Page 25 of The Lucky One

This woman is an enigma.

“What if I spilled salt right now?” I grab the shaker and poise it over the table.

“I’d wipe it up and throw it away.”

My jaw drops. “But it’s bad luck. You’ve got to throw it over your shoulder.” I set the shaker down.

“I broke a mirror once. I just bought a new one.” She grins.

“Scandalous,” I mutter.

“I saw a black cat outside the house this morning.”

My stomach clenches. “Did it cross our path?”

“It was laying right in the driveway.”

I grip the table and glance back at the menu. “I’m going to go get one of those green scones he was talking about. We need all the luck we can get.”

Her head tips back in a laugh and while I love the sound, I’m a little worried now. She might not believe in luck, but I do and we’ve got enough weird going on without an extra help from her blatant disregard for superstitions.

I’m a little overwhelmed with the juxtaposition of all of this.

At that moment, Holden walks up with an overflowing tray of food. My eyes might’ve been larger than my stomach, but there’s only one pastry on that tray I’m interested in at the moment. And I can’t decide if it’s because I want to test a theory or shake things up.

Probably both.

“So about this Faerie Tart,” Holden says. “There’s something you might want to know.”

“Go ahead.”

“Apples are linked to love, wisdom and fate?—”

“You’ve already got my attention. This one doesn’t believe in luck,” I say, jerking my head toward Bridget. She jabs a finger in my side and I grin.

“But sharing it will entwine your paths by fate for the year ahead. It might be luck, it might be love, it might be mischief. The magic chooses.”

Well, we’ve already got mischief in spades, so we don’t really need more of that. I’m not looking for love, and I don’t think Bridget is either. But luck… I’ll never turn down a chance for more luck.

Especially with my career hanging in the balance.

“What if you eat it alone?” I ask.

Holden shifts, pondering the question. “People usually don’t. This is the kind of thing that brings people to Enchanted Hollow, you know? Searching in shops for ways to be happier. Find love.”

I’m about to get myself into trouble.

He’s itching for an answer to a question only Bridget and I can answer. I can practically feel her vibrating with the stress of how volatile this morning has been so shereallywon’t appreciate me complicating things further.

My mind bounces back to her quiet comment about not wanting to be matched by this town. I’m a novice when it comesto all of this, but maybe Sebastian will lose interest if he thinks we’re already together. Maybe whatever else is prone to shove people together can be outsmarted.

I’ve got no clue how it all works.

“What do youthink happens?”

“Magic is tricky. Maybe it sets you on the path of self-discovery. Or maybe it sets you on a path to find the person you’re supposed to be with, whether they eat the tart or not.”

Self-discovery doesn’t sound all bad. I mean, that’s pretty much why I’m here anyway.

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