The Rift
but
I’d heard things like it often enough to understand what she meant.
Ronald didn’t know she had a daughter because she hadn’t told him.
If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t want to remind him of her
age, but my mother rarely told her suitors about me, so it could
just be habit. “I’ll try to do better, Momma, I really will. Why
don’t I plan a visit out to see you next month?”
    Momma’s eyes narrowed for the briefest
moment, before she put her sad face back on and shook her head.
“I’d love that, sweetie, you know I would, but April is an
incredibly busy month for me at work and with planning the
wedding…” She gave a quick glance at Henry and the therapist. “Why
don’t we chat after I get home and work something out? I don’t have
my calendar with me.”
    “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll have my people
call your people.” The game was done and I knew Momma had no
intention of inviting me for a visit or to the wedding. She’d have
to tell Ronald about me eventually, but having me at the wedding
would be too much for her. Too many people remembered me as the
girl who talked to ghosts, and she wouldn’t want Ronald or anyone
else to be reminded of her connection to me.
    “Oh, Kelsey,” Momma said, her southern drawl
becoming more pronounced. “I don’t know why you have to be so rude
to me.”
    And she was right, I didn’t have to be so
rude to her. I had my moments of anger and resentment, but I
understood her desire for distance. My dad disappearing when I was
eight and me with my bizarre abilities had been hard on her. “I’m
sorry, Momma. I was making a joke. It wasn’t funny.”
    Henry gave my calf a squeeze. “Let me tell
you Mrs. Fitzhugh, I think you raised an amazing girl, here. I just
feel so lucky to have her in my life.”
    I smiled at Henry and tears pricked my eyes.
My mother beamed at him and forgot to be angry at me.
    Doctor Veronica, a woman not much older than
me, with wild, curly auburn hair and a perpetual frown, cleared her
throat. “Perhaps now would be a good time for me to speak to Kelsey
alone, to prepare her for the intervention. If you two wouldn’t
mind giving us some space?”
    Henry leapt up and offered my mother a hand.
“It’s a beautiful day, how about a walk around the grounds?” he
asked in a mock formal tone.
    My mother stood and smiled at him, looking
like she might be falling in love. I considered making a comment to
that effect but thought better of it. Henry and my mother vanished
outside, leaving me alone with Dr. Veronica Thenier.
    “I know we haven’t gotten off to a good
start, Kelsey. But I’m here to help you. Your friends are worried
about you. Yvonne will have to consider restricting your activities
even more if you can’t allow me to help you deal with your drinking
problem.”
    When Dr. Veronica said we’d gotten off on the
wrong foot, she was referring to our first fifteen sessions, during
which I said not one word. I might have signed a contract to work
for Varius, but I hadn’t given them the rights to my private
thoughts, or my issues. I didn’t trust Dr. Veronica not to go
running back to Yvonne Forrester if I said the wrong thing. I
didn’t want to talk to Doctor Veronica, but I couldn’t afford to
have my activities at Varius restricted any further than they
already were, and maybe talking to her would convince Tucker to
stop nagging me. As for my other friends worrying about me, Jed,
Angelica, and Thad hadn’t said a word to me in over a month and a
half, beyond a hello in passing, and I seriously doubted they cared
if I was a raging alcoholic or not. I barely considered them
friends any more. If I talked to the doctor for anyone, I would do
it for Tucker and Henry. I would do it to earn some trust with
Yvonne and get out of that ridiculous intervention.
    I sensed a ghostly presence and looked around
for Tucker to see how he thought I should handle things, but
instead I saw Houston standing in a dark corner
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