Authors: Jennifer Ryan
“Hello, beautiful.” He leaned over to kiss Jenna on top of her head. He whispered to his niece, “Hello, mini beautiful.”
Elizabeth found Sam’s greeting for Jenna and Willow sweet. He turned to mush around them. Jenna had encouraged Sam and her to get together. She’d helped her open her restaurant in the Merrick Building. They’d become sisters over the last couple of years. She already had two brothers, so it was nice to have a sister. Sam needed to take a breath. He’d been running on empty for too long now. Jenna had a way of calming him when no one else could.
Jenna took Sam’s hand so he couldn’t walk away. “Hello, Sam. I’m glad to see you. Jack surprised me a little while ago. He said you two have something to do, but he won’t tell me what it is. What are you two up to this time?”
“Is Jack going with you to see the person involved in your case?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah, he knows someone who might know something about the murders. We’ve got to go.” He pulled away from Jenna and kissed Elizabeth and his sweet baby girl, Gracie, and headed to the door. “Let’s go, Jack.”
Jack smiled at his wife and Elizabeth. “Looks like it’s time to go.”
They left the house and their confused wives behind and walked to the stables. The women would be fine. They had a one-year-old, the twin boys, a baby, and Elizabeth’s pregnancy to talk about and keep them busy.
“Why are we going to the stables? Do you have to check on the horses before we go?” Sam asked.
“No. We’re riding over.”
“Over to where?”
“Next door.” Jack sidestepped to avoid the punch he thought Sam might throw. Sam only glared, fists at his sides.
“It’ll take about forty minutes to ride, but I figure you need time to let your anger subside. You can’t see Morgan if you’re angry. She can’t handle it.”
One of the ranch hands waited by the stables with two saddled horses. Sam mounted his horse as Jack got up on Blue.
“Are you telling me Morgan lives next door to you?” Sam asked angrily.
“Didn’t I just say that?”
“I ought to kick your ass for keeping this secret. How long has she lived next door?”
“A little more than two years. Do you remember the house and property that came up for sale down on Sycamore Drive? Tyler wanted to buy it.”
“Yeah. It sold before he had a chance to make an offer on the place.”
“Morgan bought it. To be fair, I didn’t know she lived there, until about a year ago.”
“You’ve known for a year how to find her. You know what happened a few weeks ago with the press conference and her leaving Tyler. Why would you keep it a secret that you knew how to get in touch with her?”
“Because she asked me to. No one, except me, knows that she lives there. I mean it, Sam. No one knows. She’s there alone. I found out she lives there by accident. I wanted to see if the new owner would let me put some horses in the empty pastures. I went over to ask, and I found her. At first, I didn’t know it was her, but she sure as hell knew me. She knew things about the family. When she said her name is Morgan, I knew it was her.”
“Tell me about her. I mean, we all know she’s psychic, but what’s she really like?”
“She’s nice. She’s sensitive. I mean it, she won’t be able to deal with your anger. I made a mistake when I met her and I got upset. It’s a physical thing for her. She literally wilted before my eyes. I’ve seen her several times since. If I’m happy, you can see she’s happy because I am. If I’m a little off or down, she responds to that.” Sam shot him a skeptical stare. “Look, I don’t know exactly how it works with her. I just know she’s different. You can’t go in there with your emotions all over the place, or your anger out of control.”
Sam took a calming breath and looked around them as they rode through a large open field of green grass with the forest bordering their progress. Peaceful, the green of the land and the clear blue of the sky. He loved Colorado. He came here when he needed to recharge. He and Elizabeth stayed at the lake house as often as they could manage. This is where they spent their vacation time. He could see why Morgan had chosen to move here. He loved the calm tranquil setting too.
“I’ll do my best to keep myself in check. Why does she want to see me?”
“I told her about the murders last week when I saw her. This morning, she asked me to contact you and ask you to come. She didn’t say anything more.”
“You had to tell her what happened.”
“Yes. She didn’t know anything about it.”
“So, without her connection to Tyler she didn’t know I was working on the case.”
