trust him. That’s all we need to know.”
Neither of them said anything, and suddenly there was tension in the air.
Hope sat back with her arms crossed over her chest. “I’d know, all right?”
“Because you’re telepathic now?” Jackson asked.
“No. Because I’d know and that’s all there is to it.” She knew she sounded rigid and like she couldn’t face the truth about someone she loved. But her gut was telling her she wasn’t wrong, and she was a woman who always followed her gut.
“All right. Trust me, I definitely want to believe Lucas wouldn’t be involved in something like this,” Joy said gently. “And that’s what we’ll do unless there’s some reason to believe otherwise.”
“There won’t be,” Hope insisted.
“You’re right, Hope,” Jackson said. “I think we’re all just a little flustered. Let’s focus on who might be behind the drugs. Any ideas?”
“Can you find out the names of the three people who overdosed?” Hope asked him.
“Yeah, I think so. I can certainly shake the gossip tree.”
“Perfect. Just keep it quiet. I don’t want anyone to find out you’re asking questions. We just don’t know how dangerous these people are.”
Jackson nodded. “No problem. My gay network knows how to keep stuff on the downlow.”
Hope chuckled. “Understood.”
“What can I do?” Joy asked.
“You’re going to be my partner in crime while we check out everyone who showed up at Lucas’s open house last night,” Hope said. “You’ll be the one looking for services, and I’ll be your sidekick. We’ll find a way to bring up the issue, and I’ll try to listen in on their thoughts. We’ll also get Grace to investigate who is new in town. See if there’s a connection.”
“Definitely. I’m up for it,” Joy said, sitting up straighter. “Let’s take out the trash.” She put her fist up, waiting for a three-way fist bump.
Hope met her halfway, and then the pair of them stared at Jackson, waiting for him to join them in their show of solidarity.
Jackson groaned and made a face as he reluctantly put his fist out. “This is so uncool.”
“Maybe, but you love us anyway,” Hope said. Then she stood and pulled him out of his chair and gave him a big hug.
Chapter Eight
“Hope?” Angela Anderson called as she walked through Hope’s house. “Are you still here?”
Hope leaned against the counter and thought, Can’t you hear me?
“Yes, I can now.” Angela rounded the corner and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “Seriously? Is this how it’s going to be now?”
A flash of guilt swept through Hope. Why was her default with her mother always so combative? “Sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”
Angela sighed. “I know we still have issues to work out, and I don’t expect us to work out everything overnight. I just hoped that we could start trying.”
“Yeah, okay. But Grace and Joy are on their way over to start working on a project. Now isn’t really a great time.” Hope pulled a mug out of the cabinet and poured herself a cup of coffee, wondering if it was too early in the day to add Irish whiskey.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Angela said, giving her a cheeky smile.
Hope forced herself to keep her expression neutral instead of rolling her eyes like a teenager. Her mother had already told her she couldn’t really control what she heard, so Hope shouldn’t be surprised. What was interesting was that Hope didn’t hear things so clearly. She got snippets, and sometimes if she tried, she’d get a little more, but she definitely wasn’t being bombarded with thoughts all the time the way her mother described her own experience. Even though she knew her mother had probably heard everything she was thinking, she went ahead and verbalized her thoughts. “Is this curse going to get worse as time goes on? Am I suddenly going to wake up one day and start hearing everything everyone thinks?”
“I don’t know, Hope,” she said with a shrug. “For me, it was overwhelming right from the start. For your grandmother, too. If you’re lucky, maybe your curse won’t be as overwhelming.”
“If I’m lucky,” Hope agreed.
“I just wanted to let you know I’m heading out for the rest of the day. I’ll be back for dinner. Do you want me to cook something?”
Hope shook her head. “No thanks. I’m going out with the girls.”
Her mother eyed her with suspicion. Hope just raised her chin slightly, silently daring her to question the statement. “Okay. Text me if anything changes.”
“It probably won’t,” Hope said and tried to ignore the pangs