Page 17 of Eye on the Ball
The flip side of that saying is that foresight is a big, fat zero.
6
Tess
After some serious cuddle time with my cat, Lou, I decided a bubble bath might wash away the week. Jack, being the best boyfriend in the history of the world, brought me a glass of wine, kissed me, and told me to take my time. He’d feed Lou and, knowing Jack, search the fridge for any spare dessert that may have been hiding when he’d looked for it that morning.
The bath didn’t help as much as usual, though. I still had the vaguely hungover feeling I always experienced whenever I had to see someone’s future death. And, new boundaries or no, I felt guilty about not taking time to talk to Brenda. I still found it almost impossible to believe that she’d actually been dating Ace Truckman. The man was a troll (the jerky human kind, not a literal troll, which we’d found out recently did in fact exist but mostly lived in mountain caves).
Opposites attract, though. Who would have predicted a small-town pawnshop owner would fall for an international man of mystery like Jack? And the man had lots of mysteries. I still didn’t have the entire story of the killer monkeys on Mount Fuji.
I gave up on relaxing. My brain was scrambling like a caffeinated hamster in a wheel. I dried off, put on my comfiest Donald Duck PJs, and wandered out to the front room, where Jack and Lou were sprawled together on the couch watching a National Geographic special.
Both of my cats stared with avid attention at the gazelles racing across the screen.
“Thinking of lunch?”
Jack grinned at me and held out a hand for mine. “Come sit with me, beautiful. Nah. Gazelles are too much work. Those hooves are hard to digest.”
“What?”
He cracked up. “Just kidding, Tess. I’ve never chased a gazelle in my life. I’m more of a triple cheeseburger kind of guy.”
I snuggled up next to him and sighed.
“Long day?”
“Very.”
“What went wrong?” His beautiful green eyes warmed with concern.
“I saw my new employee die.”
Shock, followed by understanding, crossed his face. “Oh, no. She touched you.”
“Yeah. Not her fault, though. I hadn’t gotten around to the talk yet.”
“Was it awful?”
“No. Well, no more than usual.” Jack was the only one I ever gave any details about my visions. I told him the basics.
“Still. I know they’re hard on you even when they’re peaceful and a long way into the future.” He stroked my hair. “On the bright side, you called her your employee, so you must have hired her?”
“Yes!” I told him about her interview.
“Did she say what happened to Jimmy?” Jack frowned. “I had hopes for that boy after he did such a good job of helping me paint.”
“For which you paid him way, way too much, I’m guessing.”
“What? The going rate for assistant house painters isn’t a hundred bucks an hour?” He rested his head against the couch. “I’ve been hungry and desperate, Tess. I never had to resort to theft, but I know what it feels like.”
I hugged him, and then I fell asleep next to him on the couch while he and Lou watched more wild animals do wild animal things. When I woke up Saturday morning, I was in bed, Lou was asleep on my pillow next to me, and Jack was gone.
When I wandered into the kitchen to make coffee and feed Lou, I found a note on the table.
Good morning, gorgeous?—
Brenda called me early this morning and said she might need to hire me. She sounded pretty upset, so I’m meeting her at that coffee shop just outside of town. I’ll be in my office later. See you soon.