Mystic Luck (Mystic Tides Book 2)

by Kate Allenton

  “Because sometimes, not always, but sometimes, spells and curses can carry over from one generation to the next. You must make sure the spell is broken before you fall in love with that man.”

  “Well, how in the world am I supposed to do that?”

  Mrs. Applewood shrugged. “What do I look like, the chair on the ‘happily ever after’ committee? I don’t have all the answers. I just have stories.”

  “Whatever happened to Duke?”

  “Oh Duke.” She spit his name with disdain. “He got his.”

  “What does that mean? Did someone exact revenge? What?”

  “Yeah, he did, on himself. He was so deeply tied into the spell he cast that, when your parents were in that accident, he fell dead where he stood.”

  “Jeez. You’re just full of good news…”

  “I told you, I only shared this to, perhaps, help you keep from taking a path that would cause you harm.”

  “Well, there is something…” she confided. “I saw a vision when I touched Zack. He was screaming for my help, and I said no.”

  “Oh dear.”

  “What? Do you know what that means? Please—”

  “I really don’t know. Maybe you should sleep on it. Sometimes, if we open our minds, the answers to our questions come to us in our dreams.”

  “Thanks a lot!” Paige let her forehead drop to the table with a thud. She didn’t know what to think about all of that but hoped she could find answers in a good night’s sleep.

  As soon as she got up to her room she fell across the bed, exhausted from her day. Sleep took her immediately.

  Chapter 5

  “Thanks for helping out at the office today, Uncle Wayne. It was truly the best day I’ve ever spent with a woman.”

  “A woman?” Dr. Willis asked with a smile. “You blew off work for a woman?”

  Zack laughed. “I did. It was worth it.”

  “That’s my boy!”

  “She’s just so…” He plopped down in the recliner at his uncle’s house, which was right next door to his. “She’s amazing.”

  “Where did you meet?”

  “Her car caught on fire on Main Street while I was at lunch the other day. I can’t explain it, but I just knew she would be special, and I was right. She is. She’s the one. I’m falling in love with her, and I hardly know anything about her except that she’s gifted and she cusses like a sailor.” They both laughed. “She’s so beautiful, too, but that’s like a bonus.”

  They sat in silence for a moment while Zack tried to decide whether or not to tell the rest of the story.

  “What is it, son? What’s on your mind?”

  “Do you think you can alter fate?” he asked his uncle, but the man just stared at him. It was a hard stare, a serious one. One of those consideration stares. “I mean, do you think that there’s a way to change our predestination?”

  “I honestly don’t know, Zachary. Why would you ask such a question?”

  “No reason,” he said, not wanting to burden his uncle with the possibility that he’d just set in motion what could be the end of him. It would break his uncle’s heart, and he didn’t think he could handle that.

  “Do you want a beer?” the older man asked his nephew.

  “Nah, I better get home. I’m taking my new lady to work with me tomorrow. Did I tell you that she’s a healer?”

  “A healer?”

  “Yes! A strong one, too. The strongest I’ve ever seen, Uncle Wayne. She has the powers of empathy, absorption, and healing. I’ve never seen a more powerful healer with so many gifts. She just doesn’t know how to use them.”

  “She’s an outsider?”

  “Kind of. She wasn’t raised here, but she’s here now, and Helena-Marie wants me to help her hone her gifts. I can’t wait to see what she can do with patients.”

  “Don’t you think you should let her practice with animals or something before you turn her loose in your office?”

  “I understand your concern, but she can do it. I feel it. I trust her completely.”

  “All right then. I trust you completely, so there you go. I’m happy for you. I can’t wait to meet her. Love you, son.”

  “Love you, too,” Zack yelled behind him as he took all three front steps in one leap. He nearly skipped home. He’d never felt a high like this in his life. He wanted to go the distance, ride the Paige wave all the way to shore.

  Thinking of the day he’d spent with the new girl in town made it easy to forget about the nightmare he would endure to share time with her. But as he made his way to the B&B the next morning to get Paige, the decorations for the St. Paddy’s Day parade served as a stark reminder. He slowed his pace and steeled himself, but his decision was already made. He meant to make the most of the time he had with her, not dwell on things he may or may not be able to change.

  Paige was waiting out front for him when he arrived. She was still in the clothes she’d been wearing the day before; sea salt stained the bottoms of her jeans. Zack picked up the pace, running to her when he saw how disheveled she looked.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I can’t do this, Zack. I can’t…” She fell into his arms.

  “Go to work? It’s okay. We don’t have to go. I can get my uncle to cover for me. It’s no big deal—”

  “No.” She pulled back from his embrace, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t be the person who kills you.”

  “Oh, babe. You aren’t going to—”

  “Maybe not, but I don’t help you either. You know that’s what the vision is about! You know that you need my help and I just let you die!”

  “No. We can change that. Now we know, and we can change—”

  “We can’t,” she said, cutting him off abruptly. “My family, the Willows, they are cursed or spelled or something. Your vision is going to happen. When I fell asleep, I dreamt of the vision over and over. It felt so real.”

