Little Red Gem Read Online Free PDF

The
usual stuff. ‘Chocolate box’ was usually the term that rolled off
tourists’ tongues.
    I pressed on and came to a
store whose window contained things that glittered but were not
considered ‘bling’. Crystals twinkled at me. Wind chimes danced. A
carving of jade with trickling water cascading over its edge
promised tranquility.
    A sigh escaped. Did I
really want to be doing this today? My heart was in tatters and I
was standing outside a psychic shop when I should have been doing
everything in my power to make up with Leo. I’d have forgotten all
about this appointment if not for the gift certificate taped to my
dresser mirror with the post-it stuck to it. On the post-it in
Leo’s hand writing were the words: DON’T EVEN TRY TO GET OUT OF
THIS. I’d promised Leo I’d keep the appointment. In a way, I felt
that by coming here I could make it up to him for being a total
idiot last night.
    Besides, something had
drawn me here and it wasn’t letting go. I had to find out
why.
    The storefront was
prettily decorated with paintings of ivy wrapping around the
painted-on trunks of painted-on trees. Inside, shelves were formed
from recycled windows including colored-glass windows that had once
belonged to a church. Each wall was painted in a different scene –
a green forest, a pink sunset, an underwater scene, and a dragon’s
fiery lair. The tourist brochures claimed that the paintings on the
walls depicted the four elements – earth, air, water, and fire. Mom
was always bringing home brochures from work. I swear I knew
everything about this town except how to love it.
    In a wispy-styled font
above the door was the name of the store – MYSTERIES. A painted
moon sat at its left and a sun sat at its right. The owner, Teri
Adams, though her customers called her Miss Teri, had made a pun
out of her name. I couldn’t argue with puns, only inwardly groan at
them like the rest of the planet. I also couldn’t argue with the
obvious; my parents had called me Ruby because I was born with a
luscious patch of deep red hair. There ought to have been a law
against stating the obvious.
    Before I could press the
buzzer the door swung open and a vaguely familiar face greeted me.
I blinked rapidly, as if the art of blinking triggered the area of
the brain skilled in sorting mental images. Yep, this was Teri
Adams, AKA Miss Teri the clairvoyant. Her flouncy dress and messy,
curly hair only heightened the aura of tranquility she radiated. I
imagined cinnamon and other spices, though possibly because I’d
spied donuts on the counter and I hadn’t eaten breakfast
yet.
    Miss Teri eyed me
suspiciously. My surprise at being here outshone hers. I’d won a
psychic reading in a local radio competition by accident after I’d
phoned the station to find out about another competition being held
in Providence, and I’d happened to be the tenth caller. I wasn’t
into the occult, but I was into free stuff. Besides, Leo had
demanded – by way of his post-it note – that I visit the psychic as
payback for making him go with me to the annual cheese fair a few
weeks earlier.
    Waiting in the doorway, I
quickly calculated whether to take a chance on this woman’s
perceptive abilities, or remove chance from the equation and steal
the nearest car, drive to the cabin, and find out for myself if Leo
and I were officially over?
    Teri settled the decision
for me when she waved a hand in the air. “Come inside. There’s
nothing to be afraid of. This is a house of good
spirit.”
    Why would I be
afraid?
    A loud hiss at my shoulder
made me jump. I spun to see a giant cat on top of a bookcase
arching its back and growling. Wild bears were less intimidating. I
sensed I’d come off the worse if I tangled with Teri’s cat so I
hurried inside and kept away from the wall. Teri swung the door
which launched the cat into the air where he expertly landed on all
fours on top of the counter, before diving under a pile of
boxes.
    “ Don’t mind Oleander.