“You bet, baby girl!” Bertha Craig was all smiles, as if she’d been waiting for her cue. “Do you want to tell Daddy what you’re talking about, or do you want me to do it?”
Everly pointed to Bertha before grabbing a napkin to dab at her eyes.
Bertha sat next to Everly, wrapping an arm around her. “I didn’t come to you about this earlier because Everly was scared that you’d be angry with her. When she told me what she could do, I asked her to try it on me, and it works. It took me a while to figure out how to come back from it.”
“How to come back fromwhat?” Ten asked. He eyed Cope, who looked just as stunned as Ten felt.
“The easiest way to describe it is to say that Everly can throw spirits.” Bertha turned to Everly, who nodded along.
“Throw? You mean like you’d throw a baseball or football?” Ten asked. In all the years he’d had his gift, he hadn’t heard of psychics who were able to do this, and he sure as hell hadn’t tried it himself.
“Speaking as someone who’s been through it, I’d say it’s more like being catapulted, but yeah, you’re on the right track, Ten.” Bertha’s blue eyes sparkled.
“Can you do it?” Everly’s eyes were on Cope.
“No, honey, but I’ve never thought to try it either. Can you tell me how?”
Christ, Ten was glad Ronan wasn’t here. He’d be out of his tree listening to this conversation.
Everly nodded. “The first time I did it was when Josh tried to hurt me.”
Ten’s eyes widened. “You mean Josh Gatlin?” He was doubly glad Ronan wasn’t here now. Just a mere mention of his ex-husband’s name in connection with Everly would send Ronan’s temper in orbit.
“Right. This is gonna sound weird, but remember when we had a picnic last summer and Dad had an ant crawling on his arm?”
Ten nodded. He felt like he was in the Twilight Zone, equal parts fascinated and terrified at the same time.
“Dad brushed the ant off him like this.” Everly set the tip of her index finger against the tip of her thumb and flicked her crumpled tissue, sending it halfway across the table.
“I remember that,” Ten said. “Is that what you do to the spirits who are bothering you?”
“Yup. It works too—they go away. Some come back like Josh, but most of them stay gone.” Everly looked equal parts proud of herself and scared.
Ten couldn’t believe his ears. He turned to Bertha, who nodded. “She tried this on you?”
Bertha cackled. Everly hooted along with her, looking relieved. “Everly didn’t want to, but I insisted. She was afraid to hurt me, but I told her I was stronger than I looked, right, kitten?”
“Mimi’s tough like the Rock.” Using her index finger, she held up her eyebrow like the wrestler was famous for doing.
Ten snorted. Ronan had been watching an action movie with the Rock last week, and Everly had been riveted to the screen. Thrilled not to be watching princess movies again, Ronan showed her clips from his wrestling days and other movies he’d starred in.
Bertha flexed her muscles. “Do either of the two of you want to give it a try?” She looked back and forth between Ten and Cope.
“Maybe,” Ten said, feeling a little unsure of himself. Everly’s gifts were much stronger than his. There was a very good chance he wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
“Just concentrate, Daddy. You can do it.”
Shutting his eyes, Ten pictured Bertha as she stood in the kitchen. In his mind’s eye, he saw himself shove her away.
“Weeeeee!” Bertha whooped and disappeared.
“Holy shit!” Ten couldn’t believe his eyes. “Where did she go? When will she be back?” He was so stunned over what he’d done that it took a few minutes for him to feel guilty.
“Mimi’s fine. She’ll be back later.” Everly hopped off her chair and ran around to Ten. She climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around him.
“At least I know you can protect yourself now.” Ten breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to tell Ronan. He was sure his husband would find some measure of relief in knowing their daughter wasn’t helpless when she saw spirits, not to mention being proud of Everly’s ability to shoo unsavory ghosts away from her.
There was still a lot of work that needed to be done to give Everly more control over her gift, but they were off to a good start.
