“What did you think of Colleen and Gemma?” Liz asked.

“I liked them but I liked Colleen the best.” Marva Jo finished her own makeup.

“You got to be kiddin’ me!” Liz gasped.

“No, I’m not kiddin’ you,” Marva Jo assured her. “Now get out of here, and go do your job. You’ve got just enough time to get settled into the wagon and turn on the crystal ball light before your first customer.”

She was on her way from the trailer to the carnival and had just waved at Blaze who was working the controls at the Ferris wheel when she heard someone yell her name. She was surprised to see Austin and Rye not five feet from her.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Austin said.

“It’s me in living color.” Liz twirled around a couple of times. “I’m telling fortunes tonight. The next two nights they’ve got me working the shooting gallery and Aunt Tressa will be back in the fortune telling wagon. Y’all are brave souls in this weather.”

“This is the only night we get to come, and I love carnivals. Rye took me to a carnival on one of our first dates. I make him take me to one whenever it’s close enough. Maddie is keeping Rachel for us,” Austin said. “I don’t care if I get wet. I’ve got dry clothes at home. And you didn’t look like that at the Halloween party. You wore a genie outfit.”

Liz smiled. “You’re going to have to tell me the story of your romance when I have more time. Maybe we can all get together for a girls’ night out sometime. And that outfit was my belly dancing outfit. This is my official fortune telling costume.”

“Name the place and time. Maybe we can have it at my house, and you can teach us how to belly dance,” Austin said.

Rye’s face broke into a grin. “Can the guys have a guys’ night out and watch?”

Austin kissed him soundly and giggled. “No, but you’ll reap the benefits of our learning, I’m sure,” she answered as she herded Rye off toward the Ferris wheel.

Liz noticed the paint was beginning to chip on the fortune-teller’s wagon when she slipped inside and got it ready for business. She flipped a switch that turned on dim lights and another one that lit up the iridescent bulb at the base of the crystal ball. She struck a match and fired up two incense cones, and in a few seconds, the wagon smelled like sandalwood. Then she sat down and touched a button under the table that flipped a sign on the door to ENTER. While she was with a customer, she would touch the button again and the sign would flip over to say, DO NOT DISTURB.

She had missed the business. She’d missed the feeling of waiting for the first customer, the smell of the incense, the tinkling bells when she crossed and uncrossed her legs, and the pretty light in the crystal ball. And most of all the excitement in the faces of those who got their fortunes told.