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Her mind was a flurry with conflicting thoughts and ideas. What she needed to calm herself down was a couple of glasses of red wine. She didn’t want to visit the Horseshoe Bar and Grill alone. Besides, she guessed its fare likely ran only along the beer and hard liquor variety. No mixers. If she ever got a chance to order a cosmo from Craig, the Horseshoe’s bartender, he’d probably look at her like she had three heads.
Luckily, just as Jessica passed Wilde’s city limits sign, she spotted a place that would work to fill her needs. She drove the car in front of Carlotta’s Liquor Store and Tarot Card Reading Room. She grinned. Wilde was like no other
place on earth.
She got out of the car and headed to the door of Carlotta’s. Once inside, trancelike music filled her ears. Except for the four statues of Buddha, the beads hanging in the doorway behind the counter, and the smell of burning incense, it seemed typical for a liquor store. Four large display coolers held several brands of domestic and import beers. Several metal shelves filled the place with a wide variety of liquor and wine.
Jessica found a familiar California red and walked up to the empty counter. An antique brass counter bell was next to the cash register. Impatient to get to her hotel room, she rang it twice and placed the bottle on the counter.
Parting the hanging beads, a woman entered from the back doorway. She wore a long, flowing, yellow dress, red belt, and garish jewelry. Her fake fingernails were painted bright pink. An unlit cigarette hung from her mouth. On top of her wavy black hair was a white turban with a large crystal stone centered in front. Jessica guessed her to be in her mid-sixties.
“Hello, my dear. I am Carlotta Angelina Bianca Sollomovici. Velcome to my abode.” Her voice sounded eastern European, though probably just an act. Still, it was nice and sweet like a wind chime in a light breeze. “You’re new to Vilde, no?”
Normally, her New York edge would’ve kicked in by such an intrusive question, but with Carlotta it didn’t. “Yes. I got here a few days ago. Do you take credit cards?”
“Ah. A voman speeding to business before talk vill find herself vithout anyvone to listen.” Carlotta closed her eyes and held up her hand. “How long has it been since you’ve had a reading, my dear?”
“Umm.” Jessica remembered the time when she and Michael had gotten their palms read as a lark. “Five years ago, I think.”
“I sense da voman vas a charlatan. Am I right?” Carlotta opened her eyes. “And you a nonbeliever in da invisible. Shame on dat voman. Come vith me.”
Jessica liked Carlotta, but she really wanted to lock herself away in her room, call Michael, crawl into bed, and pray someone found her laptop before she had to call her boss. “I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“Not true. Vhat you seek can be found in da cards. On da house, my dear. Comes vith da purchase of da vine.”
Jessica shrugged. “What the hell.” She followed Carlotta through the beads into a room draped in fabrics of every color. In the center was a small table covered in a blue cloth that went all the way down the sides to the floor. Closest to the beaded door were two metal folding chairs. On the opposite side was a large black leather wingback chair. On the table was a deck of cards.
Carlotta motioned for her to sit in one of the metal chairs, as she took a seat in the wingback. “Your name is... Jessica Greene.”
“How do you know that?” She sat down hard, a bit freaked out.
“Gotcha.” The woman smiled broadly. “I’m a friend of Maude’s.”
She sighed. “Ah.”
“You really are blocked, Jessica. Vorst case I’ve seen in a very long time. Let’s see vhat da spirits tell us.” Carlotta shuffled the cards several times. She patted the deck and created three piles on the table. “Dat’s got it. Don’t touch. Just point to da vone dat you are most drawn to, my dear.”
Before Jessie could stop herself, she blurted out, “What? No crystal ball?” Then she covered her mouth, embarrassed at the insult she’d spoken aloud.
Carlotta’s hearty laugh instantly gave her relief. “I got vone, but I don’t tink it vould like you very much. Unbelief is harder on da crystals dan da cards.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t really get this kind of thing.”
“Not many people do. Doesn’t mean dat it isn’t true, Jessica.”
“I guess.” She pointed to the deck in the middle. “How about that one?”
“Okay. I tink five-card spread for you. Da first is your distant past. Da second is your near past. Da one in da middle is now. Da fourth is your near future. Da last is your distant future. Simple as dat.” Carlotta turned over five cards in a row on the table. “Mmm. Interesting.”
Jessica decided to get into the spirit of things. “What do you see?”
“Your distant past is represented by da Seven of Swords. It’s reversed, vich means you felt trapped in a hopeless situation but vere unable to vithdraw. You vere deceived by someone close to you, vere you not?”
Michael’s face floated in the back of her mind. “I was.”
“You still care for dis vone, but I sense dat you have unresolved pain.”
“No. We’re good friends. It’s cool.”
