Mrs. Crabtree’s eyes remained narrowed as she stood. She pointed her cane at River. “If you do know something, you keep it to yourself, you hear? I don’t want to go around knowing I’m about to get hit by a bus or something and always wondering which one it will be.”
River nodded. “Understood.”
“And when are you going to find yourself a nice woman and settle down?” Mrs. Crabtree looked around the shop, as thoughsearching for saidnicewoman. “I promised your mom I’d look after you, and that means I need to be sure you don’t go and die alone.”
Audrey’s bark of laughter made them both look over, and she held her hand up in apology and went back to sorting gemstones into containers.
“I promise to try and not die alone,” River said, as solemnly as she could manage. “But I won’t get with just anyone either. I want the kind of thing you and Mr. Crabtree had.”
She made a sound of approval. “That’s what everyone wants, but it’s hard to find. Maybe settle for being content.”
Again, Audrey made a sound of mirth but kept her eyes on the gems.
“Thanks, Mrs. Crabtree. I’ll remember that. I’ve got another appointment in just a few minutes.” River moved toward the door, and Mrs. Crabtree scuffled along behind her.
“I’ll see you at that meeting on Thursday. Just let the others tell me they’re going to sell. I’ll set their hair on fire with what I think of them!” She left, still grumbling as the door closed behind her.
“I think you could walk down the street and find a perfectly nice woman to be content with right this instant,” Audrey said, grinning.
River shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone give that advice. Don’t shoot for deliriously happy. Just be glad you’ve got someone at all.”
Audrey raised her donut in salute. “Hey, if more people accepted that things were just okay instead of hoping for fireworks, maybe there’d be a lower divorce rate.”
“Or maybe fewer people would get married at all, because why bother?” River looked at the appointment book, which was surprisingly full. “Busy day.”
“Lots of sign-ups after the festival,” Audrey said around a mouthful of donut. “Are you ready?”
River sipped her horchata. “I need to cleanse away some of the dreams I had last night and then I’ll be up to it.”
Audrey stopped chewing. “Tell me.”
River described the dreams, including the way she felt so helpless. “I have a feeling it’s about this developer situation.”
Audrey swallowed and nodded slowly, her eyes narrowed. “But who’s standing in your way?”
River shook her head and went to her office. She lit some sage and sandalwood, closed her eyes, and relaxed in her chair. Slow, steady breaths calmed her, and the floor kind of drifted away. Ten minutes later, she was centered. Nothing outside these walls mattered today. People deserved her best efforts, and she could only give them that if she set everything else aside.
The front doorbell rang, and the day began in earnest. Audrey did a large share of tarot readings as well, and by the time lunch rolled around, they were both ravenous and in need of a pick-me-up. She placed an order online with Sweet Moon for mango syrniki and crème brûlée cheesecake for them to share, and it showed up less than fifteen minutes later.
“Thanks, Todd. Everything okay?” Audrey asked the young man who’d been working for Sweet Moon for nearly two years as he made his way through college.
“Does anyone ever try to lie to you?” He smiled. Everyone local knew about Audrey’s ability.
“Never more than once.” She winked. “Your thoughts are all jumbled up.”
He shook his head at the offer of some cheesecake. “Chris is thinking about selling to that new developer. Says it’s time to retire anyway, so why not make a wad of money to ride off into the sunset with?” He winced. “It’s selfish. I don’t want him toclose because I really like working for him. But it would be good for him, you know?”
Audrey nodded, staring at her cheesecake. River figured she heard a lot more than what Todd had said out loud, but there was no reason to drag it into the open. “I’m sure there are other businesses around here looking for help,” River said, popping open the syrniki box.
“Sure, if I want to wait and go work for some retail chain store.” He gave a quick wave. “More deliveries to make. See ya.”
Audrey and River ate in silence for a while before Audrey turned to her. “You own this building. We’re business partners, but they’re going to make you an offer. Do you want to sell?”
Trust Audrey to be direct. It was always better that way. “No. I love this building and what we’ve built, and I won’t give it up to some corporate suit. Do you want me to sell?”
Audrey stabbed at her cake. “No. But I’m going to want to retire in the next few years, you know? We’ve got the RV, and we’re planning to do some road trips.”
Even though River had known that, it still stung a little. “And you’ll deserve every minute of road-tripping fun. It doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to sell. The other businesses in the building, not to mention the renters in the apartments, deserve better.”
