She’s right. Leo nods. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got this, Bizzy.
“Hey?” Emmie runs her hand between Leo and me as if trying to break a trance. “What’s going on? The two of you are starting to scare me.” My word, they’re not really having an affair, are they? Or maybe they had one just before Bizzy got hitched? Maybe Leo was her last hurrah? If that were true, I’d have to kill her. And if I killed her, I wouldn’t be afraid of getting arrested, because Bizzy would be unable to solve her own homicide. Lord knows you can’t count on the Seaview Sheriff’s Department to do that.
Both Leo and I chuckle a little at that one.
“What’s so funny?” Her voice grows tense.
“All right.” Leo pulls her in and wraps his arms around her. “It’s time.” He nods my way.
“But Jasper isn’t here,” I protest.
“I’m here!” a deep voice calls out from behind, and before I know it, my husband’s loving arms are pulling me in as he lands a kiss to my temple. “Did I miss it?”
“Nope.” Leo looks to Emmie as her eyes widen with anticipation. “Elizabeth Lynn Crosby, I love you more than I have ever thought I could love another human being.”
“Yes!” Emmie hops up and down as if she just won the lottery, and I can’t help but grimace.
“Wait,” I say, trying my best to catch her midflight. “Hold on, Em, let him finish.”
“He doesn’t have to finish.” Emmie’s cheeks are pink as she clutches at his hands. “I’m in, Leo. I love you, too. I just know this is right.” Her chest palpitates a mile a minute as if she were struggling for her next breath. “Now let’s see the ring.”
“Good glory,” I groan. “Emmie”—I step in and take up her hands—“this isn’t a marriage proposal. Although, that’s probably right around the corner.” I shrug to Leo. “Sorry to spoil things. But this is important, too,” I say, looking back at this beautiful girl in front of me. “Emmie, you and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember.” I swallow hard, mostly in an attempt to keep the words away, but it doesn’t seem to be working. “What Leo wants to tell you involves me, too.”
Fish mewls, I can’t look. Someone wake me when it’s over.
Emmie shakes her head as her eyes shift from Leo back to me.
“What’s going on?” Every last ounce of her jovial affect has dissipated. “Bizzy, say it now, or I’m leaving and never talking to any of you again.” Her voice is sharp and commanding, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s shaking with anger, too.
I glance to Jasper and he gives a solemn nod.
“Emmie”—I can’t seem to catch my breath—“Leo and I share a very special ability. It’s nothing we got from each other. But it’s the reason we met about a year ago. Do you remember going to that Halloween party when we were thirteen and I had to leave early because Mackenzie Woods dunked me in a whiskey barrel full of water?”
“How can I forget?” She softens. “You haven’t swum in the ocean since. What does that have to do with any of this?”
“Everything. You see, something strange happened to me that day, to my brain. I guess this ability was always lurking under the surface, but for some reason, it became pronounced that day.” I close my eyes, and for a second, it feels as if I’m right back in that whiskey barrel struggling to breathe, wondering if I’ll make it or not—if I’ll ever see my best friend again. And yet, right here at this moment, I’m wondering the very same thing for a whole other reason. “Emmie”—I give a few rapid blinks—“I don’t know how or why, but ever since that day, I’ve been able to read people’s minds.”
A dull laugh streams from her. “You’re kidding, right?” She shakes her head at Leo. “Is this one of those plot twist proposals?”
Leo lets out a heavy breath. “No, it’s not, Emmie. What I wanted to tell you before we take that next step together—and I want to, very, very soon—is just that.” He hitches his head my way. “Bizzy and I are both something called transmundane. And our gift, listening in on other people’s thoughts, is further classified as telesensual. We’re not trying to listen in, it’s just sort of there. It’s not something I share with a lot of people. But I want to share it with you. I want so much more with you in this life, Emmie, but I felt that if I didn’t let you in on this big secret of mine, it wouldn’t be fair. It wouldn’t be real.”
Emmie takes a slow step back as she looks from Leo to me.
“I think—I think this has gone too far.” Emmie is starting to lose the color in her face. “Jasper, make them stop. I don’t think it’s funny.”
“It’s true, Emmie.” Jasper offers an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry. Bizzy just told me about eight months ago. It’s not easy to wrap your head around, believe me. I’ve been in your shoes. But I knew I wanted to build a life with Bizzy. And to do that I had to accept her for who she was and what she was capable of.”
Emmie scoffs my way. “Bizzy, come on. If you could read my mind, you would have told me ages ago. We don’t keep secrets, remember?”
“Just this one,” I say just above a whisper. “I’m sorry, Em. I never wanted you to look at me like a monster. I didn’t want things to change between us.”
Her eyes glisten with tears. So you’re saying you can hear me now?
I nod her way and watch as her eyes widen with fright. And in less than a second, she takes off into the night.
Leo bullets
