Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(2)

Val sniffed. “Are you out walking?”

“Of course I am.” Robin turned the corner, waving at her neighbor as he moved the trash cans out to the curb. “Are you still in bed?”

“The boys can make their own breakfast. I was up late reading.” Val must have taken the phone away from her mouth because the next words were muffled. “Jackson! Andy! Are you getting dressed?”

Robin couldn’t hear anything, but she assumed Val’s two boys had answered in the affirmative because her friend came back on the line.

“Anyway, you probably thought about texting me and then forgot. Don’t pretend you have anything more important than this. We’re taking her out. We absolutely have to take her out tonight.”

“Of course we’re taking her out.” Robin made a quick decision as she turned back toward the house. “I’ll even drive so you and Monica can have all the wine, okay?”

“Sounds good to me.” Val sighed deeply. “Fuck congenital heart defects.”

“I know.” Robin’s heart ached every time she thought about Monica’s husband. “Damn, I miss Gil.”

If there was a dream husband who embodied all rom-com boyfriends, it had been Gilbert Velasquez. Movie star handsome, Gil had been a fireman with the state. He was a certified hero who had medals and got choked up when he thanked his wife in speeches.

Robin would have been jealous of Monica and Gil’s marriage, but she was too damn happy Monica had such an amazing husband. He’d been a stellar dad and an amazing friend too.

“Okay, when do we want to pick her up?” Robin blinked hard. “Seven?”

“Yeah, that works. I already checked with Jake. He told her he’s cooking a special dinner for her tonight, so she doesn’t have any other plans.”

“We need to remember to text her happy birthday though. Remember when Mark surprised me for my thirtieth?”

Val started laughing. “You were so pissed.”

“I thought all my friends had completely forgotten about me on my birthday, Val. Of course I was pissed.”

“Mark’s the one who told us—”

“I know. I remember. Let’s just make sure we call Monica, okay?” She finished her regular circuit and saw her house peeking through the trees. “Talk to you later.”

“See ya.”

Robin was panting when she reached the kitchen door on the side of the house. She opened it and immediately yelled, “Emma?”

“In the kitchen, Mom.”

Robin walked through the mudroom and hung her sweatshirt on one of the pegs in the wall. “You almost ready?”

Emma was sitting at the counter, eating a bowl of cereal and staring at her phone with a smile on her face. She glanced up. “Yeah.”

“Anything going on today?”

“Not much.” She slid her phone into her backpack. “I have a group project for physics though. Can I go to the library with everyone after school?”

“Who’s in the group?”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “Uh… Heather Bix. Jordan Havers. Some guy named Christian who I don’t really know. I was going to ride with Heather though.”

“She a good driver?”

“Mom, it’s like five minutes to drive to the library.”

Robin pursed her lips. “This wouldn’t be an issue if you’d just get your license.”

Emma sighed deeply. “I will. This year. Before I go to college, I promise.”

Robin glanced at her daughter’s cereal bowl and backpack. Then the clock. “Clean up. We should go.”

She heard Mark on the stairs. Her husband walked through the door and straight to their daughter.

“Morning, sweetie. Did you say you have a physics project?”

“It’s nothing big.” She lifted her cheek and her father kissed it. “Like a ‘Physics in the News’ project. It’s not even an experiment or anything. We just need to make a poster.”

Robin stared at Mark. He was nearly six foot, which she liked because she was almost five foot ten. He was slim and still had a runner’s build even if he was starting to get a bit of a belly. They’d met on the track team in college, and she’d fallen in love with his humor, his persistence, and his kind smile. Plus she couldn’t lie, the sex was really good.

And twenty-three years later, she woke up every morning alone in bed.

Mark hadn’t even looked at her. He hadn’t said good morning. Hadn’t even glanced her direction.

Am I a ghost in my own house?

He grabbed the handle of the coffeepot and refilled his mug. Then he kissed the top of Emma’s head and said, “Have a good day, honey.”

Robin watched him disappear down the stairs.

Really? This? Every day until I die?

She didn’t have time to think about it. She grabbed her keys and nodded toward the door. “Time to go.”





She grabbed a coffee at Val’s café after she dropped Emma off at school; then she headed to Glimmer Lake Curios, the antique shop she’d taken over from her mother.

Robin had gone to school to be an artist. She’d never intended to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but her mother had run the shop successfully in the quirky lake town for decades. Both of Robin’s kids were in school when Grace was ready to retire, and the timing made sense, so Robin became the proprietor of a store that sold everything from antique desks to glass art to decorative horseshoes.