The kitten gave a tiny meow in protest as I set her on the couch. “Emma must like her. I thought she would keep her out of the yard. Instead, I woke up to her sleeping beside me out on the porch.”
Esmeralda studied my face. “She’s drawn to you. I should have seen it before.”
I held up my hands, blocking the idea. “I do not need another pet. Emma and I do quite well together.”
“No, I don’t mean that.” She gestured to the table. “Why don’t we sit for a few minutes? I believe we need to talk.”
Inside my head, I groaned. I didn’t need a trip to crazyland today. Esmeralda was always bringing me messages from beyond, like she was my personal answering machine. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself be sucked into her reality again. “I really need to get back.” I grasped for a good excuse. “Laundry. You know how it stacks up.”
Her gaze drilled into me and I knew I’d chosen the wrong excuse. “Surely you can spare a few moments to talk to your closest neighbor.”
Crap. Instead of running out the door, which is what every cell of my body was screaming for me to do, I settled into a chair. Glancing around the room, I asked the only question I could think of, “So, you have a reading tonight? I thought you only did the fortune-teller thing on weekends?”
She chuckled. “Normally, I only have appointments on the weekend, but a good client asked for a favor. She’s out of town with her family this weekend and needed some guidance before she left.” Esmeralda’s face contorted in a look that appeared to be worry. “I feel like she’s gotten herself into a mess. One I warned her against.”
“Sometimes people don’t listen.”
She focused back on me. “Out of the mouths of babes.”
Okay, this was getting creepy. I tried to change the subject. “You busy at the office these days?”
“The current case is very interesting.” Esmeralda tapped her apparently now dry fingertips on the table. “I believe your Greg is going to have some hard choices to make in the near future. Are you willing to support him?”
“Look, I really don’t like to talk about my relationship with Greg. Some things are private, you know?”
She nodded. “I understand your reluctance. Let me do a quick reading with you. I’ve never looked at your future before.” She held out her palm. “Give me your left hand.”
“I really can’t stay.”
Her hand grabbed mine in a tight grip. “Let me thank you for bringing back my Maggie. Please?”
I blew out air a little too hard but sat back in my chair. “Go ahead.”
“You give up too easily.” Esmeralda’s grip loosened. She stared into the crystal ball and the thing started to cloud.
This can’t be real. I stared into the mist, certain I could see the telltale signs of trickery. “I’d say I pick my battles carefully.”
She chuckled. “You let things boil up, then you blow.”
With my free hand, I pointed at the ball. “You can see that in there?”
“Jill, we live in a small town. There isn’t anything about your daily life, or your history for that matter, that doesn’t come up in gossip somewhere.” She nodded back to the glowing orb on the table. “Now, be quiet so the spirits can reach me.”
“Sorry.” I wished I could take back the word as soon as I saw her grin. Crap, she had me nailed on that personality trait. I’d always been the one to get along. My mom said I’d follow a crowd off the cliff if it meant I could be part of the group.
She waved her free left hand over the ball in the center of the small table. “Oh, spirits, please answer our pleas. Show us what we need to see. Show us the future to keep us safe. Honor your living children here on this plain.”
The table shook under my hands. When I looked up at Esmeralda to see if she’d felt the mini-earthquake, her eyes were cloudy, like the ball. “Are you okay?”
“You’ll need to see past your pain in order to save the ones you love.” Her voice cracked and had dropped a couple of octaves. “Things aren’t what they seem.”
I pressed my lips together, holding back a wisecrack. Typical fortune-teller speak. No real surprises here.
“Some are silver, the other gold,” Esmeralda whispered and her head dropped. Our session was over.
CHAPTER 6