Chapter 8
River wasn’t sure things could get much better.
It was a beautiful day, she’d given two readings that held a lot of promise for the people in question, and she couldn’t get Marina out of her mind.
Even Marjorie had forgone her insulting alarm clock call.
Her coffee didn’t taste burned, and the cinnamon bun from the Pig had just the right amount of icing.
“You, my friend, look like someone eating at the Mad Hatter’s table.”
“Why shouldn’t I? Life is good.” River popped a large bite of bun into her mouth.
“And it has nothing to do with a certain cold-hearted beauty who has stumbled into your life?” Audrey waved to old Mr. Jackson, who hobbled past every day on his way to play chess with his friends in the park.
“Nothing at all.” River grinned. “My card this morning suggested big changes are happening. Maybe we’ll find a way to overcome our differences. I know she came into my life for a reason. I just don’t know what it is yet.”
“To save her from herself, sounds like.” Audrey pulled out the thick book that held their accounts. “What was the card?”
“The Tower.” River grinned at Audrey when she gave her an incredulous stare.
“You mean destruction, upheaval, and crisis that makes you burn it all to the ground and start over? That Tower?”
River laughed. “That’s one interpretation. I’ll take the positive one.”
Audrey shook her head and carried her coffee and the ledger into the back office. “And this is why people don’t believe in tarot readings.”
River crumpled up the wrapping and cleared the crumbs, careful not to put her sticky fingers on any of the merchandise. After washing her hands she grabbed her phone and sent a text.
Still deeply humiliated by your show of physical weakness? Want to prove that you can keep up with me? She set her phone down, determined not to be one of those people who stared at it, waiting for a response.
I would leave you in the dust, regardless of the activity you’re suggesting. What ARE you suggesting?
River wasn’t actually sure. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Hell, she hadn’t really thought Marina would respond at all. Her gaze fell on the map of metaphysical sites in Illinois. Depends. Do you hike as well as you do yoga?
How very lesbian of you. My time is severely restricted. The best I can do, if you’re going to keep things platonic, is offer a walk around Grant.
It was better than nothing. But was there an offer of more than platonic? What did she mean by that? River’s heart thumped but she chickened out, unable to ask the obvious question. She quickly came up with an alternative. 3pm at the Buck Fountain?
See you there. Be warned, I won’t faint this time.
River laughed. Damn. I like catching you.
She put her phone away, giddiness making her want to jump around the shop like a deranged school boi who got their date to the prom.
Sure, it wasn’t a date, but that was a good thing.
Dates put too much pressure on a moment.
A simple walk around the park would make conversation easier.
She hummed as she straightened merch, did some dusting, and then sat at the counter perusing the latest catalogue of Crystal Magic Wholesale.
Audrey came back out of the office, and there was no mistaking the dimmed energy that matched her frown lines.
“Everything okay?” River asked, getting up from the stool behind the counter so Audrey could take it.
“Mostly.” She put the ledger back into the safe and popped it closed. “Things are getting a little tight. Between the repairs we need to do on the building and all the bills that come with it, we could really use some sales. We need to hope our online shop gives us a boost too.”
Some of the shine slipped out of River’s day. “Be honest. Are we in trouble?”
Audrey shook her head slowly. “No. Not yet. But we really need this winter’s business. Hopefully people will avoid the big A online and shop local.”
River stared outside, thinking. “We’ll figure out something. Start a campaign, run some social media ads, that kind of thing.”
“You know how to do that, do you?” Audrey’s eyebrow went up.
“I’m not ninety, Audrey. I can handle that kind of stuff.
And if I get stuck, I’ll head to the university and kidnap a student.
” She smiled and tried to project enough confidence to get Audrey’s spirit to lift.
She made sure to block any thoughts to the contrary.
Audrey could hear a pin drop thought in someone’s head if she really wanted to.
“Well, seeing as we have plenty of time right now, let’s start.” Audrey pulled an old notepad from under the counter and rolled a cracked old pen across to River. “Start jotting down ideas, guru.”
