“Sem—” Macy returned to the table, imploring her to take it easy.
Semele ignored her and stared down at her mother. “Did you hear him?” she bellowed, slamming her hands down on the table.
Forester began to wail. No one said a word.
This was the question that festered beneath the hurt of finding the adoption papers, the open wound that would not heal: the thought that her mother could have prevented her father’s death, that her weakness was the reason he didn’t survive.
“I did! I did hear him!” Helen cried. “I heard his first gasp of pain. I sat up. His body was rigid. He couldn’t answer me. I held him while he was convulsing. I reached for the phone.… I dropped it once, but I called 911 right away. I swear to God I called right away.”
Semele began to cry too.
“The doctors said there was nothing I could have done. No one could have saved him. I tried. I swear I tried.” Helen wept.
Semele whispered, “I’m sorry,” and left the room.
She went into the kitchen and put her head on the counter. She tried to breathe through the pain. The well of anger and heartbreak had risen to the surface again.
A minute later she felt a warm hand on her back. “Hey,” Macy said gently.
Semele wiped her eyes. “Mace, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I lost it.”
Macy had tears in her eyes too. She handed Semele a tissue box and led her to the breakfast table in the corner. They sat down.
Semele looked at the garden outside the window. “Shit.” She sighed. “Is she okay?”
“She’s playing with Forester.”
Semele shook her head. “I’m so sorry I yelled in front of him.”
Macy shrugged. “He’s one. He’ll get over it.”
Semele put her head in her hands. “God, I’m the most horrible daughter on the planet.”
“You’re angry and you have a right to be. Want to tell me why Bren isn’t here helping you get through this?” Leave it to Macy to zero in on the other hole in her life. Semele’s silence said it all. “Holy crap. I knew it.” Macy sat back.
“What? That we’d break up?” Semele looked at her, surprised.
Macy held up her hands in surrender. “He’s a great guy, don’t get me wrong. You just didn’t seem matched.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Semele asked, though she already knew the answer. She had been over the moon about Bren. Macy wouldn’t have wanted to take away her happiness, so she kept her feelings to herself.
“What happened?” Macy asked.
Semele debated telling the truth. Macy was the only person who could possibly understand. “I had a premonition.”
Semele let out a deep breath.There. I said it.
Macy’s eyes widened and she sat forward with excitement. She knew Semele had had premonitions when she was younger—and that they’d all come true. She was the only person Semele had confided in.
As a child Semele had been incredibly intuitive, always knowing things before they happened. Helen brushed it off, and her father would just laugh until Semele felt silly for even telling him. So she began to keep her foresights a secret. Only Macy knew her struggle.
The turning point had come the summer she was twelve, when she had a vision of one of her classmates drowning. She never told anyone, not even Macy, and convinced herself the dream couldn’t come true. But the girl had died, and Semele always wondered what would have happened if she had said something, warned her. Maybe she could have saved her life. Semele carried that guilt for years, and over time, trained herself not to remember her dreams. Eventually they stopped.
As she got older she continued to experience déjà vu—the kind that rained down and flooded a moment, like she was actually reliving it again. She told herself everyone had these experiences, and then she started to ignore the sensation until she no longer experienced this either.
Now her talent seemed to be resurfacing.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Macy asked gently. She knew how Semele had shunned her abilities as a child, how much she had tried to bury her visions. Macy was the complete opposite, the kind of person who embraced intuition and strived to stay in tune. She saw synchronicity in everything and “The Universe” was always talking to her, which was why Semele felt able to open up to her in the first place. Never once had Macy thought Semele was crazy. “I’m always here. You know that.”
