Everly shook her head. “No, Dad. The kids want to talk tome, not a bunch of adults.”
“Even though the adults are the ones who will be able to help the most?” Ronan bit his lower lip, looking as if he were trying hard not to laugh at Everly’s “kids rule” attitude.
“Dad, adults don’t always know what’s best. You think you do, but youdon’t. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about. Let me talk to the kids first. We can figure out what to do next later, okay?”
“Okay, you’re the boss,” Ronan agreed with a grin.
Ten laughed. “Keep it up and she’ll have you buying her a Maserati for her sixteenth birthday, along with a pony and an outdoor tank for her dolphin.”
“That’s silly, Daddy. I would never take a dolphin away from its family.” Everly giggled and went back to eating her syrup-sodden pancakes.
Ten did the same. The thought had never occurred to him that Everly might want to follow in his and Ronan’s footsteps when it came to using her gifts to aid law enforcement. He never doubted for a second that his daughter would work to help people, but he never thought becoming a detective was her path.
“I’m not going to be a detective, Daddy,” Everly said, obviously reading Ten’s mind. “I want to help these kids. They’re lonely and scared and want to see their parents again. I want to use my gifts to help them, just like you do when you work with Dad.” Everly turned to Ronan, who was smiling at her. “Partners?”
Ronan nodded. “Partners.”
“Yay!” Everly grabbed her empty plate and brought it to the sink. “I’m gonna get dressed and brush my teeth, then I’ll be ready to go to work.” She raced out of the kitchen.
Ten heard her footsteps on the stairs. “I should have known this day was coming.”
“Yeah, you should have. I thought you were the psychic here.” Ronan finished the last of his pancakes and rinsed his plate in the sink along with Everly’s.
“We’ve talked before about how my gift is unreliable when it comes to my own future or things that affect me personally. I’ve purposefully kept myself from looking at what’s to come for Everly. I don’t want to misinterpret anything or make a mountain out of a molehill, so to speak. Like Bertha says, the future is fluid, and I don’t want to be the one deciding which direction it should take based on information that might be skewed.”
“That makes perfect sense.” Ronan reached for Ten’s hand. “It puts us on even ground. I have no idea what Everly’s future holds, but I do know that she’s going to grow up to be an amazing young woman, thanks to us.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“Okay, here I am.” Everly walked back into the kitchen dressed in a pink sweater and jeans. Her long red hair was brushed, and she’d piled it into a messy ponytail. “I’m ready to work.” She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water before taking her usual seat at the kitchen table. “Tommy, Katie, and Paul, are you here?”
Ten looked around the room and didn’t see or sense the kids’ spirits.
“Good morning,” Everly said. “These are my dads, Ronan and Tennyson. Ronan’s a detective, and Ten is a psychic like me. I promise you can trust both of them.”
Seconds later, before Tennyson’s eyes, three small kids came into sight. The boys were dressed the way Everly had described yesterday, pressed trousers with suspenders. The little girl wore a plaid dress with knee socks and uncomfortable-looking saddle shoes. “Hi,” Ten said softly.
“Tommy, can you tell me what happened the day you got sick at school?” Everly asked.
The little boy nodded. Tommy had dark eyes and hair. His clothes were old and worn and, unless Ten missed his guess, hand-me-downs, possibly on their third or fourth go round. “It was a regular Friday at school. We did a reading lesson in the morning, ran outside at recess, and did math before lunch. Ihatemath.” Tommy offered a crooked smile. “But it was cookie day, and I didn’t want to ruin it for the other kids, so I did my best.”
Everly wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like math either. What kind of cookies were they?”
“Snicker-poodle, or something. Mary joked that she hoped there wasn’t a real poodle in the cookies. I didn’t care what kind of cookie it was. I was starving and gobbled it down when we were in the hallway on the way to the cafeteria. We weren’t supposed to eat anywhere but the lunchroom, but my brother had two helpings of cereal that morning, so there was none for me. I was starving, so I ate my treat.”
“Did that happen a lot with your brother?” Everly asked, her blue eyes darkening.
Tommy nodded. “He was a good brother but was always hungry. I started asking the other kids for their cookies too, but no one would give them up.”
Ten’s heart broke for the ghost. If he were alive, Tommy would be over sixty years old, but he still appeared as he looked on the day he died.
“My little brother is an eating machine too, so I know how you feel.” Everly offered Tommy an understanding smile. “Did you eat the cookie too, Katie?” Everly had turned her attention to the blonde girl, who was playing with the tassels on her dress.
Katie nodded. “I saw Tommy eat his cookie, and I ate mine too. My mom didn’t pack me a lunch, and I was hungry. Sometimes it’s fun to be bad.”
Everly laughed. “It is, but maybe I shouldn’t say that in front of my parents.”
Ronan snorted. “Whatshouldn’t you say in front of your parents?”
