“I could see them less.”
“Why don’t you consider two times that you usually spend with them that you could bow out of?”
“Sunday dinner?”
“Another.”
“Shopping with my mother. I hate that.”
“Very good.”
Finally, at the end, she gradually brought the client to complete awareness by slowly counting back from 20 to full alertness.
“So,” she said to Alice when the woman came out of the trance. “How do you feel?”
“I feelrefreshed and focused, like I can do something about my issue with my parents.”
That was the goal of her practice. Scarlet was pleased.
* * *
Joe Larson had been trying to stay away from Scarlet Smith since he’d bought the farm across from hers. Something about her sparked a fast and furious attraction in him. Maybe it was that fiery red hair or the freckles dotting her face. Damn! He’d been blocking all that but now, sitting in her waiting room at the Harmony Healing Collective, the feelings came back. There was no getting around seeing her. He had to do it.
Soon, Scarlet came into the reception area where he waited. She wore a pretty peach dress with heels that made her legs look longer. And there was that pull again, in full force. Even after two weeks of avoiding her.
Her soft brown brows shot up when she saw him. “Joe? What are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.”
She checked her watch. “I have a half-hour. Come on into my office.”
Her private space was right off the studio’s entry area. It was efficient and cozy at the same time. Taupe and peach colors with pretty Impressionist prints gracing the walls. Two comfortable chairs faced each other over a curvy teak desk. A matching bookcase took up one wall. And a window allowed in the August sunlight.
He sat down across from her. “I have a couple of things to say.”
“Okay.
“First off, I want to explain my claim that I had animal training that night in the barn when Stanley was tranqued.”
“Ididwonder about that.”
“I used to be a veterinarian, before we moved to Rockford. I don’t want to go into details why I gave up my practice, but I had my reasons.”
“So you’re Dr. Larson.”
“Not anymore.”
“Sure, you’re entitled to your privacy. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Seth’s coming back from his grandparents’ house at the end of the week.”
“Okay.”
He moved to the edge of his seat and his head filled with the exotic scent of her. “I’m worried about his safety.”
“Because of that night?”
“Your horse was tranqued. Why would somebody do that to him?”
