Page 32 of Every Broken Promise
“What kind do you want? Pyramids, spheres, clusters, hearts, stones? I have almost everything.”
“Something I can put in my purse,” Rachel said, but I could hear the hesitation in her voice. She was as overwhelmed as I was.
While Rachel picked a stone, I wandered around, looking at all the crystals, when one of them caught my eye. It was uneven but not what she referred to as a cluster, more of a rectangular shape. The stone had pink and white stripes all around it.
As soon as I picked it up, the woman spoke, causing me to jump and clutch the crystal to my chest.
“Pink tourmaline.”
“What?”
She giggled.
“It called to you,” she spoke again, but she might as well have been speaking gibberish to me.
“I just thought the colors were pretty,” I said almost defensively.
“Take it. I think your heart is trying to tell you something.”
It was most certainly not trying to tell me something, but I was not about to argue with this woman at her shop.
“Thank you.”
Even so, I was still polite, and this was a gift. You couldn’t deny a gift. Unless it came from a creepy old man trying to sugar baby you up when he didn’t meet the face card requirements.
Rachel got her crystal and some essential oils. I stood next to her while she paid and noticed some cards on the counter. Without thinking, I grabbed one and immediately put it back on the counter.
It was a tarot card. If the description on it didn’t have my skin breaking out in shivers, the picture alone would have. Death was on top of a horse.
“This doesn’t mean I’m going to die, right?”
The girl smiled at me.
“No. The Death card is pretty positive.”
That made me feel a little better.
“You know,” she said as she handed Rachel her bag. “I never change the card on the window more than once a day. Maybe it was meant to find you.”
I was sure it wasn’t meant to find me. I was still not sure something as ominous as Death was a positive thing.
“Thank you for everything,” Rachel said in a sweet, polite voice, and I could have kissed her.
I waved at the shop owner and turned around, ready to leave, when she called after us.
“Change is a good thing.”
All I could do was nod at her.
As soon as we were outside, I turned toward Rachel. “Can we go to Zeke’s now? I’m starving.”
The bar was toward the edge of town. It was the perfect place for people to get rowdy. While Sunny Pines got the better part of the lake, we were on the opposite side and had a tiny strip to enjoy. The bar had been here for years. It belonged to Zeke’s great-grandfather and then to his grandpa, who passed it on to Zeke since his dad didn’t want to be a bar owner.
The place was two stories high, with a deck on the second floor. On the back of the property was a small cottage where Zeke now lived.
When we pulled up to Zeke’s bar, I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling that came over me. The place was packed, and I meant cars parked on the grass around the bar.
My hands got a little clammy just thinking about walking in there, but I took a deep breath and put on a brave face.
