“Then it’s settled,” Amelia says, smiling even wider. “Sincerest apologies to Cleo, but you know what this means.”

Click here

I guess after all these years, Logan must be rubbing off on me. Luck, coincidence, déjà vu, serendipity—he believes all these things are just signs that you’re headed where you need to be. I’m not as convinced that destiny rules over human agency, but right now it’s hard to argue. How many stars had to align to bring the four of us here today, on this path?

“We can’t ignore the signs,” I finish. “I think we could all be here for a reason. If that’s true, we need to find out what it could be.”

Amelia smiles hearing my answer, but her eyes betray the gesture. She may have gotten her way, but she hates it when I don’t side with her reasoning, too. It’s not that I disagree—it’s more that I’m not fully sure what I believe yet. I love facts and proof, but neither really applies to life’s unanswerables.

Though if I’m being really honest, I’m also just not as convinced that one truth can apply to every situation as Logan and Amelia. It’s kind of ironic, actually. Logan isn’t into organized religion, but he believes in his own version of God, or “the universe” as he calls it. Meanwhile Amelia is Jewish, but she doesn’t believe a higher power holds any sway over our individual actions. Even Cleo is self-assured in her near-universal skepticism. But then there’s me, the lapsed Catholic, still sorting out what I believe.

I guess this maybe explains why I’m so drawn to tarot cards as their own spiritual system. The tarot asks all these same questions, but it never defaults to one truth for every situation. Instead, the cards constantly shift their meanings depending on the context. Just like me, forever shifting and debating, side-kicking to the bigger beliefs around me.

So even though Amelia doesn’t say it out loud, I can still tell she takes this as some kind of invisible sign that I value Logan more than her. Sadly, this is still one gap I have no idea how to bridge. I just wish there wasn’t so little time left to do so.

“Logan clearly has you brainwashed,” Amelia says, rolling her eyes. “Nevertheless, that’s a majority. Sincerest apologies to Cleo, but you know what this means.”

Click here

Cleo sighs, folding her arms across her chest. Still, I spot a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. We all feel the pull of this deck, even our most skeptical.

Amelia then rumbles her fingers across the back of her bucket seat, building a drumroll before finishing her announcement.

“Our road trip just turned into an intrepid tarot scavenger hunt! A ‘taroad’ trip, if you will!”