Our Red Hot Romance Is Leaving Me Blue (25 page)

“Let’s get him on the bus, Julio,” Mike said. “You drive. I’ll call the stats in.” He put out his right hand. “Justin, it’s good to see you, man.” He turned to Sophia. “You want to ride with our patient?”

“I’ll ride,” Justin said. He looked at Sophia. “Do you want to follow us or return to the hotel?”

“I’ll go back to the hotel.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Absolutely. I’m fine.”

“Here, take my cell number so you can call me if you need to.” He said the numbers and she entered them into her own cell phone.

“Good luck,” she said, “and will you call me in the morning and let me know how things are?”

“Of course,” Justin said, “thanks for…well, thanks for everything.”

His eyes lingered on hers.

Sophia smiled. “I’ll give you this much, Justin Sadler, you sure know how to show a girl an interesting time.”

S
ophia watched the ambulance pull away into the night. After hastily entering Justin’s cell number into her digital address book, in the window that asked for a description of the party, she keyed in “someone special” and snapped the phone shut. Her feeling for Justin wasn’t a schoolgirl fantasy. He
was
someone special. In only a few days she had seen traits in him she didn’t think existed outside of romance novels. He truly was a knight in shining armor and all any girl could hope for.

Taking a few moments to study his home before leaving, she was tempted to enter. The pull was overpowering, but she resisted. A time and a place existed for all things, and even though this was the place, the time wasn’t until tomorrow evening.

She climbed into her car and drove away slowly, suddenly drained of energy. She needed to get back to the hotel. Her body needed rest and her mind needed peace for the coming ordeal.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that before she knew it she was at the hotel. She parked close to the entrance, entered the hotel and walked to her room, all without interruption. Once inside, she sat on the edge of the bed and removed her shoes. Signs of the Monopoly game they had been playing earlier and hadn’t put away entirely were scattered over the table. Smiling at the memory, she dug out her phone, flipped the case open, pressed the key and waited until she heard Justin’s baritone voice.

“Hi, Sophia. You at the hotel?”

Tucking one foot under her, she grinned foolishly. “Safe and sound. How’s your brother-in-law?”

“He’s the same. They’re going to admit him. I called his wife, Felicia. She’s a wreck. Her father’s driving her here. They should arrive any minute.”

“Have they said what they think is wrong with him?”

“No, they’re calling in a neurologist and I suspect the next thing that will happen is a battery of tests. Right now he’s stable but unconscious.”

“Hm. Well it could be worse.”

“Yeah, it could always be worse.”

“Uh, this might not be the time to bring it up, but tomorrow night—”

“Please don’t tell me you think we should cancel the séance tomorrow night,” Justin said.

“No, quite the contrary. I was going to say that absolutely nothing should keep us from moving forward. There’s an angry spirit in your home, Justin. All of the signs are there and every time I’m there, I sense it. I think it would be dangerous to delay.”

“You don’t mean
dangerous
as in
dangerous
? Surely you aren’t serious about that.”

“I wish I wasn’t. I don’t think you should go back there tonight.”

“I’m not afraid, Sophia. Whatever is in there has been there for months and it hasn’t hurt me.”

“But it’s under new stress now. It’s unpredictable. Just trust me, okay?”

“Hey, I trust you, Sophia, okay? I probably won’t be able to get away from the hospital tonight anyway. Uh-oh, Felicia just walked in. I need to go. See you tomorrow night. Sleep tight.”

Her thoughts miles away, Sophia’s body moved mechanically as she laid her phone on the bedside table and rubbed the cold chills that had formed on her arms.

The early-morning preparations for a full day of business had Debbie Sue flipping the sign in the Styling Station door’s window from
CLOSED
to
OPEN
. Over the years her customers had become her friends, and normally, she was anxious to see most of them. But this morning she was more eager to see Edwina.

The events of the evening before had kept her awake most of the night. Then this morning, after half an hour of tanta
lizing foreplay followed by mind-numbing sex with Buddy, then bidding him a farewell laced with
I love you
’s and
I’ll miss you too
’s, she had rushed to the phone and called her friend and partner.

The idea of connecting with those who had passed on was intoxicating, and if props and accessories were needed in building a bridge to the other side, no one could be better at filling that need than Edwina.

The sound of a car door slamming in the back of the salon sent Debbie Sue scurrying to the back door. Just as she reached it, Edwina appeared, her customary quart-size Dr Pepper in one hand and a brown paper grocery sack in the other. Removing her rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses, Edwina handed the sack to a squealing Debbie Sue. “Here’s everything you listed,” she groused. “But Halloween is months away. What are you up to?”

