Page 61 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
At the bookstore, Keelia was ringing up a customer. The girl who had put her arms around Minna in the gazebo was behind the register also, perched on a stool, reading a thick romance novel. She must be Keelia’s daughter, Olive.
Minna said to her, “Hi, you.”
Olive said, “Hi back.”
Something swam in the air between the two girls. Beatrice looked at Olive and then back at Minna.Oh.Okay, that was damn cute. Maybe she’d get a chance to ask Minna about it later.
When the customer had left the store, Cordelia said, “Keelia, this is going to sound really weird—will you trust me?”
Keelia tipped her head to the side. “The last time you said that, you made me get a mammogram that showed stage one breast cancer, so you think I won’t trust you now? Spit it out, though. Am I sick again?”
“God, no. Absolutely not. Sorry to scare you like that. This is different. What does peppermint bark make you think of?”
Keelia’s laugh was relieved. “I didn’t expect that.” She shot a look at Olive. “We love that stuff. My parents used to give us each a box of it at Christmas, and Mom would always buy two extra boxes, put ’em in the freezer. She’d give them to us in July, as a half-Christmas surprise.”
Spit caught at the back of Beatrice’s throat as she choked.
“What were their names again? Margaret, right? And…”
“Jackson. Margaret and Jackson.” Keelia sighed. “Oh, we miss them, don’t we, honey?”
Olive nodded.
Cordelia slid the notebook across the counter. “Beatrice did some automatic writing. That means that—”
“I’ve been your friend a long time. I know what it is,” said Keelia, pulling the notebook toward her. Olive stood behind her, and together, they read the words.
Beatrice held her breath. This was nothing. It meant nothing. That’s what Keelia would say, right? Any second now.
“Well.” Keelia thumped down onto the stool behind her. “Okay. That’s… something. That sure is something.”
Good god. What was happening? Beatrice stepped forward. “It actually makes sense to you?”
“Every word of it. Mom used to watch Olive when I was here at the store, on the days I couldn’t bring her in, do you remember that? And when Mom was dying, what, six months after Papa passed? She said she’d always watch her. That they both would.” Keelia rubbed her cheeks. “And Olive still has Froggy on her bed, the one they gave her when she was a baby.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Pain comes and goes. When you’re in it, you think it’ll last forever. It won’t. Think of yourself like that kitten in the Hang In There poster. Cheesy as hell, but sometimes all we can do is hang on a little longer. Spirit’s got a reason for you still being here. That much I know.
—Evie Oxby, Facebook Live
The next day, Beatrice went to the library to use the Wi-Fi. At the table that was rapidly becoming her favorite (next to a window that looked out on the town center’s grassy lawn), she pulled up the medical results from her last routine physical. Her doctor had told her she’d been in great shape, but what if she’d missed something?
For an hour, Beatrice examined the labs that had come back. She didn’t understand all the words, but when she cross-referenced her levels against what Google said were normal ones, Beatrice did, in fact, look to be in great shape. Perfect bloodpressure, normal blood sugar levels, a low (but still normal) resting heart rate.
A clean bill of health.
Did that mean her death would be unnatural? Violent?
Beatrice squeezed her eyes shut and pushed her laptop away from her. Enough of this. She’d go back home and work on figuring out the houseboat’s battery storage thing.
As Beatrice walked through town, she remembered what her doctor had said the last time she’d seen her.Enjoy your good health.
So, was the prediction one of those self-fulfilling prophecies? Would she be so worried about dying that she wouldn’t get off the tracks in time to avoid the train?
If somethingdidhappen to her, it would kill Dad to lose her. With his own health issues, and after losing Naya, it would be the final straw for him.
Of course, he’d apparently handled losing Cordelia just fine.
