“Do you really use that crystal ball to see someone’s future?”
“Mostly someone’s past,” Madame Tallulah said. “But I think you’re here wantin’ to know about your future, aren’t you?”
Lucky guess, Caitlin thought as she shrugged. “Most people want to know their future because we already know our past.”
“Very true, that.” The woman lifted a finger into the air. “But often folks are curious about their past lives. Past histories through the centuries.”
“As in reincarnation?”
“Something like that.”
The next moment, Madame Tallulah had Caitlin’s hand clasped in hers. The middle-aged woman’s fingers were slender, her palm warm and comforting.
Caitlin felt herself sinking deeper into the cushioned red velvet chair.
Madame Tallulah turned her palms over and inspected them, eyes narrowing. “You have a very interesting hand, darlin’. I don’t see hands like these very often.”
“You probably say that to everybody.”
“I might be a woman who makes perfect sweet potato pie, and adores a good porch swing, but if there is anything I’m not, that is a fraud,” she said. She zeroed in on Caitlin’s face, and her voice softened. “One day you’ll thank me. There is good in your future—as well as the unfortunate.”
“There’s nothing prophetic about that. Everybody has good and bad in their lives,” Caitlin said, but Madam Tallulah was too sweet to continue questioning her. “Often every single day.”
“Very true, but I’ve never seen such specificity in a long time.” Madame Tallulah stared deeply along Caitlin’s fingers, and then the lines crisscrossing her palm. “You’ve had a terrible time lately, haven’t you?” she asked gently.
Tears suddenly stung at Caitlin’s eyes. “I’m okay.”
Madame Tallulah shook her head. “No, darlin’. But you shall have one of my lemon cookies afterward to make you feel better on the trip home.”
Caitlin found herself wanting to giggle. This Fortune Teller was like a cozy grandmother with her tea and cookies and old-fashioned doilies.
Madame Tallulah turned to Lila who was on her third cup of orange blossom tea. “Please get out a notepad. Caitlin will want notes after we’re finished, and she won’t be able to write them down while I’m studying her hands.”
Lila sat higher in her overly fluffy chair and dug around in her purse until she pulled out a red notepad and pen. “Okay, ready.”
“I’m going to tell Caitlin five things that will come to pass over the next few months.”
“Only five?” Lila joked.
“Better than three. Threes are never good luck, like the fairy tales say. They only end up dire. Believe me.”
Caitlin had the sudden urge to salute. Instead, she stuck her other hand under her thigh so she wouldn’t be tempted.
“Both hands,” Madame Tallulah ordered, pressing Caitlin’s hands flat on the table and turning over thumbs to inspect them as well. “Hmm.”
“What does ‘hmm’ mean?”
“Never you mind. Click your pen, Lila.”
Lila’s head jerked up. “How did you know my name is Lila? I never said.”
“I heard you girls talking out on the sidewalk before you came inside my little shop.”
“Good one,” Lila said with a laugh. “Next time, you should keep that to yourself and let people believe you’re clairvoyant.”
Madame Tallulah gave her a small smile. “Perhaps.”
“I think she’s trying to show us that she’s honest,” Caitlin suggested.
The fortune teller squeezed her hand. “See? You’re clairvoyant yourself.”
Caitlin laughed, but cut it short when the woman’s eyes suddenly widened. “Well, well, well! I’m afraid there is a curse over your head.”
“I’m here for a good fortune. The kind in the movies where you get a tall, dark and handsome husband and a million dollars.”
The fortune teller spoke slowly, as if she were reading the words across Caitlin’s palm. “You had a cheating boyfriend. No, he was your fiancé. And he cheated with a skanky woman named—” she broke off, her eyes squinting as if her vision had turned nearsighted. “A buxom tart with a name that begins with the letter “S”. The rest of her name is squiggles, I’m afraid.”
“Sophia,” Caitlin breathed.
“See?” Madame Tallulah said triumphantly, but her triumph was short-lived as her voice softened. “I’m hearing music and fighting and a long trip. For both of you. I mean you and your ex-fiancé.”
“Well, he’s going on a long trip, but not me.”
