Unlucky Charms

by Linda O. Johnston

  Good.

  “Everything okay?” Gemma asked.

  “Sure. I told her we’d appreciate her help but not to focus on just us right now.” That was close enough, and I could discuss it more with Gemma later.

  “So you’re actually looking for another place to live?” Justin asked.

  “Maybe,” I said. “I’ve probably been in a temporary living situation long enough. I’m not committing to stay in Destiny forever, but a B&B has its limitations. And I do intend to run the Lucky Dog for the foreseeable future, at least.” Maybe even forever, despite what I’d just said.

  Justin’s look was again indecipherable, but I guessed he was attempting to see what was in my mind the same way I tried to read his.

  Did he want me to stay here indefinitely? If so, why?

  And did I want to stay here indefinitely? To spend more time with Justin?

  To finally get over losing my beloved Warren?

  I surreptitiously crossed my fingers under the table at that thought. I’d never forget Warren, of course. But I’d recognized before that I needed to get on with my life—which was largely why I’d come to Destiny in the first place. I’d made progress. I recognized that.

  And of course I was attracted to Justin. But where were we going? Anywhere? Nowhere?

  Did I want our growing closeness to increase?

  I took a last gulp of my wine and glanced at my tablemates. They’d both finished their drinks. “Are we ready to leave?” I asked.

  “If you are,” Gemma said.

  We stood and I settled Pluckie’s leash over my wrist, but then I picked my girl up, since the place was so crowded—and people who’d been drinking might not be too careful about a dog making her way along the patio. Gemma was kind enough to grab the handle of my wheeled bag and tow it out with us.

  Outside the gate, I glanced at Justin. “Thanks for coming,” I said.

  “I’ll walk you both back to the B&B. That’s one good thing about that place, by the way. It’s easy walking distance from downtown.”

  So he liked where I was living. But surely he knew people didn’t live permanently in a B&B. Did he want me to stay there so I’d leave soon?

  That made my heart lurch. I cared about Justin and believed he cared about me—but maybe not in the same way. Or maybe he wanted what I couldn’t give, not yet. Not with Warren still in my thoughts, too. Not just caring, but commitment.

  On the other hand, we hadn’t really talked about it. I’d just been anticipating … something.

  But not at that moment. “Thanks, Justin,” I said brightly. “But Gemma and I will be fine. We’ll head right back to the B&B together.” In other words, we don’t need you.

  “It’s no trouble. I’ll go with you. And you need to make a quick stop at the Lucky Dog on the way.”

  Oh. He needed something for Killer. That was why he was going with us. My heart plummeted again. Maybe I wanted him there for me, wanted him to commit to me even if I was reluctant.

  “Well, sure,” I said. “What does Killer need?”

  “Nothing right now.”

  We’d started walking west on Destiny Boulevard toward Fate Street, where the B&B was located a couple of blocks north. To get to my pet boutique, we’d have to cross Fate and walk half a block out of the way—no big deal, of course, but I still wasn’t sure why we were doing it.

  Then it came to me. Of course. “You want to make sure Martha’s back in her place and doing well.” Martha still lived upstairs from my shop, in an apartment. She didn’t walk long distances, hence the wheelchair, but she’d been fine walking up and down the stairway, never tripping—which was a good thing, even though the superstition about falling on your way down and ruining your luck was a lot worse than falling on your way up and causing a marriage in your family.

  Justin and Martha were very close. In fact, their closeness was one reason I’d wound up staying in Destiny in the first place, after Justin had practically begged me to help her.

  “Yes, we can look in on Martha, too, while we’re there,” he said.

  Too? Then that wasn’t his major reason either.

  “So why are we stopping there?” Gemma asked bluntly. My good friend the former librarian was nothing if not direct.

  “Just want to check on something.”

  “What?” Gemma demanded.

  “Hey, Rory,” Justin said. “Maybe you can show me how you’re going to display the new pet toys you made. The ones you talked about at your presentation.”

