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was no one there like me. They said…but…” Her voice trailed off. She looked up. Zac was surprised at the anger in her expression. “Most of the so-called psychics at that fair were telling the people what they wanted to hear. Not the truth. I was just a kid, and I could tell that. There was one old man―” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. We never went near another psychic fair again.”
    “A lot of the people who call themselves psychics are just very good at reading people.” Zac shrugged. “They’re kind of like cops that way.”
    Mallory leaned forward. “But you believe in psychics. You came to me for help.”
    Zac shifted on the desk. He’d never thought of it that way. Mallory being a psychic. She wasn’t the person at the end of a hot line offering advice for three bucks a minute. Or someone who went on the afternoon talk shows and made contact with people on the other side. She was Mallory, the girl who’d tried to hammer the definition of quadrilaterals into his head. He’d seen what she could do. He’d never needed to name it.
    He leaned forward until his face was only inches from hers. He looked into her eyes. “Psychics I’m not sure about. I believe in you . I have faith you’re the real thing.”

Chapter 6
    He hadn’t called. It had been a week, and Zac hadn’t called to tell her what was going on.
    Mallory leaned back in her chair and pulled off her reading glasses to rub her eyes. She’d been thinking that too often. It wasn’t that she didn’t have enough work to keep her busy. The spreadsheet on her computer screen was evidence of that. The pre-tax season rush was beginning, and her schedule was filling up with calls and visits from clients. But far too often for her comfort she found her mind wandering away from tax credits to Zac. Had he found out anything?
    I have faith you’re the real thing.
    His words had given her a warm tingle. Or had it been the look in his eyes as he said it?
    Mallory turned her thoughts away from that particular memory.
    Was she the real thing? Had she helped him at all?
    A couple of calls had confirmed that Kim Gerson and Daniel Yeun had also attended the psychic fair. That’s when he’d had an officer take her home. “Now comes the tedious part of the job,” he’d said. “Checking and cross-checking.” His white teeth flashed as he smiled. “I’ll let you know when we find anything.”
    But she hadn’t heard from him. Did that mean there hadn’t been anything to find? Had she led him up a blind alley?
    Mallory spun the chair away from the desk and stood up. She couldn’t sit still anymore.
    There’d been nothing on the news. Or in the Midland Times .
    In the kitchen she sipped from a cup of coffee. Why was she so unsettled? She’d done what she could. Told Zac everything she’d sensed.
    It was Zac. He was what was unsettling her. She missed him.
    She laughed. The sound was loud and harsh in the stillness of the kitchen.
    She’d spent less than two days with him after how many years? How could she be missing someone she hardly knew now?
    She set the cup down on the counter sharply. Zac had needed her help. She’d given it to him. That was all. It was done.
    She didn’t want it to be done. She wanted to see him again. Wanted him to finish what he’d almost started in his office. The kiss. She wanted him to kiss her. To know what it felt like to have his lips against hers.
    Mallory snorted. Just thinking about Zac kissing her was enough to make her heart race. If he ever did kiss her, she’d probably turn to mush.
    Pulling an almond cookie from the jar, she chewed on it without tasting it. She was acting like a schoolgirl with her first crush. She was acting like the girl who’d had a crush on Zac all those years ago.
    She took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. This week of waiting had made her realize how isolated she’d become since her father died. She saw her clients and went to church, but it wasn’t the same.