“I’m talking about you and me. We should open our own business.”
My mother and Vi had been nagging me to join the family business for years. They each had a psychic niche—Vi as a pet psychic and Mom as a tarot reader—but felt they could build an empire if I joined them and used my premonitions and touch sensitivity to tell clients their future, help them find lost objects, or warn them of doom.
I shook my head and stood up to get away from her.
“We’ve covered this, Vi,” I said. “I’m not interested in a psychic career.”
She sniffed and looked away from me. “I gave that up a long time ago.”
“What? You did?”
“Of course,” she said. “You made it very clear how you felt and these past few months I noticed that you only really seem satisfied when you have a puzzle to solve. Psychics don’t tend to solve puzzles.”
“So, what are you suggesting?”
“Well, I don’t want you to become a fortune teller, but if you use your gifts and your police training you could help a lot of people.” She paused and held my gaze. “I think we should open a detective agency—together.”
I laughed, so glad to realize she was just trying to cheer me up.
“That’s a good one,” I said, still giggling. “I needed a good laugh—thanks, Vi.”
Her face turned stony.
“I’m not joking.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
Vi took a step toward me. “Think of it, Clyde. It would be great. You could help people find things they’ve lost, and solve mysterious disappearances. And I could deal with any strange psychic events. Plus, I’m going to learn more about ghost hunting.”
I shook my head and backed away from her.
“With my ability to interview animals, and your multiple abilities to see the future and find things, we’d be great together. Your mom said she’d pitch in with tarot if we need it.”
“Mom is in on this as well?”
“Yeah, we all think it’s a great idea.”
“Who thinks it’s a great idea?”
“Me, Rose, Lucille, and your father.”
“You’ve all discussed this? Dad would never think it’s a good idea. And what about Seth? Does he know?”
Vi shook her head. “We couldn’t risk telling Seth—he can’t keep a secret.”
I took a deep breath. If Vi only knew about the secrets Seth could keep.
“And why are you discussing this with Lucille?”
Vi looked down and hung her head. “That was an accident. Your Mom slipped up and mentioned it. Lucille thinks Mac is worried you might move away when your year is up.”
“Wait, what?” Mac thought I was going to leave? Now I was less concerned about the detective agency and more concerned about my mother and Lucille discussing my life.
“We all want you to be happy and to stay in Crystal Haven.” She stood up to pace and gesture wildly to make her point. “I think this would solve everything.”
“And all of you have decided this is a great idea?” As usual, Vi ignored my threatening tone.
She nodded and grinned. “They see what you’re good at and know we’d make a great team. C’mon, it’ll be great!”
“No offense, Vi, but you don’t know anything about solving murders.” I turned away from her.
“I think I’ve done a good job so far when it comes to asking the right people the right questions. I could figure it out. You aren’t the only one with a deductive mind.”
I snorted and sounded like Vi. Then I sighed. Everyone had ideas on how I should live my life.
Vi and I could argue about this until the next winter, but I didn’t have the mental energy to keep fighting her. And yet, I needed some space, so I told her what I knew she wanted to hear. “Let me think about it.”
She shook her head. “No. I know what that means,” she said. “You’ll just keep putting me off, hoping I’ll give up.”
Damn, I hated it when she did that.
I opened my mouth to respond, but she wasn’t finished.
“I have a deal for you,” she said.
This was classic Vi. With nothing resembling a winning hand, she would continue to up the ante.
“Okay, let’s hear it.” I crossed my arms.
“Let’s have a contest,” she said. “If I solve this murder before you do, you’ll give the business a try for one year.” She held up one knobby finger. “If you solve it before me, and without any help from me, I’ll let this drop.”
“You’ll move on with no more sneaky plans to get me to change my mind?”