“Perhaps I’m wrong, but we’ll see what the next few days bring.”
“I’m officially starting my midwifery job, not jaunting off to South America.”
“No,” Madame Tallulah said with a shake of her head. “Something like a job, but not exactly.”
“Yes, it’s true,” Caitlin insisted. The woman was completely, utterly wrong. “I do have a job. It’s expanding because I just finished my certification to be a midwife.”
“Well, we shall see,” came the vague answer. “Is your fiancé a musician?”
Caitlin let out a gasp. “Um, yeah, he is.”
“He’s going on tour, correct? That would explain the travel.”
Shivers raced down Caitlin’s back. That was specific enough to be almost creepy.
Madame Tallulah’s eyes shot up, followed immediately by the next prophecy. “You have a curse that needs to be broken, but before you can break the curse, it appears that you’re going to have an accident.”
“What!” Caitlin cried out. “I didn’t come here with a death wish.”
She glared at Lila who was scribbling notes like a mad woman, then tried to rise from the table.
Madame Tallulah pulled her back down. “Relax, my dear, don’t be alarmed.”
“Are you telling me I’m going to die? Or get paralyzed for life? What kind of fortune is this?”
The woman flung the end of her veil around her neck. “Nobody is hurt. But the accident is with a very large, very loud truck.”
“I don’t believe it.” This woman was getting more and more specific, and it was making her nervous. “Isn’t this supposed to be for fun?”
“Even so, I’d say that’s pretty bizarre, Caitlin,” Lila said dryly, jotting the last fortune in the notebook nevertheless.
“Where is this accident supposed to happen? Here in San Francisco?”
Madame Tallulah frowned. “No, not here. Somewhere far away, but I’m not sure.”
“I just won’t go anywhere. I’ll stop all travel plans for the next year.”
“Aha, look at this line on your hand! It’s telling me that from the cusp of death a new day will appear and all your dreams will come true.”
Lila stifled a snort. “Nice come-back.”
The fortune teller squared her shoulders. “Miss Lila, I would like to convey the rest of what I see in the unusual palm of your friend. We can continue or say goodbye while I go cut a piece of my sweet lemon pound cake.”
“Well,” Caitlin said, drawing out the word. “I want to get my money’s worth, right?”
“Of course you do, Sugar, and it will all be worth it, I promise.” Tallulah’s voice was smooth as honey. She lowered her impossibly long lashes over Caitlin’s palm again while Lila wrote down the latest cusp of death/new day predictions on the notepad.
“Miss Caitlin, the man of your dreams will be strong and tough, but nothing like what you expect.”
“Just tell me he won’t be a prima donna or an artist. Or one of those big city metro guys. I can’t stand men in skinny jeans and tight t-shirts.”
Madame Tallulah gave a flirty wink. “You and I think alike. His name will be—oh, never mind, his name, you’ll figure it out.”
“That’s not fair,” Caitlin protested. She suddenly, desperately wanted to know his name. It would sure make life a whole lot easier.
“Oo
h, you will also come into an unexpected fortune.”
That made Caitlin laugh. “So a trip to a distant land, an inheritance or windfall, and a tall dark and handsome stranger. You hit all the points in the land of fortune telling. At least you have flair and a southern accent.”
“I gave you more than just typical fortune teller clichés,” Tallulah said, pressing her palms flat against the table. “I gave you the details of a cheating musician boyfriend and a Death that will bring Resurrection. Or call it New Life if you prefer.” She said the words with definitive capital letters.
“But I brought the cheating boyfriend with me. It probably showed on my face. I mean, who else visits a fortune teller?”
“Ah, but I see the woman in my mind’s eye with her Spanish face and red dress in your fiancé’s apartment. And I know her name.”
Caitlin stared at her in disbelief. Stefan’s apartment, the dress. This fortune teller had nailed it. “Lucky guess.”
Lila snapped the notebook shut. “Thank you for the lovely tea,”she said, pulling on her coat. “I knew this would be fun.”
“More than ‘fun’,” Madame Tallulah said, doing air quotes with her fingers. “Life changing. Just you wait and see.”
