Okay, that’s a stretch, Lila.
Maybe so, but physics wasn’t cause for worry.
I tried not to stare, but luckily everyone was focused on the pool game—except for Sal, whose head kept swiveling my way in between shots. Truth be told, although I was relieved he wasn’t interested in dating, I was still flattered. Here among friends, it was easy to see I’d misjudged him when we’d met. He was odd, sure, but not a psycho. And when a man that handsome looked twice, it was a compliment. It’d been more than eight years since my last date, and clearly, I’d forgotten what it was like to receive a man’s attentions.
And you’re naturally paranoid.
Yeah, that, too. Like now, with Cara. Maybe these black energies were just a different type of being than the angels I was used to. Sometimes I saw shadowy, human-shaped figures out of the corner of my eye—even if my sparkling friends were the norm. Dark didn’t necessarily mean bad.
Immersed in my own thoughts, I was at first only vaguely aware of Phil and Maureen trying to get Sal to talk about himself, but since questions seemed to make him uncomfortable, they switched to more indirect methods. Once I noticed, it was entertaining to watch two skilled conversationalists initiate and discard topics about everything from world events to the tourist season kicking off with next week’s Azalea Festival.
Adam joined in, but whenever the conversational flow shifted to Sal, he said things that were so boring and factual that he sounded peculiar. Almost as if he were a caricature of a foreign anthropologist, his apathetic observations and deadpan delivery made me want to laugh. It had to be nearly eleven o’clock, yet after three hours, I doubted any of us felt like we knew him any better than when he’d arrived—nameless.
Except for that one shared laugh. Poor guy just wasn’t normal—even within my oh-so-wide range of what normal included. If he always had this much trouble relating to other people, he was probably very lonely. I would be, if it wasn’t for Eileen.
I hoped she was having fun. She was nearly as socially challenged as me, but she was never afraid to show herself in all her quirky glory. She wasn’t a leader, per se, but she was fearless. Her very nature was both a catalyst for change and a support for others. Even her own mom.
The squeak of leather drew my attention back to Cara. She was attempting to rock forward, but the cushions were too deep and her belly was too big.
“I’ll help ya.” I slipped off the stool and offered her a hand. “Not so easy, is it?” Eileen had been a huge baby, too.
“I need to use the restroom,” she whispered.
With one strong pull, I helped her to her feet—and screamed.
Dark specks seethed around her womb. Hundreds of them. I swatted at them, but my hands passed through the voids and her angels alike—useless! The angels sparked and flared, and the black things continued to encircle her, and I was the only one who could see! What are they?! The baby!
Adam grabbed my wrists, wrenching me from my private terror. His pupils widened as I struggled for words.
“S-spider. A black spider! With a red spot!” I stuck my hands under my armpits and backed away.
“Oh, God!” Maureen raced over and started prodding the cushions with her cue stick. Phil flipped on a bank of recessed lights to brighten the room, and Adam gave Cara a quick hug before joining Maureen. No one could live around here and not have a healthy respect for black widows.
Only Sal had remained near the pool table, his eyes cold and analytical again. Whatever. I’d have to worry about what he thought later, because Cara had moved several feet from the sofa and was looking so pale I was afraid I’d made things worse.
I moved to her side and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, really. I’m sorry I scared you.” I put an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the hall. I had no idea how to help, but intuition said I should start by asking about Sal. “It was probably just a house spider, but let’s go check your dress.”
Now on his hands and knees searching, Phil looked up. “There’s a powder room down the hall beside the office.”
Maybe her nervousness around Sal was drawing negative energy. I’d never seen that happen, but my senses had been so much more active the past few days. I was seeing way more than was normal—even for me. I felt the weight of Sal’s stare as we left the room, but it was Adam that crushed me to a stop.
Both of his hands clutched a sofa cushion, and he was looking at his wife, not with loving concern, but with a sadness that made me want to rush and wrap my arms around him. Squashing the deranged impulse, I pulled Cara out of the room. Her eyes were unfocused, and milk had more color than her face, but she seemed unaware I’d just dragged her away. Where had that thought even come from?
Ignoring Phil’s suggestion, I guided Cara back upstairs to a bedroom suite we’d skipped earlier. I hated to make her walk that far, but she didn’t seem to notice other than to lean against me.
Upon flipping on the light, I could see this bath was just as tastefully extravagant as the rest of the house. Seriously, who else would have a guest bathroom with a slipper tub and a separate room for the toilet? But it helped us now as Cara removed her dress in the privacy of the water closet. She passed it to me, and I flopped it over my shoulder.
“Cara, I really am so sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m just glad you saw it . . . ” Her voice was low and muffled behind the other door.
Damn. I wished I could tell her what I’d really seen, but
