Semi-Psychic Life (Glimmer Lake #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,38

I know you got him a bottle of really nice cologne. And I know he cared about you a lot. I know…” She racked her brain for memories of the vision. “I know he… He was worried about you.” She looked up and met Savannah’s eyes. “He was worried about you, Savannah. Why was he worried about you?”

When the woman spoke, it was barely over a whisper. “You need to leave.”

“Why was Josh worried about you?” There was something delicate and sad in Savannah’s expression. Something wistful that made Val angry. “Please. My friends and I can help if you—”

“You need to go.” With a firm hand, Savannah shut the door in Val’s face.

She turned and saw Robin and Monica staring at her, both wearing worried expressions.

“She’s scared of something,” Robin said.

“Yeah. Big time.”

“Let’s go.” Val headed to the van, a knot of dread in her belly. “Whatever is going on, I don’t want to make trouble for her.”

She stared at the door of the coffee shop, willing Savannah Anderson to walk through the door. Maybe she didn’t want to talk at her house. Maybe they had staff who would report on her to her husband.

That was a frightening thought.

Imagine being so trapped that you didn’t feel comfortable talking in your own home. Customers stepped up to the register, and she took their order by rote.

“Double-shot mocha with caramel.”

“Refill on a brewed coffee.”

“Regular latte with skim.”

The ebb and flow of customers in the coffee shop was soothing. The bustle of school kids walking in and out, skiers on their way up the mountain, the year-round residents of Glimmer Lake greeting each other across the room.

This was her place. It was good. Misfit Mountain was for everyone. The weirdos and the punks and those who didn’t fit in. And it was for the soccer moms and old ranchers and the kids. Val had wanted to make a place where everyone fit in because no one did.

That includes you, Savannah.

Val had taken the day off from investigating because she’d hit a dead end. She’d talked to everyone she could think of and didn’t know where else to go. Robin hadn’t found any spirits with insight, and she hadn’t been able to summon the ghost behind West’s garage again. Monica hadn’t had any other visions except one where she saw Savannah driving through the mountains in her pretty silver sports car, which wasn’t all that helpful.

Val was trying not to be discouraged, but it was hard. She’d taken days off work, and she still didn’t have any solid leads. It had been a week since Josh went missing, and she was starting to think that maybe he did take off.

Maybe he didn’t take the money like the police thought, but maybe he did just up and moved. Maybe he couldn’t face his feelings for Savannah, didn’t want to deal with breaking up with Rachel, and didn’t feel like explaining himself.

It wasn’t implausible. Josh was nothing if not an emotional coward.

He might be out there, completely oblivious to anyone being worried about him. Maybe the choppy voice mail he’d left explained what was going on, and she didn’t get the message because the signal was crappy. Maybe he really was that asshole who didn’t care that his kids worried about him.

All completely possible explanations.

At two, she turned the sign for the café around and locked the door. It had been quiet after the lunch rush, and there were no remaining customers to shoo out the door. JoJo and Max were cleaning the tables and chattering about the apartment they’d found. They had to find one more roommate willing to share the rent with them and they’d be good to go. Val could see the excitement on JoJo’s face at the prospect of being out of their mom’s house.

Honey and Ramon were happy. All her employees were happy. The café was busy and profits were increasing.

And her boys were worried and miserable.

You can do one thing well. You can either be a great mom or a great business owner. You don’t get to have both.

She saw Sully’s pickup truck in the distance, parking at Glimmer Lake Realty.

And you definitely don’t get to have that.

She tossed the wrapped sandwich Ramon had made for her in the passenger side of her truck before getting in and warming up the engine, blowing on her hands to keep them from freezing. Another cold snap had dropped the night before, and Val could smell fresh snow in the air. She