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“How about for just this once, you take a look. If the cards tell you to get back on the road without me, then you’ll know.”
She laughed, unable to believe what she was hearing. Paul Watts was going to let his future be shaped by something he claimed not to believe in? “If you truly wanted me to stay, I would think you’d be trying to convince me yourself instead of depending on the cards.”
“I haven’t stopped trying to convince you. And I think the tarot cards will show you that you belong here. With me. Come on. It’ll be fun.”
Lia wanted to argue, but the obstinate set of Paul’s jaw kept her silent.
“Fine,” she said, heading toward the camper. “Let’s do this.”
In the hours since she’d said goodbye to Grady, she’d restored Misty to her preferred organized state. As she pulled out the tarot deck and sat down at the snug dinette, she noticed the way Paul glanced around, his gaze lingering on the bed where they’d made love the first time. Her heart skipped as stony determination settled over his features. That this man wanted her, loved her, weakened Lia’s resolve to make a clearheaded decision. She’d followed her intuition all her life, impulsively jumping into action, but some of Paul’s deliberate, logic-driven methodology had rubbed off on her.
Beneath Paul’s intense regard, Lia shuffled the cards while asking a simple question. Should she stay in Charleston and be with Paul? Instead of laying out the Celtic Cross spread all at once with the cards facedown the way she’d done in the earlier readings, Lia slowly placed each card faceup, considering the meaning as she went.
The reading started out ordinarily enough with the Fool, signifying the beginning of a journey, covered by the Two of Swords, which had a picture of a blindfolded woman, with arms crossed over her chest, holding two swords. The defensive imagery was clear enough that even Paul blinked in startled understanding.
“The basis of the situation is the Four of Cups,” she narrated. “Indicating a situation where someone is apathetic about the same dull situation.”
“Meaning it’s time for you to leave Charleston?”
Or that she wasn’t as enthusiastic to get back on the road as she once might have been. In truth, as she’d prepared the camper to leave, she’d noticed a dullness in her movements, a depression at the idea of leaving behind a city she’d grown to love.
“Possibly,” she answered, laying down the card symbolizing the recent past. “The Lovers.” Since that interpretation was also incredibly obvious, she moved on to possible outcome. “Eight of Cups.” The card showed a man walking away from what had been a happy situation. Lia’s heart sank as the message began to materialize.
“The King of Swords,” Paul said when he saw the next card. “Is that me in your future?”
Obviously, he’d been paying attention during the readings she’d done for his cousins because there’d been all sorts of kings in their spreads that Lia had interpreted as the significant appearance of strong men in the lives.
“I believe so,” Lia said cautiously. In the self position she drew the Six of Swords. It showed a couple traveling across the water in a boat, indicating a journey. The fact that it was reversed suggested the travel would be unsatisfying. “In my environment,” she continued, placing another from the sword suit.
“That doesn’t look good,” Paul remarked, gazing at the Nine of Swords which depicted a woman crying against a backdrop of swords. “In fact, she looks pretty unhappy. Seems like your leaving is going to upset people.”
Refusing to give him the satisfaction of agreeing, Lia placed the next card. “Hopes and fears.” Her reaction to the card’s significance must have shown on her face because Paul eyed her intently.
“What does it mean?”
Lia ground her teeth and debated whether to share that the card indicated the end of a journey or explain the more commonly held understanding that the Eight of Wands quite literally read as arrows of love.
“Action taken in love affairs,” she grumbled. “Proposals made and accepted.”
Although Lia didn’t glance at Paul, she could feel the smugness radiating from him.
“And the outcome card?”
She froze, afraid to see what her future held. So much of the reading confirmed Paul’s belief that she needed to stay and give their relationship a chance. How many times had she told people to trust in what the universe was telling them through the tarot deck? To turn her back on such clear mystic advice meant denying what she believed in.
And why?
Because she was afraid to take a risk with Paul.
“Lia?” Paul’s gentle prompt brought a lump to her throat. “What’s the last card?”
“I’m afraid to find out,” she admitted. “In this moment, right here and now, I haven’t made a decision that will impact the rest of my life. I’m at a crossroads where I can see my life going either way and there’s a certain amount of peace in that.”
“Schrödinger’s cat,” he declared, in all his adorable nerdiness. “Until you see the outcome you are both staying in Charleston and taking a chance on us while also content to drive off and never look back.” Paul plucked the last card from the top of the deck and placed it facedown in its position. “Forget the cards and trust your heart.”
That heart was hammering so hard against her ribs that Lia could barely breathe. Loving him consumed her, but she couldn’t shake the anxiety that one day he’d wake up and regret asking her to stay.
“It’s not my heart I need to trust,” she told him, pointing to the King of Swords card that represented him in the near-future position. “You rule your world with the strength of your personality and intellect.”
