“I love you, Nanny Berta,” Jesse said.
“Careful, Nanny,” Mia said walking by. “He’s got a reputation.”
“Worse than yours?” Nanny teased.
“No. Hello, Jesse, how are you feeling?”
“Much better. The doc has me on a progressive exercise regimen.”
“Did I miss something? Were you ill, Jesse?” Nanny asked.
“I fell through the ice.”
“Oh my.”
“My heart stopped. Cid and Murphy rescued me. Murphy restarted my heart.”
“Oh dear,” Nanny amended.
“I’m going to help him adjust.”
“So he’s seeing…”
“Ghosts, and I’m hearing a voice in my head,” Jesse said proudly. “Mrs. Martin, due to the rush of leaving Walnut Grove House, we may have brought Faye with us. I will take her with me when I leave.”
“Faye is welcome here. I hear she’s keeping company with Murph.”
“They have united against Cid. You may want to talk to them. When I tried to, they just disappeared.”
“Oh dear,” Nanny repeated. “What did Cid do?”
“Told Faye that she was my problem, not in those words but…”
“Oh dear,” Mia parroted. “Nanny, would you excuse me? I’d like to see if Dr. Walters knows what he’s talking about.”
“You go ahead. The girls are sleeping, and the boys will soon be nodding off. Then we can drink some of that quality whiskey Altair has hidden.”
“Amen to that,” Mia said.
Jesse walked over to the guestroom. He pulled off his shirt and sat down without being asked.
“You’re a very good patient,” Mia said.
“I’m trying,” Jesse said.
Mia took off her gloves and put her head on his back and then on his chest.
Jesse felt his heart flutter. It was brief. “Did you do that?”
“What?” Mia asked looking at him.
“I felt a flutter.”
“I’ve had that before. I don’t think it’s dangerous. I think that our hearts are syncing up if that’s possible. I’m really careful not to touch Tom without my gloves. Now I’ll know not to do the same with you. Sorry I didn’t pick up on it sooner.” Mia started to put on her gloves.
“Wait. Sit with me for a minute. I want to see if you can hear the voice.”
“You’re hearing voices?” Mia squeaked. “I do, but it’s part of my sensitivity.”
Jesse grabbed her hand and said, “Close your eyes and reach out and listen.”
Mia smiled and did so.
“When I first heard the voice, it sounded like a mix of a male and a female.”
“Did it sound like this?” Mia said in his mind.
“Yes and no,” Jesse thought back.
Mia released her hand and spoke again. “How about now.”
“It was you.”
“Yes and no.”
Jesse opened his eyes and met hers. “Tell me,” he pleaded.
“What were the circumstances when you heard the voices?” Mia asked.
“I was worried about releasing the acolytes and had no one to ask. Stephen told me to close my eyes and reach out into the universe. He said you did that.”
“I connect with mages to heal, sages to help me when I’m up against something I’ve never dealt with before, and sometimes, I connect with energy that has a lot of knowledge to share. This time, you woke me out of a sound sleep.”
“It was you!”
“Not just me. I was with you when you asked for help. If you heard things other times, it could have been an angel or, like I said, a mage – old word for wizard, or a sage. I think it’s Murph who connects you to me. I don’t know how long it will last or to what extent you will be able to connect. Let’s work on it. If I run aground, I’ll introduce you to a few people who can give you better answers.”
“I was in Cid’s mind. I saw what was happening in the room he was in through his eyes.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t do that.”
“Or you won’t,” Jesse sensed. “Tell me why the sudden back off of you being in Cid’s business?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“No.”
“Ted and I love Cid. We want the best for him. We know he needs to move on and find a person to share his life with. I’m very careful not to involve myself in his love life. He’s had some problems, and I worry that he thinks I or Ted are submarining his relationships because we don’t want to share him.”
“Because he’s been the wife,” Jesse filled in. “I believe you’re overthinking this. He’s the one who has been hanging on to Ted like a parasite.”
“He’s not a parasite,” Mia stressed. “They’ve been friends since middle school. Ted values his advice, intelligence, and friendship. They are loyal to each other, and the two are good for each other. Had they been gay, they would make a perfect couple. But nature painted them heterosexuals. And I was lucky to have attracted one of them. Cid has been there for me, and I will always think of him as part of our family. I don’t want to ruin that by some misunderstanding.”
“So you didn’t ask Stephen to check Sally out?”
“No, he probably overheard Ethan talking on the phone and decided to check things out for himself. Murph’s also friends with Audrey, so he could have found out from her. I was hurt when Cid accused me of meddling.”
“Because you weren’t.”
“No. If I was, then I wouldn’t be upset. I’d own up to it and wait out the temper time in the doghouse like I’ve done before.”
“I’ve been there. That doghouse needs new wallpaper,” Jesse said.
~
Sally was busy in the kitchen when Cid dropped the boys off. He just waved and told her he’d see her later. She grinned. Cid called Mia’s phone.
“Hello, Cid,” Mia said. “I was just talking about you.”
“I bet you were. Can I bring any groceries home?”
“I already sent Ethan out with
