, though…

“She seems to really upset Finn, Poppy. Don’t you think…” Marty started.

“I will tell you the story when I get back,” I interrupted. “But, please stop trying to exorcise her.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Finn.”

Right, and I’d have to deal with my son very soon.

We said our goodbyes and I ended the call. Exhaustion seemed to pile onto my shoulders all at once. Ophelia’s unsettling visit had knocked me off-kilter. My skin crawled from just the memory of her presence. And then the stress from the Jeep not starting…

“Am I going to get the Hoover?” Darla asked, her eyes wide.

“No,” I answered with a sigh. “I’m just going to have… to do a lot of explaining.”

She nodded and then smiled as she appeared to sit beside me with her hands folded in her lap. “Well, good thing you were wearing that locket so I could buzz myself out of the house. Otherwise, who knows where I’d be!”

***

The drive took longer than I thought it should. Darla prattled on about this and that, but I couldn’t say I was paying any attention. Instead, I noticed how clouds had begun to roll in, quick and fast. A freak thunderstorm. I supposed that was Oregon, for you. On average, 164 rainy days a year. Sigh.

I had to slow the Jeep to a crawl as rain pelted the windshield, each fat droplet sounding like a slap against the glass. The road up to the house turned into a veritable slip and slide, threatening to send us spinning through the yard and into one of the Aspen trees that lined the drive. Good thing I had all-terrain tires and four wheel drive.

I was intensely grateful I’d packed a rain slicker in the back seat, for times like this. I slid it on, outrageously yellow in the gloom, and stepped out into the cold. The rain was coming at me sideways, and a few droplets managed to hit my face and slide in icy rivulets down into the hood of the coat. Mostly though, the slicker did its job. I kept my head down and barreled for the front steps.

Darla was now nowhere to be seen, and I figured she’d blipped herself back inside the house. She’d appeared to grow more solid as we approached the property line. I imagined she was like a cell phone coming into range of a tower. The further away she was from home base, the harder it was for her to take shape. At the very last second, she’d blinked out of existence, probably drawn back to the pencil case like a rubber band that had been snapped.

Finn was waiting for me at the front door, hand cupped over his eyes so he could squint at me through the rain. Guilt twisted my stomach. I should have told him the morning after Darla revealed herself.

Maybe I could have explained that she was no threat.

He never would have listened.

I reached out and wrapped my arms around him, wanting to comfort him. He kept his arms stiff at his sides, small hands balled into fists. He didn’t move to return the embrace. I could almost feel the anger radiating off him. He didn’t push me away though, so he wasn’t as mad as he could have been. Still, he was mad, and that was my fault.

I stepped into the house and closed the door behind me, then pulled back to study his face. His jaw flexed a few times, like he was chewing on an angry tirade. Eventually, he managed to swallow the urge to yell and just asked, “Did you know, Mom?”

The guilt must have shown on my face, because he got tears in his eyes which struck me even harder. “Buddy, I can explain,” I started.

“Mom, you promised!” he practically wailed. “You promised no more ghosts!”

“And I meant to keep my promise,” I said, chivvying out of the doorway and into the foyer. The chill air raised goosebumps on my arms. “I