The Call: A Psychic Paranormal Romantic Comedy Read online

  Matilda turned and smiled at the new arrivals. "Hi Darla, it's nice to see you again." Matilda held out a hand to shake. Darla ignored it and hugged her.

  "Hello, sweetheart. This is my second oldest, Adrian. He's a doctor," Darla said.

  Adrian laughed. "That's true, I am a pediatrician by training, but I run the charitable foundation for the family. It's nice to meet you, Matilda." He shook her hand with a grin.

  "He's single," Darla said.

  Adrian turned to glare at Darla.

  "Well, you are," she said. "They pretty much all are. Nine kids and NO grandchildren. Clearly, they need help with dating."

  Matilda laughed.

  "Mother, you've been here three minutes," William said.

  "Don't you 'mother' me, William. Let's take them in order, Matilda." Darla gestured to William. "This one went off and joined the military and hasn't dated a single woman since he got out. We're not sure what happened there, and he won't talk about it. Just glares at us. He used to date all the time. Even when he was in the service, he had lady friends for a while."

  William rolled his eyes. "I'm ruined for all other women, Mother."

  Matilda snorted. "Was that… sarcasm? Does he have a sense of humor?"

  Will patted her on top of the head. "Knock it off, Wee One, or I'll dangle you by your feet from the rafters."

  She grinned. "This is my bar. You better be nice. Connor will spit in your beer if I ask him to."

  "This one," Darla gestured to Adrian. "Can't talk to women."

  "Aww," Matilda laughed with the group.

  "Jacob is involved with a shrew that won't eat lasagna," Darla continued.

  Matilda was going to say something snarky until she saw Jake's face. His smile flickered towards a grimace.

  Oh. That must be hard. They don't like his girlfriend. That's gotta hurt, she thought.

  "Ethan's gay and hasn't brought a nice boy home for Sunday dinner in over a year. Samuel is Samuel," Darla said as the group laughter turned to catcalls.

  "Noah is a mess - you'll want to stay away from that one," Darla said over the group's laughter.

  "You haven't met Matthew and Luke, yet, but they'll probably surface sometime this evening. Neither of them has ever brought someone to family dinner. This hurts my heart, Matilda," Darla complained.

  "You have a daughter, too, right?" Matilda asked.

  "Yes, Bethany. She's in her last semester of college for her master's degree in psychology. She keeps diagnosing us as different varieties of dysfunctional, and she's also not married or involved with anyone. NO grandkids. Not even potential grandkids in sight!"

  "You know what will help with that heartache, Mom?" Ethan asked.

  "Hmm?"

  "Beer! Want one?"

  The group was laughing again.

  This must be a familiar routine for them.

  ✽✽✽

  Jake saw Matilda's smile waver a bit.

  "It's your shot," he called.

  She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Sorry, my mind was elsewhere."

  "You OK?" He asked. She was still smiling, but it seemed brittle.

  "I'm fine, thanks."

  "You said the same thing after you were tossed in a shit puddle," he reminded her. She missed her shot.

  About fucking time she missed one. Holy fuck.

  Even playing single-shot, where they each got one shot per turn, regardless of if they pocketed a ball, she was still kicking his ass.

  Her smile fell a bit more. "Your family seems great."

  Jake grinned. "They really are."

  He made his shot.

  She missed hers.

  Two misses in a row.

  "Matty, what's wrong?"

  Her lips tipped up a little bit. "Given up on the condescending nickname?"

  Jake chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Wee One is gonna win it."

  "Bah! That's Connor's name for me. You can't have it."

  "Too late," he said with another grin.

  ✽✽✽

  Matilda had a strong desire to leave. She didn't want any more beer. She didn't want to play pool. She didn't want to look at Jake's grin. She didn't want to watch his great big family be silly together.

  Stupid grin. Stupid lucky shrew girlfriend. I hate her and I've never even met her. She's probably fucking gorgeous. Matilda shook her head again to clear her thoughts. Jake's girlfriend was none of her business.

  "I'm done after this round, OK?" Matty said.

  Jake's gaze snapped to her face. "It's not even seven."

  "I know, but we clearly accomplished our mission. Midas is happy," she chuckled. Sam was sitting in the corner, watching her.

