That reminded her of Raylen that morning. Raylen was a complex, exciting man who kept her on her toes. She looked into the crystal ball and saw her own distorted face smiling back at her.

“Is this what I’ll look like when I’m old?” she muttered. “Will Raylen love me with wrinkles in my cheeks and around my mouth?”

Chapter 19

The door swung open and Liz said, “Wel-come to Madam Drabami’s Fortunes,” in a low voice.

Becca took two steps and sat down across the small table from Liz. “I came to see if you’d changed your mind about my fortune.”

“Cards, ball, or palm?” Liz’s tone came out blunt even though she had tried to keep it professional.

“What’s the difference?” Becca asked.

“Palm is five dollars,” Liz said, “and cards and crystal ball will cost you twenty.”

Liz wanted to strip out of the costume, then go home to her dog and cat and Christmas decorations.

Becca threw a twenty on the table. “Give me the works. Tell me that I’m going to marry Raylen when you move on, and I pick up the pieces.”

“I’ll tell you exactly what I see, not necessarily what you want to hear,” Liz said. “Do you want to change your mind before I start?”

Becca leaned across the table and said, “I don’t like you. You are a fake and you’re going to hurt Raylen.”

“The works it is,” Liz said. “Please lay your hands, palms up, on the table.”

Becca laid them out with a thump. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“I did, but you didn’t put twenty dollars on the table to fight with me. You laid it out for a fortune. We can fight later. I don’t charge for that.” Liz picked up her hand. “I see a long, long life ahead of you. This line says you will be married for many years, and this short one here suggests that you’ll marry again after that, but it won’t last long. I would think the first time you marry it will be for love, and when that love has passed on in your old age, you will look for it again and not find it.”

Becca jerked her hands back and held them in her lap. “That could be anyone’s future.”

Liz picked up the cards and shuffled them. “It could be, and it probably is for lots of people, but it is yours today,” Liz said.

“I’ll cut the cards and turn them. I don’t want you to cheat,” Becca said.

Liz handed the deck to her.

Becca reshuffled them, cut them, and then laid the deck on the table. She turned over the top card.

“You need to turn three cards and lay them out side-by-side. One card can mean one thing, but next to another one it takes on a very different meaning,” Liz said.

Becca laid out two more cards and crossed her arms over her chest. “What does that mean?”

“You will have exceptionally good luck for a little while and then a reasonable measure of success, but you are walking on the edge of the cliff when it comes to your romantic side, and one misstep can put you over the edge. Be careful, or you will trade true love and happiness for contentment.” Liz wanted to tell her that she was going to gain a hundred pounds and all her hair would fall out, but she stayed true to her craft.