Chapter 14
Willa Rose had been to carnivals and state fairs where fortune tellers plied their charms, but she didn’t believe in them. She always read her fortune cookies at the end of a very good meal of Chinese food, but she got something in return for her money those times.
“Your turn, Willa Rose,” Audrey said when she came out of the brightly colored curtained-off section of the barn.
“No thanks.”
“Scared of what she might reveal?” Audrey asked.
“Maybe,” Willa Rose answered.
Audrey gave her a gentle shove. “It’s all in fun. Go on in and see what tomorrow holds.”
Willa Rose took a step forward. “What’s around the corner for you?”
“A happy marriage, with four kids but not without arguments,” Audrey beamed.
Willa Rose raised both eyebrows. “I bet she tells all the women that, and she makes the men believe they will find happiness after they finish sowing their wild oats.”
“Probably,” Audrey agreed, “but when she’s telling it, she makes such a big production of it that it’s a lot of fun.
Besides, she is kind enough to do this for free tonight.
They even set up the carousel for the kids, even though there’s only Rae and Gunner’s girls and Clayton, who is just a year old. ”
Willa Rose nodded over her shoulder at Bernie, who was riding a black horse on the carousel.
Then she opened the curtain and stepped inside the dimly lit area where Yasmin looked every bit the part of a fortune teller in her multicolored skirt, dangling bracelets, and scarf tied around her long, black hair.
“Please have a seat and let’s visit about your future. ”
Willa Rose sat down on the other side of the small card table covered with a turquoise cloth, and just as she expected, there was a crystal ball half the size of a basketball in the middle of the table.
“You are a nonbeliever, yes or no?” Yasmin asked.
“I don’t believe in hocus-pocus. Not even Ouija boards or tarot cards,” Willa Rose replied.
“So, let’s talk about Endora instead of me.
Parker has taken her and the babies to the hospital in Wichita Falls.
They’re keeping them overnight to run all the tests.
If you were reading Endora’s future in this pretty ball, what would you see? ”
Yasmin’s blue eyes twinkled. “I can only work with the person in front of me, but I can tell you a little. To take her mind off the labor pains, I did a reading for her—with the cards, and just so you know, I don’t put much stock in the Ouija board either.
She will not have any more children, but those two girls will bring her great joy, both in the journey of raising them and in the grandchildren they will give her in her old age. ”
Her bracelets jingled as she reached across the table and took Willa Rose’s hand in hers.
She bent the fingers back slightly and studied the lines in her palm.
“This line means you will live a long life”—she ran her finger along one of the wrinkles—“and this one tells me that you have had a heartbreak when it comes to relationships—maybe with a sibling or losing your mother, or both.”
Bernie’s been talking to you, or maybe Mary Jane or one of the sisters.
“But this one”—Yasmin traced a line close to Willa Rose’s little finger with her long, purple fingernail—“tells me that even though you will never forget the pain, you will replace it with happy memories. This one right here says that you are destined for an extraordinarily long relationship that will bring joy to your heart, and you will live to be a grandmother and great-grandmother. When your five sons are grown, they will settle down close to you and your husband, who will always be the love of your life. You will see at least sixty years together before one of you steps into eternity.” Her eyes shifted to the crystal ball.
“Everything is not crystal clear and is a little foggy. That tells me that everything I see today depends on which path you take. This line is one future, but this one is a different one, and I get nothing from it but regret.”
Now, I know this is a bunch of fresh bull crap. I can’t have one child, much less five sons.
A cold chill chased down Willa Rose’s spine, but she attributed it to the cold wind blowing outside.
Everyone had two paths—sometimes daily—so that wasn’t anything new, but what Yasmin said about regrets scared Willa Rose.
Was there something every bit as wonderful in store for her outside of Spanish Fort?
Or would she be sorry that she left something even more amazing behind?
“Which path should I take?” she whispered.
“That is your decision,” Yasmin said. “I only tell what I see and feel. You have to make up your mind about what you do with it. Now, you are the last reading for tonight. Let’s go get something to eat.
” She stood up and rounded the table. “This is so kind of Mary Jane and Joe Clay to have a going-away party for us. We are so tired of being cooped up with the weather that we are glad for a little escape tonight, and we are happy to help set things up tomorrow morning. Mary Jane says that we are to have our meals in the house—come-and-go buffets—all day.”
