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Authors: Terri Dulong

Tags: #Romance

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BOOK: Sunrise on Cedar Key
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15
I
lit some lavender incense, arranged my crystals on the kitchen table, placed my tarot cards beside them, and poured myself a glass of wine. About to sit down to read my cards, I heard a knock on the door.
“Hey, Chloe,” I said, surprised my sister had come upstairs for a visit. “Come on in. Would you like a glass of wine?”
“Sure,” she said, seating herself at the table. “That was a nice dinner with Aunt Maude.”
What was this all about? “It was,” I said, sitting down across from her.
Her glance strayed to my crystals and cards. “I remember you doing this when you were a teenager. I didn't realize you still believed in this stuff.”
I smiled. “Well, I guess I found there was a lot of truth in the cards. If we pay attention. Besides, the women in our family have been reading cards for generations.”
“I guess I missed that gene,” she said, taking a sip of wine.
And then she completely surprised me.
“Any chance you could read mine?”
“Well ... yeah ... I could. Are you sure?”
Chloe nodded emphatically. “Sure, why not? None of it will probably make sense anyway.”
I slid the deck across the table. “Shuffle them as much as you want and when you feel ready, set them down.”
Chloe shuffled the cards, never taking her eyes from them, and after a few moments, she laid them down and looked at me. “Now what?”
“Remove the top card and turn it over.”
It was the Major Arcana, Number VII.
“What's it mean?” she asked, leaning across the table.
“This card represents
awareness
.”
“Awareness? Of what?”
“Well, you need to figure that out. But the translation of this card is that you need to de-clutter your mind, get rid of the past and open your thoughts so that you can really live.”
“Interesting,” was all she said. “Should I turn over another one?”
I nodded.
The next card she chose represented The Outsider. “This one is the Outsider. It represents feelings of being left out.” Although I knew what the cards were capable of, it still astonished me how eerily correct they could be, and I didn't want to piss Chloe off, so I chose my words carefully. “It means that there may be a gate in front of you, but it's not keeping you an outsider. The gate needs to be opened and walked through.”
“I see,” was all she said.
“One more card,” I told her. “This last card will give you meaning into understanding of your issues.”
She moved her hand toward the deck and slowly removed one.
“This is simply an action card. Fire. And it represents possibilities. In other words, don't be content with boundaries. The universe has a multitude of experiences waiting for you, so you need to try something different and move out of your comfort zone.”
Chloe was quiet for a few moments and then blew out a breath of air. “Wow. I always thought this was just a bunch of hooey.” She took a sip of wine, her expression reflective. “I'd have to say those cards were pretty insightful. Do you read your own cards?”
“Yup.”
“Do you find them to be as interesting as mine were?”
I nodded. “Sometimes I can't figure out exactly what they're supposed to mean, but if I slow down and take more quiet time, the answers usually arrive. Not to say I always like the answers.”
Chloe smiled. “Well, thanks. Thanks for reading them for me. You know ... I was ... kind of wondering ...”
I waited to hear what she was obviously having a hard time saying.
She cleared her throat and picked up the cards, forming them back into a single deck. “Well, you know how I'd mentioned Cameron earlier this evening? I was wondering if you thought it might be okay if I invited him to dinner.”
My sister was asking my advice? For the first time I could remember, it appeared that she was.
“Ah, yeah, sure. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, that's where I'd need your help. When I was in his shop this afternoon, he seemed overly attentive to me. I mean ... I haven't dated in years, but I haven't forgotten what it felt like to know when a man was showing some interest.” She took another sip of wine. “And I think he was. So ... I just thought it might be nice to invite him here for dinner. But I don't want to appear ... forward ... so I thought maybe you and Lucas and Aunt Maude could be at the dinner also. I'd do the cooking.” She paused for a moment. “Oh, maybe I should just forget it. It's probably a silly idea.”
I reached across the table for Chloe's hand and gave it a squeeze. “No, no. It's not silly in the least. I think it's a great idea, and I happen to know that Cameron isn't seeing anybody at the moment. He lives alone. I think he'd be flattered if you invited him.”
“Really?” The look on my sister's face reminded me of an excited teenager.
“Really,” I said. “And yes, of course we'll all be here to share the dinner with you and make it a little easier.”
That huge smile I'd seen earlier covered my sister's face again. “Oh, Gracie, thanks. Okay, then. I'll go down and see him tomorrow and extend that invitation.”
I had a feeling that card had been correct—some interesting possibilities were around the corner for Chloe.
 
After she went back downstairs, I settled myself on the sofa with my knitting. The soft strains of Mozart's Symphony no. 40 filled the room, causing me to relax and let my mind wander as I knitted.
I must have dozed off, because suddenly my eyes flew open and I had a feeling I wasn't alone. The same kind of feeling that I'd had when I first moved in. My glance scanned the room. Nothing out of place, but the room felt exceptionally cold. Nobody here except me and Annie, and she was sound asleep at the foot of the sofa. It was then that I recalled what must have been a dream. Two little girls, unfamiliar to me, had been running down a road, holding hands, laughing. They came to an abrupt stop when they encountered a long brick wall. The laughing turned to crying—and that was when I woke up.
I sat up and placed my knitting on the table.
What the heck was that all about,
I wondered. Did the two little girls represent Chloe and me? I was a firm believer that dreams sent us messages while our mind rested. I shivered and got up to close the windows.
Overtired,
I thought.
You're overtired, Grace, and need to call it a night.
 
