New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (22 page)

Kate took a seat and placed the napkin on her lap. “Jared is terribly sorry. Something came up at work and he’s going to meet us here as soon as he can.
It’s a shame Carly couldn’t make it tonight.
”

At the mention of his girlfriend’s name, Kate’s father blinked in surprise. She learned the art of being passive aggressive from the master, she thought silently.
Kate liked Carly enough when they met for dinner, but she didn’t exactly forget the woman’s part in breaking up her parents’ marriage.

After a non-committal grunt,
he peered at her over the menu
.
His eyes raked over her face and his mouth set in a grim line.
“What’s going on with you
?”

“What are you talking about
?”

He sat back into his chair.
“You look exhausted. You’re pale and I can see the bags
under your eyes. What’s wrong
?”

Damn, Kate
cursed silently.
As she put on makeup for the evening
, she was more heavy handed than usual on the c
oncealer. Guess, she should’ve been
more generous or swiped one of her mom’s Ray Bans. The pale comment s
tung
more. As a resident of
New Jersey
, being called pale was one of the worst insults.

“I’m fine, Dad. I swear. It has just been a rough week, that’s all.”
She shrugged and her hazel eyes moved back to the menu. Although her father was trying to accept the paranor
mal aspects of her life, he would never be a
total believer. Kate tended to gloss over things when
her visions came up in conversation.

“Because if that
man
isn’t treating you right, I’ll have a few choice things to say to him…”
he threatened.

Kate
didn’t let him finish his rant. “No, Jared has been great.
I’m hoping by the end of the fall, we’ll even be going steady and he’ll give me his varsity jacket to wear.” When her father didn’t laugh, she sighed and continued in a serious tone,
“
It has
just
been
overwhelming
trying to juggle school and work. Plus, I started working on a new case.”

“Holy Christ, Kate. You’re like the psychic version of an ambulance chaser,” he mumbled.
“I thought when we last talked
you said you were giving this psychic stuff a break.”

“No, you suggested that,” she said pointedly. “I ha
ve the visions whether I want them
or not. It’s not possible to take a break from it.”

“You need to start thi
nking about a real career
,” he replied.

“It’s har
d for me to explain why
I have to keep up with the psychic side of my life
.
” When he didn’t respond, Kate continued,
“
It probably sounds stupid
, but I want to do something that matters. I’d like to contribute more to society than permanent butt prints on Mom’s couch and increasing McDonald’s annual revenue.”

“There are plenty of worthwhile things you could
do that don’t involve claiming
you’re psychic,” he pointed out
.

He
r father
would never concede an argument and despite all the proof sh
e supplied to him about her second sight, he still remained skeptical.
Kate decided to retreat.
“Come on, this is supposed to be my birthday dinner. Let’s not fight.”

Nodding, he gave her a kind smile. “Of course, hon. I’m sorry to bring it up.”

Her father was reluctant about ordering without her date present. They compromised and ended up splitting an appetizer. After an hour, she could tell both her father and their waiter was growing
impatient. Just as she took out her phone
to give Jared a call, she saw him stride their way.
Shooting them both an apologetic grin, he reached out to give her dad a handshake before leaning down and kissing her cheek. It was hard not to envy his coolness under pressure. She wondered if it was too late
for her to go to charm school and try to achieve half of his poise.

“Thanks for coming, I know it h
as been a long day for you,” Kate
said softly as he settled into the chair next to her.

“Yes, I app
reciate you coming,” her father agreed. He adjusted his tie and added,
“
I didn’t get a chance
to speak with you the last time we met.”

“Of course I wanted to join you. I wish you would’ve ordered, I didn’t mean to hold up your dinner,” Jared apologized.

If Kate
had to be honest, his politeness was sort of a turn-on. She gra
bbed his knee and gave a tender pat
. He smiled at her and all felt right in the world. At least for a minute, until her father decided to play twenty questions with her boyfriend.

Her father looked back and forth between the two of them before speaking.
“
I was surprised when Kate told me you two were together. If I re
member correctly, there was a published
article stating you were engaged to that missing girl’s sister.”

Kate clenc
hed her jaw. “Dad, you know that Jared and Nikki
were broken up when we got together. Why would you bring that up?”

Kate
knew what article he was talking about. No one at the paper had taken her seriously when she demanded a retraction or she would sue them for every last penny.
They kept transferring her to different departments until she finally gave up and slammed the phone down in frustration.
Jared had shrugged the whole thing off and said it didn’t matter since they knew the truth.

Jared spoke in a neutral tone. Kate appreciated his attempt at keeping the peace.
“
Sir, I was never actually engaged to Nikki. We ended things amicably bef
ore I began dating Kate
.”

“Jared, I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from. Kate is very naïve about the world, especially in regards to men. As her father, I want to protect her and make sure the people in her life have the best intentions,” he said emphatically. Kate was beyond mortified. The snarky girl who was usually quick with a comeback was utterly at a lost for words
.