  We were walking side by side, Pluckie now on the sidewalk ahead of the humans. As usual, she did a lot of sniffing and occasional squatting. I had biodegradable bags with me just in case, but didn’t need to use them.

  There wasn’t a lot of traffic on Destiny Boulevard at this hour, and the light emanating from the streetlamps, which were shaped like Gold Rush–period lanterns, was low but sufficient. Even so, it was hard to see and avoid sidewalk cracks. And although I didn’t think anyone had seeded the sidewalks with lucky heads-up pennies at this hour, I still managed to look down a lot.

  “So that’s why you’re joining us?” I asked Justin, deciding to be pushy the way Gemma was.

  “Sure,” he agreed, but I could tell he was lying.

  I wondered then if this had something to do with his work, and he couldn’t talk about it. I suspected it had something to do with thefts, since Carolyn had mentioned such things.

  But I wouldn’t push him … now. If he’d wanted to explain, he would have.

  We soon reached the Broken Mirror Bookstore, next door to the Lucky Dog. “Let’s go in here too,” Justin said, making me feel even more certain he was checking for break-ins.

  “Really?” Gemma asked, but she did have her key with her and opened the door, flipping the switch to turn on the lights.

  The bookstore looked normal, with lots of shelves holding volumes that described and discussed superstitions. The main display at the front was a large table full of The Destiny of Superstitions, the book written by the now-deceased Kenneth Tarzal, whose family remained co-owner of the shop Gemma managed.

  “Wait here.” Justin gestured for Gemma, Pluckie, and me to stay back. What did he expect to find?

  Apparently my initial impression had been right. He circled the display area and returned fairly quickly.

  “Everything okay?” Gemma looked worried, as well she should when the chief of police insisted on checking out the store she managed.

  “Fine,” he said.

  Our next stop was my Lucky Dog Boutique. Our initial approach was pretty much the same as at the bookstore. Justin walked through the display area, this time filled with myriad pet items, not books, related to superstitions. Justin then called Martha. Yes, she was home, upstairs. She was fine and almost ready for bed. She’d see him soon, but not tonight.

  Or at least that was what he reported after going off to one side of the shop and talking to her on his phone.

  “Okay,” he said. “Lock up well”—he’d told Gemma the same thing as we’d left her shop—“and let’s get you back to your B&B.”

  Since we were here at my store, I decided to drop off the bag of new toys I’d taken to my talk, then locked the door behind us.

  I was very conscious of Justin’s tall, substantial self as we finished the rest of our walk. Not that I wasn’t glad to have him around otherwise, but somehow, after checking the shops as if there’d been a problem there, I felt much happier having his strong police presence along. He’d gotten me worried—and I was irritated, too, since he hadn’t explained why.

  Pluckie had done a lot more sniffing and squatting by the time we reached the Rainbow B&B. Even so, when we arrived Gemma said, “Why don’t you two give Pluckie her last walk of the evening? I’m heading to bed.”

  She was definitely a good friend—giving me an oppor
tunity to say good night to Justin.

  And quiz him.

  “Good idea,” I said, then watched her stride up to the ornate, three-story building and walk through the door—beneath a horseshoe for good luck. I knew she’d stroll past the pot of pseudo gold that sat on the lobby floor, a symbol indicative of the origin of this place and of the whole town, founded by Forty-Niners who supposedly found their pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I really liked this inn.

  But now, Pluckie and I were alone with Justin in the parking lot outside. I looked up at him and smiled, sort of. “Okay,” I said. “When are you going to tell me what this is all about?”

  He bent to pat Pluckie’s head, and my little girl wriggled beneath his hand at the attention.

  Oh, no. He wasn’t going to get me to go away by doing something I really liked. I bent down, too, and put my face almost up to his.

  He laughed. The smile on his face—so handsome despite the low level of light—warmed me, but it didn’t make me stop.

  “Well?” I demanded, although I smiled too.

