Authors: Claire Delacroix
Tags: #reincarnation, #second chances, #time travel romance, #paranormal romance, #tarot cards, #tarot
Andrea blinked at the realization that there was one very good candidate right next door. “She seems like a very nice girl, you know, Mitch, and it's about time you started thinking about dating again. You can't beat yourself up over Janice forever...”
“
Andrea!”
Mitch roared.
Andrea decided to shut up.
Mitch took a Herculean breath, stared at the floor for a long moment, then impaled her with a glance. “I get two minutes,” he reminded her.
Andrea folded her arms across her chest. “Well, time's wasting.”
“A fortune teller,” Mitch repeated with a stern glance her way “told you to go on a specific cruise at a specific time, that you would meet a specific kind of man there, and that this man - your own true love - would sweep you off your feet.” Mitch arched a brow. “Doesn't that sound a teeny bit suspicious to you?”
“It sounds like destiny,” Andrea retorted haughtily. “It sounds like Lilith is reading the future.”
Mitch snorted. “Come on, Andrea, this is how cons are arranged! Keep in mind that you are in very comfortable financial circumstances.”
“Lilith couldn't know that.”
“
Anyone
could know that,” Mitch retorted so crisply that Andrea wondered. “The real estate records show my acquisition of the house, a little digging in the marriage registry and the birth files could come up with my association with you. It's
easy
to find people, Andrea, and to find out a lot about them. The Internet is a positive minefield of personal information.”
He looked so serious that Andrea believed him. She bit her lip. “Really?”
“Trust me, I know. I'm a
journalist
, Andrea. We dig up stuff on people all the time.”
“Oh.”
Mitch inched closer, his words persuasive. “Of course, you're going to meet some guy on this cruise, some guy who knows in advance -“ he counted off on his fingers “- one, that you'll be there; two, that you'll be looking for him, courtesy of Lilith; three, just exactly what your net worth would be; and four, that he and Lilith have a deal to split the profits of any ensuing match. Fifty-fifty at divorce court, that's the law. Even splitting it between your Romeo and Lilith will leave them both with a nice chunk of change.”
Andrea bounded to her feet in horror. “Mitch Davison! How could you think something so perfectly awful about your new neighbor? How could you think that Lilith is so calculating as that? That she'd take advantage of
me
? That's just horrible!”
Mitch spread out his hands, unapologetic. “We don't really know her, Andrea, or very much about her. These people thrive on establishing quick trust. They're very, very good at it.”
“
These
people.” Andrea straightened with disdain. Oh! She knew Lilith wasn't trying to swindle her! “Lilith isn't that kind of person! Just look at how nice she's been to you and Jason already. And she gave me that reading for free!” She shook a finger at her stepson. “You're not behaving as graciously as I know you are. What's gotten into you? And where are your manners?”
Mitch, to his credit, looked a little shamefaced by this. And so he should, to Andrea's way of thinking. A lot of people would have been nasty about that fence.
“Maybe she has a partner who does the dirty work,” he suggested quietly. “The details aren't important.”
“
Mitch Davison!
The details
are
important!” Andrea cried. “I don't know what's gotten into you. You never used to be so suspicious of people.” She poked him in the chest and he didn't even flinch. “Maybe you just don't know what to do when a pretty woman is
nice
to you.”
“Ouch one more time,” Mitch retorted grimly.
Andrea lifted her chin defiantly. “Mitch, I don't care how suspicious you are or even why. I trust Lilith and because of that, I'm going on that cruise.” She waved her finger beneath his nose. “And when I marry the wonderful man I'm going to meet there,
you
are going to be the first to toast the happy couple.”
“Andrea!” Mitch's exasperation was more than clear. He was in hot pursuit when she swept regally from the room. “You can't do this!”
“I most certainly can. And I'm going to.” Andrea let her eyes narrow as she glared at the most stubborn and protective man alive. “Just watch me.”
