Chapter Two
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Leaning against the makeshift bar in the Anderson building atrium, Easton Anderson poured himself another glass of wine and tried to pretend he was enjoying himself at this dead boring cocktail party. It was basically a business meeting pretending to be something fun and sociable but he wasn’t fooled in the least. He wouldn’t even be here if he wasn’t the Chief Financial Officer of Anderson Industries but duty always came first. He’d learned that at his father’s knee.
“You’d make a lousy actor.”
Easton turned to see his cousin Leann, who had recently taken over the Human Resources department after living in Florida for several years. She looked ridiculously happy since falling in love with Zach Gibson. Leave it to the Andersons to keep it all in the family. Zach’s sister Gigi was married to Leann’s brother West.
“Then thank goodness I decided against that career on the stage,” Easton smirked. “I’ll have to make do as a financial genius.”
“Modest too,” his cousin sighed. “Seriously, you look like your cat died. Can you smile or something? We’re celebrating closing a deal that’s going to give you more money to count, Scrooge McDuck.”
He should be happy. They’d signed a deal to build a housing development in a growing town about a hundred miles away. To thank the staff that had been working on the proposal night and day for months, they’d thrown this party.
“I am happy,” he said automatically. “Another feather in the cap of Anderson Industries.”
Leann shook her head. “You’re not fooling anyone. You’re miserable.”
He might not be giddy as a schoolgirl with her first crush but he sure as hell wasn’t miserable. What did she expect him to do?
“Just because I’m not dancing and singing around the room doesn’t mean I’m unhappy. I’m thrilled we got the contract. This is going to create a lot of jobs in the area.”
Which would probably get West re-elected as mayor whether he liked it or not. Even if he didn’t run, his name would just be written in on the ballots by the voters.
Eyes narrowed, his pretty cousin was looking him up and down. “I stand by my assessment. You’re not a happy man. And do you know why?”
If he didn’t let her have her say she’d dog his heels until his last breath.
“No, but I know you’re dying to tell me why so get on with it.”
“Because you’re alone,” Leann said bluntly. “And if you don’t do something about that soon you’re going to grow into a crotchety old man that only cares about profit and loss statements and has a cash register for a heart. Is that what you want? Because you’re well on your way.”
“I am not alone,” Easton objected, his mind drifting to his most recent girlfriend. “I’ve been dating.”
Snorting, Leann rolled her eyes. “How about we talk about the women you date? They’re all boring as hell. Even you think so because I rarely hear that you’ve dated one more than a couple of times. Are you even dating anyone right now?”
“I’ve been seeing Melanie Elliott, a well-respected real estate attorney in town. As a matter of fact, she and I attended a dinner party a few nights ago.”
The actual party had been rather dull, some sort of bar association get-together, but Melanie had been well-dressed and clearly respected by her peers.
Leann quirked an eyebrow and leaned closer. “How’s the…you know…sex?”
That question was out of bounds. Easton didn’t discuss his sex life with anyone, except maybe his brothers. He certainly didn’t talk about it with his female cousin.
“That is none of your business,” he replied crisply. “I can’t believe you even asked me that.”
Her mouth turned down and she shook her head again. “That bad, huh?”
The fact was he hadn’t slept with Melanie. Not yet, anyway.
“My sex life is fine,” he assured Leann. He didn’t want to discuss this with her. “And since you’re so fired up to discuss fornication, how’s your sex life?”
He should have known she wouldn’t shrink from answering. Leann had a spine of steel and with all the boys in the Anderson family she’d learned early not to back down from a challenge.
And he didn’t need to know the details of her sex life with Zach.
Giggling, her eyes lit up and she grinned. “Fantastic, cousin. Absolutely awesome, thank you for asking.” She poked her finger into the middle of his chest. “And that is the kind of sex life you should have. The kind that shakes the foundation of your house and wakes the neighbors. You need someone that excites you and gets you out of your rut. Someone that has more going on in their life than boring business. Someone…someone like Dizzy, for example.”
Easton sputtered, almost spilling his drink. “Dizzy? The one and only Dizzy Foster? You must be joking. What in the hell would she and I talk about? Her latest aura cleansing? If you haven’t noticed, Leann, your friend is weird. Bizarre. She passed up eccentric and is heading straight for crazy cat lady that all the kids in the neighborhood think is a witch.”
Leann smiled sweetly. “Dizzy doesn’t have a cat and she’s not a witch. As for her aura…well, I cannot say but she’s never mentioned that it was dirty.”
With an image of Dizzy in his brain suddenly the word dirty took on a different connotation. He was going straight to hell for it too.
“She’s still strange. Her name is Dizzy, after all.”
Sighing, Leann refilled her wine glass. “That’s because she couldn’t pronounce Desiree when she was little. It came out sounding like Dizzy so it stuck. Don’t be a jerk. Dizzy is a wonderful woman and you’d be lucky to date someone like her.”
His cousin had lost her mind. Clearly being in love with Zach had moved around her brain cells until she couldn’t think straight.
“I’m a man of logic and reasoning,” Easton explained slightly exasperated. Leann wanted everyone to be in love. “Dizzy lights candles at the full moon and thinks crystals will cure her cold.”
“It can’t hurt,” Leann shrugged. “It might even work. She never seems to be sick and she’s happier than just about anyone I know. Maybe she’s onto something and we should have a more open mind.”
Easton had an open mind…but Dizzy was a bridge too far.
“No,” he said firmly. “I don’t think she and I would be good together.”
His younger brother Carter took that opportunity to sidle up to them and horn in on the conversation. As usual. “Who wouldn’t be good together?”
