The Doctor's Secret Bride(40)
“Not at all,” Felicia said. “It would be good for Precious to see Danielle one last time—say goodbye, especially since she didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to Cassie.”
“I guess you’re right. I’ll take her up to spend some time with Dad and Mom as soon as I get the chance.”
“Don’t wait too long. Danielle isn’t going to last much longer. Are you taking Michelle?” she asked after a short pause.
Erik tensed. Michelle was the last person he wanted to discuss with his mother. He knew they would have to meet sooner or later, and later was working out just great for him. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, you used to take Holly with you.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Then why ask the obvious?”
Felicia chuckled. “Oh, it’s very obvious.”
“What are you getting at, Mother?”
“Just that I’ve met Michelle and—”
“You met Michelle? When?”
“Just before I left for my cruise. I ran into her and Precious at the supermarket the day after you hired her. She’s beautiful and spirited. She told me she’d ignored Precious’ schedule that day and taken her to a park in Manchester, instead. I told her you’d be stone mad, but to stand up to you.”
Erik chuckled, remembering the fire in Michelle’s eyes as she stood up to him. “And she did. She accused me of being a neglectful parent,” he said with a wry twist of his lips. “She told me to stop feeling sorry for myself and pay more attention to Precious. Best advice I’ve had in two years.” A smile lit his face. “Precious adores her. Michelle had her giggling from the moment they met. I’m beginning to know my daughter in a way I never knew her before, not even when Cassie was alive.” He sighed. “Cassie really hogged her. I’ve never admitted this to anyone, but I was jealous of their close relationship. I felt left out at times.”
He saw no point in recounting the story Michelle had told him about Precious and Cassie’s last day together. He was still wrestling with the painful knowledge that Cassie died, conscious of the fact that her child and her husband were both upset with her.
Erik watched as his mother picked up the photograph of him and Cassie. A frown marred her forehead as she stared at it. She set it back on the piano, looked up at him and said, “Cassie had her reasons for hogging Precious.”
His eyes narrowed in question.
She walked back to the sofa. “Come sit down, son.” She patted the seat next to her.
“What do you mean Cassie had her reasons for hogging Precious?” He sat beside her.
Felicia placed a hand on his arm. “Erik, just before the wedding, Cassie went to see a psychic?”
“A psychic? Whatever for?”
“I guess she was uncertain about the future, about the two of you.”
“How could she doubt our love? We were together since high school. She’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
“She just wanted to make sure she was doing the right thing, I guess.”
“Okay, so what did this psychic tell her and what does it have to do with Precious?”
“She told her she would die young.”
Erik scuffed. “You know I don’t believe that garbage, Mom. Psychics are frauds who prey on the innocent and the insecure and take their money. I’m in the medical field. I believe in science, in the practical and the proven, not the phenomena of the spiritual world.”
“You believe in God, in heaven, I hope.”
“Yes, I do, Mother, but that’s different. We’re talking about someone who claims to have a heads up on other people’s futures.”
Felicia sighed, probably in relief that he still retained the religious teachings she’d instilled in him. “Yes, there are some fakes out there, but there are some who do have the gift of foresight. And,” she added quite pointedly, “Cassie did die young, Erik.”
As the words registered in his brain, Erik dropped his head in his hands. Yes, Cassie did die young, but it wasn’t a natural death. She didn’t fall ill with some incurable disease. He raised his head in desperation. “Did this psychic tell her how she was going to die, that she would get run down by a drunk?”
“I don’t know, son.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Why didn’t she tell me about this… this premonition?”
“She didn’t want you worrying every time she left the house or caught a cold. As you pointed out just a moment ago, you’re a doctor, and you would have subjected her to every possible test out there to find out if she had some terminal disease. Even if she’d told you, what would you have done? You could not have stopped the inevitable.”