“How many people are in the carnival?” Willa Rose stood up and followed Yasmin out into the noisy barn full of people.
“Thirty, last count,” she answered. “I see Tripp standing on the other side of the carousel. I’m going over there to flirt with him.”
A surge of red-hot jealousy shot through Willa Rose’s body and settled in her chest. “I thought you were with Finn.”
“I am, but if he can let Bernie think he’s single and flirt with you, then it’s time I taught him another lesson,” she said with half a giggle. “Every now and then I have to remind him that it’s my bed he sleeps in. Is that going to be a problem for you?”
“Why should it?” Willa Rose asked. “Did you see a flicker of something in the crystal ball?”
“No, but I have seen Tripp’s eyes following you whenever y’all are in the same room. Don’t close the door when opportunity knocks, or you might really have regrets later on down whichever path you choose. Have fun tonight and eat some of that delicious barbecue that Joe Clay has fixed for us.”
Ivy grabbed Willa Rose by the arm and pulled her out into the crowd.
“Come and meet my friend Dara who operates the carousel. Her husband is the mechanic for the carnival and makes sure everything is inspected and safe before we get started.” She introduced Dara and Willa Rose and then hurried back over to the food table to help Mary Jane.
“I saw you come out of the makeshift fortune teller’s tent with Yasmin.
Did you like your fortune?” Dara motioned toward an empty table over against the far wall.
“Let’s get some food and then go sit down.
I spent the whole day helping get that carousel out of the trailer and set up.
I’m so hungry I could eat Clyde. Not really, but you get the picture. ”
Willa Rose had woken up that morning with intentions of spending an hour with Endora and then wrapping presents the rest of the afternoon.
Thank goodness for online shopping and that she had brought several rolls of leftover paper from Poetry.
The biggest problem had been finding gifts for everyone in the Paradise family when their tradition said that each one could cost no more than five dollars.
“Well?” Dara said as she loaded up her plate with two barbecue sandwiches, potato salad, and baked beans.
Willa Rose had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that it took a moment for her to remember the question. “My future evidently hinges on a choice I will make about which path to take. I must be at the fork of a road, and I’m not sure whether to go right or left.”
Dara crossed the barn and set her plate on the table. “Do you know what is at the end of each one?”
“No, but the sign in front of me says that Spanish Fort is to the right and Poetry is to the left,” Willa Rose answered. She pulled off her coat and hung it on the back of a chair on the other side of the table.
“You write poetry?”
“No.” Willa Rose had been asked that same question several times. “Poetry is the name of the town where I was born and lived until right before Thanksgiving. My dad and I moved up here because he wanted to work for Tripp.”
Dara fanned her face with the back of her hand. “That man is sex on a stick. If I wasn’t married…”
Another rush of jealousy shot through Willa Rose. “What do you think of Knox?”
“He’d do for a one-night stand or maybe even a fling,” Dara replied.
“Why do you say that?” Willa Rose asked and then bit into her sandwich.
“Knox is like an untamable lion. He’d be wild and fun, but he’s a lot like Finn.
He’s pretty to look at, but there’s not a lot of depth, so he wouldn’t be one for the long haul,” Dara said between bites.
“Tripp might not be as sexy at first blush, but oh, honey, there’s a fire brewing inside his heart and soul. ”
“Girl, you should be the one telling fortunes, or maybe writing hot, steamy romance books.”
“Telling fortunes is Yasmin’s job,” Dara said. “And I read romance books, including Mary Jane’s and Ursula’s, but I could never write one. I love to study people, though.”
“What do you see in this crowd?”
“A bunch of folks who are eager to get back to Oklahoma, and all y’all who will be glad when the snow is gone and you can get back to your lives. Mary Jane was worried earlier, but when she got word that everything was all right with Endora and the new babies, she was happy.”
“What else?”
“Well,” Dara glanced around the room. “Right now, Tripp isn’t having any of Yasmin’s flirting. His eyes were darting around the room, but now that he’s found you, he is brushing past her and coming this way.”
“Oh, really?” Willa Rose asked.
“Yep, and from what I see, I do believe I will finish my food over by the carousel. That way my sweet husband can have a break,” she said with a broad smile.