“Easton and Dizzy,” Leann said with a smug smile. “Don’t you think they’d make a great couple?”
Easton waited as Carter seemed to consider the pairing before answering. “It wouldn’t be boring, that’s for sure. Are you going to ask her out?”
Gritting his teeth together, Easton shook his head. “I am not. She’s not my type. She’s too…young for me.”
He didn’t even have the word for what Dizzy was. He only knew that she’d drive him crazy within minutes. She was sweet and lovely but mostly she was like a little sister to him. A strange little sister. That was not a recipe for romance and desire and passion.
Carter grabbed a beer from the cooler. “I doubt Dizzy would be interested in you anyway, big brother. You’re a little too mainstream for her. She’s probably looking for someone exciting and spontaneous.”
Ouch, that kind of hurt. Easton knew that he wasn’t spontaneous but he didn’t need it pointed out to him. He liked to think of himself as calm and steady.
Although Carter and Leann would probably say that he was boring as hell.
Carter clapped a hand on Easton’s shoulder. “I didn’t come over here to debate the identity of your future wife with you. I came over here to tell you it’s your turn with Madame Viola.”
“Someone else can take my turn.”
Chuckling, Carter took a swig of his beer. “That’s what you say every single time.”
At some point in the past, the party planner for the company had thought it would be funny and entertaining to hire a psychic for the event so she could tell everyone’s “fortunes”. While the staff appeared to really enjoy it, Easton thought it was ridiculous. But she was so popular they invited her back for almost every party. So far, he’d managed to avoid her.
“I’m saying it again. Leann, you can take my turn.”
Tilting her head, his cousin looked him up and down for a moment. “I can but you know you’re not helping the image of management? When you won’t play along you make us look like we’re not one of the team. That we’re not all in this together and that you’re too good or too important and busy to play along. Unless, of course, you do think that you’re too important to spend five minutes with Madame Viola.”
She had him and she knew it.
“Fine, let’s get this over with. I have a lot of work to do.”
With Carter on one side of him and Leann on the other, as if he might make a run for it, they walked across the room to where the psychic was holding court at a small table with several of the employees. They were all smiling and laughing as Easton approached, not looking forward to this at all. Viola would simply tell him a bunch of vague facts about himself that could be true for a multitude of people and then he could disappear back into his office.
Everyone would be happy. Not him, of course, but everyone else.
His other younger brother Shane stood up and motioned Easton toward the vacated chair across from Viola. “I hear it’s your turn. Take my chair.”
“Thanks,” Easton mumbled. “Okay, let’s do this.”
He had no clue what a psychic was supposed to look like but Madame Viola took her appearance all the way. Short and round, she was dressed in purple and gold velvet with a plethora of jewelry on each hand and around her wrists and neck. Her dark hair, shot with gray, was piled on top of her head and secured with an ornate clip with multi-colored rhinestones. Even her shoes were over the top; high-heeled black boots with small gold buttons.
Giving him a smile, she reached for his hands with her plump fingers. Her skin was quite cool for the temperature of the room. “Now just relax and let me feel the energy around you. Do you have a specific question for me?”
How long will this last? Can I leave now?
“No.”
“Then I’ll just see where this takes us.”
Hopefully it would lead him back to his office where he had a bottle of aged scotch in the desk drawer.
Viola closed her eyes and seemed to sort of sway back and forth. For once the crowd around the table fell silent as they waited for her pronouncement like she was the Oracle of Delphi.
“You like control.”
He was the CFO of a major corporation so that wasn’t much of a deduction. He thought he heard Carter snort behind him but Easton stayed silent, waiting for this entire debacle to be over.
“You believe only in the physical world but the other realms haven’t given up on you. They have plans that you won’t be able to control.”
More vague bullshit. This was becoming tiresome and he was losing patience.
“Your time of being alone is coming to an end. You’ll need to make room in your life for a soulmate.”
“You’ll have to learn to put the toilet seat down,” Carter laughed. “Leave work before midnight too.”
Viola gave Easton’s younger brother a pointed stare. “Do not disturb the reading, please.”
“Sorry,” Carter shrugged but was still smiling. “I couldn’t resist. Please continue.”
The psychic turned her attention back to Easton.
“Your soulmate is innocent….naive even….but she is surrounded by evil. She’ll need you to be her champion.”
Right. An innocent woman in today’s society. So his soulmate was a virgin? He needed to get out of here before he said what he was really thinking.
“Okay, I need to be her champion. Anything else?”
Viola frowned and sighed heavily. “The road to love will be fraught with peril. It won’t be easy. It might even be dangerous but it will be worth it.”
More vague platitudes that could apply to half the people in the room. Easton gently tugged his hands from Viola’s now tight grip.
“I’ll keep all of that in mind. Thank you so much.” With relief, he looked up at Leann. “Isn’t your turn next?”
She nodded as her phone rang. “It is but just a minute. It’s Dizzy.”
“Maybe she heard us talking about her,” Carter said with a chuckle. “Tell her I said hello.”
Leann nodded again but her face had grown pale and her smile had disappeared. With every passing second as she listened, she seemed to grow more agitated.
“Just stay there,” Leann commanded, her brow knitted together. “I’ll be right over.”
“What happened?” Easton asked as his cousin tucked away her phone and fumbled in her purse looking for her car keys. She appeared quite spooked and he didn’t like to think of her driving. When she pulled the keychain from her purse he plucked it from her fingers before she could object.
“I think I should drive. You look like you’re about to faint. What’s going on? Is Dizzy okay?”
Leann’s hand flew to her throat and her fingers visibly trembled.
“Dizzy witnessed a murder. I need to get to her right away.”