“Do you think that’s true? That I will have a long life?”
She looks surprised at me. “Has Inga never read your palm?”
“Um, no. You always said I was too young.”
She grabs my hand and turns it over.
Then a curious look crosses her face. “Very odd.”
She lets go of my hand and pulls the reading glasses she wears around her neck up to her face. Then she looks more closely, studying my hand and tracing the line. Grabbing my other hand and comparing the two, she says, “It is believed that your dominant hand shows what is and your non-dominant hand shows what could be.”
“So what do mine say?”
She runs her finger next to a line. “This is your life line. See this? How it is a chain up here at the top?”
“Yes.”
That means things have been difficult for you early in your life. You lost your father, no?”
“Yes. When I was eight.”
“But this. This split. It is unusual to see in someone so young.”
“Why?”
“It means death.”
“Death?”
“Yes, you cheated death, somehow. Have you had a brush with death recently?”
“She just about drowned,” Peyton says, but Damian is looking at me with huge eyes and thinking the same thing I am. That if Vincent had actually kidnapped me, I’d be dead.
“Maybe it means I’m going to die soon,” I say softly, knowing it could happen.
“No, it is in the past.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do.”
“Uh, okay.”
“But see how this strong thin line starts after the break?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a split or changed life. It often means the death of a spouse. A divorce. Something in your life has changed. This feels almost like a rebirth.”
I think about my changed name. My changed life. I know I’m not supposed to believe in this stuff, but still.
“And after that?”
“This line is extremely chained at the beginning, so you’ll have a difficult struggle during this rebirth, but then it emerges as a strong long line.”
“What does that mean?”
“You will have a long, happy life once you get through it.”
I put my head down, pretending to be inspecting my palm, but trying to hide my reaction.
Inga has no idea the overwhelming feeling of hope she’s just given me.
“Do you want me to do the rest?”
“Yes, please,” I mutter out.
“This is your heart line,” she says, drawing her finger across it. “It’s long, meaning you will be content in love. And this line is your head line. There are Xs in the middle. Here. That means you’ll soon make a momentous decision. One that will affect the course of your life.”
“Okay,” I nod, wondering if she’s referring to the decision I’ve already made. Not going back to Eastbrooke and starting to wage war on Vincent.
“See how these lines are connected at the top?”
“Yes.”
“They mean you developed your aspirations early on in your life.” She looks up at me. “Based on all the plays you and Damian have done here in the past, I’m assuming that means you belong in the entertainment industry.”
“Uh, that’s interesting.” I don’t want to talk about that, so I try to get her to move on quickly. “What else do you see?”
“Based on the shape and length of your palm and fingers, I’d say you’re very perceptive, sympathetic, and quite creative.”
I smile. I love being those things.
“On the downside,” she says, “you can be moody, emotional, and inhibited.”
Damian and Aiden both start laughing. Damian says, “Emotional is right. I never knew a person who could have so many emotions at once.”
Inga chastises Damian. “That’s because she’s perceptive, Damian. They go hand in hand.”
I give Damian a smug smile but then squint my eyes at Aiden. “Why were you laughing?”
“Because you are the least inhibited person I know.”
Inga also gives him the eye then says, “Inhibited can have many meanings, young man. Possibly she is emotionally inhibited, as I would suspect is the case based on what I see.”
“Uh, oh. I didn’t think of it that way,” Aiden replies respectfully.
“The universe is a mysterious place and there is meaning in everything,” she says confidently. She lets go of my hand to stir the caramel sauce and then returns to the island and grins at me. “Now for the fun part.”
“What’s the fun part?”
“How many children you will have, of course. You know that your mother’s hand was very clear on that. She didn’t believe me when I told her she would have five more children after you.”
“Five?”
“Six total. One, which is you, then a large space, which meant the age gap between you and her second child would be large, then five lines close together.”
“I’d love to have another sister,” I say happily. But then reality hits, and I want to cry at the thought of not being there.
Just another reason to get my life back as fast as I can.