When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,75

ears. She stared straight ahead, her entire body tense.

Part of me regretted suggesting this. There was a chance I’d see something that would hurt her, or something that would destroy me. But I had to take that chance.

I put my hand on her forearm and asked the universe if we’d find Ashley and Mikey. A gray haze filled my vision, which I’d learned to mean the result hadn’t been determined yet.

They were still alive. We still had a chance of saving them.

I tried to shift the vision and asked if we’d all be safe when this was over, but it stayed that same murky gray.

There was a chance one or more of us could be killed.

It was always hard to exit a murky vision, so I shifted to something pleasant (or so I hoped). So without thinking it through, I asked to see Neely Kate’s wedding.

The vision shifted, and suddenly I was standing behind Neely Kate and Jed’s house. The sun was shining and I, as Neely Kate, was staring up into Jed’s face.

“I know this isn’t the weddin’ that you wanted,” he said softly, lifting his hand to my cheek. “We didn’t want so much sadness hangin’ over the start of our marriage, but I’m here for the good and the bad, Neely Kate. I’m here for all of it.”

The vision faded, and I found myself looking at Neely Kate’s profile as she stared straight ahead, her body ramrod stiff with tension.

“Jed’s here for the good and the bad,” I said, my heart collapsing in on itself.

What sadness was he talking about?

Did it have something to do with the baby, or was this about Ashley and Mikey?

I dropped my hand from Neely Kate’s arm, and she turned to me.

“What did you see?” she blurted out.

I gave her a soft smile, but tears stung my eyes. “Your weddin’.”

“So I am still gettin’ married?” When I nodded, she asked, “Why are you about to cry?”

Neely Kate had been terrified to know her future. She’d fought and scraped for every bit of happiness she’d found in this life, and now that everything she’d always wanted was within her reach, she was terrified it would get snatched away.

But my visions didn’t always come true. Things could change. The sadness could be avoided. I refused to worry her for what could be nothing. There was absolutely nothing she could do to change the outcome, not with such vague information. The best thing I could do for her was let her keep her hope.

I swiped a tear with the back of my hand. “Because it was so beautiful.”

As I pulled away from the shoulder, I realized what a slippery slope lying could be. It felt like I was about to dive down a mountain.

Chapter 20

I was glad Neely Kate came along for the appointment. The homeowner was a friendly middle-aged woman who took one look at my swollen belly, then shared every gory detail of her two horrific labors while she showed me where she wanted a hydrangea bed.

“And then,” she said as Neely Kate and I took measurements of the west side of her house, “I just crapped all over the table. Got it in the nurse’s hair even.”

Neely Kate’s eyes bugged out, but I gave a firm shake of my head, trying to drown the client out so I could concentrate on writing down the correct measurements.

By the time we were done, I was traumatized, and Neely Kate looked shell-shocked as we drove away.

“I can’t believe…” Neely Kate finally said.

I shuddered. “Don’t.”

“She was in labor for thirty-six hours, and then she had to have reconstructive surgery six weeks later?”

A tremor of fear ran through me. “Neely Kate.”

Gasping, she turned to me. “Oh, my word. I’m so sorry. You must be freaked out.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough.” She turned to face forward with her hands on her knees. I wasn’t surprised when a few seconds later, she said, “Can you imagine being in the Piggly Wiggly and havin’ your water break in front of the canned food aisle, then someone slippin’ in it and buryin’ you in a pile of cans of hominy? Hominy of all things. Who eats hominy?”

The problem was that I could see that happening to me, which made it all the worse. “Well, I’m still banned from the Piggly Wiggly, so that will not be happenin’ to me. And your granny eats hominy. Last I heard, she loves it.”

She frowned. “She doesn’t count.” But she must have