Part 2 (1/2)
”Yes. I think about it every day and every night. Osbert still doesn't sleep through the night and refuses to take my milk from a bottle, so that means Terry can't help with all those late-night feedings. I spend a lot of time watching middle-of-the night TV with a baby stuck to a b.o.o.b. I've developed a fondness for crime shows and all those reality programs on addiction.”
Sadie glanced down at Osbert, who had wrapped a chubby fist around her necklace and was attempting to pull the pendant into his mouth. She unclenched his fingers and tucked the necklace inside her s.h.i.+rt.
”Since when do you wear jewelry?” Maeva asked, narrowing her eyes. ”Is it a gift from Zack?”
”No.” Although she sure wished it was. ”I began wearing jewelry when clients began paying me with vintage gold necklaces instead of cash.”
Maeva got up and walked over for a closer look. Sadie slipped the necklace off from around her neck and handed it to her friend. Maeva squeezed the pendant between her fingers, then rubbed it softly against her cheek and pressed it to her closed eyes. Sadie didn't want to think about how intimate one could get with a necklace.
”Why are you trying to get something off the necklace?” Sadie asked her.
”I figured it might be worth a shot.” She sighed and slipped it back over Sadie's head. ”The only thing that came to my mind were the words Stone Soup.”
”Stone soup?” Sadie's eyebrows went up. ”I've got some Campbell's in the cupboard. But probably chicken noodle.”
”I think it's an old children's story or nursery rhyme. This is what happens to mediums when they become mothers.” Maeva slumped back into her chair. ”And you'd better not take payment in jewelry or you'll end up like one of those small-town doctors that take payments in eggs and chickens.”
”It's better than no payment at all,” Sadie said seriously. ”Look, why don't you go and have a nice bubble bath and then climb into my bed for a couple hours. Me and the Ozzmeister will be just fine.”
”Really?”
”Sure. I was going to watch a little TV myself before getting a couple hours of shut-eye. I'm not ready to sleep yet and you look dead on your feet.”
Maeva blinked back tears of grat.i.tude and thanked Sadie profusely before taking off at a near run down the hall.
”Now no more tears, buddy,” Sadie said to Osbert. ”Auntie Sadie needs to chill out and stop thinking about dead hookers.”
Osbert blew spit bubbles at her in agreement.
Sadie and Osbert did fine because the baby had tired himself out in the crying jag on the way over, and he was soon asleep in her arms. Sadie gently put him down on the sofa next to her and prayed he wouldn't wake up. Then she resumed her early happy-hour s.h.i.+ft and ate her Cheetos, was.h.i.+ng them down with beer.
Her cell phone chirped that a text came in. She tugged it from her pocket, read the message from Zack, and released a string of curse words that would've increased Osbert's vocabulary greatly had he been old enough to speak.
Zack had picked up some extra work on the weekend so now it was going to be another ten days before they saw each other. Sadie blinked back tears as she downed the last of her beer.
”Screw him,” she muttered. ”If he doesn't want to be here, there's nothing I can do about it.”
Even as she said it, she knew that he was just trying to hold down a job and feel useful. Sadie herself would've worked all weekend if a job came up, so it was unfair to expect him to turn down work. It wasn't the working that annoyed the h.e.l.l out of her. Things would be different if he acted like a boyfriend when he was home.
She angrily s.n.a.t.c.hed up the remote control and channel surfed until something caught her eye. The local news station was announcing another prost.i.tute had been murdered at a local hotel, and the anchor was suggesting to the people of Seattle that SPD wasn't doing enough to keep the city safe for the working girls. They'd already labeled this as the work of the Seattle Slasher.
”Huh. Look at that,” Sadie said to sleeping Osbert. ”Looks like business is picking up. If people keeping killing each other, I might just be able to afford to get you a Tickle Me Elmo for your first birthday.”
