Sidekicks (3 page)

Before I fell asleep that night, I decided to have a little chat with my spirit guide, an elderly male presence I'd named Nick, as in Old Saint. Yeah, he could've doubled for Santa Claus right down to the white beard he always presented. He'd first showed up when I was seven, and I'd been terrified of him since he seemed to be stalking me. Then the "Inner Eye" psychic had explained how spirits were sometimes there to guide and protect us. We'd summoned him; I asked his name; he told me his story.

With a lot of help from the psychic, who had guides of her own, I learned that Nick had been sent by my deceased grandpa, a man who'd kept his own sidekicks secret. Gramps didn't want me to go through that alone. From that moment on, I'd felt safe in the knowledge that no evil spirits--and I'd been told there were some--would get to me with Nick anywhere around.

"Hey, are you there?" I asked aloud. An apparition actually manifested at the foot of my bed, which was rare. I usually felt more than I saw
.

Always.

"Do you know about Cooper?"

I do.

"What do you think?"

He's hurting.

"Knew that. Can I help him?"

Yes.

"Thought that. Tell my granddad, 'hi.'"

Tell him yourself.

I smiled at the spirit now fading to nothing. "Night, Gramps." A warm, fuzzy feeling was my reply.

* * * *

I loved Sunday breakfasts, especially when the morning sun streamed through the kitchen window. Mom always made pancakes, a favorite at our house. Today she shaped them like pumpkins in honor of Halloween, which was tomorrow. I sat across from Dad who was reading a Martinsburg Times headline: Body of Second Homicide Victim Found.

"Yikes," I said. "Do you think we have a serial killer?"

"I think some bored journalists wish we did," said my father, ever the skeptic.

That made me smile. "I saw TC Ray last night."

Mom bobbled the plastic spatula she held and turned away from the griddle, obviously surprised. "Where?"

"At the dance. Would you believe he's lived in Martinsburg for years? Goes by Cooper Marsh now."

She frowned. "He changed his name?"

I told her about the death, remarriage, and adoption.

That got my father's nose out of his newspaper. "So TC has lived twenty miles away all this time and never called?"

"It's Cooper, Dad, and he lost his powers when his father passed, so maybe that's why."

"I'm sorry to hear it." Mom went back to her pancakes. She scooped the last ones from the griddle onto the platter. "He must've been so traumatized."

"Are you two going to hang out?" asked Dad.

I shrugged. "I honestly don't know. He was...different. I'm not sure we have anything in common anymore."

Mom sent a smile of sympathy my way. I guess she remembered how attached we'd been and my subsequent heartbreak. He'd been the first boy I ever loved, after all, even if I was only eight and way too young to understand stuff like that. "How'd he look?"

"Good. Taller and older. Short, messy hair now, but the same brown eyes and thick lashes. Probably plays football or basketball or both. Anyway, he looked fit enough."

With the platter in hand, Mom walked over to the table and sat, looking at me. I deliberately avoided her gaze and slid my fork under one of the steaming stacks so I could transfer it to my plate. Then I reached for the butter and syrup.

"Seeing you probably resurrected some old memories for him," said Mom after a thoughtful silence. "But I'll bet he'll come around."

She made it sound as if I were disappointed, and though she was right, I really didn't want my parents to feel sorry for me. I changed the subject. "How many appointments do I have this week?"

"Just one." Mom, who acted as my manager to protect me from the public, now beamed at me over her short stack. Nothing made Shelly and Tug Tagliaro prouder than the scheduled readings their only daughter gave each week and for a couple of reasons. First, they loved seeing the difference it made in people. So many times clients who'd been burdened by a death left me smiling and at peace. Second, the small fees I charged were going toward my college education. That was important. As a mostly B, occasional C student, I wasn't going to get a free ride anywhere.

Did I feel guilty about making people pay? Sometimes I struggled with it. But more than one experienced psychic had told me charging would not only give my gift validity, but keep me from being overwhelmed with needy people. Not that I didn't pass along information if a spirit showed up at the mall or a restaurant and pointed out someone who needed a message. I did that all the time and for free. But anyone except law enforcement specifically requesting my help paid for my services.

