She tried to not be nosy with her guests. She’d had so many over the years. Some she’d brought in as lovers, others had only remained in the friend zone.

She knew instantly upon seeing Rory Sinclair which zone she wished him to fall into.

“How’s it going?” she asked, walking into her father’s old study. It was a quarter to six and she only had a few minutes to chat before heading out for her regular morning class.

She caught him off guard, and he jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. She’d heard him moving around more than an hour earlier and guessed he’d be hard at work by the time she made her way downstairs.

When his eyes landed on her, she watched them widen behind a sexy pair of wire-framed reading glasses.

“I was just about to leave for my yoga class. I’ll be back after so we can eat some breakfast before heading in for your massage, and then we can get to work.”

He blinked, then nodded. She smiled. Even though she had just celebrated her forty-sixth birthday last month, she knew she had the body of a thirty-year-old, thanks to her habit of healthy eating and exercise.

The tight yoga outfit she always wore fit like a glove. In order not to cause the man a heart attack, she had pulled on one of her favorite long sweaters, which draped over her shoulders and ended just above her knees, before she had headed down the stairs to the second floor. The morning air had a bite to it, especially since the sun wasn’t set to rise for another few hours, which meant she’d pull on yet another layer before leaving the house.

If she was lucky, there would be frost covering everything when she stepped out for her morning jog to the store.

“You… uh, going to leave the house in that?” He nodded to her outfit.

“Yes. Don’t worry, hardly anyone’s awake at this hour in Silver Cove. My class is only forty-five minutes long. I’ll be back before the top of the hour.” She shifted her eyes to the screen and was a little shocked to see a picture of her and Serenity on his screen. “How’s it going?” she asked.

He must have snapped out of the trance, because he flicked his fingers and the screen went black.

“Slow,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

“Does your research into my stolen money require you to research me and my daughter?”

“It requires I look into everyone you know,” he said, turning towards her. “I’ll need complete access to everything, including your private lives. Who you’re involved with, who you trusted with access to your business accounts. We’ll need to make a list… later today.”

“Right.” She sighed, feeling a little put off by his bluntness. But seeing the way he was holding himself, she immediately knew he was in pain. “You didn’t sleep well?” she asked, moving closer.

“I slept fine,” he added quickly.

She took another step closer and he tensed. “I’ll make sure to get you penciled in for that massage first thing.” She took a step back, and he nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll see you in an hour. We’ll have breakfast then. Until then, if you need anything—”

“Thanks,” he broke in. “I’ll be fine.”

“See you then.” She turned away.

When she stepped outside, she took in a deep breath and let every ounce of stress leave her body before she took off at a brisk walk. By the time she hit the corner, she was at a full jog. She was slightly breathless when she hit the front door of Serenity’s Attic.

When she walked through the front of the store, she waved to Olivia who was busy stocking the daily fresh fruits as she passed through.

Half of her class was already in the room warming up when she walked in. Hanging her jacket and sweater on the hook by the door, she pulled out her mat and began her own warm-up.

It was strange, her morning ritual was more than soothing, it was… automatic. Like breathing. Her body flowed with each move. Her lungs filled and emptied. Her muscles stretched, her mind cleared.

By the time she was done with class, she felt centered and ready for the day. Keeping her body in motion was one of the things she attributed her youthful appearance to.

There had always been talk about how young she looked. People in town who didn’t know her personally gossiped behind her back and insisted that she’d spent thousands of dollars to have work done. Other’s believed she was younger than she stated and even suggested she’d been fifteen when she’d had Serenity. She usually laughed about all of the gossip, but lately, talk was going around town about her hiding the money from the government. That no one had actually stolen the money from her.

She wasn’t one to fall into depression because of gossip, but she had to admit, it had affected her in other ways.

“I’ll see everyone tomorrow,” she called out, reaching for her sweater. When she saw Joe Stoker walking towards her, she tried not to show the stress the man caused her recently.

She’d fallen for his good looks last year. The fact that he was ten years younger than her had boosted her morale for a while. At least until she’d had enough of his small mind.

“Morning,” she said, trying to sound cheerful.

