Odessa wasn’t sure what Blackwood was up to, but she was certain she didn’t like being the unwitting subject. She stepped through the door next to a selection of amulets, talismans, and charms.

The back room looked half storeroom, half break room. The counter woman whisked away a soda cup and fast-food bag from the reading table. If Blackwood was expecting to find the shop’s owner back here, he was disappointed.

“Please sit,” she said, indicating a preferred chair.

Odessa looked at Blackwood. She assumed they could leave now.

He pulled out the chair for her.

Rather than question him, she chose to trust that he had a plan. With a sharp look at him, one that she hoped conveyed this trust, she sat, Blackwood sliding the chair in beneath her.

The old woman sat across the table. Blackwood and the counter woman remained standing, like seconds in a duel. The old woman unboxed a deck of Tarot cards, shuffling them gently with her stiff hands and clumsy fingers. She spoke, and the counter woman translated her words for Odessa.

“Please relax and clear your thoughts.”

Yeah, right, thought Odessa. She made a show of dropping her shoulders and exhaling.

She smiled at the old woman, awaiting the performance.

The old woman dealt four oversize cards facedown onto the table. She turned them over in order, one at a time, not speaking until the fourth card had been revealed.

“You are in a secure, healthy relationship with the man in your life,” the counter woman translated. “He is a good man, and devoted. He has genuine feelings for you. You are his one true love.”

Odessa nodded. So she was starting with the soft touch.

“But he is not yours.”

Not her one true love? Odessa smiled sharply. “Isn’t that kind of a bold statement?” she said.

The counter woman did not translate Odessa’s comment for the old woman, whose crooked, wrinkled fingers pawed gently at the cards’ faces. “He will be financially secure. Successful in his field. He will take a trip soon. A new man will come into your life.”

Now she was coming in with the destabilizing statement, meant to stir up Odessa’s emotions, get her engaged and vulnerable. Fat chance. Odessa glanced at Blackwood to see if he was enjoying the show…and also to make clear to him that she was not.

Another four cards went down. The old woman spent a few moments considering them. Her gaze darkened.

“This is a time of great transition for you. Great danger: Something evil has crossed your path.”

Odessa did her best to hide her reaction. She was certain these charlatans profiled their marks, tailoring prophecies to their customers’ reactions. She didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing she had responded to their generic prediction.