Page 20 of Stronger Than Blood

Chapter eighteen

Mick

By the time I finished working Sunday morning, I was wiped out.

I’m not even sure why. I worked five nights a week over at the grocery store, but I didn’t have my cousin Brenda to impress.

I found myself fretting about not cooking enough, then afraid I’d cooked too much, and then, when we ran out of food, I felt guilty.

Luckily, Brenda told me she only needed me on the weekends until she could figure out what to do about the hotel bakery.

Mrs. Danforth had agreed to serve up the pie for people and put them on the tab since most of the customers had been guests.

Now, the public flocking in all weekend was causing some problems with the flow of people in and out of the hotel.

I considered it a good problem to have. At least it should’ve been, since we were selling out of food before we could even get it unloaded.

And no, getting stuff delivered at five a.m. hadn’t made it better.

They just showed up earlier and were grumpy that they “had to get up so early to keep from losing their pie.”

I sat down with Brenda before I left and encouraged her to start taking orders that could be picked up at the café.

That way, we’d reduce some of the traffic.

Also, I recommended she stock the front display with desserts.

Those that had originally held food had been unplugged and now held welcome stuff, like flowers and pretty plaques, but if she could pull traffic over to the café, it would be in her best interest to do so.

She sighed, saying she didn’t think the refrigerant in those displays worked any longer but that she’d have someone come out to see. I didn’t know if she was happy or not with all the changes.

I needed to visit Granny, and then I wanted to sleep, but I also wanted to see the progress on Uncle Eddie’s store. I was surprised when I walked in and found Rory already at work.

“Wow, you’re getting an early start,” I said, causing him to smile.

“You look tired. Do you really want to work after—”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not going to work now. I’m going to go see Granny Ida and then get some sleep.”

Just then, a beautiful woman with flowing skirts walked in. “Um, hi,” I said, confused.

Rory immediately stepped up and, smiling, said, “This is my mentor, Madam Bellamy. Madam, this is the gentleman I’ve been helping, Mick Hensley.”

“Mick, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard wonderful things.”

I looked at Rory, who was blushing, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, thank you. What brings you to these parts?” I asked.

The woman studied me a moment before replying, “Well, you, I think.”

“Me?” I asked and stepped back, shocked.

She nodded. “Things are changing in Rory’s and my lives, and I believe I had a vision with you in it. Besides, I’ve been getting to know your uncle while helping Rory out.”

I swallowed hard—was she talking to my dead uncle? No, that was unlikely. I decided to ignore her comment and deal with it later.

I looked at her clothes, which I had to assume were very expensive, and wondered if she was really helping. Of course, she caught my observation and laughed. “I’m helping him with moral support. I don’t actually clean out trash any longer.”

Of course, now that I looked closer and saw the manicured nails, I knew for a fact that was true.

“I’m not sure what to say about the visions or communing with my dead uncle thing. That’s a little over my head, but welcome.”

She turned toward the back of the room and smiled. “Your uncle says you should plan to come back here this afternoon. If Rory keeps up at the pace he’s going, you’ll want to see what he uncovers.”

This wasn’t something I could ignore. Was she really talking to my uncle?

I looked around warily. I loved my Uncle Eddie.

I wasn’t as close to him as I am to his sister, my granny, but he was a nice old man.

I swallowed hard, but decided even if he was haunting the place, he wouldn’t be as bad as the asshole back at Granny Ida’s place.

“Oh,” I said and nodded. “Okay, well, I’m going to go, then,” I said.

It was just too much for me. For a moment I wondered if I should leave them alone in the store, but truth be told, the worst they could do would be to burn the place down.

Despite her or anyone else’s statement to the contrary, I doubted anything would be worth keeping.

I shook her hand and waved at Rory, still not willing to touch him again, especially in front of the strange and unsettling woman, then rushed out of the store to see Granny before going to my apartment and, hopefully, getting some rest.

Granny was in a bad mood; she hated the home, and apparently, one of her school nemeses had a great-granddaughter working there, which made her angrier. Of course, I knew that wasn’t the real reason. She just didn’t want to be in a nursing home, and I wished I could help get her out.

Frustrated about the day in general, I went to my apartment and lay down. I figured sleep would hit me fast. Usually, when I was that tired, I barely had time to lie down before sleep took me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my mind off all the changes going on.

Brenda’s dilemma over my working for her. Rory and his strange mentor, who said she was communing with my long-dead uncle. Then Granny being upset. I felt like I was losing control of everything.

When I finally fell asleep, I tossed and turned, not getting into the kind of deep sleep that I’d read you needed to get proper rest. I got up to use the bathroom around noon and was just about to go back to bed when I felt a cold chill prickle across my skin.

“Fuck,” I whispered because I recognized that feeling. Why the hell was it here and not back at the damned farm?”

As the familiar feeling of darkness slipping in around the edges of my vision began to encircle me, I had to grab the wall to steady myself.

The room itself grew colder, and I quickly decided to forego sleep and instead rushed into my bedroom, threw on some clothes, and dashed out of the apartment before I’d even brushed my teeth.

If that woman, Madam Bellamy, could communicate with ghosts, for real, maybe she could help me figure it out ’cause I sure as hell wasn’t going to be okay with that SOB showing up at my apartment. The fuck with that!