“I heard you hired some fancy PI to track down your money.” Joe never was one to mince words.

“My son-in-law thought it was best,” she said, wrapping the sweater around her shoulders and untucking her long hair from underneath. She’d tied it up in a long braid for the jog and yoga. It was far too warm in the room for the sweater, but she needed the extra layer as a shield.

“I can help you. I’ve offered—”

“We’ve been over this,” she interrupted. “Kayla thinks its best—”

Joe sighed loudly. “If you had trusted me with your books, none of this would have happened in the first place.”

“Thank you.” She rested a hand on his arm, which he quickly covered with his own hand, holding hers hostage.

“Crystal, let me come back,” he said softly. The room was still emptying from the first class and started to fill with students in Joe’s high-impact class. “I miss you. We were good together.”

“I don’t think that’s wise. I’ve moved on.” She tugged her hand free. “It’s just not in the cards for us.” She smiled. “Have a good class.” She walked away quickly.

She was right, it had never been in the cards for them. She was a strong believer in tarot readings. She’d learned from the best psychic in Maine and had, for the past fifteen years, read her own cards and those of the people she loved on a daily basis.

Star charts and horoscopes were also intuitive, but tarot cards were uncanny for getting things right, at least as far as Serenity’s life and the lives of her family and friends went.

Ben was hard to narrow down, other than he would be a loyal and good husband and father. The rest about him she’d picked up herself by just studying him.

She walked back to the house. The sun was coming up and the frost was melted already. When she walked in the front door, she guessed that Rory was still upstairs, plucking away at his computer.

She surmised that she had an hour before he would want food and rushed up to her space on the third floor to shower and dress for the day.

When she walked back down the stairs, she was wearing dark blue leggings with a large white sweater over them. The sweater hung off one of her shoulders, exposing the skin. It had been years since she’d worn any undergarments. She found that they only restricted the blood flow and gave her headaches. She knew this too was a point of gossip around town, but she didn’t care. Especially when there were new studies in France about how undergarments cause damage more than they help.

Taking a moment to do a quick reading, she pulled out her cards and laid them in front of her, asking the questions that had been running through her mind.

When she flipped the cards over, she thought about each card’s meaning to her. Today, there wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. The Seven of Swords card was a troubling sight, but its meaning could be viewed in many different ways. Deception within a relationship was its most common meaning. Stealth or getting away with something and even mental challenges and breaking free were some other options. So many different ways she could look at the card staring back at her for the sixth time that month.

When she was done, she walked into the kitchen to make breakfast and thought about the answers she’d found.

Another card had showed her that something was hidden from her. She expected it was the thief and the money.

Once again, she knew that change was coming her way. Was it Rory?

Lastly, she would be making a new journey soon. A trip? She was due for a slight vacation and figured another trip to East Haven was in order.

None of these were concrete answers to the questions she’d asked, but she held onto them. She quickly ran through the cards with Rory in mind, but what she really needed was to do a reading with Rory himself. She doubted he would agree right away, but maybe by the end of the week she could convince him of it.

She busied herself making a sweet braided yeast bread filled with cinnamon and raisins. She had a pan of dough already risen from the day before. She usually had the fixings for something ready and frozen for her to thaw and create each week.

She loved spending her Saturday mornings baking or preparing meals for the coming week. Today was no different. She took her time creating the intricate braid with the dough and then slid it into the waiting oven.

Then she pulled out some of her favorites fruits and cleaned them before dicing them into a large bowl. Adding some Greek yogurt and mixed nuts to the side, she arranged the table just as she heard footsteps on the stairs.

The warming bread caused the entire house to smell like heaven. She’d known it would only be a matter of time before the smell pulled him out of his work.

“Hungry?” she asked, turning around and smiling at Rory as he entered the room.

“What’s that smell?” he asked, looking around. His eyes traveled over her outfit, staying for a moment on her bare shoulder, then moving back to her eyes.

“Fresh cinnamon raisin bread.” She set the bowl of nuts on the table next to the fruit and yogurt.

“Fresh as in… homemade?”

