before.” She held out her palm. “Give me your left hand.”
“I really can’t stay.”
Her hand grabbed mine in a tight grip. “Let me thank you for bringing back my Maggie. Please?”
I blew out air a little too hard but sat back in my chair. “Go ahead.”
“You give up too easily.” Esmeralda’s grip loosened. She stared into the crystal ball and the thing started to cloud.
This can’t be real. I stared into the mist, certain I could see the telltale signs of trickery. “I’d say I pick my battles carefully.”
She chuckled. “You let things boil up, then you blow.”
With my free hand, I pointed at the ball. “You can see that in there?”
“Jill, we live in a small town. There isn’t anything about your daily life, or your history for that matter, that doesn’t come up in gossip somewhere.” She nodded back to the glowing orb on the table. “Now, be quiet so the spirits can reach me.”
“Sorry.” I wished I could take back the word as soon as I saw her grin. Crap, she had me nailed on that personality trait. I’d always been the one to get along. My mom said I’d follow a crowd off the cliff if it meant I could be part of the group.
She waved her free left hand over the ball in the center of the small table. “Oh, spirits, please answer our pleas. Show us what we need to see. Show us the future to keep us safe. Honor your living children here on this plain.”
The table shook under my hands. When I looked up at Esmeralda to see if she’d felt the mini-earthquake, her eyes were cloudy, like the ball. “Are you okay?”
“You’ll need to see past your pain in order to save the ones you love.” Her voice cracked and had dropped a couple of octaves. “Things aren’t what they seem.”
I pressed my lips together, holding back a wisecrack. Typical fortune-teller speak. No real surprises here.
“Some are silver, the other gold,” Esmeralda whispered and her head dropped. Our session was over.
CHAPTER 6
A s Emma and I ran the next morning, I thought about my “reading.” Or at least the things Esmeralda had said before she went into her trance and started chanting camp songs. I’d been challenged by the partners at the law firm that I wasn’t strong enough. I’d had coworkers take my prime cases in the guise of helping out, then when the partners praised them in our weekly meetings, realized that somehow they’d become first chair on a case I’d brought to the firm. After the last incident I’d stormed into my mentor’s office and listed out all the inequities I’d had to face during my tenure. The woman smiled and nodded during my tirade.
“I wondered when you’d see what was happening.” Her words stung. Had I been blind or naïve, allowing my peers to step over me and expecting someone else to stand up for my interests? She poured me another cup of coffee. “The only one who is looking out for you in this world is you. The other associates understand that. The partners want what’s best for the firm. You need to stand for what’s best for you.”
Thinking back over the last few years, I realized I’d changed my pattern, along with the rest of my life. Today I wouldn’t roll like a well-worn tire. I’d do what I wanted, when I wanted. Now, all I had to do was figure out what it was I wanted. Crap, I sounded like a case study for all those self-help books I stocked. After the local history and tourist books, the “charm books” I called them, I sold more self-help tomes than any other specific category. How to find your Zen. How to raise a normal teenager. How to get that next promotion. Everyone wanted the easy answer. Bless the midday talk shows.
Maybe there was one that addressed my problems. Like How to Grow a Backbone .
By the time we’d returned home and I’d showered, my mood was less than cheerful. Typically my run cleared my mind of all the doubts I carried around. Today, it had added to them.
I let Emma out to the yard, checked on her food
“I really can’t stay.”
Her hand grabbed mine in a tight grip. “Let me thank you for bringing back my Maggie. Please?”
I blew out air a little too hard but sat back in my chair. “Go ahead.”
“You give up too easily.” Esmeralda’s grip loosened. She stared into the crystal ball and the thing started to cloud.
This can’t be real. I stared into the mist, certain I could see the telltale signs of trickery. “I’d say I pick my battles carefully.”
She chuckled. “You let things boil up, then you blow.”
With my free hand, I pointed at the ball. “You can see that in there?”
“Jill, we live in a small town. There isn’t anything about your daily life, or your history for that matter, that doesn’t come up in gossip somewhere.” She nodded back to the glowing orb on the table. “Now, be quiet so the spirits can reach me.”
“Sorry.” I wished I could take back the word as soon as I saw her grin. Crap, she had me nailed on that personality trait. I’d always been the one to get along. My mom said I’d follow a crowd off the cliff if it meant I could be part of the group.
She waved her free left hand over the ball in the center of the small table. “Oh, spirits, please answer our pleas. Show us what we need to see. Show us the future to keep us safe. Honor your living children here on this plain.”
The table shook under my hands. When I looked up at Esmeralda to see if she’d felt the mini-earthquake, her eyes were cloudy, like the ball. “Are you okay?”
“You’ll need to see past your pain in order to save the ones you love.” Her voice cracked and had dropped a couple of octaves. “Things aren’t what they seem.”
I pressed my lips together, holding back a wisecrack. Typical fortune-teller speak. No real surprises here.
“Some are silver, the other gold,” Esmeralda whispered and her head dropped. Our session was over.
CHAPTER 6
A s Emma and I ran the next morning, I thought about my “reading.” Or at least the things Esmeralda had said before she went into her trance and started chanting camp songs. I’d been challenged by the partners at the law firm that I wasn’t strong enough. I’d had coworkers take my prime cases in the guise of helping out, then when the partners praised them in our weekly meetings, realized that somehow they’d become first chair on a case I’d brought to the firm. After the last incident I’d stormed into my mentor’s office and listed out all the inequities I’d had to face during my tenure. The woman smiled and nodded during my tirade.
“I wondered when you’d see what was happening.” Her words stung. Had I been blind or naïve, allowing my peers to step over me and expecting someone else to stand up for my interests? She poured me another cup of coffee. “The only one who is looking out for you in this world is you. The other associates understand that. The partners want what’s best for the firm. You need to stand for what’s best for you.”
Thinking back over the last few years, I realized I’d changed my pattern, along with the rest of my life. Today I wouldn’t roll like a well-worn tire. I’d do what I wanted, when I wanted. Now, all I had to do was figure out what it was I wanted. Crap, I sounded like a case study for all those self-help books I stocked. After the local history and tourist books, the “charm books” I called them, I sold more self-help tomes than any other specific category. How to find your Zen. How to raise a normal teenager. How to get that next promotion. Everyone wanted the easy answer. Bless the midday talk shows.
Maybe there was one that addressed my problems. Like How to Grow a Backbone .
By the time we’d returned home and I’d showered, my mood was less than cheerful. Typically my run cleared my mind of all the doubts I carried around. Today, it had added to them.
I let Emma out to the yard, checked on her food
Similar Books