The news droned on and after a while Sadie felt her own eyes drifting closed. She arranged herself on the sofa to protect Osbert in case he abruptly decided to roll over or do handsprings off the couch while they slept. Together they dozed for a few hours-though it felt like only five minutes had pa.s.sed when the baby decided to put an end to all sleep with an operatic high note that would've made Maria Callas proud. The fillings in Sadie's teeth were still vibrating when she picked him up and began walking the floor while he gnawed on her shoulder.
Maeva rescued them both. She walked into the living room, pausing to yawn and stretch like a cat, before taking Osbert from Sadie's grasp.
”Thanks sooo much,” Maeva sighed. ”I haven't slept three straight hours in months.”
Sadie glanced at her watch and sure enough it was after four o'clock. Time flies when you fall into a sleep-deprived zombie state.
Maeva sat in a chair to nurse the always-hungry Osbert and Sadie went to the kitchen to fix them a late lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches. She returned to the living room with the sandwiches and went back for drinks. Sadie took the time to position a sandwich and lemonade at Maeva's elbow on a corner table so she could eat while nursing. Then she settled onto the couch with her sandwich and another beer.
”How are things going at Madam Maeva's Psychic Cafe?” Sadie asked. ”Are the Thingvolds holding down the fort?”
”Well, you know how Rosemary and Rick are . . . ,” Maeva responded, taking a bite from her sandwich.
Rosemary and Rick Thingvold were a husband and wife Wiccan revolution. Maeva had introduced Sadie to the Thingvolds when she needed help to excise a demon from a h.o.a.rder's house. Maeva had referred to them as paranormally knowledgeable yet ”quirky.” Sadie thought of them simply as bat-s.h.i.+t crazy. They tended to attract attention wherever they went because of their matching shaved their heads, multiple tattoos, and body piercings. Sadie used to refer to Rosemary and Rick as Thing One and Thing Two until Maeva told her to knock it off.
”Does that mean they're doing good at Madam Maeva's?” Sadie asked.
”Yes. Business is good. Very good. Rick has set up a website and a blog while Rosemary tweets. Business is up twenty percent since I left.”
”Really? What do they blog and tweet about?”
”Everything. If one of them opens the mail or p.o.o.ps, they probably announce it to the world,” Maeva said in a clipped tone.
”Well, it brings in new clients, right? Guess the advertising is a good thing. It means you can stay home with little Ozz and you don't have to worry about the business tanking while you're off.”
”Sure. It's great.”
Sadie didn't have to be a police detective or a trauma cleaner to pick up on the clue that Maeva missed working.
”Look at it this way-it took two of them to replace one of you.”
”That's true. I just wish they weren't so d.a.m.ned good at it. They're such keeners. They've even taken on the occasional side job,” Maeva said, expertly switching Osbert from one breast to the next.
”Really? What kind of side job does a psychic do? Home parties like Tupperware gone horribly wrong?”
”The usual . . . seances and stuff. They're actually visiting a home tonight and asked if I wanted to come along, you know, just to keep my hand in. It was a referral from that convention I spoke to so, actually, the business came from me.”
”Then you should go. Why not? It'd be fun,” Sadie said, taking a long pull on her beer.
”Maybe . . . if you come along.”
Sadie raised her eyebrows in question. ”Why would you want me there?”
”The Thingvolds asked for you.”
”Sorry, but that cuts into the plans I had to wallow in self-pity and reflect on the despairing abyss that is my love life.”
”I take it you miss Zack?”
”He's taken on another job this weekend, so now he won't be back for ten days.” Sadie spat the words out and was surprised at the fury she felt.
”Huh. Are you p.i.s.sed because you just miss him so desperately, or is it because you feel like he's avoiding being with you?”
Sadie hated it when her friend nailed it with the first try. Sometimes having a psychic for a friend sucked-even an on-maternity-leave psychic. Sadie didn't reply except to get off the couch and bring their dirty plates to the kitchen, where she spent an inordinate amount of time was.h.i.+ng the dishes and feeding Hairy some kibble. When she returned to the living room, Maeva had Osbert against her shoulder and was gently rubbing his back to produce a belch. Sadie sat down on the sofa and began transferring odds and ends from her current purse to the new one from Maeva.