Page 63 of The Sun and the Moon
I’m going to tell her I like her even if it makes me desperate to run the other way.
Confidently—at least I hope that’s what I’m giving with my walk—I enter the bar and scan it. I spot her almost immediately, sitting at a low lounge seat right in front of the bar with two women. Cadence’s hair is down—I see the hair band she had it tied back with around her wrist—cascading in a swoop over her back like tangled vines. She’s listening to the blonde with clear interest, but her expression isn’t happy exactly.
She looks like she’s about to cry. Or run.
I approach them, hoping that if I’m interrupting something uncomfortable, she’ll be happy for the help. But I stop short a few feet from the table. Sitting on top of the deep chestnut wood is a stack of tarot cards, a soft pink with gold accents. One is turned upright to face Cadence. I have to strain to get a clear look, but I’m able to make out the words written around the border.
Ten of Cups
I step back, scooting into a booth by the door. There’s a half-eaten plate of fries and water glass dripping condensation onto the table, but it’s empty. I swipe open my phone and tap the internet icon to do a quick search forTen of Cups Tarot. I tap the first link and scroll down to the description of what it means when the card is upright, since that is the position of the one in front of Cadence.
The Ten of Cups represents the embodiment of happiness, joy, commitment, and fulfillment with your family or your romantic partner.
My head spins with this first sentence, but I force myself to read on.
This is not a card of selfish indulgence or success. It is one where that love is shared with others, an experience that can only come after learning to love oneself, proving that true happiness comes from forming authentic bonds with others.
The lonely girl with the hummingbird out her window pulled a card that represents finding a fulfilling bond?
My eyes snag and stick on one of the final sentences in the description.
This card can indicate that the querent is experiencing a sense of happily ever after—of family, of harmony, and of the truest, deepest love.
My eyes shoot up, across the room to Cadence.
Never have I believed in the power of the cards.
Never have I looked to the Universe for guidance or dreamed of a soulmate kind of love like you hear about in stories.
But looking at her in this gold-infused light, I can imagine it.
For a moment, a breath, it’s almost like I see it.
Her soul and mine intwined in a cosmically coordinated dance.
I pocket my phone and take a deep breath, centering myselfbefore I approach again. With that tarot card pull and my new, fuller understanding of it, telling her I like her is taking on a whole new meaning. A bigger meaning, with the heft of a hand of fate that I never really believed in before but am now entertaining more by the day.
But then, I suppose if I was truly honest with myself, it’s not like I’m immune to what is maybe irrational belief. My pilot superstitions have always felt more normal than not, largely because within the community it’s rare to find a pilot who doesn’t have a preflight ritual at the very least and a whole set of rituals on board at the most.
As I near them again, I see that the blonde has the deck in her hands now. She’s reincorporated the Ten of Cups into the stack and is tucking it away inside her purse.
Her eyes trip to mine, a recognition in them that surprises me.
Cadence twists to see what she’s looking at. Her eyes land first on my hips, then trail up the length of my torso, over my braid. They rest on my lips and then eyes. The whiskey color of her hazel-gold irises shines.
“Hey there,” I say, my voice coming out wobbly, with a rough edge of want that I really wish I could erase. I flick my attention to the couple she’s sitting with. “More old friends?”
“More like new acquaintances,” Cadence says. “Kit and Julia are here for the engagement party.” Cadence looks at them with this pointed tension in her face. It makes me a little self-conscious, like they were talking about me before I arrived.
A thrill zips up my spine at the thought. I know from my reading with Moira that the person who gets the tarot reading—the querent—also comes to the cards with a question they hope to get insight about.
Could I have been what Cadence asked these cards about?
The brunette, Julia, is signing the check as Kit stands, hooking her purse over her shoulder with a smile. She flicks her big green eyes back and forth between Cadence and me, her lips lifting into a quick there-and-gone smile.
“Gotta get changed for the festival,” she says, motioning to her ensemble as if it’s an example of what not to wear. “I have a whole outfit planned.”
“And I am her Instagram boyfriend,” Julia says, closing the leather booklet over the credit card receipt.
