Higher Ground Read Online Free Page A

don’t have to.” He glanced at her one last time before falling in step with me again. “My grandmother’s gifted. If I wanted to know something, I’d go to her.”
    “Gifted? As in…”
    “Palms, cards, numerology, and sometimes gut instinct and or dreams.”
    “Holy shit. You’re serious,” he said.
    “She’s had the same clientele for forty-five years. Now their kids and grandkids see her. There are a few vacationers from the old days who drop in whenever they’re in town.”
    “I guess you can’t get away with shit, huh? That must suck.”
    “Miss Verity tries to let us live our lives. I remember a worried look once when I was twelve. She’d been studying my hand in the back seat on our way to the airport for vacation. Other than that, she’s never offered and I’ve never asked.”
    He asked me to share some of her scariest predictions, and by that, he meant the most accurate. Talking about her took my mind off the constant guilt over Van, the nervousness of being so close to Oliver, and the boredom that spending my free time with dead people had induced. I told him story after story as we walked. Occasionally, he’d stop to take a picture of something, listening to me ramble next to him. He didn’t miss a word, though. He asked questions and laughed, and when I told him I needed to get home, he stayed with me until we were back in Uptown, standing at the end of my block.
    “Can I take your picture?” he asked. I’d been expecting a “goodbye” or maybe an “it was good to see you again,” but not that particular request.
    I swallowed down a nervous lump and nodded. “Sure.” The smile I managed was bigger outside than in, but I stared at my shoes until I heard the click.
    “I’ll see you later, Violet.” He turned to leave before I had the chance to look up.
    “Thank you,” I said to his back. “For the coffee and beignets.”
    He turned, grinned, and nodded. “You’re welcome.”
    Miss Verity was waiting by the door when I walked in that afternoon. “You’ve been gone for a while,” she said, glancing at me in question.
    “I know. I lost track of time.”
    “I’m glad you’re home,” she said. “Now I can catch a small nap before dinner.”
    I ended up doing the same thing, sleeping until the heat from the afternoon sun and the kitchen beneath my room combined to wake me. Covered in sweat, with my hand tucked into my panties, my first thought was of the dream I’d just had about a boy I barely even knew.
    My father’s voice boomed up the stairs to announce dinner around the same time I stepped out of the shower and onto my bathmat. The rest of the family was already seated at the dining room table when I took my place next to my mother. My parents made small talk about a farmers market they stopped at on the way home, but they avoided any mention of Van’s therapy session, the reason they’d been out in the first place.
    “How was your day, Violet?” my mother asked midway through dinner.
    “It was good. I met an old—”
    The sound of the front door opening caused all of us to turn our heads. A few moments later, my sister, Veronica, walked into the room. “Is there any food left?” she asked. “I’m starving.”
    Miss Verity left us to make a plate, and Ronnie sat down next to my father.
    “Where were you last night?” he asked.
    “At Bryan’s. I wasn’t feeling well. I found out why today.” My parents looked at each other and then at her. “I’m pregnant.”
    Van dropped his fork, and it clanged against his plate before it landed in his lap.
    “Son of a bitch!” my father yelled. His hand smacked the table, causing me to steady the glass of tea in front of me.
    Van and I got up quickly and practically ran to get out of the room.
    “Holy shit,” he said when we reached the stairs.
    Ronnie’s voice blended with Dad’s, and before we could make it to our rooms, Mom and Miss Verity had joined the fuss.
    “Do you think they’ll kill her?” I