There were a couple people in line ahead of her, and she couldn’t help scanning the impulse-buy shelves. Just to have something to do.
That was when she saw it.
A small display of flashlight keychains.
Was this a sign? Or was she so desperate for a sign that she was ready to believe fate had sent her a flashlight?
Either way, it felt wrong to walk away without taking one. She chose the blue one.
By the time she reached the register, she’d named it Barry.
*
There were several people browsing the various displays and shelves in Lucy’s shop when Emmy walked in. She was a little impressed that the store was doing such good business on a weekday morning. Lucy stood at the cash register, ringing up two college-age girls. Emmy hung back, waited for the transaction to finish. Once the girls had left, Emmy stepped forward. She watched in utter astonishment as Lucy’s eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, God. Can you give me a second?” Lucy asked, holding up a hand. “I just need to… block some of this out.”
Emmy waited while Lucy took a few deep breaths, blinked back the tears, and visibly pulled herself together. When she got the go-ahead gesture, she approached the counter.
“What happened?” Lucy asked, her voice quiet, and so full of pity that Emmy nearly teared up herself.
“I was hoping you could help me figure that out.” She slipped the book out of her purse, placed it on the counter, and slid it across to Lucy.
“Is this the one I sold you?”
“Sort of.”
“You didn’t like it?”
Emmy studied Lucy’s face, but saw no signs of deceit. She seemed interested, a little confused, but neither concerned nor smug. “I spent weeks inside that book.”
Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Is that your way of saying you liked it? Or didn’t like it?”
“No, I mean… I went inside the book. Or it pulled me inside. And I lived in there.”
Lucy gave her a weary look. “Are you trying to mess with me or something? Are you that angry that I gave your sister a reading?”
Emmy stared for a moment. “You really didn’t have anything to do with it. You didn’t know it was magic when you sold it to me.”
Lucy made a frustrated sound. “I don’t have time for this. Do you mind?”
When she reached to take Emmy’s hand, Emmy simply shrugged. Lucy laid a hand on top of hers, frowned, and then picked up Emmy’s hand to hold it sandwiched between both of her own. Her eyes flickered back and forth, almost like she was in a waking kind of REM sleep. Emmy waited. Finally, Lucy released her and looked at her with shock.
“You’re not—” She stopped herself, her gaze sweeping her shop, no doubt noticing there were plenty of people aroundto overhear their conversation. “You’re not bullshitting me,” she said in a hushed voice. “You went through something.”
“What did you see?”
“I didn’t see… not the way you mean it. I could tell you weren’t lying to me, and I got flashes of some emotions, some images. I’m better at looking forward, not back. You really thought I sold you some kind of magic romance novel?”
“Youdidsell it to me.”
Lucy waved her hand in a quick, impatient motion. “I sold you a book. I didn’t know it was possessed or whatever.”
“Is it? Possessed, I mean,” Emmy clarified.
“How should I know?”
“You’re psychic!”
