Free A Stitch on Time 5 by Yolanda Sfetsos

was her, wasn’t it? When I passed out in the car, it was because Ebony died.”
    “That does explain what happened,” Oren said. He wore his poker face, but I could see the pain buried deep in his light blue eyes. Ebony said she’d fallen for him, and I thought it was probably mutual. No age difference was going to get in the way of a true connection, and he had to be breaking up inside. “Excuse me.”
    “Oren,” I called after him but he’d already left the kitchen. “I’ll be back in a minute. I need to talk to him.”
    Papan nodded and let go. I made sure Willow was okay, and left Lavie holding her as she wept. I would comfort her soon, but first I had to speak to Oren. I raced out of the room and caught him reaching for the front door. “Oren, where are you going?”
    “I need some air.” He didn’t say anything else, just stepped outside.
    I followed him, leaving the door open behind us. Oren sat on the top step. I joined him, sitting close enough that his bony hip pressed against mine. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.” I didn’t know where else to start. I’m sorry wasn’t going to cut it, but I had nothing else.
    Oren scanned the dark front lawn, still as a statue.
    Minutes seemed to tick by. “Say something. It’s not good to bottle things up.” When he didn’t say anything, I added, “She told me she really cared about you. She said your connection went beyond the need to perform a ritual.” I sighed. “Ebony was in love with you.”
    That got his attention long enough to glance my way, before he turned back to the quiet suburban street ahead. “Sounds like the delusions of a young girl trying to humor an old man.”
    “No. She really cared about you, and I know you cared about her too.”
    “You don’t understand.” He shook his head, sending the white braid over his shoulder. “When you get to be my age and you’ve had a taste of love and happiness only to have it ripped away, you never expect to experience it again…certainly not with a woman young enough to be your granddaughter.” He paused long enough to sigh. “Ebony believed herself to be damaged, but she didn’t realize how good she really was. She was of pure heart, even her aura. But she never trusted or believed in herself. I was hoping to change that, to make her see her self-worth, and now she’s gone.”
    “You’re an honorable man, Oren McKee, which is probably why she fell for you in the first place.”
    He didn’t say anything for a short while. “That Maya took her wasn’t your fault. I didn’t leave the kitchen because I blamed you.”
    “Why did you leave?”
    Oren turned to look at me, his gaze intent on mine. “I didn’t want anyone else to see my grief. You might know and accept what was going on between us, but it wasn’t something Ebony and I advertised. Now that she’s gone, I’d rather it be kept private.”
    “Conrad knew,” I said. “And Saul seems to know everything, so he probably did too. Lavie was with me the night I saw you two, so…”
    A chuckle escaped him, but it sounded bitter.
    The landline phone rang, startling me.
    “You better get that,” Oren said. “The phone has been going crazy all night.”
    “Are you sure? I can let the machine get it.”
    “No, go and answer it. Whoever it is hangs up when the machine answers. Besides, I need a few minutes alone.”
    I nodded, draped an arm over his shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze before jumping to my feet. I grabbed the phone before the answering machine kicked in. “Hello?” Static filled my ears. “Hello?” I repeated.
    “Si…er…ra…”
    “Yes!” I could barely hear whoever was on the other end. “Who is this?”
    A second before I was about to hang up, a female voice said, “Sierra, is that you?” Her words were tinny and echoed down the line, but I knew who she was.
    “Yeah, Lee, it’s me.” Lee Huang was a fellow spook catcher I hadn’t seen in years, but we’d kept in touch via email.