“It is my absolute pleasure,” Ravenna replied.
And with neither of them giving the rest of us that first hint as to what they were on about, Ravenna picked up the card she dropped and offered the whole lot to me.
I took them enthusiastically.
I loved tarot. I read my own. I went to readers.
But this was the best reading by far I’d ever been involved in.
I didn’t ask a question. I just wanted the cards to feel how I’d fallen in love with these women, their home, their pets, and yes, okay, also their brother. It was new love, burgeoning love, but I knew what I was feeling was very, very, very, very, very…
Fond.
Once I felt I’d imbued all that goodness in the cards, I handed them to her.
She didn’t immediately throw any down.
She examined me for an awkwardly long time.
And then she threw them down.
One, two three…
Four, five, six…
Seven, eight…
What the hell was she doing?
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve…
And thirteen.
She set the rest of the pile aside, scrutinized the scattering on the table, shifted them this way and that.
And then she looked at me. “Choose the ring wisely.”
I blinked and asked, “Sorry?”
“When the time comes, choose the ring wisely,” she repeated.
“What ring?” I asked.
“The ring,” she answered.
“My precious,” Chassie joked using a lisp.
God, I cannot tell you how amazing it was to see Chassie blossoming.
I shot her a smile, and so as not to make a thing of it, I returned to Ravenna. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
She sat back in the sofa with her tea. “Many don’t. Until they do.”
I flicked a hand at the table. “Thirteen cards, and that’s all it says?”
I knew she was lying, though I didn’t know how I knew she was lying, when she replied, “Yes.”
I gazed down at the cards, mumbling, “Maybe I should reshuffle.”
