“So who is first?” Madam Psuka looked from one sister to the next.
“Me,” said Jillian, scooting closer to the medium. “I’m the oldest, so I should go first.”
Skylar and I exchanged a look. How many times had we heard that before?
Madam Psuka nodded and took Jillian’s hand in both of hers. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and appeared to be concentrating very hard.
“Should I think about anything in particular?” Jillian asked, and my heart ached a little. I knew how badly she wanted to meet someone.
“Just relax. Let your mind wander naturally. Let energy of life flow through you.”
Jillian closed her eyes and the room went silent for a moment, the only sound the sizzle of the candlewicks and the medium’s breathing. Her nose made sort of a whistling noise, and I had to hide my face in my shoulder to keep from laughing.
Then she spoke. “Are you dirty?”
For a moment, I was on the verge of cracking up until I realized she meant thirty, but didn’t pronounce her th’s very well. Still, I had to hide my face in my shoulder to stifle the laugh.
“Yes.” Jillian sounded amazed. “I am thirty. And I was just thinking about my age.”
“And you are caretaker—no, something stronger. You are healer.”
Skylar gasped and my jaw fell open. Had we said anything about Jilly being a pediatrician? I didn’t think we had. Could this woman have guessed?
“You are strong, sympathetic, generous.” Madam Psuka spoke confidently, in amazingly good English considering it wasn’t her first language. “You are always willing to carry more than your fair share of the load. You are loyal and trustworthy. You are often critical of others, but very hard on yourself. You have tendency to be controlling, and sometimes you meddle, especially if you think you know best.” Madam Psuka paused and opened one eye. “Is this accurate?”
“Yes,” Skylar and I said together.
Jillian glared at us as the medium went on. “You value visdom and compassion above all.”
“Thank you,” said Jillian, fidgeting a little. “Is there anything else? Anything about my career? Or my love life?”
“I cannot direct the energy,” said Madam Psuka. “It reveals at its own vill.” She was quiet for a moment. “But I do see children. Many children.”
“Many?” Jillian said, her eyes going wide. “How many?”
“Hundreds.”
Skylar laughed. “It’s probably your patients, Jilly Bean.”
“Oh.” Jillian’s shoulders slumped, and she took her hand back. “Right.”
I felt sorry for her and reached over to pat her shoulder when she scooted back to sit next to me. We hadn’t really talked about it, but maybe Skylar’s wedding was kind of hard on Jillian. She was the oldest and the most traditional, and probably thought she’d be first to get married. She’d definitely talked about it the most as we were growing up. And now Dan and I would be next, and—
“Next?” asked Madam Psuka, jarring me a little. She was looking at me, too. It was as if she’d heard was I was thinking and was mocking me with the word.
“Me!” squealed Skylar, crawling over to sit directly in front of Madam Psuka and thrusting out her hand.
“Hmmm.” The medium closed her eyes and did the breathing thing again. Meanwhile, my stomach started growling like crazy.
“You are creative and expressive. Your energy is bright, warm, effervescent, and sparkling.”
Eyes closed, Skylar beamed, and Jillian and I exchanged an eye roll. How many times had we listened to people gush about our effervescent beauty queen sister? Good thing we weren’t paying for this.
“You value harmony, beauty, and pleasure, and enjoy sharing your talents vith the vorld around you. You live life to fullest, often vithout care beyond the present. I am getting feeling that you are not good vith money.”
I snorted, and Skylar sighed. “That’s true,” she admitted. “But I’m working on it.”
“Romantic love is verrry strong influence in your life right now, and it will remain so. Its energy surrounds you in almost protective fashion.”