Page 93 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
Her hands shaking, Josie picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn’t used in what felt like forever. Ben would understand this pain, and she could talk to him about it eventually, but for now, she neededsomeone else. Someone who knew what it meant to live with this quiet rage of unfairness.
The line picked up.
“Hello?”
God, it really had been too long.
Miranda had wanted to go back one last time. They had planned to. But life—and dying—had other plans. They’d said goodbye to that chapter and to the people who filled it.
“SiSi? It’s Jos.”
Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat, but it was useless. Simone was already crying, her screams of losing yet another friend carrying through the phone.
“Miranda’s gone.”
Chapter 20
“I'm not taking the melatonin gummies, so why does this keep happening every time I close my eyes?”
“Beats the hell out of me,” Miranda replied, walking up the front path. “Haven House has always held a little magic, but I think it has more to do with—”
“My mother.”
“As much as I’d love to feed that romantic notion, my darling, I cannot,” Miranda said with a hint of regret in her tone. “It’s the Fairweathers. It’s the land. It’s the curse. The amalgamation of those three damns us all.”
Jamison tried not to let her disappointment show. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s true.” Miranda paused to examine Ty’s rainbow garden. “You forget that I lived at Parkland Grounds. It was built with the blood of others and, much like Haven House, has a few things that go bump in the night.”
It was hard to believe this woman had been so sick at the end of her life. Here, Miranda looked radiant. Healthy. Dressed in fitted trousers and a rather chic hunter green jacket, she tossed her long brown hair over her shoulders.
“In most of the pictures I’ve seen, your hair was short,” Jamison said, feeling the odd need to make small talk. “But I like it long.”
Miranda beamed. “Josie likes it long, too.”
Ah, there was some common ground. Jamison grinned. “Josie is awesome.She puts Samuel in his place.”
“Someone has to.” Miranda laughed. “My son isn’t like anyone else. I’m thankful for Josie. And I’m thankful for your sister.”
Jamison figured if she was going to talk to imaginary Miranda, she might as well ask the hard questions. “You don’t think it’s weird?”
“Samuel and Evie?” Miranda quirked an eyebrow. “God, no. Can’t you see how their souls are bound together? Destiny is a fickle creature, but she always strikes true.”
It wasn’t the answer she expected, and Jamison glanced at the side yard, searching for her mother.
“She’s not here,” Miranda said, her face softening. “Laura Jean and CeCe are busy preparing.”
“Preparing for what?”
“The end.”
Jamison swallowed, not caring for the way Miranda’s words felt like a punch to the gut. “The end of what?”
Hands in her pockets, Miranda strolled slowly down the path. “I was so young when I first came to Haven House. I thought I knew everything about life back then. I thought I was strong. Hell, I knew I was strong after going up against your grandmother and not backing down from the old dragon.”
She stopped to grin at something in the distance, pointing at a maple tree close to the dock. “Your father proposed to me right over there. We went for a walk with Selah and chased squirrels.”
“Did you know you were in love with Josie when you married him?”