“Do you take credit cards?” Caitlin asked, handing over her American Express.
“Mais oui,” Madame Tallulah said with a flourish. She swiped the card and handed over the receipt and a pen for Caitlin to sign.
Caitlin added a tip, the fancy tent suddenly taking on an air of shabbiness with its worn furniture. Even so, Madame Tallulah had been entertaining on a chilly evening. Better than the same old television shows.
Madame Tallulah inclined her head as they walked toward the drapery doors. “Your New Life awaits you, Miss Kitty Caitlin.” Her rich, dark hair spilled across her face as she leaned close to say goodbye. “Come back and see me when it all comes true.”
A shiver ran down Caitlin’s neck.
Madame Tallulah’s eyes said that she believed what she had just told her. Like truly, actually, deep-down-in-her-Southern-sugar-and-spice-heart believed it.
2
“Can I have that notebook where you wrote down all my fortunes?” Caitlin asked at the bus stop. Lila was heading home while Caitlin was going to the hospital. A text message had just come through. One of her patients had gone into labor.
“Seriously?” Lila laughed. “The whole experience was just for kicks.”
“I was too caught up in Madame Tallulah’s atmosphere to pay that much attention.”
“You really believe what she told you?”
“Maybe I’ll show it to my mother as entertainment.” Lila laughed again and Caitlin added, “Hey, you’ve been psychoanalyzing me ever since I broke up with Stefan. Just hand it over, the bus is coming.”
Headlights came toward them and then the sound of brakes squealing.
“You paid her for her time and costume and the orange blossom tea. Not prophecies you’ll hang on to for the rest of your life.”
Caitlin felt annoyed. “You’re the one that dragged me into it. Besides, you’re always telling me to get a life.”
“This conversation sounds like high school.”
Lila could be so patronizing when she exerted her Psychology PhD degree attitude. Caitlin needed to psychoanalyze her sometime!
Lila slapped the notebook into her hand just before Caitlin climbed the bus steps and plopped down into a cracked plastic seat. Another text message pinged. “Baby coming, get here ASAP. Patient only wants you!”
Rushing up the back stairs to the second floor, Caitlin was breathless when she reached the labor and delivery ward. In three minutes she was in clean scrubs and pulling on sterile gloves.
“Hey, Amy,” she said, walking into the labor room as if they were old friends chatting in the kitchen. “Think we’re having a baby tonight?”
The young woman was lying on the bed in her nightgown, high on the pillows, while her husband David held her hand. She gave Caitlin a nervous smile. “Pain’s getting worse. I didn’t think I wanted meds, but I’m thinking about giving in.”
David leaned close to Amy, speaking in a soothing tone. Caitlin was glad to see that he appeared relaxed and supportive. The two of them had done well in the birthing classes and were one of the few couples who actually practiced their breathing every night.
Caitlin turned to Marlena, the charge nurse on duty. “Who’s our labor anesthetists tonight?”
“Mark and Brian,” she answered. “Check her stats, and then we’ll talk some more in a few minutes.”
Caitlin nodded. “Let’s see how much you’re dilated and how the baby is doing?”
While she studied the monitors that were keeping track of Amy’s and the baby’s heart rates and blood pressure, Caitlin pulled on a fresh pair of sterile gloves and performed a pelvic exam.
“Don’t hold your breath, sweetie,” she said. “Just nice and easy. Stay relaxed.”
“Oh!” Amy suddenly cried out. “Another contraction’s coming.”
“David, do your breathing with her,” Caitlin ordered. “This is the toughest part, just like we talked about, but you’re doing a wonderful job.” Amy and David were right on target with their breathing through the next hour of contractions, having her change positions, and, at one point, walking about the room to help the baby come faster.
“You’re close to ten centimeters now,” Caitlin said, checking her one last time.
Not more than two minutes later, Amy let out a yelp. “I think I have to push!”
“I want you to pant right now,” Caitlin instructed. “Five breaths out, then two slow, deep breaths in. Give it one more contraction. The baby’s head is about to crown.”
The next contraction sent Amy through the roof. “I have to push!” she cried out.