“Yes.” She motioned for him to sit. “Tea?” she asked. She noticed that his eyes had moved down to her bare feet. She hardly ever wore shoes in the house, and when she did, they were usually her yoga or dance slippers.

“I’d kill for some coffee, but tea will do.” He sat down, his eyes going to the oven. “You went to yoga class, then came home, showered, and made fresh bread?”

“Sure.” She set the cup of hot tea in front of him. “And you have almost three full hours of work under your belt already.”

“True.” He sighed. “It’s just… people don’t cook from scratch… not anymore.”

She laughed. “You just don’t know anyone who does. Who do you think bakes all those donuts or rolls you buy in the fancy coffee shops in town?” She set her own cup down next to his.

“Machines… people.” He shrugged.

“I like baking.” She pulled the pan of bread out of the oven and deeply inhaled the sweet scents. “Perfect.”

“My god!” he said when he saw the bread. “You made that?” He got up to stare down at the pan. “That should be on the cover of some magazine.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and to her surprise, snapped a few pictures of it. “If it tastes half as good as it looks, it’s a wonder you don’t weigh five hundred pounds.”

She smiled. “Thank you, I think.” She pulled the bread off the pan and set it gently down in the basket, then took her time cutting it into slices.

“There,” she said when she set it down in front of him. “It should be nice and cool by now.” She nodded for him to help himself.

He filled his plate, and she noticed that he’d only scooped a handful of nuts and fruit and no yogurt.

“You should have some Greek yogurt. The health benefits are amazing. Did you know, there’s almost half of the protein in one cup of Greek yogurt as there is in a chicken breast? With far less cholesterol and fat.”

She thought she heard him groan, but he scooped a spoonful of yogurt onto his plate.

“Mix it with the nuts and berries,” she suggested. “They make plain yogurt taste wonderful.” She piled a spoonful onto her own plate.

“Do you always tell people how to eat?” he asked before taking a bite of the bread. “My god.” He sighed and closed his eyes. She could tell he was enjoying the bread and smiled.

“I do when it’s obvious they have some health issues.” She took a bite of her own bread.

Rory stopped chewing and looked up at her. Their eyes met and she wondered if she’d crossed the line.

* * *

“How do you know I have health issues?” Rory asked, feeling his gut twist.

She was silent for a moment as she chewed her bite, then reached for her teacup. “I read your cards for you.” He rolled his eyes, and she smiled. “And, it’s obvious by the color of your skin. The dullness of your eyes.” She leaned forward and looked more closely into his eyes. “Did you know that a doctor— mind you a very good one like my nephew Rowan—could tell you have dietary deficiencies by the milky color in your eyes.”

He blinked. “The… what?”

She smiled. “Sure, for instance”—her eyes searched his—“you have these slight yellow patches.” She pointed with her spoon. “You have high cholesterol.”

He held in a gasp. His doctor had just informed him of that fact only days ago.

“You’re also color blind.” She nodded, her eyes narrowing. “And you have allergies.” She leaned back and continued to eat.

“You can tell all that from just looking in my eyes?” he asked, stunned. Everything she’d said was true, even if his allergies weren’t really acting up at the moment.

“Sure, you’d be surprised what else I can tell by the color of your skin or by reading your tarot.”

He paused, a bite of bread halfway to his mouth. “Tarot? As in, physic readings?”

She shrugged. “Amongst other things.” Her eyes were glued to her plate.

“You believe in all that?” he asked.

This time, her eyes moved slowly up to his. “Tell me everything I just said about you is wrong,” she said. “Then tell me the method I use is flawed.”

“You got me there,” he finally said, shrugging his shoulders. “Do you know, it took four blood tests, almost ten hours of waiting at my doctor’s office, and nearly six hundred dollars for a man who paid thousands for a fancy degree to tell me the same thing you did by just noticing the color of the whites of my eyes?”

She smiled, then laughed. “Sounds like you need a new doctor. My nephew can see you this week, if you want.”

He smiled. “I just might take you up on that.”

After finishing three helpings of the sweet bread and a small spoonful of yogurt with berries and nuts, he helped her clean up, once again, before they headed out to her store.

