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

of hair, which had been tinted with a pale lavender hue for the past year and a half, was now a brighter, more vibrant color.

“I thought it was time for something different.”

“I love it. It looks like…” Kat paused to dredge up a long forgotten memory, “cotton candy.”

“Not entirely what I was going for.” Amethyst’s deep voice always seemed at odds with her tiny frame. “Julie seemed excited, ten on what’s got her going?”

“Always.” Kat had already run through the various options. Logic told her wedding photos were the safest bet.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Wedding photos.”

Kat thought Amethyst seemed quieter than usual during most of the drive to Julie’s and was surprised when she pulled over and turned in her seat with a searching look.

“Your aura is all twingly.”

“Is that bad or good?” Kat wondered since it was obviously a made up word.

“Can I…” without waiting for an answer, Amethyst thrust her hand toward Kat and began plucking at whatever it was that she alone could see.

“What are you…?”

“Shh, let me do this.”

Kat subsided and let Amethyst poke, pick and prod her aura then smooth it with her hand.

“That’s better,” Kat felt no different until the car started to move again. Whatever debris had been twingling up her aura must have been connected to the dimensional aspect of her vision because Ammie had just corrected that pesky depth perception problem.

_,.-'~'-.,_

“Hurry up. We’ve been waiting for you.” Julie called out from somewhere inside when Gustavia swung open the door. Tossing their coats on an empty chair, Amethyst asked, “What’s the big news?”

“I picked up the wedding pictures this morning.”

Amethyst groaned and passed over Kat’s winnings.

Julie pulled the box out and with great anticipation started leafing through the pages of the photo albums contained inside. They could have looked at the images on her computer since a disk of the images was also part of her package but this way seemed more ceremonial.

As a wedding gift, the owner of the gallery where Julie showed her work had gotten another up and coming art photographer to shoot the wedding. His name was Johann and since Julie had opted for him to do primarily candid shots, he had remained as unobtrusive as possible and still managed to capture the entire night with shot after exquisite shot.

For the next half hour, there was nothing but a chorus of oohs and ahs and giggles and sniffles as they relived the day through the images in the book. Then Julie turned over the last page and Kat nearly choked as the color drained from her face.

Somehow—impossibly—Johann had captured the exact moment her eyes had locked onto Zack’s. It was all there, in living color, the look on his face almost a sneer, her eyes, clear and snapping at his tone.

And off to one side, nearly in shadow and slightly fuzzy in the shallow depth of field the photographer had used, a face she could swear belonged to her own grandmother.

All Kat could think was that it was a good thing she was sitting down because knees made from Jell-0 might not hold her. She pointed a trembling finger at the image and tried to speak but her mouth was too dry.

Gustavia looked over at Kat and saw nothing but huge eyes in a shocked white face. “Kat, are you all right? What’s wrong?”

Though she opened her mouth, words just wouldn’t come.

“Here, drink this.” Gustavia pressed her own glass of water into Kat’s hand, helped guide it to her lips.

“What happened?” For the second time that day, Amethyst busied herself flicking bits of dark, fear-stained light from Kat’s aura.

“Julie, do you know who is this? Right here.” She pointed to the partially visible face. Maybe it was just someone who looked like her grandmother. One of Tyler’s aunts. She’d been too caught up to look at every guest.

“I don’t recognize her. Let me get Tyler.” With a concerned glance back at Kat, Julie hurried from the room to return with her husband in tow.

“Doesn’t look familiar but it’s hard to tell. If the photo was just a bit lighter or clearer.”

“Oh, I can fix that.” Julie grabbed the pack of image disks from the box and walked out of the room.

More composed now, Kat followed the others to the studio where they all watched as Julie booted up her computer and opened up an image manipulation program.

A few minutes of fussing with the controls and she had the shadowy face about as bright and clear as it was going to get. At Kat’s intake of breath, Julie turned toward her.

“It’s her. The original Madame Zephyr.”

Before she could help herself, the words burst out of Julie’s mouth, “Well, now you know how that feels.”

Shocked stares prompted Julie to offer an apology, which netted her a snort from Kat. “Had that coming, didn’t I? I’m not sure why I was so surprised to see her there. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it is all.”

“You’ve never heard from her since she passed?”

“Not even a peep.”

“Sometimes intense emotions make it more difficult to get through,” Estelle observed. Kat had felt her enter the room a split second before she spoke and was already turning to confirm the suspicion that Estelle knew more than she was saying.

“You’ve been in contact with her all along,” Kat accused. “That’s how you found me in the first place.”

“Let’s just say we found a mutually beneficial way to help our granddaughters.” Judging by the self-satisfied look on her face, Estelle was not interested in forgiveness for her meddling ways. “She’s quite a force, your grandmother. The name Zephyr suited her well.”

“She could have just contacted me herself.” Anger and resentment swirled like a poison seeping into Kat’s bones. “There are a few things I’d like to say to her.”

“Have a care before you start slinging blame around like knives, young Kat.” Estelle shook a finger of warning and when she spoke, there was steel in her voice. “You can’t fault someone for a genetic predisposition. She had no