Jared took her hand in his. His reassuring
squeeze signified to Kate
he understood how troubled she was by her father’s words. Jared’s
gray eyes turned towards her as he answered her father. “I care about Kate…a lot. I would never hurt her.”

Kate swallowed hard. “If you excuse me, I’m going to use the restroom.”

Both men looked upset by her sudden departure. Tears were threatening to burst from her and drown them all.
Her father had made Kate feel like a child pretending to be an adult. Mistakenly, Kate had thought he was beginning to respect her and they could move forward.
It had taken them awhile to maintain any sort of civility after he left her mother and moved in with another woman.

The women’s restroom was thankfully empty. Taking shallow b
reaths, she tried to keep her composure. Kate gripped the sides of the sink and waited until her heart slowed
. Lifting her head,
she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Melanie stared back at her.

Kate gasped and almost fell backwards. Stumbling, she was finally able to right herself
after a few seconds. When she looked in
the mirror again, her own frazzled appearance was there. “I’m really losing my freaking mind.”

“Yes and the first sign
is talking to yourself in the bathroom,” a heavily perfumed woman grumbled as she walked past her to the stalls. “Nut
job.”

The wind whipped past her as Melanie raced down the mountain. She tilted her body to the left and right to control the movements of the snowboard. Sinc
e the minute she had hopped on a
board, she had fallen in love with the sport. Flying down the mountain at breakneck speeds made her feel free.

Snowboarding had become her escape. Although she loved the social atmosphere of the gym, Melanie also liked some time alone with her thoughts. Going up to the mountain by herself afforded her the opportunity to work things out in her head. Long trails through the
quiet
terrain
allowed her to reflect on all the aspects of
her life that were
bothering her.

Presently
, her love life was dismal. She had yet
to find that exceptional someone
to
fulfill her in every way. Melanie believed wholeheartedly in the concept of a soulmate. She had faith that there was one person in the world made specifically for her. One day, he would find her and make her the happiest person on the planet.

At the bottom of the mountain, Melanie stopped
her
momentum by falling on her butt. It was a rookie move, but she was still not as comfortable on a snowboard as a pair of skis. As the snow began to fall harder, she took a cleansing breath and reveled in her surroundings. It felt good to be alive.

***

“Kate
, you need either to get some sleep or sleep with your boyfriend. You look like crap,” Julie remarked on the Sunday
afternoon
following her dinner with Jared and her father.
The friends
had made plans to hit the outlets and have a high calorie lunch at the food court
.

The rest of the evening was barely salvageable as both Jared and her dad attempted to keep the peace at the table. They must have called a truce while she was having hallucinations in the bathroom. She figured they chalked up her silence to her
resentment
over their
disagree
ment at her birthday dinner. They never suspected
that she had become certifiable.

Last night she had heard Melanie’s thoughts again during a vision. The only
common factor Kate unearthed
in the visions was that they were all joyful. They played like a home movie of the happiest times in Melanie’s life. Unless Melanie lived full-time at Disney World, Kate felt like she wasn’t getting an honest depiction of the fitness instructor’s life.

“I feel like crap,” Kate conceded
to Julie as they walked the perimeter of the
outdoor mall
.
The square shape of the outlets forced shoppers to pass by every single store. The Gap, J.Crew and
Nine West
had been made a little richer that day as Kate spent the majority of the birthday money her father had gifted her the night before.

“You need to take a day off from everything. You said this girl keeps having happy memories, ri
ght?” Kate nodded which encouraged
Julie to continue. “Then you should consider
the possibility that she isn’t in any serious danger
. It seems to me that if she was in trouble, her memories would probably be filled with the horrible things happening to her.”

“I don’t know. Maybe…” Kate trailed off uncertainly.

Melanie’s case was truly an unsolvable mystery. It had been a week since Melanie
disappeared and not a single sighting of her anywhere. Her credit cards and cell phon
e
remained untouched. With close family and friends, why would she willingly leave
everything behind
with not so much as a note goodbye?

“
You can’t let these cases take over your life. You still have school and work and a very
sexy
boyfriend who you have
not seen
completely undressed,
”
Julie reminded her.
She linked her arm through Kate’s and dragged her towards a storefront.

“Julie, I really don’t need your help picking out my underwear,” Kate complained
as she noted the lingerie covering the mannequins in the windows of the shop
.

“Obviously you do,” Julie snorted.
“
You have been with Jared for almost two months! By then, I was doing things with Gage that probably
isn’t
even legal in every state.”

“You’re making my ears bleed Julie,” Kate retorted.

“Stop being such a prude. Didn’t you say you have very
strong
feelings for Jared? Dare I say
it, but
maybe you’re feeling like you may be
in love
with him
?”

“
Will you be quiet, someone may hear,” she hissed
as they made their way to the rear of the store
.