As he helped her on with her jacket, he leaned in and enjoyed the soft scent she wore. It was not only unique, but sexy as hell. The sky was full of gray clouds, threatening more rain and sleet, but her scent promised of sunny days and flower-covered fields.

As they stepped outside, he was a little surprised that she chose to walk the few blocks rather than drive.

“Do you always walk?” he asked, trying not to huff as he kept up with her.

“Sure, I only drive when I go out of town.” She glanced over at him. “Is it a problem?” Her pace slowed, and he felt totally out of shape.

He hit the gym four times a week, but he usually lifted weights and only jogged occasionally on the treadmill. It had been years since he’d taken a long walk, other than trying to catch a bus or a train.

“No.” He shook his head. “Just… what do you do when the weather turns?”

She smiled quickly. “I enjoy it. There, that’s my place.” She motioned in front of them.

He glanced down the street and took in the bright colors of her store. Serenity’s Attic sat over the bright building.

The building itself fit in with those around it. It wouldn’t stand out at all if it weren’t for the bright designs on the outside. But with the bright paintings of the moon, sun, and stars covering the outer walls, he knew instantly what kind of items would be inside. The front door was bright purple with stars painted all over the wood. Crisp white Christmas lights hung around every window and on the top of the building. In the windows, he could see more decorations.

He held one brightly painted glass door open for her and waited as she walked past him.

His imagination had been all wrong. What he’d walked into was nothing like he’d expected. Instead of a hippy shop selling hemp and bongs, he’d walked into a grocery store full of fresh vegetables, fruit, and jarred goods. Further back, he could see clothing of all types as well as rows of bottles and candles, and in the far back, incense and other items.

“So?” Crystal asked, standing patiently beside him. “What do you think?”

“It’s like an indoor farmer’s market,” he said. “They have those in my neighborhood every Saturday and Sunday.”

She smiled. “Everything is locally grown or raised.” She nodded to three large refrigerators along the front wall. “Fresh goat, cow, and yak milk—”

“Yak milk?” he interrupted.

“Sure, it’s high in—”

He held up his hand, stopping her. “I’ll take your word on it.” He shook his head.

“We also sell farm-raised meat, but don’t store any of it. The farmers deliver it directly to the customers’ doors.” She moved around the store and he followed her. “All the canned goods, fresh vegetables, and fruit are locally grown. I even have some of my canned jellies.” She nodded to the row of Serenity’s Jams.

“You make jelly?” he asked, picking up a jar and turning it around.

“Sure, it’s my grandmother’s recipe.” She touched his arm and he followed her throughout the store, pointing out special items along each row.

As they went, he learned that she also made her own soaps, shampoos, essential oils, and candles.

“Well, I think we’ve wasted enough time. Our room should be ready.” She motioned towards the back.

“Our room?” he asked.

“Sure, you did say you wanted a massage,” she said smoothly.

“Yes.” He waited, wanting to ask if he’d heard correctly. He followed her beyond the high countertop and a black-haired woman who sat behind a cash register. When they walked by, the young woman waved at them.

“You’re all clear back there for the next two spots,” the girl said.

“Thanks, Olivia,” Crystal said.

He followed her into a standard massage room. The white table sat in the middle of a room painted a soft cream. The lights were low and several candles were burning already. Crystal walked over and flipped on a small radio. Soft music filled the room.

“I assume you know the drill?” She handed him a large white towel as he nodded in agreement. “Enjoy.” She walked out of the room without another word.

He’d had plenty of massages over the years. Hell, since his insurance paid for them, he tried to get one every other month.

So, he disrobed and positioned himself face down and tried to relax. When a slight knock sounded, he told the therapist to enter without glancing up.

He waited and finally, soft hands started working on the sore muscles in his shoulders. Just as he started to relax, he took in a deep breath and smelled Crystal’s soft sexy scent.

His entire body tensed. “Crystal?” he said, looking up. Suddenly the large white towel covering his backside felt entirely too small. He was thankful he was still on his stomach and, at this point, if she asked him to, he’d refuse to roll over.

She smiled and tilted her head. “Relax,” she said softly. “You’re undoing everything I’ve worked on.”