Caitlin held the young woman’s eyes with hers. “You’ve already been through the worst of the transition. Just think about the baby you’re finally going to see after all these months. You’re doing great and we’re almost there.”
A minute later, the baby’s head crowned. Indeed, over the next several contractions Amy focused on pushing, and all at once, the baby’s head was out. A moment later, the shoulders slipped through and Caitlin scooped him up.
“It’s a boy!” she exclaimed. Quickly she clamped the umbilical cord and placed the wailing son into Amy’s arms.
The new mother’s face glistened with perspiration, but she smiled with relief. “My baby, you’re finally here,” she whispered, staring down at him.
David stroked his son’s head while he and Amy oohed and aahed over his dark damp hair and tiny fingers. It had been a perfect, textbook delivery.
“He’s beautiful,” Amy said. “Thank you, Caitlin, thank you.”
“What are you going to name him?”
“Chad,” David said. “After my father who passed away last year. Chad Daniel. That’s my middle name, too.”
“Perfect name, perfect baby.” Caitlin said, unable to stop smiling. See, she wasn’t going anywhere, she thought. Delivering babies was her calling in life.
Madame Tallulah probably told everybody three things: that they would go on a trip, meet a handsome stranger, and win the lottery.
All things that were impossible. But real life didn’t work like that. Especially not hers.
A wistful, melancholy feeling came over her. She had hoped to have children with Stefan, and now that was most definitely not going to happen.
Her eyes stung while she watched Amy, David and their new son together. The perfect little family. She wished them every happiness, but it still hurt.
“Break room here I come,” Caitlin thought once Baby Chad was in the arms of the night nurse for his weighing and measuring in the nursery.
Caitlin was ready to eat a giant Snickers with a Big Gulp to drown her sorrows in.
The moment Caitlin had her candy bar unwrapped in the break room, her cell phone rang. “Lila, knock it off,” she muttered, glanc
ing up at the clock.
Three-thirty a.m. It wasn’t Lila. It was her mother instead. Warily, she hit the talk button.
“Hi Mom, what are you doing up in the middle of the night?”
“Oh, you know I have these hot flashes now and again. I have to go downstairs and raid the ice cream I hid behind the frozen peas.”
“Didn’t those start about five years ago?” Caitlin said, taking a bite.
“Are you eating something? You sound odd.”
“Dinner,” Caitlin said, swallowing too fast. She choked and took a big gulp of her soda.
“It’s a candy bar, isn’t it?” her mother asked. “I can always tell.”
“Chewing sounds like chewing. I could be eating a ham sandwich.”
“Intuition, dear daughter. You’re still drowning your sorrows in chocolate. Big fat chunks of chocolate, nuts, and caramel.”
“And that is why I’m eating it. It’s heaven. And I have no will power any longer as you can clearly see. Plus I just birthed a baby.”
“I hope you mean someone else and not you.”
“Very funny, Mom.”
“Congratulations, boy or girl?”
“A strapping, healthy boy. All natural, except the new mother will probably be sore for a few days.”
“Aren’t we all after having a baby?”
“Um,” Caitlin said. “Not all of us are mothers yet.”
“You will be one day. Even if Stefan is not the father.”
“That’s a done deal.” Caitlin’s voice turned cranky.
“But you’ll help Kbirth more babies for other families and make them very happy. For instance, your cousin Rayna.”
“Rayna?” Caitlin echoed. She knew the name, but it wasn’t coming to her right away.
“Well, not your cousin, actually. Mine. But she’s quite a bit younger than me. And yet quite a bit older than you. My younger brother’s daughter.”
“Oh, okay, I know who you mean. She lives somewhere out in the boonies, right?”
“Snow Valley, Montana. Rayna got married last year to a firefighter at the age of forty and now they’re having their first child. Very brave of them.”
“Lots of women begin their families later in life,” Caitlin said, wondering for the second time why her mother was calling in the middle of the night. “There can be health issues but it’s safer than it’s ever been with lots of prenatal tests and procedures.”
UnBreak My Heart_A Snow Valley Romance Page 2
