No Tomorrow

I shake my head. “No, she didn’t say that. She said a child was coming into your life. Maybe I die and you get custody of Lyric!”

“Oh my God, why would I get custody of Lyric? Wouldn’t she go to her father, or your parents? Do you have a will set up naming me as her guardian?”

“No! You don’t even like kids! Why would I leave her with you?”

She frowns. “But I like Lyric. I would take care of her for you because I love you.”

“Holy shit. Do you think that’s what’s happening? Do you think I have a disease? Should I go to the doctor? Maybe I can stop it.”

She grabs my arms and shakes me. “Piper! Calm down. You are not dying. You’re totally healthy and gorgeous.”

“She really freaked me out.”

“That’s her job.”

“She didn’t say those things to you!”

“No, I think that’s part of the game. She tells one person good things and then tells the other bad things to create drama. See? She wants us to go tell our friends so they come here, too. So she can make more money.”

“I can’t believe you just paid someone fifty bucks to mess with my head!”

We cross the street and head for my car in the empty lot. “I didn’t know. I thought it would be fun. I’m sorry, Piper.”

I unlock the car doors from my key chain and we climb inside. Pulling a tissue out of my center console, I clean up my eyes and blow my nose.

“What did she say again?” I ask. “Shrouded? Keys and travel?”

“I don’t even remember. That incense was making me high, I think. My head feels floaty.”

“Mine too. Do you think she drugged us?”

“Don’t be silly. I don’t think you can drug someone with incense.”

I rub my hands together. “She made my hands feel warm and vibratey. Maybe she had some kind of druggy stuff on her hands?”

Ditra rolls her eyes. “Stop it. Your imagination is running wild. Don’t make me slap you,” she teases. “I will slap the crazy right out of you if I have to.”

“It’s not funny, Dee. I could be dying right now.”

“I’m just trying to make you laugh. And she never said you were dying.”

“So it could be someone close to me. But not you, because apparently you’re going to support me.” I start the car and throw it in reverse, backing out of the parking space. “Do you think it’s Lyric?” My heart seizes in my chest.

“No, I don’t.”

Blue. It must be Blue.

“If it’s not me, then it’s got to be Blue that she was talking about.”

“Piper… if Blue was going to die he’d be dead by now. He was found in a desert a few years ago with no food or water or anything, remember? And he’s been doing drugs like it’s his job for years. He’s fine.”

“I don’t know. I’m worried.”

“Don’t be. Things are going good with you right now. You’ve been so happy.”

“What if she’s right, though?”

“I want you to stop dwelling on this. No one is dying. She’s a paid entertainer who knows exactly what to say to rile people up. I saw this on television with a famous psychic. They showed how he played with the audience and how he convinced those people to believe him. It’s a mind screw, that’s all.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I know so.”

“I feel like I should give you your fifty dollars back.”

She waves her hand at me. “Stop it. You bought dinner. We’re even.”

“Do you think it’s bad that I want to believe the Acorn part? I like the idea of him being close to me.”

“You don’t need some crazy psychic to tell you that, Piper. Just like I believe my grandfather is watching over me, I think Acorn is still with you.”

My hands are still shaking from the psychic ordeal when I drop Ditra off and pick Lyric up.

“Thanks for watching her,” I say to Billy, pulling my daughter into a hug. That nutty fortune teller better not have meant that something is going to happen to Lyric.

“Anytime. We played video games,” he replies. Ditra kicks off her heels and settles onto the couch next to him, kissing his cheek.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Ditra calls after me as I head for the front door. “And remember what I said!”

“What did Aunt Dee say?” Lyric asks on the way to the car.

I put my hand lightly on her head. “Nothing, sweetheart. Just big people talk.”

“Is it about me meeting my real dad next week?”

“No, but I’m very excited about that.”

She beams up at me. “I am, too! I have a present for him, but it’s a secret.”

“I think he’ll like that very much.”

A week from now one of my long-time wishes will be coming true. My daughter will finally meet her father. I’ve spent the past two and a half months having short, fun conversations with Lyric every few days, slowly trying to explain to her that Blue and I met when we were very young, and that he had to move away, how I wasn’t sure how to call him to let him know he had a beautiful little girl, and how we finally found each other again. It’s hard to explain a very complicated relationship to a child, but she took it all extremely well, and has been nothing but curious and excited. The last thing I want is for Lyric to feel like Blue didn’t want her or abandoned her.