  “Paige, stop.” He brushed her hair behind her ears, cupping her face in his hands. “It doesn’t matter if we can stop it or can’t. It’s too late for that. I’m not going to leave you alone. I’m not going to let what we have slip through my fingers.”

  “But just listen—”

  “No.” He laughed a humorless laugh and began to pace in front of her. “You listen. At the beginning of this week, I was just walking along minding my own business, living my life. Sometime between then and now, you landed in my path. I meant what I said yesterday. You’ve changed me. I feel something now… Paige, I feel like I’ve been asleep for a thousand years and now I’m awake. It’s like your kiss awakened something in me. I can’t just go back.”

  “I feel the same way but—”

  “Then there’s no ‘but,’” he said, rushing back to face her. He gathered her in his arms. “I trust you. I know that when the time comes, you’ll do what you feel is right, and that will be okay with me. No matter what. But until then, let’s make the best of things, okay? I’m asking this favor of you. Don’t deny me this.”

  She nodded slowly. He wiped the drying tears from her cheeks. “Let’s not speak of this again. Please.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” He dipped down so he was eye to eye with her. “Really, okay?”

  “Yes. Okay.”

  “Good. Now, go get cleaned up and changed. I want to take you for the best flapjacks this side of the Mississippi before work.”

  She nodded as she walked back inside but turned back to face him. “Zack…”

  “Please, Paige. Please, let me be with you like we were yesterday. No matter what the consequence, that’s what I choose. If you care for me at all, you’ll do that.”

  She laughed. “I was just going to ask what I should wear. Jeez. Stop being such a little bitch.”

  “Aye, aye, sailor,” he joked. “I don’t care if you wear a potato sack and no one else will either so long as you use those beautiful fingertips for what they’re meant to do.”

  * * * *

&n
bsp; She nodded and ran inside to clean up. She may have put on a happy face for him, but the whole situation was eating away at her. However, she knew that he was right. She knew that both of them had to make the best of things because she doubted anyone got the gift of feeling so strongly for another person twice. So that’s what they would do; make the best of things. That’s all there was to it.

  She took a quick shower and got back outside in a jiffy. Zack was standing there facing the ocean, his hands in the pockets of his khakis, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark hair caught in an easterly wind. His profile was magnificent.

  When he turned to face her, a smirk graced his face. He walked toward her and she toward him.

  “Are you sure we have to work today?” she asked. “I can think of a lot of better ways to spend our time together.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” he said, laying kisses on her forehead, nose, and lips. “I’m supposed to teach you. It’s my destiny; I can feel it.”

  “Okay,” she obliged. She would give him whatever he wanted, which was why the vision made no sense to her. Although it seemed unfathomable to her that she would deny him, she knew she would. She knew it just like she knew the sun would set. That was her destiny.

  Chapter 6

  Zack took Paige’s hand as they walked toward the clinic. It was as though they’d known each other forever, and it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “I’m nervous,” she told him when they walked into the red brick building.

  “I know. I can see it.”

  “Stop doing that. I don’t like it when you read me.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged.

  “Really?”

  “Yep. If you don’t want me to see it, I can’t see it. You control whether or not you reveal your aura. Everyone controls that. Most just don’t know they have the power to do so or they don’t believe in it, so it’s there for me to see.”

  “Well, you don’t get to see mine anymore.” She raised one brow as she brushed by him into the clinic, where people were already waiting.

  “Good morning, everyone. We’ll be right with you,” Zack announced to the eight or so people in the waiting room before leading Paige into the back room.

  “Okay, Paige, this is how we’re going to do this: I usually weed out the ones who need treatment from those who don’t by the color of their auras. Then I take the sick or injured first, render treatment, and send them on their way. After that, I pretend to dote on the ones who only think they’re sick or have a minor issue. After I’ve seen morning patients in the office, I go over to the hospital and make rounds.”

  “Make rounds?”

  “Yeah, I go see patients at the hospital every day. It’s part of being a doctor.”

  “I didn’t even know there was a hospital in this town. It’s so small.”

  “Of course we have a hospital. It’s not big but it’s fully functional. There are some cases that I send to more specialized physicians in the city when we can’t figure them out. But hopefully with you here, I won’t have to do that anymore. No pressure.” He smiled and kissed her cheek.

  “Yeah, right.”

  “You’ll be great. I know it. Anyway, Nancy mans… or ‘woman’s’ the desk, rather, while I see patients. And that’s how we do it.”

  “Okay, got it. So what do you want me to do?”

  “Just wait here. I’m going to make this quick because I have a serious case at the hospital that I’ve been considering sending to the city because I just can’t figure it out and neither can any of our specialists. I want you to have a look. I want to put your powers to the test, but first, let’s start small. Sound good?”

  “Sure, why not?” she said, resigning herself to the fact that she might or might not flip her lid and turn this whole building into a pile of rubble. Zack’s confidence in her did help her feel less dangerous, so that was a good thing, but still, she knew she was taking a big risk. She knew one thing for sure: this experiment was either going to go really well or really bad. Since Zack seemed to have a need to help her gain control over her powers, she felt she had no choice but to comply.

