There was. Susan had shown up and was making all sorts of googly eyes at the back of his head.
“Really?” he said in a voice that suggested he didn’t believe at all.
“Susan, would you please bring me Roan's keys?”
Said keys lay on the table beside him. A second later Susan scooped them into her hand and dropped them in my palm.
All Roan saw were keys floating in the air. I tipped my head at her. “Thank you.” To Roan I said, “It’s not witchcraft or telekinesis. It’s a spirit moving physical objects. Like the boy who keeps stealing my wallet, the little tooter.” I smiled uncomfortably. “You know, I don’t like to cuss, so that was the best word I could find to describe him.”
“Bye, Blissful. Do lots and lots of things I would do.” Susan blew me a kiss and waved goodbye.
I kinda figured telling Roan would either have him running for the hills, which was pretty much the story of my life, or he would be intrigued. To be honest, I was hopingrunningmight be in the future because then he’d stop talking to me, showing me how to knead bread and stop staring at me with soul-filled dark eyes that made me want to strip with one glance.
I mean, that way I wouldn’t be tempted to get pregnant by simply looking at the man.
“So you can talk to them?” he repeated as if tasting the words.
“Look, I know it’s crazy. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I can…help them. Spirits don’t want to be trapped. They don’t want to be stuck haunting a home or battleground. At least, most of the time. Every once in a while you’ll get that one really ornery spirit who thinks it’s cool to bother people. But what most want is what most of us want—to be left alone. To live freely and peacefully.”
“But they’re dead,” he said.
“But they’re dead,” I said quickly.
“Sooo, what does that mean? How can you help something that’s dead?”
Here was the tricky part. The part where I got the crazy looks. Oh well, best to start at the beginning.
I inhaled a breath that made my chest balloon. “I was an orphan. I didn’t know my parents, but my adopted father did. Said he tracked me down because of who my parents were.”
Roan cocked a brow. “And who were they?”
“My father was supposedly a priest who specialized in exorcisms.”
“And your mother?”
“A nun.”
“Wow.”
“Yep, that’s what I say, too.” I raked my fingers through my hair, shaking it out around my shoulders. “I didn’t believe it, not when he first told me. I mean, it sounded so stupid. Or, cliche, I guess. I mean, a priest and a nun fall in love, break the rules of the church and then have me.”
“I’m sorry they abandoned you.”
I hitched a shoulder. “I’ve been okay. My father found and raised me.”
Roan pulled a small cooler between us. He opened the lid. “Beer?”
“Sure.”
He popped the top on two microbrews, handing one off to me. I wiped beads of water on my jeans before taking a long, luxurious pull.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He studied me as he drank. I held his gaze. I was baring my soul here. He could believe it or he couldn’t, but I wasn’t going to act like my story was all a bunch of baloney I was frying up.
“How’d your father find you?”