  She pocketed the eight-ball out of order, just to be done.

  "Booo!" William called. "She threw that one away."

  Jake made chicken sounds at her.

  "Really?" she asked. "That's mature."

  "When you met me, I was wearing a Scooby-Doo t-shirt. Why the fuck would you think I'm mature?"

  She grinned. A real grin. "That's true. What's with the Polo shirt tonight?"

  Jake opened and closed his mouth. Will and Sam laughed.

  "The shrew must be back from Madrid," Will explained. "She hates the t-shirt and jeans routine."

  "You guys really shouldn't call her a shrew. That's his girlfriend. Come on. Be nice," Matilda said. It clearly bothered Jake. Every time someone mentioned her, he frowned or turned away.

  She looked at Sam for support. He seemed to be gentler than everyone but Ethan.

  "Don't look at me," he said. "When I call her by a name, it's 'whore'."

  Wow.

  She turned back to Jake. "Sorry, I tried."

  "S'ok. Bella has a bitchy streak."

  "Understatement" Will fake coughed.

  "Bella?" Matty asked.

  "Stephanie," Sam said.

  Jake rolled his eyes. "She changed her name a few years ago. She felt like 'Bella Morgan' sounded better."

  "Oh. She's a model, right? Gorgeous, if I recall correctly," Matilda tried to smile.

  "Who's gorgeous, besides you, Wee One?" Noah asked.

  Matilda opened her mouth to answer, but words weren't coming out.

  "We were talking about Stephanie," Sam said.

  "Eww," Noah shuddered.

  "That is totally not fair! The woman's not here to defend herself," Matilda said.

  "You haven't met her, Matty. She's a horrible person and doesn't deserve your defense," Sam said with complete sincerity.

  "I'm sorry they don't like your honey, Jake," Matilda tried to sympathize.

  Jake was chugging his beer.

  They have to be exaggerating. He wouldn't be with a terrible person.

  Sam grunted a little laugh. "Don't feel too bad for him."

  "We're done beer sampling, right?" Jake asked. "Stay for one more game? Luke and Matthew will be sorry to miss you."

  At her nod, he went to the bar and ordered a double whiskey.

  ✽✽✽

  Two hours later, Matilda was still at the bar, sitting with Darla and Luke, talking about music. Luke was a musician and played several instruments.

  Matthew showed up for a beer after teaching his English as a Second Language evening class but left after one round. He had to be up early to teach second grade the following day.

  Matilda had the distinct impression that the Trellis family had several conversations about her when she wasn't around. Matthew skipped the handshake all together, scooping her up in a spinning hug. When he put her down, he declared that he had second graders that were bigger than her. It seemed like a rather personal interaction for a family work acquaintance. But, Matthew also scooped Ellen up in a hug. Maybe he was just a warm person.

  Something poked her in the shoulder.

  When she turned around, Jake was standing closely behind her with a pool cue.

  "I've trashed William enough. Come play with me," he whined.

  "I'm comfortable, right here. Go play a d
ifferent brother. There are a lot of you people," she said with a smile. He smelled like good cologne and whiskey. "Having a bit of a whiskey party?

  Jacob put an arm around her waist, hugged her back to his body, and picked her up off the bar stool. "Come on, Matty!"

  "Holy fuck! Put me down! Gah!" She yelled through laughter while kicking her feet.

  "Pool!" He yelled back, still holding her off the ground with one arm. "Say it! Say 'I will kick Jake's ass in pool, as per usual,' and then I'll put you down."

  "OK! OK. Fine. Put me down. I'll play one more with you," she said.

  "Best of three!" Jake demanded.

  "You're drunk, that's not going to take long!" Everyone remaining laughed, including Connor.

  Gary and Ellen had left an hour ago. Ethan and Adrian left shortly after them, followed by Will. Noah made a friend and left with her about twenty minutes earlier. Hank, Darla, and Luke were putting on their coats.

  "Bye, kids. Be good." Darla kissed Matty, Jake, and Sam on the cheeks.

  "Samuel, please put the drunkard to bed after pool is done," Hank called over his shoulder.

  Jake racked the balls.

