Some Sort of Happy (Skylar and Sebastian): A Happy Crazy Love Novel (40 page)

“Wait. Are there spirits here in this room?” Jillian asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“Of course.” Madam Psuka gave my oldest sister a You’re Dumb and I’m a Medium look. “Spirits are always among us.”

A cool shivery feeling crept up my back, despite the warmth in the apartment from all the rugs and blankets and candles. Right away I shook it off. Get a hold of yourself. There’s no such thing as spirits or ghosts or even psychics. This is all just for fun.

“So who is first?” Madam Psuka looked from one sister to the next.

“Me,” said Jillian, scooting closer to the medium. “I’m the oldest, so I should go first.”

Skylar and I exchanged a look. How many times had we heard that before?

Madam Psuka nodded and took Jillian’s hand in both of hers. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and appeared to be concentrating very hard.

“Should I think about anything in particular?” Jillian asked, and my heart ached a little. I knew how badly she wanted to meet someone.

“Just relax. Let your mind vander naturally. Let energy of life flow through you.”

Jillian closed her eyes and the room went silent for a moment, the only sound the sizzle of the candle wicks and the medium’s breathing. Her nose made sort of a whistling noise, and I had to hid my face in my shoulder to keep from laughing.

Then she spoke. “Are you dirty?”

For a moment, I was on the verge of cracking up until I realized she meant thirty, but didn’t pronounce her th’s very well. Still, I had to hide my face in my shoulder to stifle the laugh.

“Yes.” Jillian sounded amazed. “I am thirty. And I was just thinking about my age.”

“And you are caretaker—no, something stronger. You are healer.”

Skylar gasped and my jaw fell open. Had we said anything about Jilly being a pediatrician? I didn’t think we had. Could this woman have guessed?

Madam Psuka spoke confidently, in amazingly good English considering her accent. “You are strong, sympathetic, generous. You are always willing to carry more than your fair share of load. You are loyal and trustworthy. You are often critical of others, but very hard on yourself. You have tendency to be controlling, and sometimes you meddle, especially if you think you know best.” Madam Psuka paused and opened one eye. “Is this accurate?”

“Yes,” Skylar and I said together.

Jillian glared at us as the medium went on. “You value visdom and compassion above all.”

“Thank you,” said Jillian, fidgeting a little. “Is there anything else? Anything about my career? Or my love life?”

“I cannot direct the energy,” said Madam Psuka. “It reveals at its own vill.” She was quiet for a moment. “But I do see children. Many children.”

“Many?” Jillian said, her eyes going wide. “How many?”

Skylar laughed. “It’s probably your patients, Jilly Bean.”

“Oh.” Jillian’s shoulders slumped, and she took her hand back. “Right.”

I felt sorry for her and reached over to pat her shoulder when she scooted back to sit next to me. We hadn’t really talked about it, but maybe Skylar’s wedding was kind of hard on Jillian. She was the oldest and probably thought she’d be first to get married. She’d definitely talked about it the most as we were growing up. And now Dan and I would be next, and—

“Next?” asked Madam Psuka, jarring me a little. She was looking at me, too. It was as if she’d heard was I was thinking and mocking me with the word.

“Me!” squealed Skylar, crawling over to sit directly in front of Madam Psuka and thrusting out her hand.

“Hmmm.” The medium closed her eyes and did the breathing thing again. Meanwhile, my stomach was growling like crazy.

“You are creative and expressive. Your energy is bright, warm, effervescent, and sparkling.”

Eyes closed, Skylar beamed, and Jillian and I exchanged an eye roll. How many times had we listened to people gush about our effervescent beauty queen sister? Good thing we weren’t paying for this.

“You value harmony, beauty, and pleasure, and enjoy sharing your talents with the vorld around you. You live life to fullest, often without care beyond the present. I am getting feeling that you are not good with money.”

I snorted, and Skylar sighed. “That’s true,” she admitted. “But I’m working on it.”

“Romantic love is verrry strong influence in your life right now, and it will remain so. Its energy surrounds you in almost protective fashion.”

“I’m getting married,” Skylar said breathlessly. “This fall.”

“Skylar! You’re not supposed to tell her that.” Jillian threw a hand up. “She’s supposed to guess it.”

Madam Psuka chuckled. “I might have guessed it. Is obviously very strong bond between them.”

