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“A bit of an age gap between you and him, but that can be good since men take longer to mature than women.”
I chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Does Chad treat you well?”
“Very well,” I said, glancing at Macie again with her grin still in place.
She, Rachel, and I followed Ms. Lenora into her kitchen and sat at the round table where she had always done her readings. It still had the same white lace tablecloth and a lit candle in the center.
Looking around, I noticed other things that were still the same: bundles of herbs hanging from the ceiling, drying, an old-school cassette tape player on the kitchen counter with Celtic music coming from it, and also Ms. Lenora’s cat, Jewel, asleep on a blanket in the corner, next to the hutch.
After Cypress Hills’s very own mystic put on a kettle of water to boil, she set white saucers and tea cups in front of my girls and me.
“This evening, we’re going to see what Earl Grey has to predict,” she said, winking.
As I watched her spoon some English loose-leaf tea into the cups, I thought back to seeing Rhys outside the grocery store. Nothing had changed about him in the last year. He was still so ruggedly handsome, with the dark scruff on his face and wavy blond hair that grazed the back of his neck. His wild and free appearance was the opposite of Chad’s squeaky-clean one.
Ms. Lenora returned to her stovetop, picked up the whistling kettle with a hot pad, and walked to the table to pour the hot water into the cups. Afterward, she told my girls and me to be clear-minded about our questions and focus on the tea leaves. Strangely, I couldn’t think of a question, so I let my mind wander as I stared at my cup.
Rachel, Macie, and I began sipping our tea, and Ms. Lenora instructed us to continue contemplating our questions. When only about a tablespoon of liquid was left in our cups, we sat them down.
Ms. Lenora picked up Macie’s first and swirled the liquid three times from left to right. Next, she carefully inverted the cup over the saucer. She kept it on it for about thirty seconds and then rotated it three times. The last thing she did was turn the cup back upright, positioning the handle due south as always.
“The tea leaves have formed into several dashes along the sides of your cup,” she told Macie. “That means you’re going to have an opportunity come up soon. Something to do with your job, perhaps. Does any of this strike a chord with you?”
“My gosh, yes! You’re amazing as always, Ms. Lenora. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
She went through the same routine with my sister as with Macie. Rachel’s tea leaves had clustered together on one side of her cup into what appeared to be a wine glass.
“There’s going to be cause for celebration soon, Rachel. Something that you’ve been wanting to happen is going to happen. Does that make sense?” Ms. Lenora asked.
My sister smiled and nodded yes. Then, it was my turn to have my fortune told.
“Riley, your tea leaves have also clustered together. To me, the shape looks like a bird with its wings spread. What do you think?” Ms. Lenora showed me the inside of my cup.
“I think it’s exactly what you said.”
“A bird in flight is a symbol of newfound freedom. Because it’s by the rim of your cup, you’ve recently been freed from something or soon will be. Does that make sense to you?”
I shook my head no. “I wish it did.”
Ms. Lenora stared at me for several seconds. Then she reached for my left hand across the table, wrapped hers around it, closed her eyes, and took slow, deep breaths. She didn’t only read tea leaves. She read people, too. Visions would come to her if she touched someone long enough.
When she opened her eyes, she said, “An onyx and a sapphire. That’s what I saw, and you, Riley. You held the onyx in your right hand and the sapphire in your left. They were resting on your outstretched palms.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know. But the last thing I saw was you wrapping your fingers around the sapphire. I wish I could tell you more. That was the most puzzling vision I’ve ever had.”
“It’s okay. Maybe in time, I’ll figure out what it means.”
“I hope you do, and if you do, please let me know. This mystery is going to bug the heck out of me.”
Macie, Rachel, and I paid Ms. Lenora her usual ten-dollar fee, hugged her, and left. After returning to Macie’s car, we looked at each other.
“So, what do you think about your tea leaf reading?” I asked.
