“Of course he’s dead,” Jax grumbled, impatient with this act that had solved nothing. “We have the death certificates for both of them in our files. And don’t try to tell me he wants to tell Loretta he loves her. John Post was a world-class myopic moron who never saw past his bitch of a wife to know he even had a kid.”
Mavis clucked disapprovingly. “John was a bright little boy. He lost his mother young, so maybe his wife gave him something he needed.”
Jax winced as he realized that John Post was the parent related to the mad Malcolms, not Tiffany.
He watched Evie’s lips twist wryly and wondered what that meant but quashed his curiosity and stuck with the practical. “In either case, he’s dead and can’t help anyone. Are we all agreed that Loretta is better off at school?”
Evie rose to her bare feet and confronted him, practically toe to toe. He could look down and admire the sunset highlights of her hair, if she hadn’t turned a threatening scowl to him instead. He was just a little too aware of her breasts practically brushing his chest to be comfortable.
“Where was John Post’s body found?” she demanded with almost the same inflection of disparagement he’d just used.
“It wasn’t. Loretta’s parents were lost at sea last fall. Their yacht was found capsized in the Bermuda triangle. The court finally declared them dead before transferring Loretta into the firm’s guardianship last month.”
He watched in curiosity as the scowl slipped from Evie’s pale face and her blue eyes grew vacant. He was starting to think she was epileptic. But she pulled out of her trance fast enough and swung around to speak with her family before they left.
“If the spirit here tonight was really John Post, I don’t think he has the ability or strength to transport himself from the Caribbean,” she told her audience. “He barely has the energy to push the planchette. It’s amazing he even managed to drop dead tree limbs on Loretta.”
Gracie tilted her head and looked interested. Priscilla and Iddy nodded in agreement. Mavis just waited expectantly.
“I think...” Evie didn’t enlighten them but stopped speaking when Loretta reappeared in the doorway with her backpack. “I think Loretta needs family with her. Jax, I really believe I need to file those guardianship papers at the courthouse. Sorry.”
In another life, he would have swiveled on his heel and put his fist through the plaster wall. His brief career in the military had taught him anger management.
In his current role of controlled respectability, he donned a stiff smile and nodded. “Fine. We can meet in front of a judge. Meanwhile, I’ll move in here to supervise Loretta’s welfare as provided in the court-approved guardianship.”
That was how he knew if there were any spirits here, they were evil ones who’d planted that insane suggestion in his head...
He swirled and glared at Evie’s supposedly telepathic cousin, but the vague brunette merely smiled and opened the door. “You’ll be a lovely addition to the family.” Priscilla strode into the night before anyone could throw things at her.
“On that note...” Iddy waved cheerfully. “Let us know when you need us, Eve!”
Eve, the ultimate temptress. Jax pinched the bridge of his nose and remembered Loretta’s forlorn gaze.
This wasn’t all about him. It was about a kid whose parents were dead and who needed reassurance that someone cared. He knew the painful reality of how that felt.
And heaven help him, the only ones even pretending to care were Evie and her demented family.
* * *
Sippingher hot chocolate and swinging her sturdy school oxfords, Loretta sat at the counter, warily watching much as a dog watches for a crumb to fall from the table. Evie could have sworn she didn’t possess an ounce of maternal instinct, but the forlorn Indigo child tugged at her heartstrings.
The Great White Lawyer was barking quiet orders into his phone as if everything had been decided, and it was all over but the farewells.
“You do realize that Loretta, as an Indigo child, is very possibly her father’s channel from beyond the veil, not me?” Evie broke the uneasy silence that followed Jax’s earlier proclamation of suing and moving in. Malcolms and lawyers weren’t the best possible combination, in court or out.
“My father is not dead,” Loretta said predictably. “Maybe I’m channeling histhoughts.” She looked quite interested in this possibility.
“Maybe Loretta is like a radio frequency booster,” Gracie suggested. “I don’t think we’ve all had such strong reactions at once.”
“It’s probably not wise to repeat that experiment, then,” Mavis countered. “Should a malevolent spirit be near, who knows what we would unleash?”
“If it’s Great-Uncle Orbis, we’d all get drunk and burn the house down,” Evie agreed, adding a smile of reassurance for Loretta, who still looked uncertain.
“Then don’t you think it’s wisest if I take Loretta back to school?” Jax asked, also predictably, as he snapped off his phone.
“No,” all the Malcolms replied in unison.
Startled that she had such support, Loretta glanced at their determined faces, then turned to Jax. Knowing Loretta’s manipulative streak, Evie put an end to whatever mischief she was conjuring.