Haunted Ever After

by Juliet Madison

  With a ghost hanging around me I wasn’t exactly feeling stable and secure right now, but I didn’t want to interrupt and tell the poor woman, who was simply trying to make a living.

  ‘You tend to rule with your head more than your heart,’ she said, running her finger down another line. ‘You need to learn to be more open-minded.’

  ‘I guess that’s why I’m having a palm reading,’ I said with a small smile.

  She took her focus off my hand for a moment and looked in my eyes. ‘We all have to start somewhere,’ she said, then returned her attention to my hand. ‘There is some conflict between your practical nature and your emotions, and you would benefit from trusting your intuition.’

  I nodded, and Red nodded too.

  ‘Interesting, you are both fearful of many things, a bit of a worrier, yet calm under pressure. As long as you follow the rules you feel you can cope with life.’

  Hmm, it did sound a bit like me. But I bet anyone could recognise themselves in her description. Maybe she was doing that acupressure thing like Ty had done on my foot, softening me up or something.

  She tilted my hand a little. ‘I see three main romantic relationships in your life. Three loves.’ She smiled. ‘You’re engaged, yes?’

  Wow. Lorena was right, maybe she did have some sort of higher power or intuition.

  I nodded.

  ‘Nice ring,’ she said.

  Oh. In my effort to hide my self-explanatory t-shirt and bride-to-be tiara I’d forgotten to remove my engagement ring!

  Not so psychic after all, Kaftan Woman.

  ‘So I take it you were third time lucky?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘In love. Third time lucky, with your fiancé.’

  Three loves in my life. Greg, of course, and there were a couple of guys before him but it wasn’t exactly love, and then before that there was Mark, definitely love, but after three years his love for travel overpowered his love for me and our relationship took a nosedive. And before Mark, well, there was Stephen, but that was more lust, and Evan, well, that was barely more than a high school crush that never manifested into anything more than getting to school early so I could watch him get off the bus when it arrived.

  So… Greg, and Mark. That was it. Two loves, not three. This woman had it wrong.

  ‘Actually, my fiancé is my second real love, and so much more than my first. We’re very happy.’ I plumped my lips into a content smile.

  She smiled awkwardly, and checked the markings. ‘Definitely three here. It is slightly possible the third could indicate some other significant relationship. But you’re sure you haven’t had a third love, long ago; high school sweetheart perhaps?’

  I shook my head, and glanced at Red who was eavesdropping on Mel’s reading.

  ‘Not to worry, then. Now, let’s see what else we can find out.’ She continued giving her analysis, and when she finished, she gave me back my hand but asked me to put it inside a white box. ‘Every palm reading comes with a bonus gemstone lucky dip. Take your time, feel around and pick up the one your hand is naturally drawn to. You might be surprised how appropriate the stone is for you, based on its meaning and properties.’

  They were just lumps of rocks to me, but I did as she said and took my time, picking up a smooth, oval-shaped stone that tapered a little. I held it up and the woman clasped her hands together in delight. ‘Oh, I’ve been waiting for someone to get that one! Only one in the whole box. It’s very special.’ She smiled and nodded.

  I eyed the greyish-green stone with its silvery-white shimmery flecks that gave it a feathery appearance, and asked what it was.

  ‘Seraphinite. Comes from Siberia. It’s an extremely powerful stone, increases your intuition and communication with other realms.’

  ‘Realms?’

  ‘Yes, the divine feminine power that is all around us, and the angelic realm.’

  The divine? Angels?

  ‘Do I have a halo?’ Red asked as she shoved her face in front of me, her hand above her head. ‘Do I? Do I?’

  I wanted to tell her that if angels existed they were supposed to be kind, loving, gentle beings, and not irritating, demanding, pains in the arse. I shook my head with subtlety. But the woman noticed.

  ‘Oh yes, I assure you, it is true. Hold this stone when you wish to connect with the divine feminine, to enhance self-healing, and intuitive abilities.’

  ‘Oh, okay then,’ I said, even though without the stone I was quite in tune with the ‘other side’, thank you very much, and didn’t exactly want to tune in even further. Heaven help me if I was surrounded by multiple Reds demanding my attention.

