Page 6 of Tea Leaves and Runaway Brides

"I can't take up this cabin. I'm sure you rely on getting people to stay here."

"We'll pay him for it. Thanks, rescuer," Tina says.

"Darius Robinson." He says, offering his hand.

My friend shakes it and doesn't appear to feel the same electric energy that I received when his palm touched mine.

"I'm paying for you to stay here this week," she says, turning to me.

"What? No! You already wasted money on a plane trip and a hotel room."

"Well, I've already returned your wedding gift." She says with a laugh, "I bought it late anyway, so the return wasn't very difficult since it hadn't even shipped. So consider this my glad-you-found-your-sanity wedding gift."

"Alright, fine," I say, giving up, knowing it's fruitless to argue with her.

"Now that that's settled, I'm starving. At this point in the evening, I was expecting to eat some dry chicken," my friend quips.

We look at Darius.

"Any dinner suggestions?"

"Well, are you looking for something fancy or something casual?"

"Something casual," she says. "Nothing fancy but yummy, you know?"

"There's Sea Glass Tavern on Main Street," he suggests.

"Oh, that sounds perfect. Thank you. Do rideshares come up to your campground?" Tina asks, looking at her phone.

"Yep. They do it all the time, especially in summer. Okay, I'll leave you two to it. I don't want to be in the way. But let me know if you need anything. Okay, Emerson?" He says, giving me a look that makes my heart skip.

"Thank you, Darius," I say, feeling my cheeks burn.

Full from dinner and drinks, we stroll down Main Street, window-shopping in the muggy, honeysuckle-scented evening air before calling our ride back to the cabin.

"Oh, ice cream!" Tina says, pointing across the way.

"I'm way too full," I say, holding my tummy that is filled with an extensive amount of chicken wings.

Suddenly, Tina grabs my arm.

"A psychic shop, come on!" She squeals, her grip tight around my wrist as she yanks me down the sidewalk.

Soon, we're inside an adorable shop filled with crystals, tarot decks, and other odds and ends. No one is in the front. "I don't think anyone's here," I say to Tina.

The velvet curtains in the back suddenly open, and a tiny elderly woman comes out with long silver hair and bright violet-blue eyes.

"Oh, hello," she says.

"I'm sorry. Are you closing?" I say.

"I was about to close, in fact. I just let my employee, Alessandra, leave. But if you two are here for readings, I would be happy to do them."

"Oh, we don't want to be in the way," I say, but Tina is already walking toward the woman.

"Should I wait out here?"

"No. You both can come in. I have an extra chair," the woman says, ushering us in.