Sexual Healing for Three (26 page)

“I just know my big sister. And yes I’m still coming.”
I’m coming
against my better judgment
.

“Just checking.”

“What would make you think I’m not?”

“What happened the other night when Russ and Chance came over?”

“Guess that birdie’s been singing again,” Donna grumbled.

Chance wouldn’t have mentioned his visit to Angela, would he?

Would Russ? Would either man go running and tattling to her sister or asking for advice on how to get her back into bed? Worse,
had
Angela had a vision and knew what the three of them had done? Oh God!

Donna’s body heated at the mere idea that Angela had had a vision of her and Chance and Russ together and getting busy and…Oh God!

Angela chuckled. “Don’t be angry at the birdie. She only sings when she has something essential to impart.”

“Whatever.”

“So? What happened?”

202

Gracie C. McKeever

Should she be like Russ and plead the Fifth? Like it would do any good with a pit bull like her sister.

Taking a deep breath, Donna said, “Russ came in while we were on the phone, as you know. Said you had called him…”

“Uh-huh…”

“And Chance arrived a couple of minutes after.”

“Did he say why he came over?”

Was she fishing to find out whether Donna knew about Chance’s gifts, or did she just assume Donna knew? Donna decided to do some fishing of her own. “You didn’t call him?”

“Uh, no.”

“You don’t know?”

“Of course I do!”

Liking the game and liking her sister sounding flustered for once, Donna asked, “How else would he know what happened and that I needed him unless you called him?”

“Uh…”

“I know, Angela.”

“Know what?”

“You don’t have to play dumb. I know that Chance is like you.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“How do you feel about it?”

Hmm, that was an interesting question, one she hadn’t really had a chance to examine in depth before now.

Let’s see, she had a sister and brother who had visions, saw the future, and could read minds. She had two brothers-in-law who were psychic and a burgeoning psychic in one of her nephews. And who knew how many other of Angela’s kids were harboring some secret gifts that none of the family even knew about yet?

She should be used to the idea of people who were out of the ordinary and could do the seemingly impossible. But the truth was the
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idea of a lover, and not just a sibling, being able to read her mind bothered her.

She didn’t have to deal with Angela and EJ 24/7. She didn’t have to see or contend with them unless she wanted to. She could leave the psychoanalyzing to their significant others. With a lover, she wouldn’t really have that choice, not once she decided to let him in and share her life.

Would there ever be any privacy or peace? Would she ever be free to be herself? Would she ever be able to keep a secret?

And what about Russ? He wasn’t psychic, not that she knew of, yet he seemed to know her inside and out. And that scared her almost as much as the things that Chance could do.

“Donna? Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I know what you’re going through, and I know you’re nervous about moving forward.”

“How could you know what I’m going through?” How could anyone?

“It’s not going to be easy, but if you follow your heart and put your mind to it, you can work it out.”

Was she just referring to the psychic thing or the ménage thing?

Really, each one by itself was more than the average person would ever deal with in her lifetime, but the two of them together were more than enough to send someone who was already skirting the periphery of stressed-out right over the edge.

How did Freddie handle Angela? How did Tabitha handle EJ?

Maybe she needed to tap a much neglected resource and speak to her in-laws about their experiences. Not that she could ever bring up the issue of a threesome. But the other part, the living-with-a-psychic, could be a good topic to bring up.

Was it barbecue conversation?

“So, you’re still coming right?”

“I guess so.”

204

Gracie C. McKeever

“Donna…”

Ooh, she hated when her sister got that tone in her voice, that I’m-the-big-sister-and-I-know-what’s-good-for-you-you-have-to-do-what-I-tell-you tone!

“Trust me. You could use the time and place to chill out and relax.”

“Is Russ still coming?”

“Far as I know.”

And she just bet Chance was coming too, but she wasn’t going to ask. Why bother? “Then how much chilling and relaxing do you really expect me to do?”

“What? Are you saying Russ isn’t an easygoing guy who likes to chill and relax?”

Oh, she was sure he could be a happy-go-lucky and fun kind of guy in the right circumstances, like hanging out with his kids at an amusement park or shooting the shit with the boys over a few beers and a ball game.

But Donna had glimpsed his other side, the brooding, demanding, and intense side that made up Russell Merrick, the man. She had seen her own scarred soul mirrored back from him.

She knew she had to be willing to take the good with the bad in a relationship, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to do that yet, if ever—with either brother.

That she had let her guard down as much as she had—and boy had she let it down a couple of weeks ago!—just proved how much she was following her heart and
wasn’t
putting her mind to it. If she put her mind in the mix, there was no way in hell she would have ever let what happened happen. Her mind would have told her No! Stop!

Don’t Pass Go! Dangerous Curves Ahead! Or, this is your brain on drugs!
Anything
to let her know she was about to cross into the danger zone. But she had been listening to her heart
and
her body, the treacherous, lusty bitch, and her hot ass had gotten her into trouble with two men.

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My hot ass and my know-it-all sister’s gift got me into trouble
with two men.

“I’ll see you at the barbecue, Angela,” Donna murmured before she hung up and hoped her sister didn’t call her back.

And because she knew her sister so well, she wasn’t surprised when the phone rang less than a minute later.

Donna snatched the cordless out of its cradle. “I said I’m coming, so stop bug—”

“Donna, it’s Sophie.”

Donna’s stomach suddenly dipped at the solemn tone of Sophie’s voice. She knew that something terrible had happened to one of her clients for her assistant to be calling her at home on a weekend, a three-day holiday weekend at that. Never mind that Donna billed herself as being
on
and available 24/7 to any of her clients who needed her, Sophie was pretty prudent and selective about calling her at home unless absolutely necessary.

