somebody that cares, and you care.” Delia reached over, brushing the bangs back on Lydia’s forehead. “Earlier you asked if I was worried that you could do what I do, and I’ve never worried for a second. And this is why.”
“This?” Lydia asked.
“Sitting here with a stranger all night, just to make sure he’s not alone,” Delia said. “You have a sense of responsibility and right and wrong that’s vital to doing what I do. What we do.”
“But I don’t have the sense like you do, Nana,” Lydia said. “I’m fascinated by the supernatural world, but I’m not part of it.”
Delia laughed softly at that. “Oh, sweetie, you are a part of it. Premonitions don’t make you a part of it. You have the aptitude, knowledge, and such a vast understanding of it. But most importantly, you have the heart for it. You have the openness and compassion that both worlds thrive on. You were meant for this.”
“You really think so?” Lydia asked.
Delia smiled reassuringly at her granddaughter. “I do. And when I’m gone someday, and you’re doing this on your own, I won’t have a single worry. You were born for this, and you’ll be great at it.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so,” Delia insisted. “I love you, Lydia, and I am so proud of you.”
“I love you, too.” Lydia smiled, and Delia kissed her on the top of the head.
Lydia offered to switch chairs, but Delia insisted she was fine. Daniel stirred a bit more, and as time went on, he seemed to get more coherent. He began singing fragments of a song to himself in a low, out-of-tune mumble.
When he first started, Lydia had gotten up so she could lean over the bed and try to decipher the song, but she could only get a few words and phrases. “Poor voyager,” “weary traveler,” and “through the waves” were the only bits she got really clearly. But it didn’t sound familiar to either Lydia or Delia.
A few hours later, Daniel’s mother finally arrived, saying she’d taken the phone off the hook and didn’t know anything was wrong until she checked her messages when she woke up for the day. She seemed a little annoyed with Lydia and Delia’s presence, so they left her alone to be with her sleeping son.
7. Six Weeks Later
Lydia parked her car on Main Street across from the Capri Public Library. As soon as she got out, the warm summer air blew over her, and she breathed in deeply, loving the scent of fresh-cut grass mixed with the salty aroma of Anthemusa Bay.
While she enjoyed being at Sundham University, it was a bit farther from the sea than Capri, and she missed the smell of the ocean.
She was about to cross the street when she just happened to glance back at Pearl’s Diner. It was a somewhat run-down restaurant but it served delicious food, although Lydia was in no mood to eat. It appeared to be Delia’s goal to fatten her up over summer break, and Lydia had already eaten more for breakfast than she normally did in a day.
But it wasn’t the food that caught her eye—it was a patron. Pearl’s had booths in front of the large windows that faced the library, and sitting in the first booth was Daniel, eating a bowl of soup by himself.
He looked different from how he had when she’d last seen him. His hair was shorter, growing out from where they’d shaved it in the hospital. He appeared thinner too, and his face especially seemed gaunt. Snaking out from under the sleeve of his T-shirt she could see a dark pink tendril of his fresh scars. But he was up moving and eating, so he had to be okay.
Lydia hadn’t seen him since the hospital, and she couldn’t resist going in to talk to him. She was almost beaming when she walked over to the booth, and he looked rather startled when she sat down across from.
“Daniel, hi. How are you?” Lydia asked cheerily.
“Hi…” Daniel trailed off and gave her a confused smile, and up close she saw the dark circles under his eyes. There was a hollow look to his eyes, almost like he
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley