Maddie let loose a weak chuckle. “I’m not very good at being a spy.”
“Yes, well ... that doesn’t mean you didn’t form good impressions of those who were here. What did you see?”
“Nobody is sad she’s dead.”
Hannah nodded. “Yeah. I noticed that, too. Cooper said that her daughter was upset, but Melanie obviously isn’t here. Apparently Velma had a lot of enemies.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Maddie thought back to the spectacle the woman made in the saloon the previous day. “I wouldn’t exactly call her easy to get along with.”
“No, and I think she thrived on being disliked,” Hannah agreed. “Some people do. Not you, obviously. You’re uncomfortable when people dislike you.”
“That obvious, huh?” Maddie was rueful as she rubbed her forehead. “It’s something I struggle with at times. I grew up trying to fade into the shadows. I had one friend, my mother, and my grandmother. That was it.”
“And now?”
“Now I have Nick, who is more than a friend, and things are different.” Maddie’s smile was small but heartfelt. “Things are better. That doesn’t mean I don’t struggle from time to time.”
“You’re allowed to feel what you feel,” Hannah noted. “We all make mistakes when we’re young, things we’d like to take back. I pledged my life to a man who cheated on me. I made excuses for him. I didn’t even know my grandmother because my mother died when I was a kid and I never made the effort. She died before I had a chance to get to know her, and it’s one of the things I regret most.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Briefly, Maddie’s eyes drifted to the corner behind the bar, and then she focused her full attention on Hannah. “My grandmother was always involved in my life. I lost my mother not too long ago ... although I still feel her presence at times.”
Hannah snorted. “I feel my grandmother’s presence, too.”
“I’m sure you do.” Maddie licked her lips, debating, and then plowed forward. “I spent years trying to pretend I wasn’t different. I wanted to hide in a world where everything was normal and I didn’t stand out.”
“And now?”
Maddie shrugged and let loose a low chuckle. “And now I want to find a way to be myself without turning into someone like Velma.”
“She was awful,” Hannah agreed. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you have what it takes to turn into Velma. You’re not a self-promoter. To be fair, I don’t know that you’re really psychic either. I mean ... how do you prove something like that?”
“That’s a fair question.” Maddie’s eyes were back on the spot behind the bar. “What was your grandmother’s name?”
“Hmm?” The question caught Hannah off guard. “Um, Abigail Jenkins. Why?”
“Because she’s standing behind the bar watching us. She seems amused by the conversation and keeps making faces.”
Hannah shot up in her chair, her cheeks flushing with color. Slowly, she swiveled to look in the direction Maddie indicated. When she turned back, her eyes were lit with mirth. “Maybe she should be more careful showing herself when there are so many psychics crawling the grounds.”
Maddie matched her smile. “This isn’t the first time you’ve seen her.”
“No. She hangs around all the time.” Hannah cocked her head. “This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a ghost either.”
“No. I’ve seen them my entire life. Er, well, as long as I can remember. My mother could see ghosts, too.”
Hannah thought back to something Maddie had said earlier in their conversation. “You said you could feel your mother’s spirit sometimes. Is she a ghost, too?”
Maddie nodded, some of the emotions that had been clenching her insides easing. “She says she’s staying until my grandmother passes. Then they’re going to cross over together. Thankfully, even though she’s older, my grandmother still has a lot of energy. It’s basically like raising a teenager with all the mischief she finds. I guess that’s good practice for Nick and me.”
“She sounds fun.” Hannah absently scratched the side of her nose. “I don’t know if I expected all the psychics to be frauds, but I’m happy to know that at least you are the real deal.”
“I’m glad to have someone to talk to, too.”
“What else can you do?”
“What else can you do?”
Hannah’s grin was mischievous. “Do you want to compare notes?”
“Why not? I’m not doing anything else.”
7
Seven
“I guess everybody has done some bonding,” Hannah noted as Nick, Boone, and Cooper made their way into the saloon an hour later. The three men seemed remarkably relaxed given the circumstances, their heads bent together as they laughed and exchanged gregarious comments.
Nick pulled up short when he realized the saloon was empty, his eyes immediately scanning the tables. Relief washed over him like a soothing wave when he caught sight of Maddie. “I thought maybe you took off with the others.” He immediately rushed to her side, frowning when he saw she was drinking ginger ale. “Are you sick again?”
Maddie offered him a rueful smile. “My tummy is a little topsy-turvy,” she confirmed. “It’s okay, though. I’m pretty sure it’s because I was nervous about telling Hannah what I could do. It turns out she can do a few things herself. Once the nerves are completely gone, I’ll be fine.”
Nick didn’t look convinced. “You told her what you can do? All of it?”
Maddie bobbed her head. “She can do a lot of the same things, although she says she’s a witch. Do you think I’m a witch?”
“There’s no way I’m answering that question.” Nick pressed his lips to her forehead, gauging her temperature. Just like before, she wasn’t warm. Still, he was starting to get worried about the frequent stomach bugs she’d been dealing with over the past couple of weeks. “When we get home, you’re going to the doctor, by the way. You’ve gone from never getting sick to
