Page 11 of Fall Twice

A lady in her thirties appears, with dark hair, jeans, and a black t-shirt. “Oh, hi there, Reid, who is this lady you bring by today?”

He scratches the back of his head. “This is Lena, an old friend.”

“It’s okay, you can say lover. I see the connection between you two, and I don’t even need to take out my cards.” She smiles calmly.

I chortle a laugh.

Reid just smiles as he looks between us. “Lena, Prudence. Lena here is moving to Hollows and could probably use something for her new place.”

Prudence claps her hands together. “Of course. Need something to cleanse the house? Send off evil spirits? Or are you looking for something more for your own soul?”

My face freezes, as I have no idea which of those options seems the most appealing to ward off any bad juju in my life right now.

Reid takes my arm gently and walks me a few steps forward. “She just got divorced.”

Prudence instantly sighs and begins to grab a few items from the side shelves of the beautiful store. All the items are on display and not cluttered. “We definitely want to burn some rosemary for new beginnings, and sage is a classic choice for around her body.”

I smile at Reid in amazement. “Who are you to take me here?”

His grin doesn’t fade, and he slants a shoulder up to his ear. “Prudence here gave me a few things when I was going through the big C.”

I pause at his admission, appreciating his honesty. No, it’s more than that, I admire him at this very moment. Reid was always kind to people, but he had a hard exterior. He feels more humble or vulnerable now, softened a bit.

My thought is broken when I begin to cough from the heavy incense-type smoke appearing around me.

“This will help clear your senses,” Prudence explains.

“Yep, clearing my senses is exactly what I need.”

Prudence stops and looks at me with a subtle smile, then looks to Reid for a millisecond. “She has a grounded soul, I can sense it.”

“Do I?”

“Prudence, go easy on her,” he suggests. “Anyway, love what you’ve done with the place.” He gestures to the window.

Prudence smiles, waving a smudge stick in front of me. “Thanks. Always take it up a notch during this time of year, sales pick up.” She walks away from me and gathers a few things, herbs, candles, and I watch curiously. “This should all work.”

“Oh. Can I pick it up later? I haven’t moved yet.”

Reid interrupts, “I’ll hold onto it for you.”

My eyes catch with his own. That would mean I see him again in a few weeks. “Okay.” Geez, I need to remind myself not to rely on him or be too quick to answer.

Prudence puts everything in a bag with a dark purple bow. “I threw in some mugwort to help bring out your adventurous-in-the-night side.” She smirks at me then changes her demeanor to matter-of-fact. “Have you checked out Count of Choc?”

I snort at the name. “As in a reference to Dracula? The cereal? Or like the Count of Numbers from Sesame Street?”

“Exactly, but chocolate. They have a special chocolate right now with hot chilies and cinnamon, plus cranberry chocolate. Only one of those is a double aphrodisiac, though.” She smiles confidently at her reference.

“Right.” I swallow the odd atmosphere building.

“You two kids have fun. Reid, if you want me to order you some more stuff then let me know, I’m doing an order on Friday,” she mentions before returning to where she was making candles.

“Sure. I’ll message you,” he calls out as he guides me out of the store.

The moment we are back in the sunny afternoon, I make us stand there as I smile to wait for an explanation. “Edible medicine, by chance?”

He clucks his tongue. “It helped when I had cancer. Now I just do it on a veryrareoccasion to celebrate the fact I’m still here. But she meant if I want more herbs to ward off the evil health spirits in my house. Once a season ought to do the trick.”

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