The little boy broke into a big smile as he toddled toward hismom.
Joy watched the younger Holly’s face go white, her eyes round with shock. “How can this be?” She continued to watch as the older Holly picked up the little boy and made a production of eating the cookie he gave her.
Holly drifted back to them, avoiding the pair on the ottoman as if they were diseased. “Why are you showing me this?”
Joy wanted to give Holly a hug, but refrained.
Malcolm’svoice was low and soft. “Because this is a future you could have.”
Holly shook her head. “I can’t. How can I? I love Cameron and he’s gone.” Her voice cracked on her last word, though she couldn’t take her eyes off her future self, her eyes still round with shock.
“You have the capacity to love many people.”
Holly’s gaze flew to Malcolm’s at his words. “You want me to love another man?” Hervoice squeaked to a near panicked pitch.
Malcolm gave her a kind smile. “Idon’t want you to do anything. I’m merely showing you what possible future you can have.” He reached out his hand toward the little boy. “You could even have a son to love.”
She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “No.” Before either of them could react, Holly had flown straight through the ceiling.
Joy threwMalcolm a worried look before following. When she reached the outside of the roof, Holly was nowhere to be seen. Oh sugar. This wasn’t good.
Malcolm floated up beside her. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know.” Her stomach tightened. One of the few rules they had as spirit guides was to never, ever lose a living client, never mind Cameron’s wife.
“We’ll find her. Come. If we don’t see her, we’ll justgo back in time.” He grabbed her hand and floated them above the town. “There. She just phased into her old house.” He pointed to the one-story house on Main Street.
She cringed. “That’s not good either.” They flew through time instead of space to be sure to catch Holly. When they phased into the house, Holly hovered in the middle of her living room with a scowl on her face.
Her attention snappedto them. “Who changed my house around?”
Joy moved forward, her heart still beating a little too fast from her scare. “In this future, you don’t live here anymore.”
Holly’s scowl deepened. “Who lives here?” She scanned the room frantically, her confusion palpable, her worry obvious.
Malcolm answered. “Brooke lives here. She manages the shop for you.”
At that, Holly’s body seemed to lose allits tension. “I still own the One of a Kind Christmas Shop?” The relief in her eyes was heartbreaking.
Joy couldn’t resist any longer. She knew better than to get too emotionally close to a client, but Holly needed a hug. She wrapped her arms around her. “Yes. You still own the shop, it’s still called that, and you still offer only one-of-a-kind Christmas decorations.”
Holly nodded against hershoulder. “Good.”
She pushed the woman back. “I’m sorry this happy visit wasn’t so happy for you.”
“No, it wasn’t. I should have known because Malcolm brought me there.” She gave him a scowl as if he’d caused it.
Joy couldn’t let that pass. “No, it wasn’t Malcolm’s fault. What you saw was caused by your own decisions.”
Holly shook her head. “I can’t believe that.”
“Would you like to see howelse your life could be in the same time period?”
“Yes. You said it was only a forty percent chance for either, right?”
“That’s true. There’s also a twenty percent chance that your future will be something completely different. It will all depend on the choices you make after tonight.”
Holly wiped her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. “Let me see what my other most probable choiceled to.”
