Chapter Twenty

A series of tents were being erected in the park when they got back into town.

“Oooh, what’s going on here?” Zoey asked.

“It’s the weekly farmers market,” Tanner said. “You want to stop by?”

“It looks like fun. But”—she swept her arm across her body—“I probably look a wreck.”

Tanner glanced over at her and grinned. “You look like a sexually sated woman who has been thoroughly fucked.”

She smiled.

“Without doubt,” she said. “But do you think everyone will notice?”

He grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “So what if they do? They’ll be jealous.”

“That I’ve dug my claws into the hotly desirable Dr. Eliasson?”

He laughed. “Well, maybe that. But more like they’ll be jealous of me that I got to bury myself deep inside of you.”

“I had no idea how much I liked a man talking dirty to me until you.” She stroked her thumb along the back of his hand. “But we’d better lay off that at least while we’re wandering around the market. Don’t want to give anyone ideas about what a horndog their local vet is.”

He pulled her hand on top of his crotch, showing her how hard he’d gotten yet again. “As long as you keep this happy, it’ll be our secret.”

“I think I can agree to those terms.”

~*~

Bristol was a small town, so it seemed everyone knew Tanner, which made Zoey feel like she was on display for the locals to appraise. She wished she’d had a chance to do her hair and maybe wash up a bit. After all, she’d spent the afternoon having sex with her new veterinarian. But she loved that she felt part of a couple as they wandered the stalls, tucked beneath Tanner’s strong arm, Suki a few feet ahead of them, relishing attention from the puppy lovers in the crowd.

It was then that it dawned on Zoey: this felt right. Like nothing she’d ever felt before with another man. Like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly. What a shame that they had such different lives, different plans. There was no way this could last. She was moving on, and besides, Tanner didn’t want to have any attachment to his past, and she was nothing if not a constant reminder of what he never wanted to remember.

It made her sad to realize this was going to come to an end. As soon as her car was fixed, she and Snowball would be on their way. There was no choice but to enjoy it while it lasted.

They passed by stalls that were selling all sorts of food, from barbecue to Thai food, as well as jewelry stands and all sorts of craft items. At a nearby set of chairs, a woman was offering foot massages and they stopped.

“Go ahead, Zo. She does amazing pressure point massages.”

“Really?” They certainly didn’t have foot massages at the farmers markets she’d gone to in LA. But when in Rome…

Five minutes later, Zoey’s eyes were rolling back in her head from the pleasure. She didn’t want it to end.

Tanner leaned into her ear. “Your face looks the same as it does when you’re about to come.”

“That’s because I am about to come,” she whispered to him. She started laughing. It might not have been that pleasurable but it ran a close second. “Now you know the way to my heart.”

He nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Next they passed by a fortune-teller. Madame Zorza, a fifty-something woman with a long gray braid and a crinkly smile in her warm, brown eyes, stood in a pair of Tevas with black capri leggings and a silk shawl draped over her shoulders, motioning for the couple to come inside her tent.

“I’m always a little scared of fortune-tellers,” Zoey said.

“Oh, it’s all silly. Completely harmless.”

“What if they tell me something really bad is going to happen?”

“What if they tell you something really good is going to happen?”

“Will you act as my interpreter?”

“Is that legal with fortune-tellers?”

“Anything is legal. It’s all silly, remember?”

“So what would my function be then?”

“You’ll be my conduit. So she tells you my fortune and if it’s good, you tell me, and if it’s not, you keep it to yourself.”

“But you’ll know if it’s not good and that’ll bother you.”

She shook her head. “I promise. I won’t press you. I’ll let it be whatever it is.”

“And you won’t be mad at me if I don’t tell you?”

She held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“You sure that’s not two fingers?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. But I’m good for my word.”

“I have an idea,” he said. “Regardless, I won’t tell you here, now, while we’re at the market. We’ll agree on a set time when I’ll reveal—or not reveal—your fortune.”

She squinted at him, wondering if this was a good deal or not. “Hmmm…Trying to see a downside to this.”

“The good news is it would preclude you punching her if it was bad news.”

She curled her lip at him. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

He pointed to his face; it still bore a scratch from her near miss the other night, which made Zoey feel awful. Was that only last night when she’d accidentally kind of hit him? Good Lord. It seemed as if they’d been together for weeks.

Tanner pulled his wallet out and paid Madame Zorza thirty bucks and she closed the doors of the tent. They explained to her how this was going to work, this somewhat unconventional delivery system.

She held Zoey’s hands in hers, palms up, and she began to trace the lines in her hands, talking about what they meant.

She then crooked her finger at Tanner, who was sitting in a metal folding chair between the two of them. He stood and walked to Madame Zorza, who leaned toward his ear, speaking behind her hand so Zoey couldn’t hear what she was saying.

She spoke to him for about three minutes, with Tanner maintaining a stone face the entire time. Zoey took the opportunity to give Suki an ear rub, which made her thump her tail in joy.

“I know how you feel, girl,” Zoey said. “Lucky you—you get massages as much as you want. After today, not me.” She was a little wistful. All of the fun she was having with Tanner would soon draw to a close. And she had to figure out what to do if she couldn’t go to Banff.

At last, Tanner stood up straight and dusted off his hands as if he’d finished an odd-job and had not just heard the fate of Zoey’s life.

“Okay, Zoey,” he said, his face revealing nothing about what the soothsayer had soothed. Or said. “Let’s go.”

Crap. This must be worse than she thought.