Page 61 of The Aura Answer
Nick said... ?Forget it, Gracie.Nick was a generous man who happened to have a little time on his hands. He’d be gone in a week. His travels would probably take him home, and she’d never see him again. He might even start his antique shop in London, where he could date supermodels. Men like that didn’t stay in Afterthought.
Maybe Layman would rename the town after he owned it all.Forethoughtprobably wouldn’t be any better.Forthrightwould be nice but certainly not accurate for a town filled with secrets.
Evie blasted in, jangling keys. “Planning commission meeting convening at the Barn this afternoon! Anyone with ideas is invited. Mr. Patel will be there. Larraine says she’d like to meet Mrs. Walker and see if she can help. Where’s Nick? This is right up his alley.”
Everyone turned to Gracie. She tried not to stab the peanut butter sandwich she was cutting. Without looking up, she announced, “He’s in Charleston looking for a home. He has a new job.”
After various polite expressions of interest Gracie couldn’t answer because she’d been too self-involved to ask, the conversation moved on. She tried to move with it.
So, she was probably losing her home.Plusthe only man she’d had any interest in for years. And writing was probably awaste. Evie’s mysteries were too weird to write about anyway. She should just go strip wallpaper.
But when it came time to visit the Barn, Gracie left Aster with Pris and climbed in the Kia to follow Evie and Jax to the crime scene.
That’s all this meeting was, she reminded herself. Sammy had died there, and Evie simply wanted company in case his spirit energy lingered. Without Nick, no one wanted all those crappyantiquesthat were basically junk.
Larraine and Reuben were just climbing out of her Mercedes when they arrived. Mr. Patel’s old truck was already in the lot, but he wasn’t in sight. Gracie hoped they weren’t raising his hopes for nothing. At least Judge Satterwhite owned this building, so maybe all would be well.
Jax unlocked the door. It already smelled musty inside. Gracie found the overhead light switch, but the place had never been well lit. One of the fluorescents appeared to be dead, which didn’t help.
“Icy,” Larraine commented, drawing her fur around her. The mayor looked more the part of the fashion designer she was than the politician she played.
Jax hunted for a thermostat, but they all knew by now that cold pockets meant spirit energy. Evie was already tuning in.
Restlessly, Gracie hunted down the old books she’d seen in here last time. She could probably pay Mrs. Walker for them if she found anything good. Was Sammy’s mom coming?
Even as she wondered, the older woman tentatively stepped through the open doorway. Probably in her sixties, she looked much older. Her hair had turned iron gray, and she wore it in a frazzled bun. Her flowered cotton dress looked as if it had been fashioned from a sack. Although her shoulders were stooped, she walked without a cane.
Before she could turn to greet Sammy’s mom, Evie screamed Gracie’s name—and the shabby shelves of books Gracie had been perusing toppled.
Cursing,Jax knew he was too far away to stop collapsing shelves, but he and Reuben rushed toward Gracie anyway, while Evie shouted at an evidently angry spirit.
To his shock, the tumbling shelves abruptly fell sideways, missing Gracie by inches. Books flew everywhere. She seemed more concerned with rescuing them from thin air than saving herself.
Rescuing. Floating books.
Jax sighed and grabbed Reuben’s arm. They watched with fascination as books drifted to the floor, undamaged.
Looking briefly embarrassed and apologetic, Gracie dropped to her knees and began gathering her bounty.
“Well, I never,” Sammy’s grief-stricken mother exclaimed from the doorway. “I had no notion this place was so dangerous!”
“They’ve been neglected too long,” Larraine explained, while watching the scene with her carefully shaped eyebrows raised.
Jax checked on Evie. She leaned against the front counter, ostensibly talking into her phone. The cold pocket wafted away from the bookshelves, so maybe Sammy’s spirit was listening.
He crouched down beside Evie’s timid sister. “Need some help?” He knew Gracie could play card tricks. He’d never seen her float books, but he was fairly certain that’s what had just happened.
Reuben brought over some old boxes and began stashing the old tomes inside.
“No, no, I’m fine. I wanted to see the titles. Yes, go look after Evie. I’m guessing Sammy is unhappy.” She seemed nervous, but then, she usually was.
Jax left her with Dr. Reuben discussing the merits of some old fantasy novel. How a man who looked like an embattled African warrior could be such a nerd was hard to navigate.
Keeping an eye on Evie, who wouldn’t appreciate his hovering, he returned to Larraine and Mrs. Walker.
“You said you have the lease agreement Sammy signed when he rented the barn?” He hadn’t worked out a plan yet for untangling Layman’s greedy scheme, but he was gathering a base of knowledge.
Mrs. Walker nodded and produced a manila folder from her oversized purse. “The judge was generous. He knew I needed my Sammy nearby. And no one else would want this place. My husband’s family used to sharecrop these fields. But farm prices got so bad—”
