Our Red Hot Romance Is Leaving Me Blue by Dixie Cash Page B

told herself this wasn’t really a lie. “I’m her granddaughter, Sophia Paredes,” she added.
    The voice on the other end of the line hurried on, leavingno openings for a response. “Ma’am, my partner and I run a private investigative service out of Salt Lick, Texas, called the Domestic Equalizers. We understand that Senora Paredes is a psychic. We have a complicated case we think she could help us with.”
    The caller knew of Gran Bella and her reputation? Sophia’s grip tightened on the receiver.
    “I was hoping to speak to her about her services,” the woman on the phone continued. “We’d like to know her fee for traveling to Salt Lick for a few days.”
    Sophia knew her grandmother’s fee for a lengthy involvement, and it was as much or more than she would make waiting tables part-time through the summer. Sophia possessed the same psychic powers as her dear departed grandmother, but only Sophia and Gran Bella knew it. Her eye twitched again, a sure sign that her financial troubles might be reaching a resolution, that her prayers might be answered.
    Possibilities began to filter through Sophia’s mind. Having long kept her own psychic powers under wraps, she wouldn’t consider using them except under dire circumstances. From her bank balance to the stack of unpaid bills on her dining table, she could think of nothing more dire than her current situation. She had no choice.
    “Hello? You still there?” The caller’s voice brought her back from her thoughts. “Hello? Hellloooo.” The woman’s tone held a sharper edge. “Hell,” she said away from the receiver but still audible to Sophia, “I think we got disconnected.”
    “No,” Sophia said quickly. “I’m here. Please don’t hang up. I’m here.”
    “Oh, I thought I’d lost you.”
    “No, I’m sorry. Uh, my grandmother just came in and I was explaining the call to her.”
    There, it was done. The lie had begun. Sophia was committed to the decision she had hastily made.
    “Maybe I should speak to her directly,” the voice on the phone said.
    “Oh, that is not necessary. Gran Bella is, uh, she has gone to the bathroom.” On a shaky breath Sophia took the plunge.
    “Senora Paredes’s fee is three hundred and fifty dollars a day. Or two thousand dollars for a full week of her service. The fee is non-negotiable. The money must be paid up front. Also, she would need to have her round-trip airfare paid as well as have transportation and lodging provided.”
    Sophia heard no response. For a moment, she considered that they had been disconnected or the caller had hung up in disgust. She heard distant conversation, as if the caller were speaking to someone else, a different voice with a pronounced West Texas twang. “Damn, she gets three fifty a day? We charge fifty and feel bad about it.”
    Sophia held her breath. At least the caller was interested enough to discuss it with someone. Then the voice came back on the line. “Look, let me talk to our client and see if he’s willing to pay that much. May I call you back tomorrow?”
    “Absolutely. I’ll, uh…I mean, we’ll be here.”
    “Super. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    “Oh, thank you, Debbie Sue. I hope we can do business together.”
    Sophia hung up, her thought pattern veering off in a new direction.
    It was amazing how when you thought you saw no prospect in sight, life could turn a corner. Gran Bella had told her that many times. She had also said, “ Be careful what you pray for, Sophia.”
     
    Stunned, Debbie Sue turned to Edwina, the receiver still in hand.
    “What’d she say?” Edwina asked. “Did she say she’d come? What’s the fee you were talking about?”
    Debbie Sue found herself blank for a moment.
    “What’s the matter with you?” Edwina asked, moving closer, peering into Debbie Sue’s eyes. “Lord, woman, you look like you just saw Jesus.”
    “She appears to be willing. So I told her I’ll call her tomorrow after I talk to Justin.” Debbie Sue’s