Page 38 of Destiny

I’m not feeling negative.

I’m not feeling positive, either, but that horrific foreboding I felt with the tower card is not manifesting.

Perhaps because I know my heritage now. I’ve accepted it.

Perhaps because I don’t see an old woman as a threat.

And perhaps I should.

Clearly she was a huge threat in the past. She put my family through hell. But she’s an old woman now. A sickly old woman, at that. A woman who has been kept under sedation at her own request.

I don’t know why.

But I do know—from talking to my father—that his mother does nothing without a good reason. Every move she makes is calculated.

A reason exists for her exile from her son.

A reason exists why she chose to stay under sedation.

And a reason exists for why she reached out to me.

I leave the cards on the table.

I need to give them some more thought, but then I jerk when my phone buzzes.

It’s Brendan.

“Hi there,” I say into the phone.

“Hey, I just got back into town from an appointment this morning, and I see you closed the bakery already. I didn’t realize you’d do it so quickly. Is everything all right?”

“I need some time.”

“That’s so unlike you, Ava.”

“Believe me, I know it. But Snow Creek will continue to go on without my homemade bread for a couple of weeks. I’ve been wanting to do some remodeling anyway. This will give me the chance to do it while also letting me deal with my grandmother.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, Brendan. It’s honestly strange to be so sure about closing my business. But I am. There’s a reason why she reached out to me. And to you.”

“Don’t forget Pat Lamone.”

“I haven’t. But I need to come to the end of this. There’s a reason formyinvolvement in particular, and I need to find out why.”

“You want some company? I don’t have to open the bar for a few hours.”

“Sure. Come on over. Have you eaten?”

“Yeah. I had an early lunch in the city. I’ll be right over.”

I go downstairs, open the back door, and within another minute, Brendan comes walking up the alley.

He kisses me on the lips. “I’ve missed you.”

I smile. “You just saw me last night.”

“I’ve still missed you.” This time he kisses me again, a full-on tongue-filled kiss.

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