Page 9 of A Christmas Celebration
‘Are you going to eat all of this toast?’ I asked, reaching for a slice of the cinnamon and vanilla infused brioche and resolutely changing the subject.
Once we had eaten more of the breakfast than I would ever have thought I could manage, Molly picked up the wrapped deck of tarot cards which were never far from her person. She let out a long breath as she began to shuffle them in a well-practiced way and I smiled as she closed her eyes and drifted off because the situation and her expression felt so familiar. The cards had been in her family for generations, passed down from mother to daughter, and were treated with immense respect.
‘I’ll read yours if you like,’ she offered, opening her eyes and clearly making an effort to make it sound as if the idea had only just occurred to her.
‘No, thanks,’ I quickly said. ‘I’d rather you didn’t.’
‘It might help,’ she said innocently.
‘Helpyou,’ I shot back with a smile. ‘You’d get far more out of interpreting the cards than I would and I really don’t feel up to sharing yet.’
‘Fair enough,’ she sighed. ‘It was worth a try.’
‘You sneaky minx,’ I tutted as she put the deck down again.
‘Will you carry a crystal instead?’ she then asked.
She picked up a bowl from the mantelpiece and began to lift a few pieces out.
‘Here,’ she said, holding out her palm. ‘Take one of these.’
I gave her a hard stare.
‘Choose one and I’ll stop fussing,’ she promised, not at all perturbed by my less than impressed expression.
‘They all look the same,’ I said, when I peered down at what she was holding.
In her palm were half a dozen pieces of pink crystal. The only real difference between them was their size and a slight variation in their colour. There was one I could see which was shaped a bit like a heart. It was the prettiest of the few she had picked out.
‘Just take the one you’re drawn to,’ Molly insisted, watching me like a hawk.
I bypassed the heart which had caught my attention and went for a smaller piece with rough edges. It was paler than the rest and nowhere near as smooth and tactile as the others looked.
‘Happy now?’ I asked, showing her the piece I’d picked up.
I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew I’d forsaken my favourite.
‘I’m almost always happy,’ she contentedly sighed, carefully settling the other crystals back into the bowl and returning it to the mantelpiece.
‘So, what is this?’ I asked, holding my second choice up to the light.
‘Rose quartz,’ she said. ‘It’s good for self-healing and self-love.’
‘I see.’ I sighed, guessing that my clever Wiccan chum had worked out that I didn’t even like myself at the moment and was therefore miles off feeling anything like self-love. ‘I suppose I’d better get back to the hall,’ I said, standing up and slipping the crystal into my jeans pocket.
‘Just give yourself time, Paige,’ Molly said astutely. ‘By Christmas you’ll be feeling like a whole new person.’
I couldn’t in all honesty believe that, even though it was Molly who had said it.
‘You do know that Christmas is just a few short weeks away, don’t you?’ I said with a wry smile but, on that occasion, Molly didn’t smile back.
Chapter 4
I happily whiled away the rest of the day at the hall, with Bran still welded to my side, and was amused to discover that Archie really was still the same teasing terror he had been when we were growing up. In fact, it was more than that and I would have gone as far as to say that he was turning into quite the chip off the old block.
‘As you’re going to be here while the Winter Wonderland is happening,’ he had grinned as we took our seats for dinner and tugged at my ponytail as if we were in infant school rather than two grown-ups, ‘I’m hoping you’ll be willing to play Santa’s Elf for us in the grotto.’
I rolled my eyes and picked a different chair which was out of his reach.
