are?”
I lifted a shoulder because I no longer had the energy to lift both. “Do you?”
“I know that you are kind. I know that you are a good person and that no matter who you were in your past, no matter who you’ll become, you are incredible. You’re special, Janey. God doesn’t make someone like you for no reason. You are here for a purpose. A wondrous, beautiful purpose, and someday you will remember what that is.”
I kept my eyes lowered as embarrassment heated my cheeks. I’d suspected this incredible person, the only person in my life that I truly trusted, and accused her of deception. She gave so freely of herself, and I hid and scurried and ducked my head every time I came across someone in need. Gawd, I sucked. I swallowed and faced her again.
“I’m sorry, Cook.”
She squeezed my hand. “For what?”
“For interrogating you like that. I just thought…”
“You thought what, hon?”
“It’s stupid.”
“Janey, nothing you could tell me would surprise me.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper again. “Okay, I’m just going to come out with it. Are you psychic?”
The shock on her face pretty much told me I’d gone in a direction she never saw coming. If she were a psychic, wouldn’t she see everything coming? Maybe it didn’t work that way.
She took a sip of her moscato, choked on it a little, then said, “Sweetheart, why do you think I’m psychic?”
“Because you work with the police but have no discernible skill set that would explain why.”
She fought a grin. The grin won. “Um, thanks”
“No, I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just, nothing surprises you. It’s like you know things. You see them coming.”
“Or I’m just not easily surprised.”
“But you are. I’ve noticed things that surprise you all the time.”
“Like?”
“Like the time that man offered you a dollar fifty for a tryst. You were surprised.”
“I wasn’t surprised. I was insulted. A dollar fifty? Seriously?”
“Good point. But every time you spill water in men’s laps, you’re surprised.”
“True.”
“Yet when a guy tries to rob the place and shoots a gun, you’re as calm as an anesthetized patient.”
“Oh. That. Well —” She had to think about it. “I just have a high… danger threshold.”
And she did. “So that’s it? You really aren’t psychic?”
She folded her hands over mine. “I’m really not psychic. I help the police, mostly Robert, with research.”
“Oh.” It was my turn to be surprised. “You’re a research consultant.”
“Yes. Though I wish I were psychic.”
Her emotions turned on a dime and blurred. “Why?”
“I could help my lost friend if I were. And —” She hit me with her stern face. “— I would know more about you. You don’t tell me anything. Even when you’re hurting. I feel like you don’t trust me.”
That stung. “I’m sorry. My life is just really messed up.”
“Oh, it’s not you, it’s me? That kind of thing? And of course it’s messed up. You woke up in an alley with retrograde amnesia. But if you opened up to someone, if you told someone what you’re going through, it would help.”
I wanted to tell her. I wanted to trust someone. But at the same time, would I lose her? Would she think me nuts and dump me like a bad date? “Cook,” I said, shifting in my seat, “I’m different.”
“Different how?”
“I don’t know. It’s just, there are some things in this world you don’t want to know about.”
“Sure I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
She leaned into me, a grin on her pretty face. “Try me.” When I still hesitated, she said, “Charley, you know you can tell me anything. I know we’ve only been friends for a month, but you are the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Could I? Did I dare? Maybe if I started out small. “Okay, so, you know how some people can hear things others can’t? Like they have excellent hearing?”
She nodded.
“And you know how some people can see things others can’t. Like, one person might have 20/20 vision while another has 50/80?”
“Yes,” she said, drawing out the word as though she were trying to figure out where I was going.
“Well, I can see and hear things others can’t.”
“Oh. Okay. So you have really good night vision?”
“Kind of. Not exactly.” I sat back when the server brought our food. After he left, I took a bite, rolled my eyes in ecstasy, then continued. “I can see other things.”
“Wait,” she said, taking a sip of water to wash down her food, “are you psychic? Is that what you’re telling me?”
I