“I don’t know about that. She doesn’t really talk about what she can do. She’s quiet most of the time. She asks about the kids, you and Elizabeth, everyone. It’s like she’s been a part of the family. I kind of think of her that way. She’s like a sister.”
“Tyler will be pissed when he finds out every time he’s been here over the last year she was next door. He was so close to her.”
“Do you remember when you came home early and brought Tyler with you when Elizabeth took maternity leave?”
“Yeah, Morgan helped us wrap up a case early. Tyler decided to come for a short visit.”
“That’s the day I met her. She told me you two would come home early. When you actually showed up and surprised everyone, I was completely stunned. I didn’t believe her. Not until I saw you both walk through the door.”
“So, she’s the real deal,” Sam said, amazed.
“You know she is.”
“It’s different having her predictions and clues come secondhand through Tyler. It’s another thing to meet her and have her do it in front of me.” Sam shook his head.
“Are you nervous?” Jack laughed. “Sam Turner, FBI agent, nervous about meeting a woman.”
“I’m just not sure what to expect,” Sam said and meant it. He’d spent a lot of time thinking about Morgan. He knew things about her that Jack didn’t know. He didn’t want to make a bigger mess out of things with her than they already had. He didn’t know how she’d feel about him digging in her past and finding all the buried skeletons.
“She’s just like anyone else. See.” Jack pointed to the woman kneeling in the garden as they came out of the trees and made their way across the wide pasture. “She’s just a woman.”
“Just a woman, my ass. That is one gorgeous woman. Are you kidding me? That’s Morgan?”
“Yep,” Jack said with a wide grin.
“No wonder she’s been haunting Tyler ever since he saw her five years ago. No man could forget her.”
Jack smiled and dismounted Blue. He tethered Blue to the low fence surrounding Morgan’s garden and waited as she approached.
Sam sat mesmerized by the angel coming toward him. That’s all he could think. She looked like what he imagined angels looked like in heaven. Her softly waving gold hair blew in the breeze. Her amazing blue eyes held him in place. Not very tall, but he felt her presence. Maybe it was a trick of the light off her hair, or sun-kissed golden skin, he wasn’t sure, but he thought she glowed.
Ordinary in every way, and extraordinary in so many. She wore simple worn blue jeans, a bit of dirt staining the knees, and a white blouse. She carried a pair of gardening gloves. Ordinary. Slim, but no mistaking the womanly curves, from the swell of her breasts in the open collar of her shirt to the slight flare of her hips.
She walked toward him, completely unaware of her appeal. The swing of her hips and the hint of a smile on her soft, full lips could bring a man to his knees. And then she spoke and her sultry voice made him think of hot nights and soft, smooth blues.
“I don’t haunt Tyler. I’m not a ghost. Like Jack said, I’m just a woman.” She smiled as she came out of her garden.
Sam looked from Morgan to Jack and shook his head to clear it.
“She does that,” Jack said referring to Morgan knowing what they’d talk about on the ride over. “It’s kind of creepy. You’ll get used to it.”
Sam dropped down from his horse and approached Morgan. He did something she never saw coming. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest tightly and whispered into her ear. “I am so happy to meet you. I’ve waited a long time to say thank you. Thank you for helping me with Elizabeth. Thank you for helping with all the other cases.”
“Oh. Well. Damn. Elizabeth is a lucky woman.” She held on to Sam because it felt good to let someone be close. It had been a long time since someone hugged her. Her eyes got misty, and she had to take a breath to calm herself. “You think she’d mind if I keep you?”
Sam chuckled. She held on to him like she had no intention of letting him go. “I think she’d like me back, but you can borrow me for a little while. We have a lot to talk about.”
“I know.” She reluctantly let him go and took a step back. “Come in. I have iced tea and brownies made.”
She led the way up the wide porch and through the screen door. She loved the way it banged shut after the men came into the house. She spent all of her time alone, and company was a treat. She’d seen Jack off and on over the last year. A busy man, after checking on his horses he usually headed back to his own home and family. He stopped to talk to her whenever he could, and she appreciated his time and company.
