Valerie sighed. She’d expected nothing less from her sister.
All her life, Vivian followed a multitude of rules, real or imagined. Today she would have been diagnosed with some form obsessive compulsive disorder, but in her time she was just considered high strung. In her case, the disease went along with an autocratic personality which had Vivian convinced that, in everything, her way was the correct way. Anyone who disagreed was summarily ignored or punished, including their parents who had long since lost control of their eldest daughter.
A cold and unforgiving child, by the time she grew to be a young adult, Vivian was a nightmare. When Valerie, the younger sister married first, and to a man Vivian coveted, she’d turned her parent’s life upside down until she convinced them to disown Valerie entirely.
From that day to this, Valerie had never seen her parents or sister again.
Vivian left her mark on every life she touched, and Valerie didn’t need a family history to figure out her sister had put some pretty deep emotional bruises on her own granddaughter. They showed. Her heart went out to the girl.
It was a lot to take in, for both of them: finding family they’d never known, family with something in common. She stood and reached out toward Gustavia who, at first hesitated, then walked into the embrace and clung. Fresh tears coursing down both their faces, they embraced for long minutes.
Gustavia almost heard the little click as something, this one more thing, in her life slid into its proper place and, for once, she didn’t feel quite so alone.
Serendipity. Her restlessness completely eased, she was where the universe wanted her to be.
Chapter Fourteen
“We need a night out. Something fun—something different. Gustavia could use a distraction. Suggestions?”
“Dancing. She loves to dance. We could take her to a club in the city,” Amethyst suggested, then rethought the idea since mingling with the opposite sex was already partly to blame for Gustavia’s current situation. “Or to be completely different, we could sign up for a class or something.”
“Ooh, interesting. What kind of class? Not a painting or collage class, though; something we can all do.”
“She likes to cook. There has to be a good cooking class we could take.” Kat wouldn’t mind honing her skills, either. Plus, it was fun to freak people out with her knife skills.
“That could work. What do you think? Some kind of fusion thing? Baking?” Julie was getting into the idea.
Amethyst fired up an app on her phone, did a search for classes that only lasted one night and read off the options.
“We’ve got an Italian, a Greek, and a cake decorating with openings for tonight. All in the same building, but there are only two openings left in each class so we’ll have to split up.”
“Sign me up for Greek or Italian and Gustavia has always wanted to do cake decorating.” Kat knew cake decorating was too visual for her abilities, but either of the others should work just fine.
“Oh, I’ll do Greek with you if Julie wants to decorate cakes with Gustavia.” Amethyst was getting excited; this sounded like fun.
“Book it.” Julie said, and she did; now they just had to spring the plan on Gustavia. “Any idea what the big surprise is? We talked for a while about her parent’s surprise visit and about Finn yesterday. This morning she texted me about some mysterious errand; and, a couple hours later, I got the request to meet her here, at her place.”
“I got the same text. So I finished up my last appointment, picked up Kat, and came on over. Anything from the spooky side on the subject?”
Kat made a face at the reference, but took no offense. “Nothing, but I hear her loaner car coming up the block. It’s got a little ping in the engine, very distinctive.”
They all heard the slam of the car door, and then Gustavia was coming through the door. She wore one of her new outfits and looked spectacular, but different enough both Julie and Amethyst were speechless at first.
“What? What’s going on?” Kat could sense something, but was frustrated at not knowing what it was.
Excited, she twirled for effect. It wasn’t until Kat asked what was going on for the third time that Gustavia finally told her, “I got a makeover. Here, check out my new hair,“ and she pulled Kat to her feet to let her explore the new length and texture.
“A makeover? Because the old you was so last year.” Kat’s sarcasm was not intended to be hurtful, “Wow, you took off at least a foot, didn’t you?”
“I donated it to the people who make wigs for cancer patients.”
“Imagine my shock; you managed to turn your own makeover into an opportunity to help others.” Amethyst broke into song, “Did you ever know that you’re my hero.” She sang with sincerity but also with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Julie grinned from ear to ear. “You look amazing. Do you love it? Do you hate it? It’s different, but you still shine through.“
“That’s why I asked you to meet me here; I’m not sure what I think. I woke up feeling restless and had the idea, then I decided not to, then I went with the impulse, and then reality set in and I freaked out a little.”
Amethyst knew this was a significant moment, especially for someone who had been using her outward appearance to create certain perceptions in others. She could only think of two reasons Gustavia had chosen to make such a change. One of them was going to piss her off, but she had to ask.
“Don’t get me wrong—you look amazing—but did you do this because of Finn or your family? Or, did you do it for you?”
“See, you had to be here. You are the only one who would ask me the hard question: did I sell out?” She hugged Amethyst then stepped back, “Look at my aura, what do you see?”
“Mostly your normal colors, but there’s something different. Hmm…new color combinations and a lot less turbulence.” She tilted her head and circled her friend several times. “It’s not from the makeover, though. It’s from something else. What happened?”
“Nail on the head, as usual. I don’t know what I would do without you guys. It started out a rebellion against rebelling, if that makes any sense. I just wanted a change. It’s so complicated.”
