Page 97 of Wish You Were Mine

Weird.

“Well, you’ve passed along the message,” I said briskly, hoping to put her at ease even though I was anything but. Something about this made me anxious. But perhaps I was overreacting because I was already in an emotionally fraught situation.

“I have.” She twined her fingers together, not looking any more satisfied than I was. “I’ll try to remember more, but it’s like there’s a wall in my mind, blocking out the details.”

I wiped my fingers on a napkin and used a fork to gather up some of the smaller fragments of Danish. “Don’t stress yourself out about it. I’m sure if it’s important, it’ll come to you.”

She gazed down at her tea, as if she hoped she’d find answers in the bottom of the cup.

I leaned closer to Asher. “How did it go with my brothers?”

He glanced around, checking whether anyone was listening to us. “Better than I expected.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah.” But he didn’t sound certain. “Toby seemed fine with it. Max too. Connor and Nate threatened me, but I expected that.”

My lips pressed together. “And Liam?”

“Hard to tell.”

“Hmm. For what it’s worth, Grace and Kennedy are both happy for us, and they don’t seem surprised at all.”

“Was Bailey?” he asked.

“No,” I admitted. She’d squealed and clapped excitedly when I’d broken the news over the phone yesterday, but I hadn’t expected any different. Whether it was temporary or permanent, I had my dream man. I’d squeal just as loudly for her if she ever successfully wooed Max.

We finished our breakfast, fielding questions from Toby and my parents about how we’d gotten together. I’d already spilled the beans to Kennedy and Grace, and I suspected that my other brothers would gladly not know, given the option.

“Desdemona, I’ve been practicing with the tarot deck you gave me,” Kennedy said, loud enough for the whole table to hear. “Will you help me do a reading while you’re here?”

“Of course.” Desdemona opened her deck of cards, which had been resting beside her elbow on the table, and began to shuffle them. Once done, she passed the deck to Kennedy.

“I need a volunteer,” Kennedy said.

“You can use me as your guinea pig,” Max said good-naturedly.

“Thanks.” She cut the deck once and then handed it to him. “Can you cut this again, and then I want you to place cards out in a cross formation.” She explained how she wanted the cards, and in what order, and then dragged her chair over to sit beside him.

One by one, Kennedy turned over cards and flipped through notes on her phone, attempting to interpret them. Every now and then, Desdemona corrected her.

“I think this one means that a change is coming.” Kennedy glanced at Desdemona. “Is that right?”

“Partly.” Desdemona smiled at her fondly, then gave her attention to Max. “You will face a change that you’ve been resisting. The only way forward is through.”

For his part, Max didn’t seem bothered by this.

“Change is just part of life,” he said. “It’s inevitable.”

Desdemona’s mouth curled slyly. “That doesn’t mean we have to like it.”

He chuckled. “I suppose not.”

Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I looked out the window.

“It’s snowing again,” I exclaimed.

“I’ll make hot chocolate,” Mum said, getting to her feet.

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