  I thanked the woman and moved away from the stall, as the others remained, listening intently to their readings. I held the saph, the sephar, the s…oh what was it called again? Anyway, I held the stone up to the light of the sun. It was quite pretty, with its streaks of green, white, and grey. I could use it as a paperweight.

  Red stood in front of me and looked at it from the other side (ha!), and pointed her finger at the stone in deep concentration. She pushed her finger forwards, and — plop! —the stone fell from my grasp and down my t-shirt through the small valley of my cleavage. I shivered at its cold, smooth surface as it travelled down to my abdomen. ‘Oh no!’ Red laughed as I unbuttoned my jacket and tried to discreetly shove my hand down my top.

  ‘Can I help at all?’ I spun around to see Ty standing nearby, my hand still lodged between my boobs and my elbow pointing to the heavens, where I wished Red would toddle off to. I yanked my hand out and straightened my jacket.

  ‘No, I’m fine thanks. Where did you spring from?’

  ‘I saw you looking at something in your hand so I came to see what it was.’

  ‘Oh, it’s just a gemstone.’ I brushed a non-existent strand of hair from my face. ‘It sort of, um, fell down my top.’ I could still feel it low against my belly, but I didn’t think my arm could reach down far enough to get it. I could also feel an uncomfortable wave of heat rushing across my face, belying the fact that it was a cold winter’s day.

  Ty tried to hold back a grin, but a hint of it twinkled at the sides of his mouth. ‘So, maybe just give your shirt a bit of a shake?’ He grasped his close-fitting black ribbed top at the hem and gave it a shake, and a glimpse of his tanned, hard abs brought back flashes of him last night in his underwear.

  The heat on my face intensified. ‘Well, you see, I sort of can’t,’ I replied, touching the spot where the gemstone lay.

  ‘Why not?’

  Oh dear God. Of all the days, why did I have to wear this thing underneath?

  ‘Because I’m wearing a bodysuit.’

  Ty’s eyebrows rose. ‘Oh, one of those all-in-one lycra things?’

  I nodded.

  ‘So you’d need to, um…’

  ‘Unhook it, below, yes.’ Too much information. Why was I telling him this? Surely a man of his ‘experience’ knew how a woman’s bodysuit was structured.

  ‘In that case, I’ll let you get on with it.’ He gestured behind and turned away, then turned back briefly. ‘I’ll just wait over here.’

  I hid behind a stall and grasped the stone through my clothing with one hand, walking it up my body the way one does with a draw cord lost in the waistband of one’s pants, but it only moved slightly. I plunged my hand down my top again and dug around, but the tight-fit of the bodysuit made it difficult. C’mon gemstone! Where are you? It was like the Bermuda Triangle in here. If this failed I’d have to find the ladies bathrooms and do the unhooking, but if I could just get it…

  I grunted, sinking my stomach muscles inwards to make more room for my arm, and stretching poor Mel’s t-shirt piece of art. My fingers came in contact with cold stone which I grasped, and with my other hand I pushed it upwards, until the stone was in my hand and my arm was finally out of a place I didn’t exactly aspire it to be whilst in public, or even private, for that matter. ‘Phew!’ I breathed out, having held my breath for
a little while.

  I adjusted my top and jacket and returned to where I’d been, feeling as though everyone was looking at me, even though they weren’t. Except Ty.

  ‘Got it?’ he asked.

  I held up the stone in victory.

  He clapped. ‘If you were single I would have given you a hand. You know, just to do the helpful gentlemanly thing.’ He winked.

  Flirt. ‘Oh, I’m sure.’ I crossed my arms and diverted my gaze from his.

  ‘Hey, Ty!’ Lorena said, as she approached with Mel and Georgie, each with their own gemstone.

  ‘How was your palm reading?’ I asked Mel, who seemed quite pleased.

  ‘I have a pointy girdle of Venus.’ She held up her palm and touched the area under her two middle fingers. ‘Something about being emotionally up and down, hot-headed sometimes.’

  ‘And is that true?’ Ty asked.

  ‘Are you calling me hot-headed?’ she mocked, in an exaggerated angry voice. Ty held his own palms up, as if to say ‘no, not at all’, not as if to have his palms read.

  ‘Oh well,’ Mel said. ‘At least it wasn’t a saggy girdle like this one.’ She patted the belly that had grown five children.

