Page 31 of Missing Moon

How different would things be if Mom wasn’t… gone?

I close my eyes and let out a long sigh.

“No sense driving myself crazy,” I whisper to no one in particular.

“About what?” asks Tammy in a sleepy voice.

“What-ifs.”

“Yeah, they suck.” Tammy snuggles against my side.

When my daughter was little, she’d always want to sleep with us whenever she had a nightmare. Even though she’s technically an adult now, she still feels safer around me. I don’t blame her.Iwould feel safer around me, too!

“So, what what-if are you agonizing over?” she whispers.

“Just had a doozy of a vision.”

“Spill.”

I take a breath and explain what I just experienced. “… basically wondering what things would’ve been like if Mom won that fight and didn’t go full basket case.”

Tammy’s quiet for a bit, then asks, “So, does that mean Grandma’s ghost is lost out there somewhere?”

“I think so. Yeah.”

“Can we fix her?” asks Tammy.

“No clue. I don’t even know what happened to her.” I rub a hand down my face. “Those visions aren’t always literal. Though, I do kinda think this one might be.”

Tammy stretches. “If it’s as simple as bringing Grandma and her ghost to the same place, I think she would’ve found her way back on her own by now.”

“Yeah, true,” I say with a hint of sigh in my voice. “Something’s keeping them apart.”

A change in Tammy’s breathing tells me she’s drifted off. I close my eyes, but there’s little chance of me joining her. Sleep isn’t in the cards for me tonight. As if worrying about vampires potentially being in the area didn’t give me enough reason to stay up all night, now I’ve got the added puzzle of my mother to spin the gears of my brain.

What the heck happened to her—and is it even possible to fix?

Dammit. I’d kind of been hoping for a brief stay. Say what I need to say to Dad and go home. But now…

I can’t leave until I figure this out.

Chapter Twelve

All is Not Right Here

The night is long as I lay there listening to every little creak of the house, and a handful of bathroom breaks from the myriad of guests. Mom woke up in the middle of the night and said something like ‘oh no, this won’t do at all’ and promptly went quiet again. She must have been having an interesting dream since she pulled off a convincing British accent.

Eventually, morning arrives.

Ellie Mae is up really early and goes straight to the bathroom for a shower. I know it’s her because she’s singing along with her headphones. Or… I guess earbuds these days. Hope she takes them out before she turns the water on.

Anthony gets up next and gathers the sofa cushions so he can put them back where he got them. Once he’s out of the room, I decide to get moving and change out of my old pajamas. I’m impressed they still fit. How many women in their mid-forties can still fit into stuff they wore at eighteen? Immortality has its perks.

Dusk and Mary Lou cook breakfast for everyone. My sister has experience cooking on an industrial scale. Surprisingly,Dusk seems to be at home in the kitchen, too. Guess if you live alone long enough, you learn to cook.

Emerson joins us for scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and something referred to as ‘VTS.’ Apparently ‘vegan turkey sausage’ is a thing. It can’t be actual turkey if it’s vegan. I have no idea what in the name of chemistry gone mad is going on there, but Paxton seems to think it’s edible. She’s not a vegan, by the way. Kiddo will eat fish and eggs. She might even have chicken or beef if there are absolutely no other options. So, she has some eggs and the mystery sausage with toast. Everyone likes bread.

After eating, I offer Emerson a ride downtown, which he readily accepts.

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