“You don’t have a cat, do you?” Daisy asked.
“Colloquially,” Nora said.
“My ... Jonathan is picking my kids up today, so I can,” Daisy said. “But I have a lot of obligations. I’m working on a theater production right now three nights a week that my kids are in.”
“I think we can work with that.”
Soraya frowned. “I’m free. My kids are in high school. They’re not really speaking to me. So.”
The older woman slowly walked out from behind the counter and over to Soraya. She reached out and took her hand. Soraya flinched, but only for a moment. “I’m so sorry about your children,” the older woman said.
Soraya seemed confused and conflicted by the comfort she was receiving from this woman she’d been afraid of just yesterday.
“I’ll show you around. This counter over here”—she gestured to an area across from the main register—“is where there will be coffee and baked goods. I do have an oven here, but of course, my dear, if you want to bake at home and bring your treats in—”
“Doesn’t my kitchen need to be certified?”
“It will all work out either way. What’s your name?”
“Soraya.”
“I’m Aggie Green. I had a young lady come in and ask about a barista job. She’ll make most of the drinks. But you can help her. I’llhaveyouwork here. Behind the main counter. You can help her.” She directed that at Nora. “Now I need names for the two of you.”
“Nora.” Nora gestured to herself first. “And Daisy.”
“Wonderful. Now that I have help, I can focus on my readings. Tea leaves, tarot, and, of course, a bit of spellwork.”
“Spellwork?” Nora asked.
“Yes. I have some pre-blessed spell bags. I find it most useful, though, to have someone come in and manifest the spell with me, so I can infuse their energy into it.”
“Oh.” Soraya looked a bit ill.
Nora had no issues with this kind of thing, but listening to someone talk about readings and spellwork so matter-of-factly was a little odd even to her.
“But I’ve been so busy with appointments that I have difficulty manning the counter.”
“Where did you come from?” Nora asked.
Aggie waved her hand. “Here and there. I imagine that’s where I will continue to be from. But for now, this is a good place to rest my bones. Are you all getting divorced?”
“No,” Nora said quickly, needing very much to clarify that even though she was with Soraya and Daisy, and supported them completely, her situation wasn’t exactly the same. “I’m separated from my husband. But it’s just while he figures out what he wants next.”
“Everyone has to do that from time to time, I suppose,” Aggie said.
“It’sreasonable.” Nora could hear the desperate justification in her own voice.
“Ah. I don’t have a training manual,” Aggie said as she rounded behind the counter, “but I would like it if you all spent some time with this.” She took a big leather-bound book from beneath the counter and set it on the glossy wood surface. “It’s my grimoire, which I’ve spent years working on. It has all of my tea blends and what they’re for. Crystals, tarot. Oracle. I would ask that you know just enough tohelp any traveler who wanders in off the street looking for something. Eventually, you’ll learn to recognize what they need before they tell you.”
A shiver went down Nora’s spine, because she couldn’t help but wonder if that was what had happened with Aggie.
Had she looked at them and justknown?
That she had mentioned needing a bookkeeper had seemed odd at the time, and even odder now. That she’d somehow known they might need work.
Miraculous in a way, though Nora had stopped believing in miracles a long time ago. She might not believe in this stuff like she had when she was a teenage girl, but she thought it was harmless, unlike Soraya, who appeared to be dying a thousand deaths in the corner.
Though, she hadn’t run away this time.