Andrea knew Mitch wouldn't stop her when she turned to march up the stairs. Just as she knew that he wouldn't stop her from going on that cruise. And he would gradually, grudgingly accept any man she married, provided that man was good to her.
And how could the man of her destiny be anything else?
Of course, that didn't mean that Mitch would give up very easily.
“Well, don't sign any prenuptial agreements before your lawyer reads them!” he called behind her and Andrea smiled as she climbed the stairs.
He was just a protective old bear, that was Mitch's problem. Trying to save the world from itself, just like she told Lilith. It was endearing in a way.
When it wasn't downright irritating.
She pivoted at the top of the stairs and eyed her disgruntled stepson saucily. “Tsk tsk. If you'd been nice to me, I might have volunteered to do your grocery shopping tomorrow.”
Mitch snorted, but Andrea could hear his usual even temper already being restored. “Right. Cheetos and Popsicles all around. Don't do me any favors.”
Andrea grinned. “I was thinking more of chocolate bars and bubble gum.”
Mitch groaned in mock agony and she laughed.
“What if I make you a list?” he suggested.
“Oh, all those boring nutritious foods. Fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread. I know how you are.” Andrea wrinkled her nose and sighed in mock concession. “But I
suppose
I could be convinced to follow a list. With just a few embellishments. There is a tragic shortage of frozen burritos in this house.”
Mitch grinned. “That would be great, Andrea. If you think you can manage with the kids.”
“It's no problem at all. I'd be glad to do it.”
The pair smiled at each other with mutual affection. “Have I thanked you enough recently for everything you've done?”
Andrea shrugged, her smile turning loving. “Probably not, but I know when I'm appreciated.”
Mitch suddenly sobered. “Just promise me you'll really think about the wisdom of going on this cruise, Andrea. You're too smart of a lady to get conned.”
Andrea's heart melted, but she pointed a finger at him playfully. “Now, why didn't you remember that two minutes ago?”
Mitch chuckled and raised a hand in concession. “Just promise me you'll think about it.”
Andrea smiled, having no intention of doing any such thing, and her stepson turned back to the task of wringing order from chaos in the kitchen. Mitch had made great progress in setting things to rights - the house already looked half-civilized.
And time would prove his worries about this cruise wrong. Time and a big diamond rockeroo on Andrea's left hand. After all, Mitch didn't know much about love and how good it could be, thanks to Janice. No, it really wasn't Mitch's fault that he couldn't trust in the concept of love.
He'd learn.
Eventually.
What Mitch needed was a woman to tie a big bow around his heart and drag him around behind her for the rest of his life. A woman like Lilith. That would keep him busy! And give him a much more appropriate focus for all that protectiveness.
Hmm. She'd have to think of a way to get those two together somehow.
Andrea's smile widened as she thought about someone tying a bow around her own heart. Oh, she hoped the man of her dreams would be a really good dancer, as Lilith predicted. Three trips to the altar and she'd never yet married a man who could dance worth a hoot. Andrea dearly loved to dance.
Especially waltzes.
She would dream tonight of a Captain's black tie dinner and dancing, dancing, swirling around an elegant room, locked in a perfectly eligible man's arms. Andrea made a mental note to find a lovely swingy dress for that cruise.
You had to dress for success, after all.
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* * *
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The calls of “bye bye” brought Lilith to her front window Monday morning. She peeked through the blinds, feeling a bit guilty for spying, but unable to miss witnessing Mitch saying goodbye to his kids. Little Jen gave him a big hug, that well-loved blue bunny right in the middle of the transaction.
Lilith's heart clenched and she bit her lip, those tears threatening to rise one more time. But she was never going to have children and she might as well get over it. Why on earth had it just started to bother her now?
Maybe because her true love was back?
Lilith wouldn't have believed it, but Mitch looked even better dressed for work than he had on the weekend. His khaki chinos were pleated to perfection, his plaid short-sleeved shirt emphasized the breadth of his shoulders and his muscled forearms. Her heart twisted when he winked at Andrea and Lilith was certain he'd at least glance toward her house.
