It was confusing enough to make my head hurt even worse.
I didn't always see a person's death when I touched them (and when it did happen, it was only the first time I touched a person, not over and over, thank goodness), and I had no idea if me seeing visions in response to touch ran in families. I'd seen Jack's first death—did that mean I'd be more likely to see Jed's?
Not sure.
Didn't want to find out.
"I'm sorry. I can't really touch people," I finally said, when I realized I'd been quiet for too long and had probably offended Jack's grandpa. "I'll explain later."
Jed turned to Susan. "Then may I travel with you? Do you have a carriage at your convenience?"
"In a manner of speaking," she told him.
Jed held his arm out, as if he were escorting her to a ball, and she grinned at Jack. "Now I see where you get your charm."
Andy laughed. "Jackhascharm?"
Jack growled, but Andy hadn't feared him for a long while, so the deputy just grinned up at my tiger boyfriend.
"Later, then. Call me," Andy said to Susan and, with a goodbye for us all, he was gone.
"At least we've lost Mackenzie," Jack said. "Although I worry about your friend who left with him."
"She has a black belt in judo and enough medical knowledge to be dangerous," Susan said. "I think she can hold her own."
With that, we left the building by the back door to avoid any curious lingerers. Susan led Grandpa Jed to her sheriff's car, and the look on his face was priceless.
"You know, I heard about this over the years from the sound waves, but to see it is wondrous," he breathed.
"Wait till you get up close and personal with Susan's hundred-mile-per-hour driving," I muttered, having been scared witless by the experience in the past.
"What?" Jed swung to look at me, and he was considerably paler than he'd been a moment before. "One hundred milesper hour? What is this sorcery?"
If my head hadn't hurt so badly, I'd have offered to ride along with them, just to see him experience automobile travel for the first time. Instead, I waved, and Jack and I walked around the building to find his truck.
"Still no sign of Logan," I observed, scanning the square as we strolled by.
"He'll show up," Jack said darkly. "He didn't come all this way to be distracted for very long."
My head twinged again, and I suddenly didn't care that much about Logan, statues, or even long-lost ancestors. I just wanted to go to bed.
"Jack? Please drop me off at home. I feel terrible, because this is one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to us, and he's your grandpa, but I just can't take this headache." I climbed into the truck, fastened my seatbelt, closed my eyes, and dropped my head forward into my hands. Whatever was causing this, it wasn't letting up.
I was almost desperate enough to consider leeches.
Well, maybe not that. But close.
My phone buzzed with an incoming text. "It's Granny Josephine. I didn't even know she had my number. Oh. Huh."
Jack backed the truck out and then glanced over at me. "What does she want?"
"She's offering a headache cure. She says I should drink some apple cider vinegar and lie down in a dark room. When I wake up, my headache will be gone."
I shuddered at the thought of drinking vinegar but, you know, leeches.
Vinegar suddenly sounded delicious.
After Jack took me home, he made sure I was settled in my room with a bottle of water after I'd had a few gulps of vinegar (which tasted just as nasty as you might expect) before he left. I brushed my teeth, changed into my Donald Duck pajamas, and crawled into bed.
