New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (20 page)

Hurrying to the door, she called out
,
“I’ll be careful.
” Kate added as she charged through the front door,
“
Call me if you see anything else about Melanie.”

“Will do and…” He paused and continued to speak after she spun
to face him
,
“Happy Birthday Kate.”

***

Her phone was in the center console of her car. Her anxiety was sky high as she saw five missed calls from Jared and three from her mother. Without even checking the messages, she dialed Jared’s number. He answered on the first ring. “Kate, thank god. Are you alright?”

Her guilt bubbled to the surface at his worried tone. “Jared, I am so sorry…I left my phone in the car and I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“Where were you?”

“I was at Declan’s house.” She swallowed hard and then continued, “He has a new case he’s working on and I was trying to help.
A fitness instructor from
Pennsylvania
named Melanie Pirola has been missing since Monday.
” The silence on the other line stung. “Jared, are you there?”

“Yes, I’m still here,” he said in a clipped tone.

Jared was the most easygoing guy alive. She was sure he was bad ass at work, but he
never lost his temper with her—e
ven when she was
huge pain in the butt. The coldness in his voice made Kate realize
she must’ve messed up big time.

“
I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” she said mournfully.
“
I was so caught up in having a vision of Melanie that
the
next thing I know it was super late.”

Kate’s hands gripped the steering wheel
until the blood drained out of her fingers. She willed Jared to not lose faith in her
. Kate was only attempting to
use her gift to help people. She knew that was the same reason Jared was a police detective. She understood when he broke plans for work commitments—Kate only hoped he extended her the same courtesy.

“And you’re hours late because you were busy having
visions
with Declan.” The way Jared
pronounced visions made it
sound completely dirty like Kate had
really me
ant she had been having naked time with the psychic
.

“I understand why you’re mad, but it was totally innocent
,” she countered.

“Kate, you’re
hours
late. I’v
e been calling you. You could
have picked up the phone to at least let me know where you were. I kept thinking something must have happened to you,” he said.

“I left my phone in the car. I honestly didn’t know how late it was. Jared, I feel like such an ass. I would’ve never pu
rposely left you waiting for me,
”
Kate promised.

Kate had to admit her excuses did sound lame. However, it was the truth. It killed her to know she ruined their night. She saw
so little of Jared lately
she had been anticipating her birthday dinner since he had mentioned it. Last night, she had tried to make him reveal where he was taking her, but he kept his lips sealed
.

“It’s fine, Kate. Don’t worry about it,” he sighed.

“Can we have a late dinner instead? Can I come over?”
she asked hopefully.

“I’m actually really tired. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

His monot
one voice
was
devoid of
its
usual
warmth
. Suddenly Kate was filled
with pain and longing. S
he could only squeak out an “
okay
”
before disconnecting the call.
Kate reasoned that begging him to forgive her and forcing her presence on him may
end up backfiring. The
only consolatio
n was
giving him some time to cool off
should
make him more prone to forgive her
.

Her mother gave her an anxious look as she walked in the house a short time later. “Kate, never worry me like that again! Jared had to convince me to wait a few hours before calling the police.”

“I’m sorry I worried you, Mom,” she mumbled dejectedly. Some birthday this was turning out to be. Her boyfriend was pissed at her and she made her mom a nervous wreck.

“Where have you been?”

“I was trying to find a missing woman with Declan. I had no idea it was so late.”

Her mother tsked disapprovingly over the sound of Declan’s name. Her expression softened though when she saw how upset Kate looked.
She reached out and rested a hand on Kate’s cheek.
“I’m guessing you talked to Jared.”

“Briefly,
he sounded disappointed in me
.”

“I guess you’re not going into the city then?”

Kate moved her mother’s hand away and took a step back.
“What are you talking about?”

Her mother looked guilty like m
aybe she shouldn’t have slipped
.
After a brief pause, she admitted,
“Oh honey, Jared had a whole thing planned. He was going to take you into
New York
for dinner and then you were going to stay overnight and see a show tomorrow. He had me call your job to make sure you could have the day off tomorrow.”

Kate’s
eyes welled up and her stomach clenched. This was
the night
. The special night he had alluded to
weeks ago
. Now instead of tearing up the sheets with her hot boyfriend, she was m
iserable and possibly single. Jared
had gone to the trouble to arrange an amazing night for her and she had ruined it with her obsession over locating a girl she didn’t even know.
If their visions were any indication, Melanie was most likely fine and sipping drinks on a
tropical
beach somewhere.

However, something was holding her back from wholeheartedly believing that Melanie wasn’t in trouble. Melanie willingly disappearing didn’t match up with the girl Kate had seen in her vision. Although Kate hadn’t been inside Melanie’s head, it was apparent that she lived for those weekly runs
with her sister. The girl hadn’t
come across as the type to make her family worry for nothing. Melanie needed to be saved. Kate was sure of it
.

