Page 60 of Broken King

Pushing on my left arm, she laughs. “Not that kind of message, silly. No, I mean a message like you know she’s trying to tell you something but not with words.”

Leave it to the babysitter to believe in new age bullshit. Where did Ava find this person?

I continue walking, already wondering why I let her come with me. “I don’t believe in stuff like that.”

“Well, that explains why you’ve never gotten one. She’s probably been trying this whole time, but you’re not listening.”

Not really one who rolls his eyes, I make an exception for her now. “That’s ridiculous. She can’t tell me anything. She’s dead.”

Bizarrely, that seems ridiculous to Sabrina, and she twists her face into a grimace. “Not speaking. Seriously, open your mind, Ronan. There are ways people who’ve left us can still send us messages they want us to hear. You just have to keep an open mind and keep your eyes open. A sign can be anything, so pay attention.”

“Uh-huh.”

She stops and nudges my left arm again, forcing me to stop walking. “Fine. You don’t have to believe me, but I bet your mother is trying to send you a message right now. Probably wants to tell you to stop being so narrow-minded.”

“I highly doubt it.”

Even though Sabrina can’t know it since she knows next to nothing about me, I’d love to get a message from my mother or my father. I’d love to know if they see something better for me than what I’m dealing with now.

But that doesn’t happen, no matter how much this hippy-dippy woman wants to believe it does.

“Do me a favor, okay? Think about your mother and try to find one thing that reminds you of her. That’s all I ask. And if you happen to see something in the next few days that is the same as that thing you thought of, then that’s your mother trying to send you a message.”

Still not buying any of this, I ask, “And what exactly would she be trying to tell me?”

Sabrina smiles and pokes her finger into my abs. “That’s for you to figure out. Time for me to go get Theo for some play time!”

With that, she spins on her heel and walks away back toward the house. I really need to ask my brother where they found this person.

What nonsense.

As I continue walking, my mind goes back to a sunny summer day much like this one when my mother and I walked out to the grove of trees on the far right side of the estate. My brothers and I were given strict instructions never to go there alone, but this time my mother took me with her. I don’t remember what she needed to go out there for. I don’t remember much of what we talked about on our way there, although I know we talked since my mother believed talking to children was one of the most important things a parent could do.

What I do remember is a rabbit sitting under one of the trees. I wanted to touch it, but my mother told me only to look. As we stood there holding hands, the rabbit nibbled on something and then hopped away.

Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to be looking for. But that rabbit’s long gone by now.

Jesus, now Sabrina has me buying into her nonsense.

Matthias callsfor me from his office, so I walk down the hall and stop in the doorway. “What’s up?”

“Just wondering how things went down at the carriage house.”

With a smile, I nod and answer, “Great! Thanks for letting me use it for a little while. We had lunch and then went for awalk. It was nice. I was thinking maybe of doing that again next week.”

My brother seems excited by my idea. “Feel free to use it whenever you need to. I won’t be able to spend much time down there this week or next because of work, so at least someone will get to enjoy the space.”

“Thanks!”

I turn to leave and what Sabrina said earlier pops into my head. Spinning back around, I say, “Hey, I know this is going to sound stupid, but have you ever seen any rabbits around the estate?”

He thinks for a long moment and nods. “I saw one a few years ago. I was sitting out under the big tree on the west lawn drawing, and I swear one posed for me so I could sketch it. I was surprised it was willing to sit that long for me. I got nearly everything sketched out on him but his fur.”

“Interesting. Thanks! I’ll let you get back to work.”

Matthias cocks an eyebrow and asks, “Any reason you’re asking me about rabbits?”

“Just something Sabrina said to me earlier. By the way, where did you guys find her?”

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