She braced herself for that look.
But Mitch just pivoted and walked toward Bloor Street and the subway. He didn't even glance back. Lilith nibbled her lip and turned away, avoiding D'Artagnan's perceptive glance.
She had the very definite sense that it wasn't a coincidence Mitch hadn't looked her way. No, Lilith was knew that he was irked with her.
But why?
Lilith's gaze landed on the tarot cards she used for her readings, but for the first time in a long time, they just wouldn't do. Neither would the stack on her night table. Lilith impulsively raced upstairs, rummaged in her cedar chest and brought an ancient treasure to light.
The tarot cards Dritta had given her. The tarot cards she had learned with. The tarot cards Lilith had not used since Sebastian drew The Fool.
Since she left the
Rom kumpania.
They were heavy in Lilith's hands, heavier than she remembered. Just holding them prompted a wealth of memories, she imagined the deck smelled faintly of patchouli. She cradled them in her hands, for they were frail after so many years, even with Lilith's careful storage. She carried them down to the living room and eased them from the protective cocoon of silk.
It had been so long since she had even revealed them to the light. Lilith held her breath as she unwound the last layer of silk, half expecting that the cards would have disintegrated.
But they hadn't, they were still whole, even though their edges were frayed and feathered. They were so thick! The colors of the paintings had faded, she supposed it was tempura paint or something equally perishable that had been used all those years ago.
The images made her smile in recollection. Lilith went slowly through the cards, Dritta's voice echoing in her ears with the sight of each one. When she reached The Fool, she paused, her fingertips easing over the painting, then lingering on the zero above his head.
The first card. The null. Nothing on its own, The Fool increases everything it joins tenfold. A magical number, a mystical number, a card to be reckoned with.
A card of journeys, follies, adventures.
Lilith suddenly remembered an assertion Dritta had once made when they sat together late one night, a claim the other woman had never repeated. Lilith had never been able to coax Dritta to acknowledge again that she had even made the claim, let alone repeat it.
But she had and Lilith remembered. Dritta had said that the high cards - those twenty-one numbered individually - marked the path of a journey or a transformation, a coming to wisdom.
Lilith shuffled through the old deck with shaking fingers, unable to deny her sudden sense that she had remembered something very important.
Sebastian had drawn The Fool, the zero card.
On Saturday, Lilith had drawn The Magician, the one card.
After Mitch left Saturday night, The High Priestess had separated herself from the deck. Her number was two.
Yesterday, Lilith had drawn the Empress, number three.
She spread the four cards out on the table and looked at them carefully. It couldn't be a coincidence that they had been coming to her in order. Just to test her belief that there was no such thing as coincidence, Lilith drew another card randomly from the deck.
It was The Emperor. Fifth card in the sequence, carrying the number four.
Lilith's heart skipped a beat and she was instantly reassured at the state of matters between herself and Mitch. The Emperor, signified an audience with authority, with the man in charge, with a charismatic and decisive man. A man who valued logic and tangible evidence, a man who could be relied upon to do what is right.
Lilith had a pretty good idea who that man was.
Mitch was coming to see her.
But when?
Lilith had a sense that the cards were telling her something, just as they did in every consultation. She studied the five cards more carefully, the horizontal figure eight hanging in the air over The Magician's head reminding her of something Dritta had done that night. She had lain out the court cards in a strange way, a way that represented the journey upon which they were guideposts.
Lilith quickly separated the rest of the court cards from her old deck and laid them out in her best recollection of how they should be. A few adjustments, some lip nibbling and concentration, and she was certain she had it right.
Immediately in front of herself, Lilith had laid The Fool, followed to his left by the next ten cards. They made a circle - or the left half of the sideways eight - each card facing outwards, their toes into the circle. Closing the circle was the eleventh card, number 10, The Wheel of Fortune, at what could be called three o'clock.