  ‘So what did she say, Sal, anything about love and marriage?’ asked Lorena. ‘She said I have two relationship lines, or two loves in my life. Luckily, since I married my second one.’ She held a hand over her heart.

  I gulped. ‘Um, yeah, she said the same about me.’ I didn’t know why I felt the need to lie. It was all just made-up, new-age stuff anyway. Wasn’t it?

  CHAPTER 10

  ‘Well that was fun, how cute and quirky is Barron Springs?’ Georgie asked, as she closed the door behind us when we returned to the guest house.

  ‘We should come here more often, have a regular girls’ weekend every six months or so,’ Mel added. ‘And we could book Ty again. You know, help him pay for medical school. Would be a nice gesture.’

  ‘Something tells me you’d want to book him even if he didn’t need the money.’ Lorena nudged Mel in the ribs and she shrugged.

  ‘Maybe we could go somewhere new each time, if we make these girls’ weekends a regular thing,’ I suggested.

  Lorena nodded. ‘Good idea.’

  ‘But why go anywhere else?’ Mel said with a cheeky smile.

  Georgie plated up some antipasto and placed it on the coffee table. ‘Dig in, gals.’

  ‘It’s also time for us to play a game,’ Lorena said, rubbing her hands together.

  My stomach dropped a little. ‘Not Pin the You-Know-What on the You-Know-Who again?’ I asked.

  She flicked her hand towards me. ‘No, something new.’

  I glanced at the old wooden bookcase towering beside the fireplace, which held not only a collection of books but an array of board games. ‘Oh good, what about Scrabble? Or Operation?’

  ‘Yeah, like we’d have a chance against you with your large vocabulary and medical precision. Nice try, Sal. We’re going to play something a bit more…fun.’ She grinned, then disappeared into her bedroom and returned with a large bag. She withdrew a huge lump of newspaper.

  ‘Papier-mâché?’ I asked, as my forehead drew downwards.

  She laughed.

  ‘God I hope not. That stuff is evil,’ said Mel. ‘I vowed never to do that with my kids again, such a mess.’ She scrunched her face then raised her finger. ‘Unless…are we going to fashion a 3D version of Pin the You-Know-What on the You-Know-Who?’ Her eyes widened.

  ‘Mel!’ I scolded. ‘You naughty thing.’

  Lorena held up the large lump in front of her own large lump. ‘Can’t you tell what it is? Pass the Parcel!’ She shook the lump in anticipation.

  My stomach returned to its normal position. Phew. Nothing naughty or embarrassing, just a simple childhood game with gifts inside. Much better. ‘Haven’t played that for years!’ I said, taking a spot on the floor on top of the intricately patterned rug. ‘Let’s get started.’

  ‘Now that’s what I like to see, enthusiasm for my initiative.’ Lorena placed the parcel on the floor in front of me and tried to kiss my forehead, but couldn’t bend enough to reach me so sounded a ‘mwah!’ instead.

  Lorena sat on the velvet couch with her iPhone and played some music: The Wedding March. She really should leave retail management and go into event management, the woman thought of every little detail.

  Mel and Georgie sat on the floor too, in as much of a circle as three people could manage.

  ‘But you won’t get any gifts, Lorena,’ I said.

  ‘I know what they all are anyway.’

  ‘But still, how can we play so that you get to keep some pressies too?’

  ‘I’ll take her spot!’ Red exclaimed, leaping onto the floor and sitting between myself and Georgie.

  I shuffled a little closer to Georgie to try and nudge her away, then gestured to the gap between Mel and I. ‘Why don’t we pretend you’re here, and place the parcel on the floor during the game. If the music stops before Mel or I get to pick it up then that means you get to open one of the layers?’

  ‘Umm…’ Lorena didn’t seem overly fussed about playing. Maybe the gifts weren’t that great, perhaps only two-dollar lipsticks and other little novelties. I looked at her luscious fuchsia lips and realised that nope, she wouldn’t stoop to cheap gifts.

  ‘Yeah, but you have to turn away when you play the music so you can’t see who has the parcel when the music stops,’ Mel instructed.