“It occurred to me last night, Ed, that if a pack of cigarettes can conjure up an unexpected spirit, the possibilities are limitless with other enticements.”

“Enticements? Hell’s bells, Debbie Sue, you’ve gone from a half-assed skeptic to a full-fledged nutcase. We’re supposed to be connecting with Justin’s sweet little wife, not auditioning for Dancing with the Dearly Departed.”

Ignoring Edwina’s grumbling, Debbie Sue started removing items from the bag and laying them out on the manicure table. “Oh, wow. This is all perfect, Ed. I knew I could count on you.”

“I can see you’re dead set on this, no pun intended,” Edwina said and released a big sigh. “At least tell me who
to expect.” Sorting through the assortment of items on the table, she lifted up a short black wig, styled in the bouffant look from the sixties. “Why did you want me to bring this? Who do you expect to claim it?”

“That’s the only thing I could think of for Patsy, plus I brought an album of hers mom left at the house.”

“You honestly think Patsy Cline will show up in Justin Sadler’s dining room?”

“Why not? If the only requirement is that you be dead, she fits that category.”

“Uh-huh, and this?” Edwina picked up the T-shirt she had bought as a joke in a store on Sixth Street in Austin. It was plain white, decorated with the bright red proclamation,
FUCKIN’ CLASSY
.

“You really have to ask?” Debbie Sue said.

“I’m thinking Anna Nicole Smith,” Edwina answered.

“Right. We can ask her if she took that overdose on her own.”

“And these?” Edwina held up a pair of red four-inch-heeled Jimmy Choo shoes, which Debbie Sue knew to be one of her most prized possessions.

“Actually, those go with these,” Debbie said, gathering a silk headscarf and a handful of rhinestone bracelets. “It was hard to figure out what Marilyn would be drawn to, but I knew she’d want to look sexy.”

“Marilyn? As in Monroe?” Edwina flapped a skinny hand at Debbie Sue. “You’re crazy, Debbie Sue. Why are you interested in digging up these particular people?”

“Don’t you get it, Ed? These deaths are all mysteries in a
way and there are all of these conspiracy theories out there. No one knows exactly what happened to these people in their last moments.”

Edwina frowned. “No one knows what happens to anybody in their last moments, even if there’s a crowd watching. Patsy Cline’s departure isn’t a mystery. Everyone knows her airplane flew into a mountain in a storm.”

“Okay, okay. Maybe they’re not all real mysteries. But they were celebrities that people loved and they died young. Seriously, Ed, wouldn’t you love to ask Marilyn how she really died and settle it once and for all? Can you even imagine learning the answer to that question?”

“What I’m learning, girlfriend, is that you’ve gone off the deep end of crazy.”

“No, I haven’t. Think about it, we may never have another chance like this in our lifetime.”

“And thank God for that.”

“There has to be someone you’d like to talk to, Ed. Someone you’ve never met but always wanted to. Someone you’ve got a question for.”

Edwina’s heavily mascaraed eyes squinted and she appeared to be mulling over that question. Suddenly she grabbed the sack and headed for the rear entrance. “I’ll be right back.”

Debbie Sue followed her to the back door and saw her scooting into the Mustang. “Wait, where are you going?”

Edwina’s head popped out the open driver’s window. “To my house. My Elvis jumpsuit is hanging in my closet. I won’t be gone but a minute.”

As Debbie Sue watched Edwina back out and speed away, she couldn’t keep from grinning. “Elvis Presley…cool.”

By early afternoon Debbie Sue’s excitement had infected Edwina and they were both talking in whispers about the coming evening’s event.

“You don’t dread tonight?” Debbie Sue asked.

“Not after meeting up with Little Pearl again. I figure I’ve faced my demon and come out the better for it. I mean, when you come right down to it, what could a spirit really do? I’d most likely do more harm to myself than it would.”

“That’s right,” Debbie Sue agreed. “So you’re not afraid to attend the séance again tonight?”

“Scared shitless, but ready all the same. If even one of those people really shows up, it’ll be fun.”

The Christmas bells tied to the front door jangled and Debbie Sue and her friend looked toward the sound. Sophia’s head poked through the doorway. “Are y’all still open?”

“Heavens, yes. Get in here,” Edwina said. “What have you been up to today?”

“Not much, I slept late, went to the mall and walked around. Just killed time mostly.”

“We were just talking about tonight,” Debbie Sue said.

“I hope you both plan on being present.”

