Page 41 of The Mating Claim
When she opened them, shegasped.
The slim stack of bills had grown. Considerably. In fact…she grabbed the money, feeling her palms tingle as if the magick still worked on the bills, andcounted.
Instead of $200, she now had $400.
Stunned, she dropped the pen and index card. Her spirits soared. Itworked.
Clutching the money to her chest, she did a happy dance around the room. “I didit!”
She waved the bills at Lucky, who barked and circled aroundher.
But why limit it to only $400? She could conjure enough cash to at least stave off the bank with foreclosure, and pay the rent this month and next on theshop.
Lacey stacked the bills on the floor again, picked up the index card and the pen. “Get back, Lucky,” shewarned.
After repeating the bill, she checked the cash. It had doubled once more to $800.
At this rate, she could go all day. So why not?It’s not greedy. You deserveit.
But deep inside, she knew it wasn’t good. Lacey tapped the pen against her teeth. She’d stop now, see how business did. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t finish doubling her cashlater.
Someone banged at the front door. Lacey went into the shop and saw a few people standing outside. Customers! Maybe her luck wasturning.
Glancing at the clock, she gathered the cash, tucked the index card into her pocket and hurried to open herstore.
For ninety minutes, customers flowed in and out of the shop. Most were credit card receipts, but a few paid cash as they purchased herbs and scentedcandles.
A happy whistle came from her lips as she put up the CLOSED FOR LUNCH sign at noon, locked her store and walked to Treats & Eats. The coffee shop bustled with customers. Several twenty-something Skins worked on their laptops at the counter or at the small round tables Tara set up for customers. Lacey noticed the clear, glowing aura of Others scattered throughout the shop. Wi-Fi was free, and for those who needed a mobile office, it was a perfect partnership, Tara had told her. The business people kept eating more and ordering more, and often bought pastries and tea to takehome.
Lacey waved to the two workers behind the counter – one of them Tara’s daughter as she wended her way through the tables toward the back room. There was a feel good aura in the air created by Tara’s gentleness and cheerful disposition. Small wonder her business succeeded. Tara had powerful magick in her shop and tendrils of it weaved through theair.
I should ask for advice on how I can increase sales, but my heart really isn’t in the shop. I only kept it going because it meant so much to mymother.
The realization startled her.So if my passion isn’t the shop, what isit?
The answer came to her as she pushed aside the beaded curtain separating the coffee shop from the area Tara had designated as a play area for children. Laced with a magick shield, the curtain prevented anyone from seeing into the room, or hearing anything aswell.
Twelve beaming faces greeted her with cries of “Lacey!” They scrambled up from their pillows and beanbags on the floor to hug herknees.
The depression and worries of the day slid off her like water cascading down glass. This was the highlight of her week, and no matter how tired or busy she was, she always made time for thekids.
It was a child who’d saved her own ass when she was younger. If not for her determination to shield Evie and teach her to love, Lacey would have quietly surrendered todespair.
Would she have turned to the dark arts, forcing the Brehon to destroy her? Perhaps. She thought about that as she bid hello to the children. Only one person had not come over for hugs. It was a baby who recently started attending these weekly reading and informational sessions, always with her mother, a lovely, ethereal woman Lacey thought was a Fae or nymph, but could not tell for certain. Asking would have been rude. Some Others preferred to hide and not to reveal their magickforms.
She went to greet the woman and the giggling baby. “Hi Ciara. Can I holdher?”
The woman nodded and lifted the baby up. The child wore a white dress dotted with pink flowers. Lacey bounced her in her arms. “Good morning Sonia! Can you say dragons rule, just like I taught you lastweek?”
“Dragons rule,” Sonia shouted, and then she put a finger in her adorable, heart-shaped mouth. “I luvs mamma andpapa.”
“Yes, you do. You love mama and papa.” Lacey bounced her a little more, wondering why the child and her mother looked familiar. Yet she felt certain she’d never seen them before they started coming. She didn’t want to question Ciara, for the woman had an aura of power that made Lacey wish to leave heralone.
But the baby, so sweet and pretty with her blonde curls, dimples and blue eyes, wasadorable.
“Listen, Sonia. I’m going to teach you a new thing to say to Papa when he gets home tonight. Dragons can fly and touch the sky and they are pretty, and so amI!”
She repeated the words again, as Ciara’s eyes sparkled with interest. When Sonia babbled them back to her in a clear, enunciated voice, Laceylaughed.
