Annalise covered her mouth as she started choking on her drink.
“Is your drink too strong?”
“No, dear. Your answer just caught me off guard. I’m sure that you’re the first medium I’ve ever met.”
“Not what you were expecting, right? I get that a lot. We don’t all wear cloaks and gobs of mascara.” Grace grinned, leaned forward, and clasped her fingers together. “I’ve got some time to kill before Sam gets back. Would you like a reading?”
“Sam. Is that the groom’s brother?”
“The whole reason I’m here.” Grace smiled.
“I’ve never had a reading,” Annalise answered.
Grace tried her best to block out the other people around the pool and concentrate on the woman. She could feel the uncertainty rolling off Annalise in waves. “It’s a bit hard to concentrate with the crowd, but let’s see what I can get.”
Grace took a deep breath, inhaling the calm and exhaling the chaos. She’d taken several before one of the woman’s relatives showed up.
“A man,” Grace said. “Dark hair, liked his suits and ties. Very distinguished.Says his name is Samuel.” Grace met the woman’s gaze. “Do you know a Samuel?
The woman’s mouth had parted, and she snapped it closed. “I do.”
Grace nodded and turned her attention back to the man to decipher what the man was showing her. “Ah.” Grace smiled. “He was your dad. I see things in terms of a home movie. Sometimes they just give me symbols and sometimes complete pictures. Every now and then they’ll talk to me. But your dad showed me you as a little girl, and he was pushing you on a tree swing. You were a cute kid.”
“He used to do that a lot when I was young,” she answered.
“Perfect.” Grace glanced up at the apparition. He held up a coin and flipped it.
“He just flipped a coin and held it up. Both sides are heads. Is that significant for you?”
A tear trickled down Annalise’s cheek as she laughed. “That’s funny. He used that coin to make me think that it was fate calling the shots. It wasn’t until I was older that he came clean and told me he’d just worded the questions for the outcome he thought was in my best interest and then would flip the coin. There was no arguing with the coin when he’d do it several times in a row to make his point.”
“Sneaky.” Grace grinned and smiled at the apparition. “I like him.”
“He would have liked you too,” Annalise said at the same time Sam’s Aunt Annie appeared.
Grace’s brows dipped in confusion as she looked between both women, they shared the same cheek bones, the same styled hair, the same smile and the same looking necklace. “If Annie is your sister, that means you’re—”
“Mom,” Sam said from behind. “We weren’t expecting you for a few more days.”
“I came in early, dear,” she said, rising and letting Sam kiss her cheeks. “I’m glad I did. I was just having a wonderful chat with your date, Grace.”
Grace’s mouth parted as words escaped her. She snapped her mouth closed and rose. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Grace picked up her empty wine glass. “I bet if Sam hadn’t shown up, you would have pulled out the coin.”
Annalise outright laughed. “No need, dear. You’ve told me everything I need to know.” Annalise glanced at Sam. “I like her, Sammy. When are you marrying this one?”
Grace stepped back quickly, knocking over her chair. “Mrs. Stone, it’s not like that. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”
“Oh, you didn’t, dear. I have a sense about things,” she said as Sam righted the fallen chair.
“I understand why you’re here, and I think Sammy was smart for bringing you.”
“He didn’t really need a date. I have faith he could have handled it.”
“I didn’t say a date, dear. I said he was smart to bringyou.”
Grace’s cheeks heated as she gave Sam that I’m-sorry look. Grace had fallen for this woman, thinking she was just a hotel guest trying to get out of the heat. She’d told her things, including why she was here. Annalise was one to watch out for. The woman seemed to have a secret agenda and a way of making everyone spill their secrets. Or it might have been the third margarita that had loosened Grace’s lips. No, she was sticking with the secret sucking powers that Sam’s mother wielded. No one could prove it wasn’t so.
Grace smacked Sam in the abs. “No need for a story.” She glanced up at him and smiled. “She already knows the truth.”