After a sleepless night, Kate
banged on Jared’s apartment door with renewed determination. It was early enough that she knew he would still be home if he had to go into work.
There was no way she was letting another minute go by with
out explaining her actions to him. Kate couldn’t bear the thought of Jared furious with her. In their brief time together, they had been through so much. She could never willingly let go of him.
If she had to offer up her body in exchange for his forgiveness, well so be it
, Kate thought wryly
.

Jared
didn’t scowl at her when he answered the door which was progress at least. However, he didn’t look overly thrilled with her early morning invasion. She launched immediately into her apology. “I know I’ve sucked lately as a girlfriend. And I probably deserve the silent treatment for a few days. But I want you to know how much I wish last night turned out differently and I am so sorry I ruined it.”

“Is Kate Edwards groveling? I didn’t know you had it in you.”
He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back on his heels.

His smirk told her she hadn’t completely lost him. As mad as he was, she was pleased to know he always had a soft spot for her.
Without preamble, she launched herself into his arms. He didn’t even stiffen and instead held her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

“I should be furious at you for spending our night with another guy,” he paused a second before continuing, “but for some reason I can’t.”

“That’s because I ensnared you with my captivating beauty and sparkling personality,” she said into his chest.

“That mu
st be it,” he laughed.
When she stepped out of his embrace, Kate gave him a forlorn expression. In response, Jared landed a quick kiss on her forehead
.

As he le
d her inside, she felt
a weight lift from her. Her heart had hurt over the thought of losing Jared because of a misunderstanding. A couple of months ago she had no idea who Jared Corbett was and now it seemed impossible to imagine her life without him.
Kate knew sh
e was lucky. Another guy may not have answered the door
and already put up a profile on Match.com
.

“My mom told me about your plans,” she said
as they went into his kitchen
.

“Ahh yes, the night didn’t turn out exactly how I expected,” he said lightly.

“So, I’m not sure if you’re still off today but if you are I’d like to offer my services,” she explained.

“What type of services are you offering up, Kate?” She loved that his flirty side was back and
only further cemented the idea that
she hadn’t ruined their relationship.

“My furniture shopping services, of course,” she
said with a smile.

He looked around
at his empty apartment. “I guess
it is pretty dire looking here. But you don’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” she insisted.

This was absolutely true. Not only would she get to spend the day with him, but she could help redecorate his apartment. With Nikki’s stamp no longer on it, the apartment felt like an open canvas. She could furnish it in a style that would be more reflective of their personalities.

“Let’s go then. I’ll get my wallet,” he replied and disappeared in his bedroom. A minute later he reappeared and handed her a gift bag. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you,” she squealed
and tilted her head to kiss him. The
kiss was sweet and gentle—exactly
what she need
ed after their tumultuous fight. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t have bought her anything, but didn’t want to tempt fate. Jared may decide she wasn’t worthy of the gift after all.

Tearing through the wrapping
and seeing a jewelry box
, she felt the ant
icipation build. Opening the box, she gasped at the beauty of the necklace. An oval gemstone with a deep purple color was held in place by a diamond studded setting.
She removed
the necklace out of the box and held the white gold
chain as she examined it closely. After a minute, she breathed,
“Jared, I love it.”

Jared smiled at her reaction.
“My aunt told me that the amethyst has been tied to psychic power since ancient times. The priestesses believed the stone was able to open up a person’s psychic energies.”

It was such a thoughtful gift that she actually felt tongue-tied for a second. She wiped at her eyes and put the necklace on.
She would have to give Jared’s aunt a call on the sly later and thank her as well. Kate wasn’t sure if his aunt’s mystical belie
fs were the reason she was
a champion for their relationship, but Jared revered her. Kate was certain Aunt Lizzie was one of the reasons Jared had been attracted to Kate in the first place.

“This is amazing,” she said grasping the stone in the palm of her hand.

Jared
kissed her forehead and hugged her again. “You drive me crazy in the best and worst possible ways.” His tone was uncertain as he started, “I trust you, Kate and I want you to be honest with me.
I’m trying to be understanding, but I’m not going to pretend that it doesn’t bother me you spending so much time with some guy I never even met.
Do I have anything to worry about? Do you have feelings for Declan?”

“No. Honestly, he’s just a friend,” she replied.
“
He’s actually been a big help with getting me to focus my gifts.
I’m not completely convinced over everything he’s telling me. Like his claim that we can see the future seems pretty out there.
”

Jared nodded. “
Just promise me, you’ll be careful. After what happened last time, I worry about you getting involved in other abduction cases.”

“I swear it
.”

***

“Good morning, welcome to
Milo
’s Furniture Store. My name is Grace, how can I assist you today?”

Kate looked around in awe. Darlene Edwards would be proud of the thrill she felt over the freedom to decorate Jared’s apartment. She had made him take all of the measurements before they left and also shot a few cell phone photos for inspiration. He mistakenly did not pro
vide her with a budget which could
culminate in
blowing up in his face when he received the credit card bill.