When I returned from helping Lucas at the coffee shop the following afternoon, I headed up to the loft in the carriage house. Walking up the stairs, I recalled my tumble from the week before and how concerned Lucas had been.
I'd now opened my heart to him by sharing a part of myself that I'd shared with no other man since leaving Beau. The surprising fact was that it hadn't seemed to diminish Lucas's feelings for me in the least.
I sat down at the computer and smiled as I checked for any e-mail inquiries on bookings. Two more. One from a woman in Boston saying she was interested in booking the last week in January and another from a woman in Tampa, requesting the same weekend.
If they decided to book, we'd have our six reservations. It had definitely paid off for me to do all the advertising that I'd done.
I called the first one, Tara Lesley in Boston.
“Oh, my cousin and I would love to come,” she gushed. “I'll give you my credit card information now and we'll be confirmed. My cousin is flying over from England. We only recently found each other in the family tree, and we're so excited about getting together. Especially since we're both avid knitters. This will be a great celebration for us. Somebody will be doing that class on intarsia, right?”
I smiled. Another great story for two of the women attending. “Yes. Eudora Foster will be doing that all day Saturday. You'd like to sign up for that?”
“Yes and also my cousin, Julia Beecham. Put us both down for the class.”
I took all of the information. “Any other questions?”
“I'll be coming with my dog. Can you recommend a place to stay?”
“The Faraway Inn is pet friendly and it's only a short walk from there to the carriage house.”
“Great,” she said. “I'll call them when we hang up.”
Next I dialed the number for Riley Jackson in Tampa.
“Oh, yes, my friend and I love Cedar Key and we want to come for a Blue Moon Knitting Retreat. I'm afraid neither one of us are expert knitters though. Will that be a problem?”
“Not at all. We are offering an advanced class on Saturday, but you can just join the group and knit whatever you'd like.”
“Oh, good, then we'd like to confirm. My friend's name is Devon Hall.”
After taking the rest of her information, I hung up the phone and smiled.
Well,
I thought.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
And I had a feeling that before long we'd be fully booked for months at a time.
I was about to enter all the information into our Day Runner when the phone rang and I answered to hear Suellen's voice.
“Hey, girlfriend,” I said. “How'd ya know I needed a break right about now?”
“I didn't, but I'm glad you're not busy.”
Her voice lacked the usual animation. “What's up?”
Before she got any more words out, Suellen was sobbing across the line.
“My God, what's wrong? Are you okay? Is it Ashley?” I gripped the phone tighter.
“No, no ... Ashley's fine. It's Miss Dixie ... she passed away about an hour ago. There she was doing just fine since her heart attack last year, and boom, she had another one... .”
Suellen began crying again.
“Oh, no!” I said. “I'm
so
sorry. Another heart attack?”
“Yup, and this one took her off to the pearly gates. I'm the one that called nine one one. She called me around five, said she wasn't feeling so good, so I rushed right over to her house. The ambulance came, and I followed them to the hospital. Within an hour she was gone. The doctor came out and told me there wasn't anything they could do. He said her heart was just worn out ... and she's gone.”
I could hear the sadness and shock in my friend's voice. “Gosh, I'm so sorry, Suellen.” Why were words always so inadequate at a time like this? “Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to come up there to be with you?” I knew how close Suellen was to Miss Dixie. The woman had been more like a grandmother to her.
I heard a hiccup come across the line and then she said, “You'd do that for me? You'd really come back to Brunswick?”
Without hesitating, I said, “Of course I would! That's what best friends are for. I could drive up tomorrow.”
Her crying had subsided and I heard a smile in her tone. “No wonder you've always been my best friend, but no, sugar, you're busy enough there. I'll be okay. Really. Besides, Miss Dixie had no family, and she'd always told me she didn't want a service or anything like that. She used to say, ‘Once the good Lord decides it's time for me to join Him, there ain't no need to prolong my time here on Earth.' I knew her heart was bad, but gee, I didn't think her time here was that limited.”
I knew Miss Dixie was in her early eighties, and Aunt Maude was a young and healthy seventy-two, but I was still uncomfortable with the fact that my aunt wouldn't always be with me either.
“I know,” I told Suellen. “Gosh, are you sure you don't want me to drive up there?” And then another thought occurred to me. Her job. Where did that leave her position at the bed and breakfast?
As if reading my thoughts, she said, “No, really. There isn't anything you can do, but thank you for offering. I'm just wondering when I'll have to close the bed and breakfast. Miss Dixie had told me that since she had no family to leave it to, it would go up for sale as part of her estate and she wanted the money donated to a charity.”
“Oh, cripe! So that means that you'll soon be out of a job?”
“I'm afraid so, but ... I have experience running the Magnolia Inn, so hopefully it won't take too long before I find something else.”
My thought was,
In this economy?
But I stayed positive. “Oh, I'm sure you're right.”
“Everything okay with you? Has Chloe settled in all right?”
“Yeah, everything is fine here, and I think my sister is making an attempt to turn her life around. We're now fully booked for the first retreat in late January, and I'm really excited about all of it.”
BOOK: Sunrise on Cedar Key
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