You usually look immaculate and perfect.
Mara’s words drifted back to him, and he wondered if looking immaculate and perfect was good or bad. Mostly likely, he did look different. In his world, he was dressed casually. For Amesport, he probably looked like a billionaire snob, and for some reason that bugged the hell out of him. He used to like doing manual labor, getting sweaty and downright filthy. There had been a certain satisfaction in feeling his muscles burning after working all day. Suddenly he missed that sensation and the pleasure of accomplishing something he thought was important.
“Jared! Yoo-hoo! Over here!”
His head turned sharply to the right as he heard a high, singsong female voice calling him. Smiling as he spotted Beatrice Gardener waving her arms in the air to get his attention, he made his way around other booths to the elderly woman.
“Beatrice,” he acknowledged as he stood in front of her table and smiled at her. “Are you sure it’s healthy to actually be up this early in the morning? What are you doing here?” It was a dumb question. Judging by the table in front of him, which was loaded with crystals, she was here to peddle her wares. She had polished stones and jewelry, some of it obviously from her Natural Elements store. Jared considered it a New Age store, but Beatrice had once told him she was a student of all philosophies and religions, and she was an original. In the weeks since he’d been here, and judging from the conversations they’d had, she was definitely unique. His eyes ran over her long, pink shorts, sneakers, and T-shirt with her store logo emblazoned on the front. “Where’s Elsie?” Where Beatrice was, Jared could usually find Elsie Renfrew. The two old ladies seemed almost inseparable.
“Oh, Elsie refuses to get up before seven in the morning. Says she’s retired and deserves to sleep in now,” Beatrice said unhappily. “She’ll probably drop by later.”
“Did you set all this up yourself?” Jared asked with a frown. Beatrice was spry, but it didn’t seem right that she had unloaded the van behind her alone.
Beatrice chortled merrily. “I might be old, young man, but I can handle a few boxes. I only bring my crystals out here on the weekends to help people.”
Jared eyed the table. “The table is too heavy,” he told her politely.
“George always helps me with my table. He’s such a gentleman. He sells produce here every weekend.”
Jared shot her conspiratorial smile as he asked, “Have you gotten yourself a beau, Beatrice?” He put a dramatic hand on his chest. “You’ll break my heart.”
The silver-haired woman shook her finger at him. “Save your flattery for someone who believes it, young man. Remember, I can read your aura.” She raised her eyebrow at him knowingly.
“Then you know I’m telling you the truth,” Jared replied, deadpan.
Beatrice considered herself the town mystic and psychic. She was also the unofficial Amesport matchmaker, apparently able to foresee matches before they happened. And . . . she could supposedly read auras. She’d told him more than once that he had a complex, mixed aura—whatever the hell that meant. Sure, Beatrice was different, and some people might find her peculiar, but she was adored by most of the people in Amesport because she was quirky but sweet, and Jared had liked her almost immediately. She and Elsie were completely harmless. Both of the women meant well, no matter how interfering or gossipy the ladies might be.
“You aren’t telling me the truth,” Beatrice argued, tilting her head first one way and then the other as she looked at him. “But something is changing with you.” She continued to observe him pensively.
“What?” He was starting to squirm beneath the woman’s intense scrutiny, feeling downright uncomfortable. Not that he really thought Beatrice could see into his inner thoughts, but damned if she didn’t have the mystical look thing down pat.
Beatrice rifled through the stones on the table, finally lifting a dark, polished object. “You could use this one.” She held out the long rock attached to a key chain. “Carry it with you. It can help you with your guilt and your grief. You have to get rid of your emotional blocks before you can be happy again,” Beatrice informed him in a warning voice.
Instinctively, Jared reached out and took the key chain. He wasn’t about to argue. Things were getting a little too weird for him. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out several bills.