My plan was to attend a reputable college offering a degree in metaphysics. I figured the courses would help me hone and even expand my talents as well as give me better options to make a living with them. Weird? Absolutely. But I was sure that my parents, who owned Tagliaro's Fine Italian, would always keep me grounded.

After breakfast, I did the homework I should've done Friday night just to get it over with. My thoughts kept straying to Cooper. Would I see him on Monday? I thought not. We didn't have any classes together, and I doubted he'd look me up. In his eyes I was a "freak." He'd made that very plain.

Brynn called around two to ask what had happened after she and Tyler left me the night before. I told her everything I could, of course, but still kept the details of our past secret. Twenty minutes later, she was standing at my front door. We spent the rest of the afternoon in my room, lying across my bed and verbally bashing first Cooper and then Tyler, who'd been even grumpier than he was at the dance while driving her home.

Our conclusion? Guys were way more trouble than they were worth.

Monday morning when we got to school, Cooper met me at the front door smelling like men's soap and with his hair damp. Had he slept late or something?

"Got a sec?" he asked.

Brynn and Tyler hesitated. I waved them on as I glanced at the wall clock. Four minutes until the bell. "Not really."

"Then after school. Will you meet me by that oak tree at three-thirty?"

I looked out the glass doors to where he pointed. "Can't. I have riders who need to get home." My driving us meant we all avoided a seventy-minute bus trip each way, thanks to all the stops.

"Surely they can wait fifteen minutes."

I hesitated.

"Look, I know I was a jerk Saturday night--"

"You got that right. What's happened to you?"

"I'll tell you at three-thirty. Please...?"

I heaved a sigh, but didn't give in yet. "Why is your hair wet?"

"Just had a shower. We have football practice before school to beat the afternoon heat." Summers tended to linger in Louisiana. "So are you going to meet me or not?"

"I'll think about it."

Cooper's expression told me the irony of my response was not lost on him.

Naturally I did have the guy on my mind all morning. At lunch, I told Brynn and Tyler that I was going to meet him. Reminding me there was a Starbucks they loved across the street, they okayed the delay.

Though afternoon classes dragged, the last bell finally rang, freeing us all. I dumped the books I didn't need into my locker and got out the ones I did. Then I went outside to meet Cooper, already standing on a carpet of colorful leaves under that gorgeous oak.

"Hey," he said when I walked up.

"Hey." I set my heavy backpack on the ground next to his.

"Are we alone?" Cooper glanced all around as if looking for spirits, a half smile on his face.

"Yeah." I let my gaze sweep him from head to toe, appreciating his button-front shirt, worn open and loose like a jacket over a plain white tee. His denim jeans hugged his lower half in all the right places. I realized he'd shaved off the chin hair, which had probably been real and concluded that no guy on the planet had ever looked this good to me. "So...?"

He came to life. "So you look very nice today."

I glanced down at my skinny jeans and layered tees. "You wanted to tell me that?"

"No. Seeing you Saturday night was unsettling to say the least. Reminded me of my dad and how excited he was about my gifts."

"I guessed that."

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry I was rude as a result. I was caught off guard."

I waited.

"You seem really comfortable in your skin."

"That's because I am. Mom and Dad have been so supportive, and I've found ways to help people."

"Such as?"

"I do scheduled one-on-ones at the house, spontaneous readings all over the place, and I sometimes help the police." I shared my college plans and admitted I hoped to make a living with my abilities. "Can't you just see it: Mia Tagliaro, Medium. I'm sure A&E would pick me up for Friday nights."

He laughed without humor, kicking at an exposed tree root.

"We've sure taken different paths."

"Baby, you have no idea," he said.

Baby? Too bad he didn't mean that in a personal way. "But it's only because you lost your powers. I'm so sorry about that. You were amazing at eight. You'd have been incredible by now."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I wasn't lying when I told you it was a good thing. Every time I saw a spirit, Mom got really sad. She was never as gung ho as Dad was about me seeing ghosts."

