Elizabeth Basque - Medium Mysteries 02 - Silver Lake Read Online Free

sometimes you don’t realize your brain gets a little fuzzy. I now took a good look at Julie. She’d had an exhausting day, what with the crazy ghost chasing his ghost cat all over. And I knew she had come to care about Mack, too.
    But she looked depressed. Julie was rarely depressed, something I admired and almost envied about her. “What’s wrong, Julie?”
    “ Oh, I don’t know,” she said, leaning back on the couch. “I guess today just took a toll on me. And learning about Mack. He has a son. It’s making me think of Carla.”
    “ Ah.” The girl ghost. Carla and Julie were soul mates.
    “ I know we have this plan, and we’ll connect again. Oh, Pauline, I try to have patience. I do remember Carla’s cute spirit, and it cheers me up sometimes. And I feel her presence when I think of her. At least I think I do. I hope so.”
    Selfish me. There I was, hoping Julie would be on her way, and that Mack wouldn’t return until I’d gotten some shut-eye. What kind of friend was I, anyway?
    “I can understand how you would miss her,” I responded, thinking of the little girl ghost that Julie and I had helped send Home. “She was fun.”
    “ She was, wasn’t she?”
    I put a comforting hand on Julie’s arm. “She was, and she still is. And I’m sure her spirit is with you. I’m very proud of you.”
    Julie brightened a bit. “Really?”
    “ Really. You’ve come a long way since that first day when you knocked on my door. And I’m grateful for your friendship.”
    Julie waved a hand before her eyes, trying not to tear up. She laughed a little. “This is silly. I’m fine, really.”
    She started to gather her things to go. Be a friend, I told myself. “Well, why don’t you stay? We’ve done our work for the day. We could watch a movie.”
    Then Julie did give me a genuine smile. “That would be nice, Pauline.”
    “Why don’t you find us a good chick flick? I’m going to make a drink. Want one?”
    Julie picked up the remote and started pressing buttons. “Sure, why not. Got any popcorn?”
    I did have popcorn, the microwave kind, so I made some and a couple of mild martinis, and Julie settled into Mack’s favorite chair while I took my place on the couch. The weather, which had been warm, started to turn cooler. You never knew what the day was going to be like in Southern California. But I tucked my feet under my legs, and put a little throw blanket over me, handing one to Julie as well.
    I tried to stay awake for the movie. Some romantic comedy about a divorce lawyer who falls for her latest client. But I dozed off within the first half hour.
     
    Thud. I opened my eyes to see Julie asleep in the chair, and the TV showing news, but no sound. It had been muted.
    I rubbed my eyes. They felt dry and red. Tried to get my bearings.
    Thud. I turned my face to where the sound came from, the edge of the coffee table. There was Mack, dropping the remote onto the table in an effort to wake me.
    I was about to make some snide comment about respecting others while they slept, but then I remembered about Mack. How he’d taken the news of his son, and that he’d left in an angry rage.
    I stretched my arms. One of my hands, the one my head was resting on in my slumber, was asleep again. I shook it out, and opened and closed it to get the circulation back.
    “ Hey, you,” I said.
    Mack jerked his head towards Julie. “You turning huh into a lush as well, now?”
    “We were just watching a movie,” I said, trying to keep my patience. “And, you have some explaining to do, mister. Who the hell was that ghost you brought? Today, of all days!”
    “ Oh, Dan,” Mack answered. “He’s harmless enough.”
    “ He scared half the class away, with his ghost cat and all,” I exaggerated. “That wasn’t fair to Julie.”
    “ Well, I had meant to stay, and keep him in line. It’s not my fault you dragged me up here.”
    My eyes were adjusting to the now dim room. Mack was making small talk, I could tell.