Read Online Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 01 - Echo Park by Elizabeth Basque - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Basque
Ads: Link
care of!”
Carla’s jaw dropped.
Julie cried openly now, her mascara blackening around her eyes. She took a look at all of us and ran down the hall, slamming my bathroom door.
Chapter Thirteen
The room was deathly quiet now; the only sound was the ticking of my kitchen wall clock.
“Oh, dear,” I managed with a weak smile.
“ I didn’t mean to upset her more,” Carla said miserably.
“ Uh, maybe I should go,” Michael said. “I didn’t…” but he didn’t finish. He just looked away with a mournful, sorrowful look.
For once, Mack looked to me for direction. No one was enjoying this at all. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I hadn’t expected this.
I set my shoulders back, drew myself up. “No, Michael, please don’t leave. Let me go talk with her. There are things you don’t understand yet, and we need to hear your story. Both Carla and Julie do.” I wished I could pat him on the back or something. “Carla, why don’t you explain about you and Julie to Michael? About your unique relationship. I’ll be back.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I trusted that Mack could keep Michael there, while I worked on Julie. The three ghosts could only stay visible for so long, so I had to make it quick.
I knocked on the bathroom door.
“ Go away,” Julie said, hiccupping now. At least she was finished having a hard cry.
I tried the door, and it was unlocked. I poked my head in. Julie was sitting on the closed toilet seat, dabbing her eyes with a crumbling tissue.
I entered, closed the door and slid down the same wall I had so many times before, usually with a bottle in my hand. This time I wasn’t drunk, but a part of me half-wished that I was.
Give her a moment, I thought. I did. I just looked down at the octagonal white tiles on the floor—the pattern always made me feel seasick when I looked at them too hard when I was drunk—while Julie tried to pull herself together.
“ I didn’t mean to say that, and not in that way,” she finally managed.
“ I know, Julie.”
“ It’s just that, if Carla had been my daughter, none of this would ever have happened. Oh, Pauline, don’t you see?” she pleaded. “I should have been her mother! I love kids, and I love Carla more than anything! I can’t have children, you know.”
The salty rivers gushed down her face again. I hadn’t known that, and I understood a little better now why her protection of Carla was so fierce.
“He’s ruined the only true happiness I’ve ever known,” she went on, angry again. “This isn’t the way things were supposed to turn out.”
“ My dear,” I tried to be as gentle as I could, “but it is the way things were supposed to turn out. Most people never get to understand why life unfolds the way it does. But we can. You can, and so can Carla. And maybe, Michael can.”
“ I don’t give a damn about Michael,” she spat. “He can rot away in his loathsome spirit body, for all I care.”
“ I can understand where you’re coming from. But here is where you have to trust me. You think you didn’t ask for any of this, but you did.” She started to protest, but I held up a hand. “You understand about soul mates now, right?”
Julie nodded.
“Whether you remember or not, you and Carla planned this life. You both did. Almost everyone does. There are very, very few ‘firstborns’ in the world today. If you’ll just trust me, and come back out there with me, maybe we can find out why Michael chose his own path. And maybe it will all make more sense.”
“ But, then, Carla will have to… leave ,” Julie whispered.
“ Probably. But would you rather she’d never come in to your life at all?”
Julie thought about this. “No. I wouldn’t trade knowing Carla for anything.”
“Then you can count yourself lucky,” I said, trying to hide my own bitterness. My personal life had nothing to do with this.
I took a deep breath and stood. “Come on. I’ll be there the whole time. And
Carla’s jaw dropped.
Julie cried openly now, her mascara blackening around her eyes. She took a look at all of us and ran down the hall, slamming my bathroom door.
Chapter Thirteen
The room was deathly quiet now; the only sound was the ticking of my kitchen wall clock.
“Oh, dear,” I managed with a weak smile.
“ I didn’t mean to upset her more,” Carla said miserably.
“ Uh, maybe I should go,” Michael said. “I didn’t…” but he didn’t finish. He just looked away with a mournful, sorrowful look.
For once, Mack looked to me for direction. No one was enjoying this at all. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I hadn’t expected this.
I set my shoulders back, drew myself up. “No, Michael, please don’t leave. Let me go talk with her. There are things you don’t understand yet, and we need to hear your story. Both Carla and Julie do.” I wished I could pat him on the back or something. “Carla, why don’t you explain about you and Julie to Michael? About your unique relationship. I’ll be back.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I trusted that Mack could keep Michael there, while I worked on Julie. The three ghosts could only stay visible for so long, so I had to make it quick.
I knocked on the bathroom door.
“ Go away,” Julie said, hiccupping now. At least she was finished having a hard cry.
I tried the door, and it was unlocked. I poked my head in. Julie was sitting on the closed toilet seat, dabbing her eyes with a crumbling tissue.
I entered, closed the door and slid down the same wall I had so many times before, usually with a bottle in my hand. This time I wasn’t drunk, but a part of me half-wished that I was.
Give her a moment, I thought. I did. I just looked down at the octagonal white tiles on the floor—the pattern always made me feel seasick when I looked at them too hard when I was drunk—while Julie tried to pull herself together.
“ I didn’t mean to say that, and not in that way,” she finally managed.
“ I know, Julie.”
“ It’s just that, if Carla had been my daughter, none of this would ever have happened. Oh, Pauline, don’t you see?” she pleaded. “I should have been her mother! I love kids, and I love Carla more than anything! I can’t have children, you know.”
The salty rivers gushed down her face again. I hadn’t known that, and I understood a little better now why her protection of Carla was so fierce.
“He’s ruined the only true happiness I’ve ever known,” she went on, angry again. “This isn’t the way things were supposed to turn out.”
“ My dear,” I tried to be as gentle as I could, “but it is the way things were supposed to turn out. Most people never get to understand why life unfolds the way it does. But we can. You can, and so can Carla. And maybe, Michael can.”
“ I don’t give a damn about Michael,” she spat. “He can rot away in his loathsome spirit body, for all I care.”
“ I can understand where you’re coming from. But here is where you have to trust me. You think you didn’t ask for any of this, but you did.” She started to protest, but I held up a hand. “You understand about soul mates now, right?”
Julie nodded.
“Whether you remember or not, you and Carla planned this life. You both did. Almost everyone does. There are very, very few ‘firstborns’ in the world today. If you’ll just trust me, and come back out there with me, maybe we can find out why Michael chose his own path. And maybe it will all make more sense.”
“ But, then, Carla will have to… leave ,” Julie whispered.
“ Probably. But would you rather she’d never come in to your life at all?”
Julie thought about this. “No. I wouldn’t trade knowing Carla for anything.”
“Then you can count yourself lucky,” I said, trying to hide my own bitterness. My personal life had nothing to do with this.
I took a deep breath and stood. “Come on. I’ll be there the whole time. And
Similar Books