They listed everything they could think of, even the utterly ludicrous, like getting a celebrity patron. When River checked her watch for the third time, Audrey huffed. “What is it you’re in a hurry to go do? Or should I say who?”
River smiled. “I’m meeting Marina for a walk in the park. Which when I say it that way, does sound romantic, even though I told myself it wasn’t.”
“It isn’t.” Audrey pointed at her. “That woman is a mess of uppity narcissism and broken dreams she’s buried under heaps of ambition. Remember that Tower card? Destruction, upheaval and so on?” She nodded sagely. “That’s her. She’s a tower all unto herself.”
“That’s weirdly judgmental coming from you. You always give someone the benefit of the doubt.” River was genuinely puzzled, as Audrey was one of the kindest people she knew.
“I told you. She thinks like she’s using a bullhorn. And I heard enough to know she’s not worthy of my best friend.” Audrey flapped the notepad against the counter as if to underscore her point.
River considered that for a moment. “If someone could read all your thoughts every day, or even if they just happened to read them at one p.m. on a given Wednesday, would you always be proud of what they heard?”
Audrey sighed. “No. I wouldn’t. Point taken, but please be careful with your heart and your trust.”
River leaned across the counter and kissed Audrey’s cheek before standing. “I will be, I promise. I need to head out if I’m going to be on time. Are you okay to lock up?”
Audrey shooed her toward the door. “I’ll call William to come help and walk me home. The Lime is having transmission issues.”
William was a local teenager who had just started at the University of Chicago.
He’d been a toddler when his mother had started bringing him into the shop for her weekly tarot reading and a good chat, and when she’d passed, he’d kept coming, as though it was his way of staying close to her.
Audrey and River had helped him study for his entrance exams and were like two proud aunts at his graduation, cheering right alongside his father.
River half-ran to catch the next train, the Blue Line that would take her most of the way.
She should have just taken the bike, but she never rode without full safety gear, and the thought of having to wear all that heavy, thick material in this heat made her itch.
She hadn’t needed a car, since the bike and public transportation were usually enough, but maybe she should rethink that.
It would make moments like this, where she wanted to get somewhere fast, a hell of a lot easier. And it would have a/c.
As she stood in the center of the train holding onto the overhead rail, packed between a man with sweat stains way too close to her face and a man eating straight out of a jar of pickles, she wondered where the nearest car lot might be.
By the time she got off the L, she was hot, sweaty, and edging irritable. But the moment she saw Marina leaning against the fountain wall, all that evaporated. She jogged up and ran her hand through her hair, suddenly aware of how beautiful Marina looked in a tailored suit and…sneakers.
“You know, some butches like a woman in heels. But I think some New Balance sneakers are way hotter.” She made a growling noise and winked.
“If I was worried about what you found hot, I might have stayed in my heels. But since we’re just going for a platonic walk, I figured these would keep you honest.” She turned one foot and then the other, modeling them. “And I think you’ll find they’re Dior.”
“Silly me.” River motioned toward the path. “Shall we?”
They set off and soon fell into step easily. The first leaves were just beginning to change color, a reminder to River that change was coming in other forms too. “I didn’t think you’d see me,” she said suddenly.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to.” Marina glanced at her and then away again.
“You’re almost illegally attractive, and you’re just my type.
But I’m on a career path that means I don’t have time for entanglements, and I think you would get me…
tangled.” She shook her head like it was the best she could do.
“I like that you’ve thought about why you can’t date me. Which means you want to.” River grinned when Marina rolled her eyes. “But who says I’d want to get tangled with you? Maybe you’re not my type.”
Marina looked a little surprised and then bumped River’s shoulder when River couldn’t keep a straight face.
“Honestly, I don’t know why I agreed to meet with you.
There are so many issues at play. But when you texted, I couldn’t help myself.
” She stopped and looked at her. “I’d like to know more about you. ”
It was so genuine that River didn’t know how to respond right away. “Okay. What would you like to know?” They started walking again.