  "What's the obsession with pool about? Where'd it come from?" Matilda asked. "I grew up in a bar, I have an excuse."

  He grinned. "I like watching tiny women bend over the table. It gives me an excuse to oggle at my leisure."

  "Ugh. I knew this would happen if I played with your balls too much," she chuckled.

  "I like the geometry of it. Thinking through the angles and the way the game fits together. It's like an ever-changing puzzle," he admitted.

  "That was a surprisingly lucid answer," Matilda laughed.

  "I'm not really that drunk, Matty." His gaze was more direct than usual. She felt slightly uncomfortable.

  "Pfft. You just hauled my ass off a barstool. You're plenty drunk."

  "I know. You kicked and wiggled. It was nice for me. You should come home with me and do a different kind of wiggling."

  "I'm pretty sure you have a six-foot-tall supermodel waiting at home for you," Matty teased. He was drunk. She knew better than to take this seriously.

  "No, I don't. She doesn't go into my space without me. She'd steal something."

  Sam started laughing. "He's not wrong."

  "Jake, if you don't trust her and everyone hates her, why are you dating her?" Matilda asked.

  "Mmm. Because she cries when I try to dump her. And because she serves a purpose as arm candy," he said.

  Arm candy. She's gorgeous. Of course, he'd stay with her. If I needed a reminder to keep this professional, there it is, Matilda thought.

  ✽✽✽

  Jake really didn't want to start talking about Bella again. His body firmly believed that a wiggling Matty pressed to him meant it was fun time. While the talk of Bella would end that bodily misconception, it would also cause Matty to defend his girlfriend again.

  Sam was right. Bella didn't deserve the defense.

  "Why were you sad earlier?" Jake asked.

  "I wasn't sad," Matilda replied. "Just pensive. There's a difference."

  "Why were you pensive earlier?" He grinned.

  "I'm envious of your lovely, chaotic, giant family. I'm an only child and my dad is gone," she said.

  "I'm sorry," he said.

  "Me too," she said.

  "If you think this was chaos, you should come to Sunday dinner," Sam said.

  "Oh?"

  Jake rolled his eyes. "Every Sunday, we have dinner as a family. There's a lot of laughing and talking. Darla bosses everyone around. I get yelled at constantly for swearing at the table. There's good food. And beer. And a dog." Jake shrugged. "Family time. Because, you know, we don't see each other every fucking day."

  Matilda's smile was a little sad again.

  Chapter 5

  Sam texted Matilda on Wednesday afternoon.

  SAM: So, how do we get Connor to sell?

  MATILDA: What are we buying?

  SAM: What can we get him to sell?

  "So, I'm going to go talk to Connor about it," Matilda said to Ellie later that day.

  "Why isn't Sam going?" Ellie asked.

  "Because I don't want Connor to be surprised. He might get thrown off. Beers?" Matilda asked.

  "We're in a meeting until 5. After that?" Ellie suggested.

  "Sounds good." They made kissy sounds to each other and hung up.

  Matty left for the bar shortly before 5. It wasn't a long walk, and Ellie and Charlie would be late anyway. They were usually late when meeting after work.

  Spring had definitely sprung in Chicago. Late March was warmer. The trees were starting to bud with leaves. Matilda went out in jeans and a t-shirt without getting a chill, but she brought a hoodie with her for later.

  There was no one in the pub when she arrived. Conner was stocking the coolers from the storeroom in the back.

  "Hey, it's my wee one! Two days in a row. You left them big boys elsewhere today, eh?"

  She smiled. She'd known Connor for most of her life. Her dad distributed Connor's beer through the bar when she was growing up.

  "It's my favorite old Irishman. Fancy meeting you here!"

  "Darling girl, I'm always here. Whatdoya want ta drink?" He said, just a touch of accent drifting into his speech. "Those boys paid their tab with a very nice tip last night."

  'They're good boys," Matilda agreed. Tipping was a sign of respect and appreciation.

  "Their mama's real nice, too. Little, like you, but feisty like you, too."

  Matilda laughed. "I'm pretty sure Darla's feistier than me. She's got nine kids - only one girl - and they're all giants. I'd quell under that many boys."

  "The one with the pool cue has eyes for you, my Matilda," Connor said.

