And yet, as crazy as the room was, it kind of fit Beth’s personality perfectly.
Trailing my hands over the dark velvet-like fur of a tabby cat snoozing in a ray of sunshine, I settled into one of Beth’s oversized chairs in front of her desk and sipped my coffee.
We didn’t have a chance to really start talking when the soft chime over her door started tinkling. A woman barged in carrying a bright pink smoothie, and slammed the door behind her. The cat that had just been sleeping so peacefully jumped up and hissed before streaking out of the room to somewhere past beaded curtains in the back.
“You were supposed to prove he’s a cheating bastard!” she yelled.
Beth took a deep breath and stood before walking toward the woman. “April, what is this? I did. I got the information you requested.”
“I talked to my husband and he denied everything. You made it all up.”
Beth looked at the woman like she was totally nuts. “April, I gave you pictures. There was no doubt that your husband was a cheater.”
“You’re a fraud, Beth Ari! A fraud and a shyster!”
Beth shrugged. “It’s not my fault if you don’t want to believe the truth.”
The woman froze and her chin rose. “You’re just angry because Roger left you. Trying to ruin everyone else’s relationships because yours didn’t work. Oh, he had so many promises. Didn’t he? But we all knew he was with her the whole time. It seems you can figure out any secret, except the secrets in your own house, huh?”
Beth’s normally warm toned skin went absolutely pale as all the blood seemed to drain from her face. The worst part was that she didn’t say a word, which was completely unlike her.
The woman grinned in a way that said she knew her words had hit their mark before she spun on her heel and headed for the door.
Rage filled me. Even if none of what the woman said was true, which I seriously doubted, it was a cruel thing to say. Beth was one of the kindest people I’d ever met. She didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.
I eyed the woman’s back, and said loudly enough for just Beth and I to hear, “Sounds like she deserves a big dose of Karma.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, the woman tripped on thin air. The top of her smoothie popped open and the pink sludge crashed against her chest and poured all over her front.
A snort erupted from my mouth before I could control myself. She turned, like she was covered in blood instead of smoothie, her mouth hanging open like a fish. She made a little sound like a dog’s squeaky toy.
“Well! Aren’t you two going to do anything?” Her face turned pinker than her spilled smoothie.
Unable to help myself, I shrugged. “Must have been those invisible ninjas.”
I couldn’t have stopped the grin that covered my face even if I wanted to, so I embraced it and rose, then snagged one single tissue out of the box on Beth’s desk. I walked toward her, but instead of stopping and offering her the tissue, insult though it would be, I pulled the door open and held it for her.
Her mouth finally snapped closed. “I hope you both go to hell!” She stormed toward the door I was holding open, chunks of smoothie dripping off her chest and landing on her legs as she went, as though it was some weird, perfectly choreographed disaster.
I gave her a little wave with the tissue. “And make sure you watch out for those invisible ninjas!”
Her eyes flashed with rage, and she rushed out the door. Once she was outside, I watched her finally grimace at the state of her clothes as she moved along, and couldn’t help but laugh. That pink color was never going to come out of her white running top and matching yoga pants.
Beth walked over and peered down at the floor. “I don’t know how this is possible, but she didn’t spill a single drop of that smoothie.”
My breathing suddenly froze. Oh no, not again.
Beth looked at me in wonder, and I tried not to look too guilty. I had an idea of how it was possible, but I hoped it wasn’t written all over my face. I mean, I didn’t even want to believe it myself, but I was beginning to think I had something to do with these karmic things happening.
Beth looked at me, then back at the spot on the floor where smoothie should’ve been splattered. “Did you do that?”
“M-me?” I stuttered. “I wasn’t even near her.”
Beth made a humming sound as she turned and walked back to her desk, shooing another cat out of the way as she sat back down, and I returned to the big chair in front of her, feeling nervous. “I know damn well you were human when you left Mystic Hollow, so you can’t be a shifter or a vampire. Are you some sort of witch that can hide your powers?”
What in the world was she talking about?
“No, I didn’t do that. I mean, I’ve had some freaky things happen over the past few days, but are you really talking about vampires and shifters?”
