Page 124 of Everything Has Changed
“We make a plan with all the information. We see what we can and can’t work with. Then we fight for our town. But we need all the information first. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, so wipe that scowl off your face, Gwen, or I might mistake you for your brother. I’m just saying, obviously, their plan is already in motion. They planned it that way for a reason. So let’s figure out what we have to work with.”
“Then we get mad?”
Ophelia smirks. “Then we get mad and we fight like hell.”
The rest of the day is filled with quiet whispers of “Have you heard” or “Did you know about” questions. The latter being aimed toward me since I had been working so closely with the first family of Willow Grove for the last month. More so than they even realize. And every time I’m reminded of how I saw what I wanted to see. I didn’t question Logan when he seemed so secretive or the mayor when he continued to remind me to do better than my best.
I’m walking around the dining room, refilling drip coffees, when Mary comes strolling in like a hurricane.
“Gloom out there and gloom in here,” she tsks. I look over her shoulder and realize she’s right. The clouds are rolling in this afternoon, giving an eerie feeling through the town.
I follow her to the counter, asking what I can get for her today.
“First of all, I need you to clear out whatever heaviness you are letting weigh down your soul.” She throws her hands all around my head. “Your aura is a mess of mud and moss. Where’s my sunshine girl?”
I look around the room, reading all of the tired expressions. “Are you the last to know or something?”
“Psh,” she waves my words away as if they were ridiculous. “I’m never the last to know. I had a feeling Richard Spencer was up to something. I could just never put my finger on it.”
My eyebrows jump to my hairline. “Well, now you know.”
She taps her finger on her chin in thought. “But you know what’s odd? I’ve been pulling cards for this town for as long as I have lived here, every couple of months like clockwork. Just to touch base with the universe.”
“How is that odd, Mary?”
“The cards have never changed. They always leaned toward death and change, not necessarily in a bad way, but not overly good either.” Noting my clearly horrified expression, she tacks on, “Death has many forms, it’s not always true to the word. It can just mean the end of something. It wasn’t until Logan came into town that they finally changed.”
I stand at attention at his name. “Changed in what way?” I urge her to continue, needing to know what she might know, even if I don’t totally believe in the cards.
“The Fool showed up.”
I stare at Mary blankly. Then bark out a laugh. “The fool showed up, alright,” I mutter. “What do you want today? Your usual?”
I start her drink before she even responds.
“I’m serious, Gwen. The Fool represents taking a leap of faith for something new. So I pulled the cards again this morning and got the same run. Only this time with The Wheel of Fortune.”
I toss my head back in disbelief as I steam her milk.
“That card represents new beginnings from unexpected circumstances. I don’t fully believe our situation with the eldest Spencer,which is always bad when I look at it, is what we need to worry about anymore.”
“You’re right.” I slide the drink over to her. “It’s The Fool, otherwise known as his son.”
Mary taps her phone on the card reader, taking a sip of her latte when the reader chimes its happy song that the payment went through.
She shakes her head at me and places her hand over mine on the counter. “I don’t think we need to worry about him at all. Especially not you.”
My shoulders droop. “Did you pull my cards without me, Mary?”
She at least cringes as I call her out. “You didn’t show up for your reading during the festival, then all of this happened, and something told me to check.”
“I don’t want to know, Mary. Not this time.” My chest aches at knowing more than I want to right now. Either way, I don’t think the extra supernatural-assisted knowledge will help me.
“Can I just say one thing?”
I sigh, then give in with a small nod.
“Don’t give up. I’ve always known this town needs you, but more now than ever. And so does that boy.”
