Chapter One
Hannah scooped up her beginner Rider-Waite tarot cards and put them in their black velvet bag. She’d bought the cards a few weeks ago when Zaina, her boss and the owner of New Age Stones and Witch Crafts, had clearanced them out. After her employee discount, the cards were only fifty cents. They weren’t her dream deck. She found the medieval-style pictures off-putting. It reminded her of the few times her mom had dragged her to St. Michael’s Church when she was a kid. She realized as an adult that the times they had gone to church had been during the few occasions her mom tried to give up drinking. It’s too bad it never stuck.
If her life had been easier, Hannah wondered, would she appreciate where she was now? Would she love her five-hundred square foot studio apartment with its tiny balcony and the plug-in electric fireplace that made everything so cozy this time of year? Would she have realized she was bi if her relationship with Chad had been less volatile?
Zaina walked out of the back room carrying a plastic tote. She placed it on the counter. Her hair was in a stubby ponytail that showed a very faded pink undercut. Dark circles were under her big brown eyes.
“Here is overstock I was hoping you could try to sell today at the Pet Psychic fair.” She tapped the top of the tote.
“Got it,” Hannah said.
“Are you nervous about your first readings?”
“I mean, yeah. I know it’s supposed to be just for fun. I’m reading the cards for dogs and cats. Might even be a bird or two. But what if I upset a pet parent?”
“You can’t get in your head like that, Hannah. As long as you are talking like that…” Zaina paused and blew out a breath. She put her hands on her hips. “Be your happy, joyful self when you read the cards.”
Hannah took off her glasses and rubbed her makeup-free brown eyes. “I don’t know why my readings are all doom and gloom.”
“I think it’s your energy. Which is weird because you are one of the most upbeat people I know. It’s probably just nerves. Remember, you’re not doing serious readings for people seeking advice and basically therapy. This is supposed to be all fun and Halloween vibes.”
Hannah nodded. She pulled her long, curly red hair to one side and started braiding it. “Got it. Have fun.” Inside, her stomach was roiling. She’d been working so hard to understand the cards. The Major Acana was down, but she was still mixing up some of the wands and cups. “Get it together, Hannah,” she mumbled to herself.
Zaina walked over to Hannah and patted her arm. “Thanks again for taking over for me tonight. Lily was up all night coughing.” Her boss was tiny, just under five feet tall and barely a hundred pounds, but she was normally bursting with energy.
“No worries.” Hannah stood up straight. Her boss’s daughter was sick, and poor Zaina looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Hannah might not be ready for humans, but she could certainly do some silly reading for pets.
“Only do one question, one card. Don’t even worry about three-card spreads. The reading fees are going to fund neutering and spaying. The more pets you have time to read, the more cats and dogs we can help.”
Hannah grinned, “Thanks for the reassurance. Have I told you that you’re the best boss ever lately?”
Zaina shook her head and smiled. “I’ll finish up around here. You go ahead and get ready for psychic night. All this stuff will fit in your car, right?”
Hannah looked at the counter and thought about her ancient Toyota Corolla. “It’ll fit.”
Zaina gave her a thumbs up and went back to the POS to run the daily report.
Within an hour, Hannah had loaded the car and was ready to go to the pet store and bakery a couple of blocks away. If she didn’t have boxes of merchandise to take with her, she would have walked down to the shop. Hannah turned onto Main Street. Butterflies cloned themselves in her stomach as she drove. She couldn’t tell her boss, but it wasn’t just doing the readings that had left her unable to take a deep breath today. The cause of a big chunk of her nervousness was Kate, the gorgeous, smoking-hot owner of Pupcakes and Clawssaints. A small sigh left her as she thought about Kate Sterling’s short blonde hair and broad shoulders. The last time she’d seen her was at a Chamber of Commerce After Hours event in August. It had been an incredibly humid evening. Kate had been wearing a sleeveless, capri-length jumpsuit. Hannah had practically drooled at the sight of Kate’s lightly defined deltoids. Lots of people loved thesight of biceps or triceps, but for Hannah, it was that beautiful shoulder muscle, the deltoid, she loved.
Her mouth was dry. Hannah pulled up in the parking spot right in front of the door to Kate’s shop. This way she could offload and then ask Kate where she should park for the night. She got out of her car and took out the folding table she’d brought. It was heavy and unwieldy. Her face reddened as she awkwardly made her way to the front door of the pet store. She hoped Kate was busy with a customer and not watching her right now. Her foot smashed against the concrete parking block. As pain radiated from her toes, she wobbled and began pitching forward.
“I got you,” a husky female voice said.
Hannah’s glasses had fallen down her nose, but she didn’t need her eyes to recognize that voice. She regained her footing and looked up to see Kate holding the table steady.
“I can take this in for you,” Kate said.
Hannah’s face was on fire, even though it was a late October day. “Thank you.” She let go of the table and kept her eyes trained on Kate’s shirt. It was a jersey-style shirt with black three-quarter-length sleeves. A graphic of a dog wearing a vampire costume was on the front of the shirt, and it read: Have a Fang-tastic Halloween!
Kate cleared her throat, and Hannah realized she was basically staring at Kate’s boobs, which were lovely. But that wasn’t what she was trying to do. “I, uh, your shirt.” Hannah swallowed. “It’s super cute.”
“Thanks. Do you need anything else right now, or can I get this table inside?”
“Oh my gosh, no, but thanks again. I’ll bring the rest of the stuff in.”
Kate picked up the table and turned to bring it into the store.
Hannah closed her eyes to stop herself from admiring Kate’s ass. “This is a business event. Get it together, Han,” she whispered as she pulled the tote Zaina had put together out of the back seat of the car. She bumped the door shut with her hip and went into the store.