That's not how I remembered it, but maybe she'd been pretending for the producer, too. "Got any college plans?"

"I've been accepted to LSU Martinsburg."

"Major?"

"Kinesiology."

That didn't surprise me. They had a good athletics program, and I knew he was into sports. For a few seconds we stood there in awkward silence. Then I blurted what was most on my mind. "Can we be friends, Cooper?"

He smiled. "Absolutely."

I dug my cell phone from my jeans pocket. "What's your number?"

Cooper gave it to me and then got mine. I grabbed the strap of my backpack and hefted it onto one shoulder before stepping close to him. The hug I offered was the causal-friend, sort-of-stiff type, but it still felt wonderful to be in his arms again, if only for a second.

I edged back, my heart full. "I'll see you around."

"Right."

I gave him a wave and turned toward the parking lot, very self-conscious that he was watching me walking away. A quick peek over my shoulder set me at ease. He'd already picked up his own backpack and headed in the other direction. He did not look back at me. I know because I checked to see if he would.

Tyler and Brynn came out of Starbucks, which told me they'd been spying. Naturally they gave me the third degree on the way back to Ville Cachée, but I really had nothing earth shattering to tell. I did admit to feeling more positive about Cooper, something I credited to his apparent acceptance of the loss of his psychic abilities. At least he was at peace with it.

I half expected him to call me that night, but he didn't. And though I wanted to call him, I didn't. I'd sensed a hesitance about him that told me he needed space. Besides, I had plenty to do handing out Tootsie Roll Pops to Disney princesses, Hulks, and SpongeBobs. I'd see him tomorrow.

But by Tuesday, final bell, I had talked to him a total of zero times. That night, I texted Cooper, a simple
Hey, everything okay?
I got no answer. Wednesday and Thursday? Repeats of Tuesday.

The only thing that broke the monotony of the week was my Thursday evening appointment with a middle-aged woman who'd lost a son. We sat at my kitchen table, site of all my readings. I recorded the session so I could burn a disc later and send it to her. Right on cue, her son, who'd died in Afghanistan, revealed his presence to me. I first gave her enough information that she'd know for sure I wasn't making anything up, in this case telling her I knew about the Purple Heart medal she kept in her purse. Then I offered the comfort that he wanted to give her by sharing how very proud he was that he'd died for his country.

She left in tears, but they were the happy kind. And as usual, it took me a while to settle down after the session. While I did that, I burned sage in a metal bowl and waved my hand over it to spread its smoke in the air. That cleansed the house of lingering spirits.

By Friday, my mood couldn't get much blacker. During that week's final drive home from school, I actually admitted to thinking about attending the high school football game, something I'd never done before since I didn't particularly enjoy that sport. But Cooper would be playing, so... "Do you want to go to the game with me tonight?"

Brynn gave me the oddest look ever and finally addressed the situation. "Give up on Cooper, Mia. He's just not into you."

I bristled a little. "And I'm not into him, at least not that way."

Tyler snorted from the back seat.

I glared at him over my shoulder. "I'm simply trying to rekindle a friendship."

Brynn sighed. "Well, it's not working, so you should quit chasing him."

In the rear view mirror, I saw Tyler wince at her choice of words. I caught his eye. "Do you think I'm chasing him?"

"No, but speaking from a male point of view, I think he might think that."

"I'm just worried about the guy, okay? Something isn't right at the Marsh house, and I can't resist trying to find out what it is. Maybe Nick will know."

Tyler, who knew about my spirit guide, snorted. "I understand that your world is a little skewed, but trust me when I say most people's issues can't be fixed by a visit from a ghost. Forget the Cooper dude. Get on with your life."

Brynn nodded her agreement. "And a great way to start doing that is go with us to Breckenridge tomorrow. I need new shoes."

Though I didn't really want to go to the mall in Martinsburg, I realized they might be right about Cooper. Shopping would get him off my mind. "All right. Am I driving?"

"No, I am," said Tyler. "Dad promised me his truck for the weekend. God, I'll be glad when May gets here. I have to be the only guy at Martinsburg who doesn't have his own ride."