The Disowned — Volume 05 by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton (sight word books .TXT) 📕

Watching his face in a moment when his guard was down, she saw that her ragged nails stirred something in him, some faint acknowledgment of her vulnerability and a need to protect. It was all there in the way his expression softened then turned determined. She also saw when he realized there was nothing he could do to help her; the tiny flare of anger he turned toward himself, the frustration that forced him to his feet to pace restlessly to the window.

Not arrogance, then. Just an elevated sense of responsibility for others. Her entire view of him shifted.

An awkward silence fell over them until Gustavia strode into the room a few minutes later to glance first at Zack then shoot a pointed look at Kat. Kat nodded then shrugged before getting up to leave the room

_,.-'~'-.,_

Too scared to hope, Kat hoped anyway. Several hours had passed since Zack had left Hayward House and she could still see. Every time she felt the darkness creeping back, she pulled her mind back to that moment when she had looked at him and forgotten to be blind. That was the moment she realized that seeing was effortless but not seeing took work.

Quietly, she called out to Julie’s grandmother’s spirit. It had been Estelle who made the cryptic prediction that Kat’s sight would return. Now it was time to see what further insight the ghost might provide.

She called again and very faintly heard, “On my way.”

When Estelle popped into the room, Kat finally got a first look at the spirit who had helped her so much. Petite with salt and pepper hair that waved gently back from a face lined with the kind of wrinkles formed from a lifetime of smiling. Warm, dark eyes with a glint of humor and plenty of compassion shone tearfully from beneath sparse eyebrows inexpertly enhanced with a penciled-in line.

“I’m so happy for you, my dear.”

At first, Kat thought the blurring of the ghost’s outline was because Estelle was fading but then realized it was the effect of her own tears clouding her vision. “I can see you. Oh Estelle, you’re beautiful. Is it real—will it last?”

Estelle nodded, “Forever, now that you’ve made the right choices,” then, too overcome with emotion to speak, she faded out leaving Kat to come to terms with this new and positive twist.

_,.-'~'-.,_

Gustavia lay sprawled out backwards on the chaise lounge, one leg tipped with a bare foot, each toenail painted in brilliant Easter egg colors, was thrown over the chair’s arching backrest while the other rested on the floor. Completely absorbed in her work, she tapped away at the wireless keyboard propped up with some pillows on her belly.

Too busy to notice before, Kat now noted that Gustavia’s attire was very subdued. A batik caftan over striped leggings took the place of her normal uniform—a floaty skirt paired with a brightly colored top. Granted, Kat had only seen her a handful of times and then through the lens of Estelle’s perception but she knew that for Gustavia, this was a new look.

“How do you write like that? You’re practically upside down,” Kat observed in a lilting voice. She’d tried for droll but was too excited to pull it off.

How long would it take for Gustavia to catch on?

“Sometimes I need a different perspective to really…” Gustavia froze. Then she tipped her head back and looked at Kat, really looked at her. The keyboard flew and so did Gustavia—into a backwards somersault off the chaise that somehow landed her right in front of Kat. It must have been those impossibly long legs that gave her the reach.

“It worked?” Gustavia searched Kat’s eyes, found them clear and shining. “It really worked.”

Clutching hands and laughing at nearly the level of a shriek, the two full-grown women hopped in a circle like excited children on Christmas morning with Gustavia’s dog Fritzie running in circles and barking along.

Drawn by the noise, Lola thundered up the stairs, her little stump of a tail wagging so fast the rest of her wiggled along with it. Not far behind Lola, Julie swept into the room to see what the commotion was all about.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Kat can see.”

“I can see.” They spoke together.

Now, three women and two dogs did the insanely happy dance.

Once they had danced themselves out, Gustavia wasted no time. From the top dresser drawer, she grabbed a pair of neon pink socks and pulled them on before jamming her feet onto a pair of short boots.

“Get some shoes on,” she nearly shoved Kat out the door, “I’ll take you to see your folks. Wow. That word has an entirely new meaning today.”

The lump that formed in Kat’s throat was large and swift. Leave it to Gustavia to think of exactly the right thing to do. Swallowing through her tears, Kat nodded and left the room to return minutes later fully shod and carrying a jacket.

“Jules, call Amethyst and start putting together a shopping list. I’ll hit the market while Kat is visiting her folks and we’ll have a celebration dinner.”

“No, my parents would love to see you and then we will both go to the market No repeats of what happened last time.” Kat insisted fully prepared to forgo the visit rather than put Gustavia in danger.

_,.-'~'-.,_

It was an exhausted Kat who finally returned to her room hours later. The intervening years had been kind to her parents but there were still changes that wrenched at her heart. Lines of age, a few gray hairs marked the passing time but their joy washed away many of the traces. Even if everything went black again, Kat had this day to treasure.

The celebration dinner had helped her balance out any melancholia still left over from going home. Good food, a nice Cabernet and Gustavia who had dressed for the occasion in the most colorful outfit she could put together. None of it matched, though that was never a concern anyway, but you had to give the