“I told Tennyson to ask Aunt Effy Lou to stop coming to see me at the house.” Spencer’s face reddened with obvious embarrassment. “Can you ask him to speak with her and tell her it’s all right to come around?”
“You got it!” Ronan beamed with pride. Spencer had come a long way from the sniveling man-child of a few days ago to the young man he was blossoming into today. Ronan hoped Effy Lou had been around for the start of her nephew’s transformation. He had a feeling this was going to continue tomorrow at the shelter.
Fingers crossed.
18
Tennyson
Ten sat in the conference room waiting for the others to join him. Carson and Cope were finishing up with clients and Cole was showing Madam Aurora a new line of crystal balls that had come in to the shop. The last member of the group hadn’t arrived yet. No one else knew about the surprise guest, but his friends were all psychics, they’d know who was joining them soon enough.
“Hey, Ten!” Cope was all smiles when he came into the room. “Did Ronan send you pictures of Spencer bringing books to the school library?”
“Yeah,” Ten said. “He sent some pics of Spencer too and he looks nothing like the little snot who sat in this room with us a few days ago. It’s like he’s matured twenty years overnight. He even had Ronan call and ask me to tell Effy Lou that it was okay if she came to see him again. Who the hell is this kid and where has this side of him been hiding?”
“Seriously,” Cope agreed. “There were so many times in our conversations with him that I wanted to smack him. I’m glad I didn’t have too. I hope he keeps up these changes even after he finishes fulfilling Effy Lou’s requirements and he gets his inheritance.”
“Me too.” Ten knew that changes were hard to make and harder to stick with.
“Here we are,” Carson said, sweeping into the conference room. Cole and Madam Aurora were behind him.
“Good to see you Aurora.” Ten stood up to give the fashionably dressed older woman a hug. “Long time, no see.”
“I just got back from Aruba. Spent a week lying on the beach and chatting up oldsters in the hotel bar. I had the time of my life.”
A vision of Aurora dancing under the moonlight with a geezer flashed through his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed the vision away before he saw more than he bargained for. “You look great.”
“Enough kissing my ass, Tenny. Tell me what this emergency meeting is all about.” Aurora settled herself between Carson and Cope. Ten and Cole sat across from them.
“Did you see anything on the news about Effy Lou Josephine being missing?” Ten asked.
Aurora nodded. “I heard something about herremainsgoing missing.”
“A good Samaritan,” Ten snorted at the thought of Laura being a good steward, “dropped the ashes off here with me. She figured I’d be able to talk to the spirit and then the remains could be returned to the next of kin.”
Aurora frowned. “I’m confused. If the remains have been reunited with their family, why are we here?”
“I’d been speaking with Effy Lou, who informed me that she’d had a lovely chat with Everly. Apparently, she and Bertha Craighooked up on the other side and Bertha brought Effy Lou to see Everly in the hopes she could help out with a problem.”
“What problem?” Cole asked, looking fascinated.
“When Effy Lou died, there was no white light. She hasn’t been able to contact her dearly departed husband or any of her family.”
“We’ve all heard of that happening before. Usually it means the spirit has more work to do on earth before they cross over,” Carson said.
“Right, but Bertha brought Effy Lou to Everly because of a new gift she’s gained. A gift that neither one of them told me about.” Ten tried to stuff down his anger over Bertha’s small betrayal.
“What new gift?” Aurora asked.
“According to Everly, she can summon the white light on command.” Ten couldn’t believe he was saying those words out loud.
“That’s not possible,” Madam Aurora said with a definitive shake of her head.
“I’m running on the assumption that it is indeed possible. Everly might not have told me she’d done it before, but I have no reason to doubt her ability.” Ten sighed, he didn’t like his daughter keeping secrets from him in regard to her growing gifts. She was still so little and he didn’t want her to end up in a situation that she might not be able to get herself out of. “The reason I gathered you all here today was to see if you’ve heard of anyone else who purported to do this? I know sometimes we try to keep a lid on the more incredible things we can do, but…” Ten trailed off.
“I’ve never heard of anyone being able to summon the light,” Carson said. “I’ve also never tried it before. Have you seen Everly do it?”
“No, not yet. I had Ronan and the guys pick the kids up from school. He’ll bring Everly in here, while Fitz and Jude get snacks for Wolf and Baby Aurora while we talk.”