  Just then, he called back the first patient. When the kid and his mother walked by her into the exam room, Paige felt the anguish rolling off of the boy in waves. She gripped the back of a nearby chair, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. The metal bent beneath her fingertips as though it were putty. All she could think of was running. She had to get away before…

  “Paige,” Zack whispered her name, touching her shoulder. Her body instantly relaxed under his touch.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “Are you okay to continue?” He glanced at the twisted metal that had once been the back of a chair.

  She smiled up at him. “As long as you don’t leave me.”

  “Now that’s a promise.” They shared a moment. As they looked into each other’s eyes, it was as though they were one. The receptionist cleared her throat seemingly to send them back on task. “Yeah, so, anyway, this is Little Melvin Lundbeck. I can see that he’s emotionally unwell. He hasn’t described his symptoms, but I think he’s depressed.”

  “It’s more than that. He’s deeply burdened. Can I speak to him?”

  “Of course.”

  Paige walked from the hallway into the exam room finding the boy and his mother seated near the window. She didn’t introduce herself. She just walked over to the young man, knelt in front of him, and began to speak.

  “What happened to you?” she asked him.

  “I don’t feel good.”

  “He’s been complaining of—” the mother said.

  “Excuse me,” Paige interrupted with a tone to ensure the woman knew she wasn’t interested in her version of events. She looked back down at the boy. “Go on.”

  The child looked at his mother and back at Paige, unsure of what to do. “It’s okay to talk to her, Melvin. She’s my new assistant,” Zack told him. He gave Paige a reassuring shoulder squeeze. He was surprised Melvin’s mother had let Paige speak to her like that. She was quite the pill. Melvin was a regular patient. He came in often. He was one that Zack had referred out to a specialist many times.

  “Melvin, would you mind terribly if I spoke to you in private?”

  “I mind,” his mother said. “What is this, Dr. Lewis?”

  “Mrs. Lundbeck, I promise you that this is necessary. Ms. Jessop is the best at what she does.”

  Paige glanced at Zack then back at the child. “Tell me what’s going on.” When she asked him with a firm tone, his anguish turned to fear.

  “I don’t know.” He started to cry. “I don’t know why I have to keep coming here. I don’t understand.”

  Paige lifted a shaky hand, but instead of putting it on the boy, she laid it on his mother. The woman tried to pull away, but Paige gripped her wrist and rose to her feet, taking the woman from her seat to stand with her. Zack stared at her, but Paige refused to shift her attention. The floor-to-ceiling window in the room began to shake, slowly at first then harder. The lights flickered.

  “Paige.” Zack spoke calmly. “Let her go.”

  “No. She’s not accepting it. She’s pushing against me.”

  “Let go,” he said, laying both of his hands on her shoulders from behind. Suddenly, Paige released the woman and blinked several times, noticing the child was crying, violently.

  The woman stared at Paige hard. “Come on, Melvin.”

  “No! He’s not sick. You’re making him sick. You’re feeding him something…” Paige wasn’t a mind reader, but she could tell the woman was doing something to make her own son ill. When she tried to heal her, the woman had refused her gift.

  Zack looked back and forth between them. “Is this true, Mrs. Lundbeck?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! This woman is clearly crazy. We’re leaving.”

  “You aren’t taking him,” Paige said sternly.

  Za
ck opened the door, peeking out into the hallway. “Nancy, stand by to call Chief Burke.”

  “It doesn’t have to be this way,” Paige told her. “I can help you.”

  “No you can’t.” The woman began to sob. “Don’t you think I love my son? Don’t you think I’ve tried to stop?”

  “Yes. I believe you. That’s why I’m offering this. I feel your regret. Your fear. His anguish. You’re killing him. One day you’re going to go too far,” Paige told her. “Take my hand, and I will take this burden from you both, and you can walk out of here…together.”

  * * * *

  Zack saw the intensity in Paige’s eyes. He knew she wasn’t going to back down from this. If he’d learned anything about Paige, it was that she was very passionate even if she didn’t want to admit it. Her passion for others was what had allowed her gifts to take root in her so deeply that she lost control. He worried about what would happen if Mrs. Lundbeck didn’t back down, so he picked up Melvin and braced them both for the windows to shatter or worse…

  After a fervent moment of what looked like a very intense blinking contest, Mrs. Lundbeck lifted her hand. Paige eagerly grabbed her wrist. She let her head fall, chin to chest, her long dark hair surrounding her.

  Mrs. Lundbeck’s eyes grew wide then rolled back. Zack, still holding the boy, turned so he could watch, but Melvin could not. The woman jumped as if struck by lightning, her wrist slipping from Paige’s grasp in the process.

  Paige pushed her hair back from her face and looked at Zack. He was unsure of what to think. This wasn’t a visible wound that he could see heal before his eyes… if it even worked that way. He wasn’t sure; he’d never seen a healing gift rendered before. To his surprise, a smile tipped up on her face. A giggle even escaped her.

  As soon as it was over, the woman began patting herself down from head to waist. It was as though she were trying to figure out if she were still herself. Then she saw the boy, and tears overflowed her eyes. She squatted down, holding out her arms. When Zack put him down, Melvin ran to her, screaming, “Mommy!”