Beneath the Surface by Gracie C. McKeever Page A

been practicing for the last two decades.
    Crystals, aura and chakra readings…even Danni was into it, following in her mother’s footsteps wearing different color crystals for different effects and meditating in full lotus position.
    EJ wasn’t nearly as spiritual, a former choir boy, now the typical lapsed Catholic—baptized in the faith, bred under his devout mother’s and the Pope’s edicts, but questioning most of the beliefs with which he’d been raised, and barely stepping into a church since he’d reached his late teens.
    He and Angela seemed to have nothing in common where religion was concerned except the one time Evelyn remembered walking in on them during the performance of some ritual that involved lots of burning green and white candles, chanting and half lotus positions.
    To this day the episode still mystified Evelyn, despite her sister’s hurried and vague explanations about a ceremony for promoting positive energy and healing.
    Evelyn had just assumed what she’d seen was another manifestation of her sister’s rebellion against the doctrines she and her siblings had had rammed down their throats as 46
    Beneath the Surface
    kids. She hadn’t thought the ritual an example of Angela’s new burgeoning faith, or that she’d been trying to help EJ over his grief after Sinclair.
    She knew now that the connection she’d witnessed between oldest and youngest sibling had been something sublime, proof positive of the special gifts that Angela and EJ
    had always had, and the beginning of the family’s acceptance and understanding of those gifts.

    * * * *
Evelyn had a flash now of EJ’s last words before he’d closed the door in her face, the warning in his tone before he went back, Evelyn knew, to get busy with Tabitha.
    Regardless of his affection for his sisters, or the circumstances that had brought Tabitha to him, she knew he wasn’t going to let her and Angela off the hook as easily as it had taken him to throw Evelyn out of his apartment.
    She didn’t worry too much about it though. Sure, he’d been angry, but he wasn’t nearly as angry this time as he had been the last time Angela had tried to fix him up with one of her husband Freddie’s co-workers.
    This particular intended for EJ had been sweet like Tabitha but, unlike Tabitha, was a typical blind date with a “wonderful personality,” in no uncertain terms, what most men would call a dog.
    Evelyn didn’t know if EJ’s level of anger then said more about whether or not he was shallow, as much as his level of anger this time said about Angela’s instincts about her brother’s preferences in women improving.
    “He was angry,” Evelyn finally said, “but it’s nothing he won’t get over.”
    “If he inherited anything from the Vega blood, it’s resilience and forgiveness.”
    “I’m not so sure about the forgiveness part. At least not until he gets us back.”
    “Another strong component of the Vega blood: revenge,” Angela wisely said and laughed. “So should I be expecting a visit from baby brother sometime soon?”
    “I think you should.”

    47
    Gracie C. McKeever

Chapter 6

    Tabitha made it to work later than her usual seven, but still bright and early at eight Monday morning, unlocked the heavy glass doors to her outer offices, made a beeline for her private office and closed the door.
    She had a half-hour to read her e-mail, go over potential client image profiles and sort through requests from her older clients, before Cynthia and a couple of other early birds arrived.
    When she sat down behind her desk and booted up her computer, the last thing on her mind was what work she wanted to clear up before the day officially started.
    The first thing on her mind was a man, one Eric Vega—tall, broad-shouldered, sexy and a brazen flirt, among other things—thoughts of him plaguing her since she left his loft last week three days ago.
    Normally, Tabitha didn’t put much credence into Zodiac signs, but in his case she