Dae's Christmas Past (30 page)
Shayla called the day before Christmas to let me know that she was staying in New Orleans. “My Gram isn’t doing well, Dae. And I met someone who is seriously interesting. I hate to leave you there by yourself, but I need to find a life for me too. I hope you understand.”
“I do. I’ll miss you.”
“You know you can come down here and we can do your yearly séance for your mother’s spirit, right? Maybe the next time will be it.”
“I’m not going to do that anymore,” I told her. “I found a better way to talk to her, I think.”
“Good for you. It’s best to leave the dead alone anyway. We’ll talk again later. Merry Christmas, Dae.”
“Merry Christmas, Shayla.”
I hung up the phone. Mary Catherine had been trying to appear as though she wasn’t listening, but I knew she’d heard.
“Well?” I asked.
“I’m relieved. And I’m going to stay in Duck and re-open my shop. I may change the name. That’s just not me anymore. Maybe I’ll sell pet supplies, and give advice to pet owners. What do you think?”
“Gramps will be thrilled,” I told her as we bundled up to go to the town singing at Duck Park.
“What about you, Dae?” she asked. “How do you feel about me staying? You’ve just met your grandmother. I don’t want you to feel as though I’m trying to take her place.”
I laughed and hugged her. “You don’t have to worry about that. I hope you and Gramps will find something wonderful together. I’m glad you’re staying.”
Gramps’s broken leg was well enough that he could drive the golf cart again. He came back for us when the park was set up, and people were coming to sing. Everyone held candles in their hands that Cailey Fargo and Luke Helms lit from one larger candle. We stood close together in the park and sang old Christmas songs as loud as we could.
There weren’t many tourists there. It was mainly people from Duck. I looked up at Kevin as we stood with our arms around each other. I was looking forward to Christmas, and the New Year.
But when we got home that night and Mary Catherine had gone to her room, I sat on the sofa beside Gramps and asked him a question that had bothered me since I’d talked to Grandma Eleanore in the past.
“How did grandma die?”
Gramps sighed, and sat back in his chair. “That’s not something we should talk about, Dae, especially here at the holidays and all.”
“I want to know. I have a feeling she didn’t get sick and die.” I stared at his worn face as he looked away from me.
“You’re right. It was something to do with her gift, honey. She’d learned she could visit the past, you see, by using her gift to touch things and see where they’d come from.”
“What happened?”
His hands shook when he answered. “One morning she left—and never came back again.”
About the Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write bestselling mystery together. They have written and published more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Berkley and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications.
Pseudonyms include J.J. Cook, Ellie Grant,
Joye Ames
and Elyssa Henry
They live in rural North Carolina with their family, their cat, Quincy, and their rescue dog, Rudi. They enjoy photography, watercolor, gardening, long drives, and going to our local Renaissance Fair.
Visit them at:
www.Facebook.com/JoyceandJimLavene
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https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
Amazon Author Central Page:
http://amazon.com/author/jlavene
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