And that was the perfect way to do it.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hers went around my waist, and I set us to walking, saying, “I think that’s beautiful.”
“Right? I did too.”
“And you do you, however you want to. Always. Because you’re awesome.”
“You are too, Vivi. You know that, right?”
I looked down at her as we made the verdant lawns of the north parkland.
And I smiled.
That Wednesday, I took another break from the book.
I parked the Peugeot in the town centre car park, went to the door by the Boots, punched in the code, got the buzz, walked up the steps and knocked on another door.
Ravenna answered.
“I have the kettle boiled,” she said and let me in.
She made tea, and we sat down.
She took a sip, then leaned forward to set the cards on the table in front of me.
“You know I’m not here for a reading,” I said.
“Hmm,” she replied.
“The cats. The ghosts. The house,” I prompted. “You saw more in those thirteen cards than you let on. In fact, you knew something was up the minute you saw me. So, please, tell me.”
“I can tell you the veil has settled down,” she replied.
Ugh.
“Is that all you’re going to tell me?” I asked.
“It had to be righted.”
Great.
She was going to be all cryptic mystic.
“Can you explain?” I requested.
“It’s hard to say what I need to say,” she began hesitantly. But luckily, she kept going. “However, since I can tell you want to hear it…”
She paused for me to confirm.
I nodded my head to do that.
She socked it to me. “Your great-grandmother was not the love of your great-grandfather’s life. Harmony was.”
Even though I suspected this…
Even though this was what actually drove me to The Downs…
Even though her journals and the tone of his letters pretty much screamed it…
