Ticket 1207 Read Online Free PDF Page B

I scratched something she didn’t approve of.”
    “Grandma isn’t watching you, or any other dead person for that matter.” Jill gave her a dismissive wave. “I was just making…stupid conversation.”
    “Well, what about Theo’s momma and aunt? Theo has to wear a chicken foot around her neck to keep the aunt away. Maybe we should get some talismans just to be on the safe side.”
    “I am not wearing the foot of a dead animal around my neck, and if you do it, I’ll snip the cord that holds it. Theo is putting all sorts of weird and stupid ideas in our heads. It’s the power of suggestion. If she can make someone believe something, then her so-called voodoo magic works.”
    “How do you explain my hair?” Rene asked as she tugged at a curl.
    Jill made a face. “Do you really believe magic did that after you spent hours with olive oil on your head?”
    “Hey, I’m having some really good hair days, call it what you will.” Rene slipped back into her shoes. “I’m going home now. Nadia and I are wrapping presents tonight. Want me to lock up?”
    Jill nodded. “Please. Good night.”
    *******
    Jill dragged herself up the stairs to her apartment. She was a tad jealous of Rene. Nadia was sweet and absolutely adored Rene. Jill wished she had someone waiting on her to wrap presents as tired as she was, but the only things she had to look forward to were a hot bath and a glass of wine.
    She switched on the TV and caught Bing Crosby singing about a white Christmas. “Well, dream about something else, buddy,” she said as she changed channels. She wasn’t in the mood for holiday cheer. “Where’s the Scrooge or the Grinch when you need them? Show your green ass, Grinch.” But as she flipped through the channels, they were filled with the warm and fuzzy holiday shows.
    She tossed the remote onto the couch and headed for the kitchen for a glass of wine and stopped in her tracks when she realized that the cuckoo clock Grandma Tanner had given her had stopped at exactly 12:07. The cuckoo was on his little perch and had not gone back into its window. Jill stared at the time and said, “Bah humbug, Theo.”
    She poured a glass of cabernet, then decided to take the whole bottle into the bathroom. Her legs and feet ached from being on them all day. “I’m thirty-eight, and I feel like I’m ninety,” she complained as she turned on the water for her bath. “I’m talking to myself, and somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I’m afraid that Theo and her dead mother really are having conversations about me. That’s a sure sign of insanity.”
    As the tub filled, Jill stripped out of her clothes and tossed them into the hamper, all the while worrying that she was becoming Grandma Tanner, who mumbled to herself and dressed her dog in ridiculous outfits. Jill felt the one thing she had going for her at the moment was that she didn’t have a dog. She was sure as hell chatting herself up, though.
    “Ticket 1207 belongs to yo heart’s desire, my ass. Well, yeah, Shawn’s smoking hot, but that doesn’t mean I’m what she wants.”
    Jill climbed into the hot water with a groan and sank down to her chin as she recalled the day Shawn brought her watch in for another repair. She’d seemed more nervous than usual, but Jill reasoned that Shawn’s fidgeting may’ve been attributed to the fact that she was soaking wet and it was cold outside. She was probably fighting hypothermia. But she had the odd sensation that Shawn wanted something, and it had little to do with watch repair.
    As she sipped the wine and the hot water eased the aches in her body, Jill allowed her mind to at least consider the possibility that Shawn really was interested in her. Every time she came in with a broken necklace, watch, or bracelet, she lingered longer than most customers did, but when Jill made direct eye contact with her, Shawn looked away.
    “She’s got pretty eyes.” The statement echoed off the walls of the bathroom.
    They