Page 16 of The Now in Forever
Then I put my phone back in my bag. Kat comes out of the back and lets me know she has to run some errands, saying she’ll be back in a bit. She props the doors open when she leaves. The cool breeze on my warm skin is refreshing.
Taking a stack of books, I fumble around trying to find the right places to put them. I’m about to put away the last book in my pile, an astrology book in the New Age section, when a crocodile puppet pops out from around the corner of the shelf, sending my heart to my throat.
“What’s your sign?” Ed asks in a Muppet voice, making it look like the crocodile is talking.
“Libra.”
He comes out from around the corner. “Libra, huh? I’m a Pisces.”
I open the book in my hand and flip to Pisces. “Let’s see… You are empathetic?—”
“Debatable.”
“Creative—”
“Hopefully.”
“Generous—”
“On a good day.”
“Idealistic.”
“Sounds about right.”
“Lazy, closed-off, moody?—”
“There I am. Wow, these books are uncanny. So accurate.”His eyes widen in exaggerated shock.
I laugh.
“What’s it say about you?” He takes the book from my hand, and our fingers brush the slightest bit as he does. It’s like his skin is a live wire. It sends a shock straight to my core. I pull up my knee socks that haven’t slipped at all, just for something to do.
He smiles, a slow, sexy grin that intensifies the electricity running through me. I’m suddenly hyper aware that we’re alone in the store together. “You’re romantic…”
My cheeks burn, and I hope they aren’t as pink as they feel.
“Charming, artistic, diplomatic, good listener.”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Indecisive, vain, manipulative, and you hate conflict.”
The word conflict immediately brings my thoughts to my parents. It’s not wrong. I do hate conflict, and so do they. Which is why they lived for years being miserable together. Until I graduated. They didn’t want me to go through high school with divorced parents. So, they waited until the day after graduation and then told me they were splitting. They don’t love each other anymore, haven’t for a long time.My dad reconnected with his high school girlfriend on Facebook—his true soul mate. I immediately deleted all my social media. It’s all fake anyway, just like my parents’ marriage was. They lived a lie for years so they didn’t have to confront the truth or at least until graduation.
Ed’s looking at me with soft eyes. “Hey…”
He throws the book over his shoulder like it’s a wadded-up piece of paper. “It’s just a silly book. It doesn’t know you.”
I laugh and can’t quite believe he just threw a book. Crossing the store quickly, I kneel on the hardwood floor to pick it up. “I’m not sure I buy all the astrology stuff.”
“Me either.” He pulls out another book off the shelf. “I’m much more into palm reading. Far more accurate science.” His smile is infectious. “Come on.”
He carries the book back toward the counter, and I follow on butterfly wings.
Ed opens the palm-reading book on the counter and uses the pen cup to keep the side that keeps curling closed open.
He reads for a minute. “Uh-huh, okay. Yes. Let me see your hand.”