  He rose, and so did I. Pluckie started moving and I allowed her to do her sniff thing. I figured Justin wouldn’t let us get too far without following us, and I was right. We were soon on the lawn at the side of the driveway.

  “This is Destiny, Rory. You know that.” He regarded me with no question in his eyes.

  “Yes … ” I said, hoping to get him to finish his thought.

  “I’ve been told by my superiors—particularly our mayor—that it would be bad luck for me, and for Destiny, if I told people about … let’s say, an issue that’s going on around town.”

  “You mean that someone’s been stealing from some of the shops?” I guessed.

  He looked at me. “Who’s been talking? I thought everyone was under the same warning.”

  “Nobody’s been talking,” I fibbed. Or maybe it wasn’t really a fib, since I hadn’t had an opportunity to speak with Carolyn. Not exactly. “I just guessed.”

  “I can’t say any more about it, but you guessed right somehow. And please don’t talk about it with anyone else.”

  “You’re really buying into that?” I asked. “You, who I thought was as much of a superstition agnostic as I am.”

  His laugh was wry. “I am. But I suspect that the more word gets around about the thefts, the more there’ll be, which wouldn’t be good luck for anyone except the thief. I’ve got patrols out observing, and hopefully deterring anything else. The good thing is that no one has been hurt, which might change if anyone who could potentially be affected hangs out at night in their—” He stopped.

  “Shops?” I ventured.

  “I’ve said too much already.” He took a few steps toward me and looked down, worry written all over his expression. “Rory, I especially don’t want you hurt. I … ” He stopped.

  I wished he’d continue. Was he going to say he cared?

  That he loved me?

  Or was I just reading too much into the possibilities?

  And if he did say he loved me, how would I respond? I couldn’t say for certain, but—

  His mouth was suddenly on mine, so I couldn’t ask him. Didn’t want to. Didn’t need to then. Our kiss took my breath away. It continued for—how long? I wasn’t sure. Forever?

  Not long enough.

  My arms were around him, pulling him even closer. Good thing we were outside or this might not have been all we did.

  But eventually our kiss ended. I didn’t pull away at first, even as our mouths drew apart. But Pluckie began tugging on her leash, which was still hooked to my arm, pulling away from Justin’s body and mine.

  I laughed. “I think Pluckie’s telling me it’s bedtime.”

  Justin moved back and patted my dog once more. “She’s right.” He bent down and gave me a brief kiss this time, again on the lips. Then he accompanied me to the B&B’s door, where he waited while I searched in my purse for my key.

  “Good night, Justin,” I said, standing on my toes to give him one final kiss.

  “Good night, Rory.” He knocked on the wooden frame around the door. “Stay safe. I’ll be in touch.”

  Four

  We were finally in our room, Pluckie and I. I was winding down from an initially tense yet always enjoyable evening and was ready to head to bed.

  I put my purse down on a chair near the door, its usual place in the chintz-and-lace decorated room, then extracted my cell phone from it.

  I remembered then that I hadn’t turned the sound back on after my talk. Having any phone go off during a presentation wasn’t good luck, and I’d always figured it would be particularly bad luck if it was my own phone.

  Assuming there was such a thing as bad luck.

  When I unzipped my bag and pulled the phone out, I checked for messages. There’d been none left, but I’d gotten a text from Carolyn commanding me to call her when I got back to my room, no matter what time it was.

  Which sent a creep of unease up my spine, even though I thought I knew what she wanted to talk about.

  Since I needed to chill out, I quickly changed from my new black dress into a yellow cotton robe, then crawled beneath the bed’s canopy and sat on top of the beige coverlet, my legs crossed. Pluckie jumped up to join me.

  I couldn’t procrastinate anymore. I’d become close enough friends with Carolyn to have her programmed into one of the numbers on my phone, which I pushed.

  She answered immediately. “About time you called,” she huffed. “Do you know how late it is?”

