Page 17 of Best Served Cold

Before I leave, she points to the ice pack I’m still holding. “When the ice melts, pour it into a teacup. Then slowly drain it until you’re left with the dregs. Rotate the cup three timesclockwise, and then gently tip it over to drain the rest of the liquid. Send me a picture of what you’re left with in the bottom of the cup, will you?”

She scrawls her number down on the back of a Tea of Fortune business card.

I’m about to walk away with it when she surprises me by wrapping her hand around my wrist. I meet her gaze, her eyes a piercing light blue, and she says, “Everything happens for a reason. You remember that.”

Her words shock me into silence before I realize what should have been obvious. “You’re talking about Jonah.”

She gives me a kind smile. “I don’t know. I only knew you needed to hear it. Now, wait here. There’s something else you need.”

It would be rude to peace out, but I really hope she’s not going to come back with promotional materials for a cult.

I have to swallow a groan when she returns carrying a yellow stone that’s two or three inches long.

“It’s golden calcite, dear,” she says, placing it in my palm and pressing my fingers around it. “It’ll help bring you joy. That crystal’s for you to keep, from my personal collection.”

“I don’t really believe in that?—”

I manage to cut offnonsense.

“I’ll believe for you,” she says, which feels an awful lot like cult talk. But she’s a nice old lady, so I slip it into my pocket.

“Thank you, Dottie,” I say. “Have a nice afternoon.”

I can feel it adding weight to my jeans pocket.

“You too, my dear. You too. Remember what I said now.”

My prickly side wants to ask her if she’s talking about her attempt to get me interested in my brother’s girl or the magic rock that’s supposed to make me happy. But I know when to smile and nod.

As I turn to leave, I find myself stealing another glance at Sophie. She’s laughing, her hand slightly lifted over her mouth as if she can’t believe the laughter spilling out of her. In that moment it’s hard to look away from her. Her hair’s a mess, but she’s never looked better to me.

Hell, there’s something to be said for the power of persuasion.

I shake my head, amused at myself.

My phone starts ringing before I’m more than two steps beyond the door. I’m not at all surprised when I see that it’s my father.

I might have gotten to hit my kid brother, but here’s his sucker punch for me.

CHAPTER FIVE

SOPHIE

“So we’re going to destroy this asshole, right?” Hannah asks, cracking her knuckles.

Briar rotates her teacup on the tabletop, peering inside hopefully. Dottie and her staff are trained to read people’s fortunes in their tea leaves, although it’s a mystery what that training actually entails.

My aunt isn’t religious but is a true believer in everything involving mysticism. She and Dottie are in a Wise Women Group that Dottie started here at the tea shop, and from what I can tell, they discuss things like energy imbalances and auras and karma. It’s probably ironic for a woman who believes in bad luck and curses to doubt the efficacy of such things, but I do. Mostly because I’ve tried to reverse my luck nearly every way possible and gotten nowhere.

“He was two-timing all of us. We can’t let him get away with that,” Hannah continues, taking our silence for a lack of agreement. Which I suppose it is.

It felt good throwing that ring at Jonah’s face, and I wouldn’t mind throwing other things at him, but revenge seems like a slippery slope. I don’t to find myself back at a police station.

“We didn’t,” Briar says. “I let Sophie into the brewery, and she told him off in front of my boss.” Her expression darkens into a look of dejection. “He’s going to be so pissed.”

“You won’t get fired,” I say, even though I obviously have no control over that. “You don’t have to tell anyone how I got in. I doubt anyone even noticed you were there. And if your boss does give you a hard time, then you can confirm Jonah is a cheating a-hole.”

She sighs and slides the teacup a few inches away from her. “No way. I’m not supposed to date anyone who works with the brewery.”

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