Page 61 of The Shop on Hidden Lane

“It’s a long story.”

She held up a hand, palm out. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s okay.”

He lowered himself into a chair, leaned forward, braced his forearms on his thighs, and loosely linked his fingers. He took another moment to think about what he was going to say. For thefirst time since the disaster he wanted to talk to someone. No, not someone—Sophy.

“I come from a long line of psychically talented physicists, engineers, and inventors. But I didn’t get that kind of ability. That’s why I was chosen to become the next CEO of the company.”

“I, uh, have heard that rumor. It seems odd, though.”

He smiled wryly. “No one with a lot of engineering talent wants the job and the family doesn’t want to turn it over to someone who isn’t a Wells. That leaves me.”

“But you do have a talent.”

“I can see some light from beyond the spectrum. That gives me good night vision but that’s about it. They call me No-Talent Wells for a reason.”

She frowned. “You said you were good when it came to connecting dots.”

“I am, but that’s hardly a psychic-grade talent.”

“Says who? No one knows where the line between intuition and psychic talent is.”

“It’s just the way my brain works.”

She tilted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes. “What about your ability to manipulate someone’s aura the way you did mine when I came out of that vision trance at the cabin?”

“The situation with you was…unique.”

“Seriously?”

“I was acting on the old principle that two auras are stronger than one. I didn’t expect the resonance thing. That was a shock.”

“A shock?” she asked a little too politely.

He’d screwed up. Again. “A surprise. Agoodsurprise. It’s just that I’ve never had that happen before, so I was—”

He decided to stop before the hole he was digging for himself got any deeper.

Her smile was as cool and polished as the silvery sculpture on the pedestal.

“You were shocked,” she concluded.

He looked at her.

She waved one hand. “Forget it. If it helps, I was just as shocked as you were.”

“Okay. Yes, that helps.”

Not really, he decided. It didn’t help at all, because she was making it clear she was blowing off the resonance incident. He was not going to be able to pretend that it wasn’t important. He had a feeling he was doomed to dream about it for the rest of his life.

“I think you are underestimating the value of your ability to connect dots,” she said.

“I told you, the problem with that skill set is that sometimes you convince yourself you can see connections that don’t actually exist.”

“I understand. I’m the one who wonders if she’s seeing ghosts, remember?”

He frowned, trying to parse the distinction. It wasn’t the same thing. Was it?