  It was around eleven o’clock, but shopkeepers in Destiny tended to get to their stores early to prepare for the day, so I doubted I was the only one who preferred going to bed reasonably early—earlier than this. Even so … “You texted me to call you no matter what time it was.”

  “I still hoped it wouldn’t be this late. I don’t want to talk long. But I’ve been letting all store owners and managers know the little bit that I’ve learned about what’s going on in town.”

  I sat up straighter, no longer feeling defensive but concerned. “You said something about thefts.” I wondered if she could tell me more than Justin had.

  “That’s right. Our dear mayor issued an edict that no one, not the victims or the cops or anyone else, is to talk about it because it’ll rain bad luck down on Destiny—mostly on our tourist industry—but the bad luck is already here, and it consists of these thefts. And vandalism, too.”

  I didn’t bother reminding Carolyn what had happened to the Vardoxes when they’d violated similar commands not to talk about another bad situation in Destiny: their newspaper office had all but burned down. Carolyn already knew, and she’d apparently decided it was best to let people know the information that was forbidden to discuss, even if there were unlucky repercussions.

  “And yet you’re talking about it,” I pointed out. “Which shops have been broken into? Yours?”

  “Fortunately, not mine. And I doubt I can tell you all of them. I suspect most victims are heeding the mayor and not talking about what’s been going on. But those I know about are the Heads-Up Penny and Wish-on-a-Star. Good luck symbols were taken and bad luck ones were left in their place. Not only that, but some restaurants, too, were broken into: Beware-of-Bubbles Coffee Shop, Shamrock Steakhouse, and Wishbones-to-Go. I’m not sure whether food was stolen or not, but some of their good luck symbols inside were compromised enough to make it clear someone had been there in off hours. And you know how I found out about all this?”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t.”

  “From your friend and hostess, Serina. Not much was done at the Rainbow B&B, I gather, but one night the horseshoe over the front door was turned upside down. Serina found out about it right away, called in her handyman to fix it, and did a whole bunch of knocking on wood and crossing fingers, all to ward off any bad luck that might come about.”
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  “Did it work?” My mind raced. Had I heard any guests mention such a thing? Or any hint of bad luck overtaking them, especially if they’d walked through the door with the horseshoe facing the wrong way? I was fairly sure I hadn’t.

  “As far as I know, it did,” Carolyn said. “Anyway, I wanted to warn you so you can take whatever steps you want to protect the Lucky Dog. I’ve ordered a new security system for Buttons of Fortune, but right now I’m just making sure I lock all doors and windows securely when I leave.”

  “I just did that at Lucky Dog,” I told her. “Gemma and I walked back here with Justin, and he made sure we locked up our shops.” I appreciated Justin’s concern for my shop and my safety—but was even more irritated that he hadn’t explained it until I’d pushed him on it.

  The last thing I asked Carolyn, because I always wanted to know, was, “Are Helga and Liebling all right?” They were her long-haired dachshunds.

  “They’re fine, and they’re trying to soothe my frazzled nerves.”

  I laughed. “They must be exchanging information with Pluckie.” My sweet little dog now had her head on my lap.

  Carolyn and I said good night a minute later, after wishing each other the best of luck and describing how we were knocking on wood as we spoke.

  Although knocking on wood a lot hadn’t saved Destiny’s public affairs director Lou Landorf, who’d been murdered two months ago despite his habit of knocking on every piece of wood around him …

  I finished getting ready for bed as quickly as I could, since I felt exhausted. But my mind kept me awake far into the night. Burglaries and more, in the stores that helped make Destiny the wonderful superstition tourist town that it was …

  Who would do such a thing?

  And how soon would Justin and his police department find the culprit and stop the crimes?

  That sleep didn’t come easily that night wasn’t a big surprise. There were often times I wished I could purposely turn off my mind for a while. But I couldn’t, and it kept rehashing the little I knew and worrying about everything I didn’t.

  Was the Lucky Dog on the target list, assuming there was a target list and it wasn’t just random stealing and vandalism? If so, when and how would we be hit?