“Anything else?” Skylar said eagerly.

“Just the feeling of calm. I believe you are entering new phase of your life that will be long-lasting and peaceful and happy.”

Skylar practically floated back to her spot on the rug. “Your turn, Nat.”

I scooted in front of the medium and held out my hand.

“A skeptic.” Madam Psuka sized me up correctly.

“Maybe I am a little skeptical,” I admitted. “But what the heck? I’m here.”

She took my hand and held it between both of hers, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. Within seconds, I felt a sort of humming sensation in my arm, and it was more than a little disconcerting. While both of my sisters had closed their eyes during their readings, I kept mine open.

“You are organizer, planner, manager. You are dedicated and idealistic. What you conceive in your mind you are able to achieve because you are practical, talented, and villing to vork. You know how to get a job done. But you may appear stubborn because once you make a decision, you follow it through to the end, right or wrong.”

“Wow,” Skylar breathed. “That’s so right on.”

I bristled a little. Following through wasn’t being stubborn; that was tenacity.

“You must be careful not to get too caught up in the daily routine, because you might miss opportunities that—oh. Oh my.” Madam Psuka frowned and she gripped my hand tighter.

“What?” My heart thumped a few erratic beats. “What do you see?”

“It is…” She muttered something in another language, maybe Polish. “It is total chaos. As if your entire life is turning upside down.”

“What?” Jillian spoke up behind me. “Why?”

Madam Psuka turned her head to the side, forehead furrowed. “Because of man.”

“Wait, man in general? Like mankind?” I asked.

“No. Vun man.”

“Vun man?” Jillian repeated. “What is that?”

“One man,” I clarified, relief easing between my shoulder blades. I mean, duh. It was the imminent proposal, of course. It was my boyfriend of ten years.

“Is his name Dan?” Skylar blurted.

“I don’t know his name.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “And neither do you. He is a stranger.”

Jillian clicked her tongue. “Oh, that is so unfair. Natalie gets the handsome stranger?”

“No. Don’t be ridiculous.” I pulled my hand back from Madam Psuka and stood. “Thank you very much for the readings, but we should go now.”

“You are very velcome. I hope you come back again.” She rose to her feet, as did my sisters.

We said goodbye and clomped back down the stairs, Jillian broody, Skylar dreamy, and me determined not to let some fake hocus pocus ruin my night. A stranger was going to upend my life? What the hell? There was no way! I’d worked way too hard to get where I was, I had everything I’d ever wanted right in front of me, and no stranger, handsome or not, was going to change that.

Still.

I couldn’t help but vonder.

To my family, I am so lucky to have the forever things with you. I love you so much.

To the team that makes it possible for me to put pretty books into the world: Tom Barnes, Cait Greer, Tamara Mataya, Angie Owens. I’m so grateful.

To Paula Erwin, for reading and sharing thoughts with me, especially for getting into Sebastian’s head. This book is so much better because of you!

To Danielle, whose gorgeous poetry always inspires me. THANK YOU for letting me pilfer words and riff off your ideas.

To Linda Russell, for making me come out of the cave and talk about my books. You’re awesome.

To Melissa Gaston, I don’t know how I did anything without you! Never leave me.

To Kayti and Sierra and Laurelin, without whom there would be no Melanie Harlow, because you have talked me off the ledge so many times. Thank you for believing, even when I don’t.

To the authors who have been so generous with their time and advice and experience, especially Laurelin Paige, Lauren Blakely, Geneva Lee, Corinne Michaels, M. Pierce, and Claire Contreras. I’ve learned so much from you, and I’m so lucky to call you my friends.

To the ladies of TWS, The NAturals, The Order, FYW and especially Melanie Harlow Books, thanks for never letting me feel alone in this endeavor! You make me smile every day.

Finally, thank you readers and bloggers for reading and talking about books you love, especially The Dirty Laundry girls, The Literary Gossip, Fiction Fangirls, The Rock Stars of Romance, True Story Book Blog, Vilma’s Vixens, Schmexy Girls, Aestas Book Blog, Shameless Book Club, Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads, Short and Sassy Book Blurbs… None of this would be possible without you!

Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. She’s the author of the Speak Easy historical duet as well as the Frenched series. Find her sipping cocktails at cool places in Detroit, or look for her online…

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The Frenched Series…

FRENCHED:
http://amzn.to/1CtP5yr