She really liked the horses. They made the property less lonely. She liked hearing them whinny and nicker in the pastures. She took them treats and petted them as often as she could. She was working up the courage to ask Jack to teach her to ride. She could get her own. She’d buy one of the horses from Jack. The black one with the white line on his nose and head. She liked him and secretly named him Blaze.
Surprised again, Sam liked her home. Pretty, like Morgan, simple and charming. The entry opened into a large family room that adjoined the kitchen and dining area at the rear of the house. A set of glass double doors went out the back to a deck and patio beyond. The family room had a large river-rock fireplace with a chunky wood mantle. A large vase of flowers sat on the mantel beside a framed photo of a family sitting at a picnic table in a park. The woman resembled Morgan, only with shorter hair. The man, in his early thirties with light brown hair, smiled at the woman and held a little girl on his lap. The boy in the photo looked about two, and he had jelly on his chin and laughed with a huge smile. A nice looking family.
On the table, next to a brown leather couch, lay several books. One lay opened, face down to hold her page. School textbooks and paperback novels lined the shelves of a tall bookcase. Many of them looked well worn. He could see her sitting in the chaise, reading her books as the sun poured through the large bank of windows.
A rustic farm table with bench seats on both sides and a spindle-back chair on each end took up most the space in her dining room. The wrought-iron lamp over the table complimented the rustic feel of the house. Fresh flowers graced the room in several colorful glass vases. Some were large and others small. Their sweet fragrance filled the room. He knew she’d cut them from her flourishing garden. Pots of herbs lined the shelf in the window above the kitchen sink.
The house was homey. And quiet.
He hated thinking of Morgan here all alone. Day after day.
“Would you like to sit in the family room, or here at the kitchen table?”
“The table’s fine.” He took the platter of brownies from her and set them on the table. Jack had the pitcher of ice tea and they both waited for Morgan to arrange their glasses and take her seat before they took their seats.
Morgan brushed her hand over the smooth wooden surface and looked at him and Jack with a sadness that tore at Sam. He glanced around the huge room and imagined her there alone.
“You’ve never had anyone sit at this table with you.”
Morgan’s gaze locked with him. It hadn’t been a question, but a softly spoken statement letting her know he understood her just a little. “I’ve been alone for a long time.”
“I like all the flowers. Your garden is beautiful. You must spend a lot of time working out there.”
She thought it nice he took the time to see her as more than just a psychic. He wanted to find out what else interested her. She hadn’t missed his casual perusal of her home. She knew he took in every detail and tucked them away in case he needed them later.
“The garden is peaceful. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I can go out there and work for a few hours and have tangible results. I can watch the flowers bloom and know I had a hand in their care. It’s my way of giving back a little of what I take.”
She wondered how he’d interpret that statement. Most people wouldn’t think of that, or give of themselves in such a way. Others did it without thinking of it as giving back to their surroundings for what they take from them.
She’s normal with a little something different about her
, Sam thought. She wanted to be accepted and acknowledged as just another person on this earth, but she wasn’t. She was different, and the difference made her special. You could see it in her eyes. She saw more than others. Right now, those eyes were a bright light blue. Outside she’d been cautious about meeting him, and they’d been shaded and just a bit dark.
“Kind of what I think about being with the FBI. I’m just one more good guy to go up against the bad. My own little balance on the scales of life.”
“You want to fight the good fight and protect those that can’t protect themselves.”
He smiled. Every cop felt that way. The police motto was “To Protect and to Serve.” It’s what they did. It’s what they were. At least, that’s how it should be.
“I have to say, I’m a little disappointed there isn’t a single crystal ball in the place. There aren’t any pewter dragons or fairies sitting on toadstools.” Those were the kinds of things he’d found in the murdered psychics’ shops and homes. Again, Morgan was different.
“What kind of psychic are you?” He wanted to ease into the subject. A little levity might get them into the conversation without putting her on edge.
“The fairies are in the garden, of course. There aren’t any toadstools. Fairies live in the lilies,” she smiled. “They’re like little balls of golden sunlight. They die if you say you don’t believe in them, and when they think happy thoughts, they can fly,” she said whimsically.