“Where do you live?”
“I live in South Shore. My house is about three blocks from my shop, which I’ve already told you about.” She felt the strange, subtle shift in Marina’s energy but couldn’t tell what caused it.
“Why there?”
“My parents owned the house I live in now. They bought it for next to nothing when they got married, and they were always really proud of it. Even when there were problems in the neighborhood and the crime rate went up, they were well respected. Like village elders or something. That protection applied to me too. My mom actually helped me buy the building for my shop before she died, and I can’t imagine giving it up.
” She blew out a breath. “That was a lot of personal information in a short burst, wasn’t it? ”
Marina nodded, her expression thoughtful and her energy distant.
“Sorry. Was it too much?”
“No, no. Not at all. I was just thinking that it would drive me crazy to stay in the place I was born. I got out of Pilsen as fast as I could.” Marina gave her a quick smile.
“But you didn’t go too far.” River laughed. “It’s what? A thirty-minute L ride?”
“Twenty-three minutes, actually.” Marina frowned again. “I haven’t been back for three years.”
River felt the sadness that swelled in Marina like a wave. “Do you still have family there?”
Marina nodded. “Both parents, two—one sister.”
River waited for more, but Marina seemed lost in thought. The difference in numbers was telling. “But I imagine you’ve seen them outside of Pilsen over the years?”
Marina stopped at the coffee kiosk and ordered a chai latte, and River got a chamomile tea. Then they kept walking. Had she used the stop to decide how much she wanted to share?
“Tell me more about your business.” Marina sat on a bench opposite a sculpture. “What is it you do there?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” River asked. “I didn’t think you had any interest in woo-woo stuff.”
“I’d still like to hear about it.” Marina smiled and lightly touched River’s arm.
Red flags started waving and alarm claxons started ringing as River felt the deception in Marina’s energy.
Whatever she was feeling, it wasn’t genuine.
There was something beneath it, something that suggested a lie somewhere in her words, as plain as they were.
“What’s really going on, Marina?” River asked softly.
“What do you mean?” Marina dropped her hand. “I’m just trying to get to know you.”
River stood and backed away. “You may not believe in the things I believe in, but you should know that I feel things other people may not. And I can feel that something isn’t right. You feel…off.” She waited for a moment, but Marina just stared at her, her expression implacable.
“Okay.” River sighed and looked away, trying not to show her disappointment. “I was hoping this was real, but Audrey warned me things are chaotic in your head—”
“You’re telling me she really can read other people’s thoughts?” Marina looked indignant. “If that’s true, it’s an incredible invasion of privacy.”
“It is true, and yes, it can be. But when someone telegraphs the way you do, it’s hard not to hear it.
Your thoughts, your energy…” River shook her head and took another step away from Marina’s darkening cloud.
“You send it out like a beacon. Thank you for the walk, but I think I’m going to head home. ”
Marina took a step toward her, her hand outstretched. “River—”
There was a childish screech, and a toddler freewheeling on a tricycle rammed into Marina from behind, knocking her forward over the raised concrete block and into the manicured flower bed.
Dry summer dirt plumed into the air in every direction, and the toddler continued screaming down the path, a juvenile delinquent driver in the making.
River couldn’t help it. She laughed, and then continued to laugh, as Marina scrambled from the flower bed on her hands and knees and glared at her. Thick dirt spots coated her pale suit and face, and some was even in the ends of her hair. River wheezed and put her hands on her knees.
“Oh yeah?” Marina grabbed a bunch of flowers, ripped them from the ground, and flung them at River, who danced beyond the clump.
“I’m sorry. Let me help you up.” River reached out but Marina waved her off.
“No need. You made how you feel clear, and I’ll see myself off.” Marina brushed by her, holding herself erect and didn’t look back.
River let her go. She wiped the tears of laughter away and sighed as the disappointment reappeared. Audrey was right. Marina wasn’t what she seemed.
So why did River want to go after her so damn bad?