I glanced up at the door to The Peach as it opened, a smile ready despite the confusion in my mind. My smile drooped a little at the corners when I saw the three women who walked inside. They tossed their hair around like horses trying to swat flies with their tails. I was sure they thought it was cute.

I groaned inwardly at my own thoughts. I had enough going on in my head already, I didn't need a visit from my regular tormentors. The terrible trio started their nasty comments and snide remarks in high school and never grew out of it. I had struggled even more with my abilities back then and spent a lot of time bumping into things as visions overtook me.

On one memorable occasion, it had been the almighty Heather, the leader of the group, that I smacked into. She had taken it super personally and made it her mission to harass me well into adulthood—all because of one accidental bump. Unfortunately, they were customers and I had to be polite. I swallowed my pride and prepared for their insults. I perked up my smile and walked over to greet them.

My eyes flicked to the counter to see if Rhonda was there. She hated these three with a passion and sparks flew whenever they interacted. She didn’t feel the need to be polite and insulted them right back. I had no idea what their issue was, and she wouldn’t talk about it. I suppressed a sigh of relief when I saw her talking to a customer.

"Welcome to The Peach. Will it be a booth, counter, or table for you three today?" I carefully kept my voice pleasant. It was so hard to act civilized with them when they complained about everything, but I gave it my best. I didn't want to make eye contact for too long, so I quickly turned to grab their menus.

"Booth. The big one in the corner," Heather said with a demanding snap of her fingers. "Ugh, clean it first. Even from here it looks disgusting."

I gritted my teeth but kept my smile in place. We cleaned the tables as soon as the customers left, but I popped behind the counter to grab a spray bottle and rag anyway.

I figured she would want the corner booth on top of it all. It was way too big for three people, but it was clearly visible from the door, and she could pretend she was a queen in her throne with everyone looking at her as they entered.

I mentally sighed. Thankfully it was the afternoon lull, so we didn't need the booth at the moment. Plus, everything about her tone dared me to tell her she couldn't have it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. That was one hissy fit I'd rather not deal with, especially today. A lump formed in my throat as my mind drifted back to Maddox but I swallowed it and pushed those thoughts aside.

"Follow me," I said with a cheerful smile and walked toward the corner booth.

I heard a derisive snort behind me and soon recognized the voice of Rachael, top underling to Heather, whisper, "Why does she always smile like that? It's so weird."

"I don't know, I think it's kind of nice," Paige, the last member of the terrible trio, whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous," Heather snapped.

I set their menus down on the booth's table, maybe a little harder than necessary, and stepped aside for them to slide in. I couldn't wait for my day to be over.

"Thomas will be your server today," I said, relieved they weren't in my section. They were never as snotty with the male servers, either. "Enjoy your meal."

* * *

My mind was all over the place as I finished up my shift at The Peach. For once, it wasn't because of wonky visions of the future tugging at my mind. It was Maddox. Again. Or should I say still?

I frowned as I sprayed down a table. This was so unusual. Things with Maddox had always been so simple. He was the breath of fresh air that filled my lungs a few times a year. He was what kept a smile on my face. And yet, here I was, frowning so much that I was starting to seriously worry about wrinkles. I shook my head and sighed. I knew I was simply shunting aside what really bothered me. I was deathly afraid that Maddox had bad news that he was struggling to tell me.

It was time for me to start seriously considering that maybe, after years of searching, he had finally found his mate. It was a thought that forever lurked in the back of my mind throughout our years of sneaking around. I knew he had to find his lucky lady someday. When he did, he would settle down in Fayoak, and we would pretend nothing ever happened between us. We would be friends, nothing more. The thought made my stomach uneasy, but I held out hope that it wouldn't be until I found someone who could match up to Maddox. No one had so far.

I wiped down the table a little more aggressively. It was already far past clean and was dangerously approaching being wiped out of existence if I kept this up, but I couldn't stop myself as it squeaked as if to shout, "I'm clean, really!" in protest.

I sprayed the table once more. Then wiped it. Then sprayed it again.

All I could think about was when Maddox pulled me into the gift shop and kissed me like his life depended on it. Suddenly that kiss took on a whole new meaning. It was a goodbye, wasn't it? He couldn't break it to me at that moment, so he kissed me instead. He probably promised himself he would tell me later. How dare he? I sprayed the table again, it needed another, even more aggressive wipe after that thought.

It only took me another second of thought to regret ever thinking of him that way. Maddox wouldn't kiss me if he had found his mate. He wouldn't. Yet, I couldn’t stop obsessing over the idea.

As I thought about him finding his mate, I felt a vision tug at me. No. I fought against it. I wanted to ignore it, make it go away. I didn't want to know, but I couldn't stop a vision from coming. I found myself wishing in that moment that I was anything but clairvoyant. I liked it in the moments when it kept my uniform stain free and my customers delighted, but it was hard to live your life in denial of certain things when the future popped into your head in full-color visions.

My face twisted into a grimace as the vision rolled into my mind like fog and snuck into all the crevices of my thoughts. It was suddenly all I could see. I knew from a lifetime of experience that it only took a matter of microseconds, but the visions felt so much longer while they happened.