  "I don't think so, Connor. He has a very beautiful girlfriend."

  "Eh, I heard them talking about her last night," Connor rolled his eyes.

  "That's not what I want to talk to you about, though," Matty said.

  "Oh? There's a purpose to this visit?" He asked.

  ✽✽✽

  By the time Charlie and Ellie arrived, Connor was deep in thought. Ellie made it all the way to the bar and touched his hand before he greeted her. "Oh! Eleanor. Hi, lass. Charlie, my friend." They shook hands.

  Charlie and Ellie each got a beer and made themselves comfortable at the bar.

  "I don't know, Matty. I just don't know." Connor said again.

  "That's why I came to talk to you first. Thought you'd like to consider things," she said.

  "I'm getting up there in years. There's not much money in this pub. It's hard work for an old body. But it's the only thing I've ever done. What would I do with myself? What would I do for money?"

  Ellie snorted. "Connor, I don't think money would be an issue."

  "That's what Matilda says, too. But, I don't own this building. Just the business. And the business doesn't turn much profit. Just enough for an old man to get by."

  "Do you want to talk to him about it?" Matilda asked.

  "Which one was he, again?"

  "The last one to leave, not the guy that played pool," Matilda said.

  "Ah, not the one that's sweet on you," Connor smiled. He knew that would trigger Ellie.

  "Oh ho, what is this? Prince Charming is making eyes already? Did you wear the Juicy t-shirt?" Ellie asked.

  "No, Eleanor, I did not," Matilda said over Charlie's laughter. "I wore the boating outfit that you hate."

  "I hate that outfit," Ellie said.

  "I just said that."

  "Why did you wear it if you know I hate it?" Ellie asked.

  "Because it was nice without being too nice," Matty said. "I can't be juicy with clients."

  "Oh, fuck you. Eight big billionaire boy clients, mostly eligible, would have loved that fucking shirt."

  Matilda rolled her eyes.

  "So, the quiet one, eh?" Connor asked. "He paid the bill at the end, shook my hand and thanked me for a nice evening.
"

  "Sounds about right," Matilda said.

  "I'll talk to him, Matty. I'm not opposed to selling the beer or the bar, to be honest. I just don't think it's worth much," Connor admitted.

  ✽✽✽

  MATILDA: I'm sitting in the pub with Ellie and Charlie. Connor's not opposed to discussing a sale.

  SAM: What is he going to sell me?

  MATILDA: What are you going to buy?

  ✽✽✽

  A half-hour later, Sam and Jake came in the door. Matty, Ellie, and Charlie had moved to a booth in the back.

  "Here we go," Matilda said under her breath. She was nervous for Connor.

  "That's them?" Ellie said. She and Charlie had turned around in the booth to get a look. "The internet doesn't do either of them justice. Sam and Jake, right?"

  "Oh shit, I forgot you haven't met them. It's weird to think that I've only been working with them for a couple of weeks," Matilda admitted.

  "Nope, not the boys. Just the Silver Fox and Darla," Ellie said as she turned around.

  "Oh, God. Please shush about that. I have to work with these people."

  "So, I shouldn't try to sell you to Prince Charming?" Ellie said.

  "Ellie. Please Ellie, please be good," Matilda begged.

  "I shouldn't mention Little Jake?" Ellie asked.

  "Fuck! Shush. They're going to hear you!" Matilda said.

  "Poor Little Jake. He's like a dirty little secret. Caught live on camera, getting swallowed," Ellie muttered.

  "Charlie, you stop laughing! This isn't funny. This is my career!" Matilda scolded.

  "Sorry Matty, but this is hilarious," Charlie said, in a clearly audible voice.

  "Shush, he's coming over," Matilda said

  ✽✽✽

  "Sorry Matty, but this is hilarious," the guy said before Matilda shushed him.

  Jake paused.

  Are they laughing at me after last night? Jake wondered.

  He spent the entire day decidedly not thinking about striking out last night. It was a dumb move. He'd made a fool of himself.

  He walked to Matilda's side of the booth. "Scoot your rump roast, woman, and introduce me to Ellie and Charlie."

  As Matilda scooted, he said "You're blushing. Have you been talking about my balls again?"