  ‘Alright then. I officially declare that spot of rug to be my proxy.’ She pointed, and when Red looked like she was about to jump over there I glared at her. She pouted and crossed her arms.

  I accepted a slice of Turkish bread covered with marinated feta and roasted red peppers, and gulped it down. I passed the parcel to the invisible ‘Lorena’ then Mel picked it up and passed it to Georgie, then Georgie passed it to me. The situation repeated, until the music stopped when the parcel was in my hands.

  ‘Perfect timing, Lorena!’ Mel said. ‘Bride-to-be gets first gift.’

  I wriggled in anticipation and unwrapped the first layer, revealing a lavender eye pillow. ‘Oh, how nice! Thanks,’ I said, placing the pillow over my eyes as I leaned back a little. ‘I might have to have a nanna nap before dinner so I can try it out.’ And maybe it would stop me seeing Red for a while. I rested it on my leg and as the music resumed I passed the parcel again. Next was Georgie who got a decorative metal bookmark, then me again with a small sachet of heart-shaped chocolates.

  ‘I’ll swap you,’ Mel said.

  ‘But you don’t have anything to swap,’ I replied.

  ‘Exactly.’

  I chuckled and handed her a chocolate, which she wolfed down in one hit. Eventually the music stopped on her turn and she got a small pocket book called Ten Steps to Happiness in Love by a Dr Reginald Bloomschneider.

  ‘With a name like that, he must have women falling at his feet,’ she joked, flipping through the book and forgetting to pass the parcel. ‘Oops, sorry! I’ll read this tonight. Wonder if it advises having no more than three kids.’ She laughed, as she always did, about anything to do with serious issues. I wondered if she truly was happy with her marriage. Was she just being lighthearted about it or did she really have some concerns? I made a mental note to catch up with her after the wedding, just the two of us, to find out how things were really going.

  Lorena finally got a gift; a pair of dangly earrings, which I was glad about because they weren’t something I would wear. When the music stopped again with the parcel in my hands, I wondered what other treats she had hidden in this bundle of generosity.

  I pulled out a slip of paper and read it:

  This voucher is for one truth or dare.

  I glanced up at Lorena with inquisitive eyes. She shot me a knowing look. ‘Truth or dare?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Oooh, goodie!’ said Mel. ‘So which one do you want: truth or dare?’

  ‘Hang on, let’s save up the truth or dar
e’s till the parcel is all unwrapped,’ said Lorena.

  ‘You mean there are more of them?’ I asked.

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘I’m up for that,’ Georgie said. ‘Already spilled my guts to you yesterday about my sex life, why stop now?’

  But she never got a truth or dare. By the time the game was complete the four vouchers had been received only by Mel and I, two each. Maybe we could do one truth and one dare. The other gifts shared between us were a heart-shaped silver photo frame (which I would put a wedding photo in), a sachet of gummy bears (which now ceased to exist thanks to Mel’s appetite), and various accessories and novelty items. Oh, and a twenty-five percent discount voucher for an online ‘adult’ store, which Mel placed next to her on the floor and smiled at.

  ‘Damn, and I was hoping I’d get that one,’ said Lorena with a wink.

  Apart from the truth or dare vouchers, which were causing an uncomfortable, nervous sensation in my chest, I was quite impressed with my loot. ‘You’ve really put a lot of thought into this, Lorena.’ I stood and gave her a hug. ‘Thank you. The gifts are perfect.’

  She smiled. ‘It was fun! I loved putting the parcel together. And it was good to get in some practise before my gorgeous girl is born.’ She patted her belly and smiled again, then her jaw dropped.

  Mine did too. ‘You’re having a girl?’ I asked, eyes wide, my hands grasping one of hers.

  She covered her mouth. ‘Oops.’

  Mel whooped and Georgie placed her hand over her heart, and that, combined with Lorena’s expression which had morphed into something softer, something motherly, made tears pool at the back of my eyes. ‘A little girl! I’m so happy for you.’ I kissed her cheek and hugged her again, and Lorena wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

  ‘Please don’t tell anyone, we agreed to keep it secret until the birth. My parents don’t even know.’

  I formed a cross over my heart with my finger. ‘Secret’s safe with me.’ I was used to keeping things confidential; it was second nature, and a legal requirement of my job.