The fog cleared slightly and I found myself inside a car. Maddox was driving. Meghan was there, too. And there was someone else. I couldn't make them out for some reason. I wondered if it was Joseph, Meghan's husband, or if it was someone else entirely. Maybe Maddox's mate. Dismay hit me at that thought.

Maddox looked so relaxed. Happy. I tried to wade through the gray fog to get a good look at whoever it was. I was nearly there when I felt a hand fall on my shoulder.

"Roselani, I think you've wasted enough of that bottle," a familiar voice clipped out.

I tried to chase after the vision as the fog receded, but it was already gone.

I slammed back into the present and turned to face the concerned gaze of my grandmother. I could tell from the faint purse of her lips that I had done something wrong. It was only then that I realized I was still spraying the table. I quickly stopped squeezing the trigger, but there was already a pool of blue liquid threatening to spill over the sides.

"Oh, crud," I said with a groan. "I'll go get some more rags."

I took one step toward the counter, but my grandmother reached out and wrapped her slender fingers around my shoulder, almost imperceptibly, yet it was enough to root me in place.

"What's wrong?" she asked simply.

"Oh, nothing," I lied, although I knew she saw right through me. "Did you know Maddox is back in town? For Meghan's baby." I hoped she’d buy it.

My grandmother nodded her head slowly, eyes unblinking.

I shifted uncomfortably and looked off to the side. I hated when she did this. It never failed to get me. No matter how much older, wiser, and craftier I got, she could get anything out of me. She didn’t even need her clairvoyance. She could make me sing like a canary with one look. I could already feel my worries bubbling their way up my throat, no matter how hard I tried to swallow them back down.

"He's been acting really weird since he got here and I'm worried that he has bad news," I confessed in one long rush of breath. "He left in a nasty mood earlier."

"And that's why half a bottle of cleaner is on that table?" she asked in that measured tone of hers as she released me, but I saw her mouth quirk slightly in amusement. I was a little annoyed, but I could see why she found it funny. I mean, I was so distracted that I used enough cleaner for five tables.

I nodded in reply. I hoped she wouldn't ask me any other questions or do that non-blinking thing again. It was bad enough that I knew she was aware of our secret arrangement. We hadn’t talked about it, but you couldn’t hide something like that from a clairvoyant as strong as my grandmother. I still couldn't imagine having to say it out loud to her.

She stared at me. Her eyelids didn't so much as twitch. I knew that look. She wasn't going to say a word until I spoke to her.

"I had a vision, too," I blurted out. "A hazy one. But I think it has something to do with him acting funny."

"What happened before he left?" she asked in a thoughtful tone.

I furrowed my brow at her. "Um, he had breakfast?"

"Anything else?" Her voice was a little more purposeful this time.

"He talked to Sam." I held up my fingers and started counting off the events I could remember. "He met Alex, too. They didn't get along all that well. Oh, speaking of, I invited Alex to the barbecue, so he'll be there, and . . ."

She folded one hand over the other, silencing me with her gaze alone. "Was Maddox still here when you invited Alexander?"

"He was."

Both of her brows rose.

"No. Pfft." I waved a hand through the air. "Why would Maddox care about that?"

"You said they weren't getting along."

"Maddox can get a little prickly sometimes. I just figured . . ." I paused and considered it for a moment, then shook my head. Maddox wouldn't care if I invited Alex. Out of all the possibilities, that had to be the least likely of them all.

While my grandmother knew about us, she didn't understand the intricacies of our relationship. We weren't actually a thing. We were incredibly good friends . . . with benefits. That was all. I knew his weird attitude had to be connected to that vision I had. It just had to be.

"Focus, Roselani," she said. "You know more than you think. You're a good judge of character. What does your heart tell you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping that just this once my grandmother would slip. She was a clairvoyant juggernaut and I had no doubt that she knew something I didn't.

Her lips pursed ever so slightly at the corners. "You know perfectly well that I try not to interfere with your life. Your mistakes are yours to make."

My eyes widened slightly. Was I making some sort of mistake?

"What do you mean?" My voice trembled slightly as I tried to keep my panic hidden.

"Just this once," she began softly, "I will tell you that you should stop and reconsider the path you've been taking. Ask yourself if the choices you're making are the right ones."

"Did you have some sort of vision?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Roselani, this is simply advice from a grandmother that sees her granddaughter setting herself up for avoidable heartbreak."

Although she was vague, those words completely floored me. Ever since I was a kid, I've tried to get her to be more like those overbearing parents that meddled in their children's lives. I always thought she would have the answers, not only because she was a clairvoyant, but because she had lived through so many experiences. I tried and tried again to get her to give me a cheat sheet to this problem or that—and this was probably the closest she had ever come. I was torn about whether or not I was happy that she said anything.

I could tell from the look in her eyes that it would be all I was getting, and I wasn't completely sure I understood what she was hinting at. Or rather, I didn't want to, because I was afraid she was telling me I needed to let Maddox go.