“There’s not a ghost of a chance we’d miss it.” Edwina cackled at her own joke. “Get it?
Ghost
of a chance?”

“Ed, I think we all got it,” Debbie Sue said. “Listen, Sophia, I want to ask you something.”

“Sure.” Sophia took a seat on one of the manicure stools.

“Edwina and I have some things we’d like to bring tonight.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Just a few items to add to what you had on the table last night.”

“Oh. Oh, I get it…Sure, that’s fine, but I want both of you to understand that I can’t guarantee whomever you want to see will appear. Inanimate objects are to make a spirit more comfortable and easier to recognize, but nothing is promised.”

Debbie Sue looked to Edwina and nodded her head. “I think we both understand, don’t we Ed?”

“Abso-fuckin’-lutely.”

Sophia laughed. “Good. Well I came in for a specific reason.”

Debbie Sue placed her hand on Sophia’s shoulder. “Ohmi-gosh, here we are prattling on about what
we
want. How can we help
you
?”

“I’ve never had a manicure or a pedicure. Do y’all do that?”

“You’re looking at the best there is,” Debbie Sue said, waving her thumb between herself and Edwina.

“Is it expensive, I mean, uh…how much does each one cost? If both are too much, maybe I can have just one of the two if both are too much.” She hesitated, then hastily added, “It’s not that I don’t have the money. I do. I just don’t know if I have enough.”

Debbie Sue knew exactly where the younger woman was coming from. It hadn’t been that long ago when she had resided in the state of being broke. She gave Edwina an all-knowing wink. “It’s funny you’d ask for those two services. We run a Monday special on spa treatments, don’t we, Ed?”

“Uh…yes, yes we do,” Edwina replied, taking the cue perfectly.

“Great. What is it?” Sophia asked.

“It’s, uh…help me out here, Ed. What is it again?”

“What is what?”

“The Monday. Spa. Treatment. Special,” Debbie Sue said, putting emphasis on each word.

“Oh, that…it’s, uh…it’s free! Yep, that’s it. It’s free.”

“How in the world can you afford to do that?” Sophia asked.

“You’ll have to ask Debbie Sue,” Edwina replied. “She has the business head here. I just go along with whatever she says.”

Sophia leveled a look at Debbie Sue.

“Well, we don’t advertise it,” Debbie Sue said. “We give it to the third person on Monday that asks the price of a manicure or pedicure.”

“And I’m the third?”

“You sure are,” Debbie Sue said brightly.

“Congratulations,” Edwina added, patting her thickly padded chair back. “Let’s get started.

Sophia moved from the stool to the chair and removed her shoes while Debbie Sue rolled the pedicure stand closer.

Positioning themselves, Debbie Sue and Edwina went
to work on their new client. Before long, the conversation came around to Justin, and Sophia relayed the story of the previous evening’s events.

“I spoke to Justin a couple of hours ago,” she said. “There’s been no change in his brother-in-law’s condition. He’s still unconscious. The neurologist they called in is stumped. All the testing they’ve done shows nothing. They’re supposed to be getting an opinion from a cardiologist.”

“Good Lord,” Debbie Sue said. “John Patrick’s a young man, close to my age, what in the world do you think happened to him?”

“It has to be his heart,” Edwina said smugly, her tone dripping with confidence.

“Why do you say that?” Debbie Sue asked.

“Just look at him. His growth is stunted. It’s understandable he would have other health problems too.”

“So now anyone that’s
short
needs to live in fear of a premature heart attack? Is that what you’re saying? And where do you get your medical information, Ed, the
Enquirer
?”

“No, Miss Smarty Pants, I’ll have you know I don’t read the
National Enquirer
. I saw it on one of my soap operas.”

“Now there’s a bank of knowledge to rely on,” Debbie Sue said.

“From what I’ve heard of John Patrick, he was probably dead drunk when y’all found him. He
was
drunk, wasn’t he, Sophia?”

Sophia nodded. “Justin said he’d been drinking, but it was more than just that.”

Edwina’s right eyebrow arched into a high peak. “Really?”

“I don’t have, I mean I don’t know of—I’d…I’d rather not say.”

Debbie Sue exchanged looks with Edwina. Sophia wasn’t telling them everything and Edwina had to have figured that out too.

Debbie Sue was trying to decide the best way to frame her next question when Sophia said, “I can’t tell you what happened to John Patrick. I’ll just say to you what I said to Justin. Please trust me. Conjuring up the dead is never predictable and shouldn’t be taken too lightly. Dealing with the other side is not a parlor game.”