Page 6 of Having the Time of My Midlife

I turned and looked at Gideon. He simply shrugged. “I’d marry you a thousand times over. I’m in.”

“Candy? Can you pull that crap you said out of your butt again?” I asked.

“I just pulled an imaginary chicken egg out of my ass,” she reminded me. “Of course, I can yank a few F-bombs out and remarry you fuckers.”

I snorted. It was unavoidable. “Alrighty then. Let’s get married.”

“Hang on,” Lura Belle said, looking up at the sky and growing increasingly uncomfortable. “We have a message.”

“From who?” I asked, feeling a little wonky but unsure why.

“The Higher Power,” she said.

Now I knew why I felt wonky. Not much good came via the Higher Power.

“The message?” I held my breath, waiting for the answer.

“They’re coming back,” Lura Belle relayed. “The balance has shifted and must be repaired. If not… it will be a problem.”

I had so many questions, but I would deal with one at a time. “Who is coming back?”

“I don’t know,” Lura Belle admitted.

“Can you defineproblem?”I pressed, knowing it was probably futile.

Again, she didn’t know.

We all stood in silence and mulled over the new wrinkle that could unravel our lives… again. Catching a break and going on vacation was looking less likely.

“Holy motherfuckin’ shitballs,” Candy Vargo shouted. “What the actual fuck?”

I whipped around in the direction of Candy’s voice and gasped. What the actual fuck was correct.

On my front porch, transparent shoulder to transparent shoulder, stood some very familiar people to me. My gut clenched and my skin turned clammy. The group was expressionless and appeared scared.

Slowly, I walked toward the porch. Gideon fell in step to my right. Charlie to my left. Candy Vargo, Tim, Tory and Heather backed up Charlie. Gabe, Rafe, Prue and Abby stayed on Gideon’s side. Zander and Catriona were behind me and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse brought up the rear.

I wasn’t terrified of what I saw, but I was worried… worried for the ones on my porch. Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong.

“Steve?” I called out.

My dead husband barely acknowledged me. It was as if he couldn’t understand. He trembled and faded in and out. Standing beside him was Sam, Sister Catherine, Agnes, Birdie and John. They weren’t supposed to be here. They’d gone into the Light. I’d seen them go into the Light. I’d helped them do it.

But they were back.

Agnes floated forward. She was a shell of who she’d been. The joy and vitality had been stripped from her. Her vocal rhythm was staccato and off. Her words were even worse. “Fix the rift in the chain, Angel of Mercy. If unattended, evil from the Darkness will descend on the earth and tear it open for good. Death and destruction will rule.”

“How?” I asked, hoping for more… a clue, a hint. I didn’t even care if it was cryptic. Hell, I’d do the Chicken Dance and shit out eggs for a cryptic clue right now.

The dead on my porch said nothing. They just stared at me. It was unnerving.

As they began to fade away, Steve stepped forward. For a brief moment, he was back to the wonderful man who I’d spent so many years with. “Daisy,” he whispered brokenly. “You have only days to discover the riddle and solve it. Start with the ending you desire and work your way back. It’s the only way. Remember nothing is impossible… you just have to believe.”

As he shimmered and grew fainter, I spoke up. “Will you be back?”

He smiled. It was filled with sadness. “I will. Though, I’m not really sure why I’m here. Work fast, Daisy. The Light depends on you.”

In a gust of icy wind, the dead on my porch disappeared. I turned and looked at Gideon. His expression was unreadable as he stared back at me. My stress felt as if it was eating me alive. Peeling off my skin wouldn’t even bother me right now.

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