When Sophie confirmed her suspicions about something serious having happened to someone at Safe Haven, Donna plunked down onto her bed, deflated like a balloon that had had the air let out of it, and began to cry.

206

Gracie C. McKeever

By the time Donna made it to her sister’s later that afternoon, the barbecue was in full swing with the aroma of char-grilled food riding the wind to her nose before she even had a chance to park and get off her bike.

Several vehicles were already parked at the curb and in the driveway, including Russ’s SUV.

Donna took a deep breath as she slid off her helmet and placed it on the back of her bike.

So, he was here. There would be no avoiding him, not on Angela’s watch. Not that Russ needed Angela to fight his battles for him, on the contrary.

She took another deep breath, wondering how she was going to get through the afternoon without breaking down. How was she going to smile and play and act like a piece of her world hadn’t come crumbling down earlier and was still scattered in ruins around her?

The front door opened, and Angela came down the pathway to greet Donna, her usual bright smile slowly disappearing as she neared her younger sister until, by the time she stood a foot in front of Donna, she was frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

Donna silently shook her head, unable to speak, not
trusting
herself to speak without bursting into tears, and she didn’t want to ruin the day with her bad news.

She just needed to get through the next few hours without breaking down. She just needed to experience the company of her
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family in life-affirming endeavors. She just needed to get as far away form tragedy and death as she could.

Otherwise why else had she come, except that she had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do that would effectively keep the demons at bay.

Being alone was not a good option, left her too many opportunities to play the blame game, castigating herself until she was spent. And she didn’t need to blame herself when she already had Naomi’s family doing it for her.

She had called her client’s home hoping to reach one of Naomi’s relatives to extend her condolences and offer her personal and professional assistance, only to be told she was not welcome, she should not come to the house, and that the family did not need or want her kind of help. Naomi’s sister wouldn’t even put her niece and nephew on, and it broke Donna’s heart to hear them crying in the background and not be able to put her arms around them to comfort them or let the feel of them against her comfort
her.

Why hadn’t Naomi stayed at Safe Haven? Why had she gone back home? Hadn’t she listened to any of Donna’s warnings and instructions?

Donna had paced the floor for several minutes after the call, trying to decide whether to ignore the animosity of Naomi’s sister and just go over to the house despite it, before she finally settled on going to Angela’s as she had originally planned.

Yeah, and she would have to act like nothing had happened, like her world hadn’t irrevocably changed a few minutes after hanging up with her sister.

Angela took both of Donna’s hands in hers, gently squeezing.

“Don’t tell me nothing’s wrong. I can see it in your aura. It’s cloudy.”

“Please, Angela. I’m not in the moo—” Donna choked on the last word, eyes blurry with tears she futilely tried not to shed.

“Donna, what happened? Talk to me!”

“Oh God, Angela…she’s dead. Naomi’s dead!”

208

Gracie C. McKeever

Angela didn’t ask who Naomi was or how her death had occurred before she pulled Donna into her arms and just held her, allowing her sister to cry on her shoulder.

Donna tried not to get hysterical, but the feeling of Angela’s hands gently patting and rubbing her back was her undoing, drawing big, wet, wracking sobs that came and came until she felt like a toddler weeping over a skinned knee.

This was a first for her. As bad as things had gotten in her profession, as much tragedy and suffering as she had seen among the people she daily tried to help and place in safe situations, none of her clients had ever died.

Murdered. She didn’t just die. She was
murdered.

After several long minutes, Donna pulled back, hiccupping and gasping as she noticed the wet spot on her sister’s shirt. “I-I’m sorry, Angie. I’ve wet you all up.”

“Oh pish-tosh. It’s just a little salt and water. It won’t kill me or the shirt.” Angela wrapped an arm around Donna’s shoulder and guided her toward the front door.

Donna paused just outside, shaking her head. “I can’t go in there like this. I don’t want to ruin everyone’s good time.”

“Everyone’s out back playing games and eating already. We’ll go upstairs to the master bathroom and get you settled down. How’s that?”

Donna nodded, too exhausted to do anything else but follow her sister’s lead into the house and listen to the raucous yells and laughter rising from the backyard.

She peeked through the sliding glass doors looking out on the deck and the large backyard and caught a glimpse of her brother Nick and his wife, Slany, participating in a three-legged race against EJ and his wife, Tabitha.

She grinned at the vision of her brothers and their spouses tumbling down the slight incline, hysterically giggling as they broke each other’s falls and hugged.

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Donna turned away, unwilling to watch anymore, especially knowing her brothers and their spouses. Any minute, they would be canoodling, and Donna just didn’t think she could take that much sweetness and enthusiasm, not when she was so near cracking beneath the weight of her own melancholy.

Since everyone was out in the backyard having a ball from all the noise Donna heard, she and Angela mercifully didn’t encounter anyone on their way up to the bathroom.

Angela closed the door behind them and ran some cold water on a washcloth before ringing it near dry and handing it to Donna to put over her eyes.

She appreciated her sister’s patience and tenderness, but didn’t think for a minute that Angela was going to let her off the hook, not for long. Any minute now she would have to fess up to what had happened and claim her part of the responsibility.

Donna knew what sort of pep talk to expect, something positive and nonjudgmental, absolving her of blame, telling Donna that what had happened wasn’t her fault and she shouldn’t feel guilty. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know this because she knew her sister, and Angela wouldn’t allow her to wallow in self-pity for too long.

Now wallowing was easier said than done.

“Is Naomi one of your clients?”

Donna nodded, taking the washcloth from her eyes and resting it against her forehead as she sat on the closed lid of the toilet and leaned back against the tank.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve told myself that before I finally got up the nerve to leave the house and come over here? In the end it doesn’t really matter. Two kids are motherless now because I failed to do my job.”