Page 84 of Some Sort of Crazy (Happy Crazy Love 2)
Stranger? Maybe…
Granted, I hadn’t known his real first name was Edward, but maybe more significant was that he was trying to change, to be a different kind of man. Was he capable of it? Maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought.
On impulse, I pushed open the door to Madam Psuka’s building and walked up the stairs. “Ew,” I said, holding my nose. It had smelled bad the first time, but now that I was pregnant, bad smells were even more offensive. And I was only like five weeks along! What the hell would happen at ten weeks or twenty or thirty?
Oh, God. Pregnancy was so long.
Heaving a sigh, I reached the top of the steps and knocked. The door opened a moment later, and the acrid, herbal smell wafted out. It was pungent, but better than the cat pee scent in the hall. Madam Psuka appeared, looking much the same as she had last month, only wearing soft, flowing black pants and a loose-fitting top slipping off one shoulder.
“You are back.” She nodded, her eyes narrowing. “I knew you would be.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “May I come in?”
“Yes. Please.” She stepped back, and I entered the colorful room, which was, again, lit only by candles. “Sit down.”
I lowered myself onto the rug, and she sat opposite me, legs criss crossed, feet bare. “So,” I began.
“You are vith child.”
I blinked at her, then touched my stomach. “Is it that obvious?”
She shrugged and gave me a smug little smile. “Maybe only to me.”
“Wow.”
“The handsome stranger?”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
“Interesting. You vant reading?”
“Uh, yes. I’ll pay you this time. How much?”
“For you, twenty dollar.”
“OK. Should I pay you now?”
She flipped her wrist. “You can pay after. Give me your hands.”
&nbs
p; I held them both out, and she took them in hers, closing her eyes. Again I felt the hum of energy between us, as unbelievable as it sounds. My hands and forearms grew warm with it.
“Things are uncertain,” she said.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here,” I said, a bit peevishly. “I need to know what to do.”
She opened her eyes. “I cannot tell you what to do. I can only tell what I see.”
“OK, fine. What do you see?”
“You have important decision to make.”
I clenched my teeth. Twenty dollars for this? “And?”
“And the stranger is involved.”
“But…he’s not really a stranger. I know him. I’ve always known him.”
