“What do we do?” Reina asked me.
“Good question. Normally, my instinct will take me to things I connect with, on some level. In this case, Ange is the one with the emotional link.”
“But you’ve always used that gift to discover pieces for your clients. Maybe if you reframe Ange in your mind in that light?”
“Of course, you’re absolutely right.” I tuned out the chatter around me, the people who gave me the stink-eye for making them swerve, the smells of furniture polish, moth balls, perfumes, and frying onions and burger patties from the café at the far end.
I visualized Ange, running her fingers over colored glass pieces, held together with silver. A tingling sensation spread from my fingertips to my shoulders. Without thinking, I weaved through two stalls, to head for the next aisle. Reina followed me wordlessly.
The tingling increased. Whatever was luring me couldn’t be further away than five yards. I was concentrating so much on my instincts that I almost ran into a person who’d stopped abruptly as I came close.
“Sorry,” I said automatically, without really looking.
“Bex?” the person whispered in a voice I’d heard in exactly the same embarrassed tone, under very different circumstances, more than 700 miles away, canoodling with my now ex-husband in the stock room.
Chapter 3
Iclenched my hands. Reina touched my arm, as if to give me strength.
It wasn’t necessary. I felt my lips spread into the simile of a smile. “Hi, Candice. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.”
We both moved a little to the side during this scintillating exchange, to let other people, including the two young women and Corvette guy, pass through.
“Thank you.” Candice had the grace to blush a little. “You’re looking great.”
I should have returned that compliment or at least feel flattered that my ex-husband’s fiancée had noticed that I did indeed look darn good since I’d dyed my hair periwinkle blue and embraced my inner witch.
Then again, I was nice but not that sweet. I opted for the next best thing.
“Have you met my friend Reina? Reina, this is Rick’s bride-to-be.”
The two women exchanged polite smiles. It gave me a quiet satisfaction to see Candice’s looks, complete with caramel-hued balayage,fade next to Reina’s raven hair inherited from her Japanese ancestors. Candice, who was more than 15 years our junior, had youth on her side, but Reina possessed the gift of inner and outer beauty.
The tingling had subsided when I stopped walking, but it was still there, in the background. The object continued to send out its signals to me.
“Hi, Reina. Bex?” Candice repeated herself.
“That much we’ve established.” The words escaped me before I could hold them back.
Again, Candice blushed. “I’m super sorry to ask you, but would you maybe be able to help me?”
“Help you? And where’s your man?” Just because Rick and I were on civil texting terms, for the sake of our daughter, I had no plans to bump into him of all people on my precious crazy coven trip. Or any other time soon.
“Rick’s back home. I’m visiting friends in Cannon Hill, and their friends asked me to arrange a property staging.”
I opened my mouth to stop her. Reina signaled me to let the woman continue.
“I know I’m a million light years from being able to do what you do, and so is Rick, but it would mean so much to the business. I probably shouldn’t ask this, but if you’d just look at a few things before I purchase them? I’d pay you, of course. You’ve already done so much when you helped out before.”
“No good deed goes unpunished, eh?”
“Please?”
“I can’t do it right now. If you place a reserve on the things you’re interested in, I’ll check them out with you tomorrow at 10am. That’s the best I can do.”
To my surprise, she clasped my hand. “You’re a star. Ten o’clock is fine. I’ll meet you at the café?” Was she on the verge of tears? A hot flash surged through my body, distracting me. Obviously, my HRT patches were no match for too close contact with the next Mrs. Rick.
I gently freed myself and moved on with Reina.
