Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons, ReGina Welling [novels to improve english TXT] 📗

stood then turned to Sonjia, “He’s fine. Look for yourself,” and handed her the light. Seeing Noel safe, his mother sank to her knees, sobs of relief shaking her shoulders as her son slept on.

“I’m so sorry, my house was the one place we didn’t bother to check because I was so sure there was no way he could have gotten past me,” Melinda’s voice wobbled. She was on the edge of sobbing half from relief and half from blaming herself.

“I’m betting he followed that cat through the window. He’s been watching it for the past few days and worrying over whether ‘poor kitty’ was cold or hungry.”

The two women comforted each other as soft snores and purrs emanated from under the shelf. If that cat didn’t go home with Noel, Kat would eat her shoe.

Still grinning, Zack called off the Amber Alert and personally assured Will Hamilton his son was safe before leaving the two women to deal with child and cat. There was a spring in his step as he escorted Kat back up the stairs. This part of the job made it all worthwhile—the times when it went right; when no one got hurt.

Protect and serve. Words to live by.

_,.-'~'-.,_

Now that it was all over, Kat felt lightheaded, breathless. It was the adrenaline rush. It could not be Zack’s hand on the small of her back as he guided her toward the car. A quick look at the clock on his dash said the whole thing had taken about an hour but it felt like only a few minutes had passed.

“How often do you get to help people like this?” No wonder he had chosen this line of work.

“Most days are less dramatic; routine traffic stops, breaking up bar fights, the occasional domestic call. During tourist season there’s a lot of D&D—drunk and disorderly—shoplifting is a problem during the summer months. Last year I had to talk a naked man down off the flagpole at the marina.”

“I’ll assume he had a good reason for being up there.”

“Climbing the flagpole he did on a dare. The naked part…well…” Zack shrugged.

“Better not to know, I think. Why here? What made you leave the city?”

Some of the easiness of the past few minutes dropped away and while he didn’t exactly avoid the question, Kat had the impression that his answer was a half-truth at best.

“Lateral move and the chance to reconnect with my sister.”

Maybe he would tell her the rest someday but for now, she accepted his answer and changed the subject.

“I’ve got to get one of these.” Kat glanced around the interior of the cruiser.

“A cop car? You planning to join the force?”

With rolling eyes, “No, silly. A car. I’m tired of having to be carted around everywhere I want to go. Guess I should learn how to drive first, though.”

“You don’t know how?” Of course she didn’t. What a dumb question. “I could teach you if you like. I’m off tomorrow.”

“You’re not one of those teachers who freaks out at every little thing are you?”

“No idea. Pick you up around 10am?” He pulled up in front of her place.

“It’s a date,” Kat did a mental face palm, “I didn’t mean….”

His look turned intense, “Thank you for everything you did today.”

She waved his thanks away. “See you tomorrow,” and got out of the car before another stupid comment could fall out of her mouth.

After he pulled away, he thought about her for a long time.

_,.-'~'-.,_

“While my friends were learning to drive, I was learning how to navigate through a world of darkness. Braille, counting steps, tagging my clothes to keep from looking like a freak, learning how to cook, how to organize my kitchen, money origami.”

“Money origami? That’s a bar trick, right?”

“Maybe for the sighted, but for me, I had to learn different ways of folding my money so I could tell the bills apart. You’d be surprised how many cashiers take advantage of the blind.” He had seen worse things happen to people but her quiet admission still sparked a seething mass of unexpected emotion in him. He wanted nothing more than to go back in time and protect her. Her next comment surprised him even more.

“I was lucky, though. My parents were determined that I learn to be as independent as possible. They couldn’t afford to send me to a special school so my mom put her research skills to work and learned how to teach me all of those things herself. She was relentless, she even learned Braille. There were times I hated her for pushing me so hard.”

“It must have been difficult for her, too.”

Kat nodded. “She worried, even after practically pushing me out of the house when my grandmother passed and left me this place but she always encouraged me to test the limits of what I could accomplish.” Tears welled up in her eyes but did not spill over.

“How did she feel about…?” As soon as the words left his lips, he wished had not brought the subject up.

“About me being a medium? You can say the word, Zack. I’m not ashamed of what I do. Not anymore.” It was nothing less than the truth. “It may not have been my dream job but I’ve been able to help people find peace with some terrible losses. What I do is rewarding on many levels. Helping you find that boy yesterday was unforgettable.”

Changing the subject, Zack said, “I think it’s time you made up for some of those lost experiences. Let’s go teach you how to drive.”

“You know, I’m nervous all of a sudden.”

“Come on, you’ll be fine.”

“But I don’t even have a learner’s permit. I’d be breaking the law.”

Zack laughed at that. “I think you’ll be safe from prosecution. Grab a jacket, it’s cold outside.”

Now that second thoughts had descended, Kat started casting around for anything that might get her out of the situation. But, coming up with nothing, she resigned herself to Zack’s teaching her to drive. She fully expected him to