She was finding it hard to explain, but talking about it helped. Defining her choice for them also solidified it in her own mind.
“To answer your question, I did it for myself. If I’ve gotten to the place where my wearing a pair of jeans becomes a topic for conversation, something is wrong.”
Pacing, she continued to work through her reasoning.
“I am Gustavia. Whether my hair is long or short, in braids or not, whether I am wearing beads and bells or not, I am still the same person on the inside. Today, I choose to look like this. Tomorrow I might wear my hair in braids and dress the entire rainbow. I’m not even sure how or when I got locked into a single style. I like lots of different types of clothes, and I like to play with my hair.”
“Well, okay then. If it feels like the right reason, then all I can say is, dahling, you look stunning.” She put on an accent and finished by kissing Gustavia on each cheek.
“I’m not throwing out my other clothes, just adding this stuff to my options. And I plan on shopping more often. I already hit the craft store for a closeout sale on turkey feathers. I’m thinking they’d look good on a top. Or, now that I have less hair, maybe I’ll make a hat.”
“Those clothes look familiar,” Julie said.
“Yeah, from the designer from that photo shoot. I found them in a little boutique near the salon.”
Gustavia beamed. “My head feels so much lighter,” she waggled a finger at Kat, “and no airhead jokes out of you, Miss Kathleen.”
That got a grin out of Kat.
“Now, there’s more. Something else happened today; and if you think my new look is a bombshell, you’ve got to hear this.” And she told them all about meeting Aunt Valerie finishing with, “Can you believe it?”
“Probably why your readings have shown you dealing with
family. I have a sense that this is only the beginning. Things are better with your brother, now you have a new family member.”
It was a blessing, Gustavia thought, having women friends who just get you.
Julie broke into the conversation. “We made some plans for a girl’s night while we were waiting. What do you think about going into the city and taking a cooking class? You and I can do cake decorating, and Ammie and Kat are hoping to master a new Greek dish.”
“I’m in. When do we leave? Do we have time to stop for pizza on the way?”
***
He was late. He hated being late. It was a point of pride to be on time, to finish jobs on schedule, at least most of the time. Finn laid his tools out in the way he preferred. The panicked phone call that brought him here hadn’t left a lot of time, just enough to drop Sam at a friend’s house for the evening and hightail it into the city.
It wasn’t the first time he’d bailed Lila’s brother out, and, truth be told, he enjoyed the work. Building was building no matter what the medium.
There was only time for a quick walk around the room to make sure everything was ready before the doors opened and his students arrived. His welcoming smile froze when he saw Julie walk through the door talking animatedly with a woman who looked vaguely familiar. Catching sight of him, Julie’s eyes widened in surprise causing her companion to look his way.
Whoa. That was Gustavia or was it? Wow—his gut tightened. She looked different. His heart skipped a beat; she always had that effect on him.
Could they have known he would be here? No, there was no way. He didn’t know himself until the last minute when Toby’s regular instructor had called in a panic; his wife had gone into labor several weeks early. It had to be a coincidence.
Realizing he’d been standing open-mouthed and mute for several seconds, he recovered his wits and welcomed his students. It was going to be an interesting evening.
***
“Well, isn’t that interesting?” Julie said quietly.
“You knew about this?” Gustavia accused, consternation and amusement battling it out inside.
“Not a clue.” Gustavia arched her brows in disbelief. “No, I promise, total coincidence. We could leave if you want. Check out a club or something.” Julie assured her.
Gustavia considered the choice. Amusement won. It had been a crazy day, and if she could shake him up a bit, pure serendipity. Besides, Finn looked a little uncomfortable. It seemed they had discovered one of his secrets, so why not stick around and see what else they could learn. Hard to imagine him decorating cakes. Oh, the picture of him in an apron with the school name emblazoned across the bib, that was going to stick with her for days.
Or better yet, she pulled out her phone and snapped a quick shot. He did not look impressed.
On a quiet laugh, she lifted her chin and prepared to sail into battle.
“We’ll stay,” she said with a wicked grin, one that Julie had seen on any number of occasions, and she almost felt sorry for Finn at that moment. Almost. The poor man was in for the full Gustavia experience. Oh yeah, Gustavia was back with a vengeance.
The cooking classroom had space for six teaching stations and a demonstration table for Finn to use. Each station was set up with a two layer cake, bowls of frosting, pastry bags, tips and spatulas. The sweet smell of sugar filled the room. Good thing men don’t realize that if they only dabbed on a bit of frosting or chocolate instead of some of those stronger colognes, no woman could resist Gustavia thought. Maybe frosting has pheromones in it.
Finn took his place and began by demonstrating the technique for establishing a smooth base layer to work from. Gustavia watched his hands, agile and strong, and only for a moment thought about how they might feel on her before pulling her attention back to his words.
He made it look easy. Gustavia had always considered herself a quick study, so she was a bit surprised to find that imitating his actions did not produce a perfect result the first time. She dipped her spatula in the frosting and had another go at it. This time with a little more success. But when he’d made the rounds and ended up at her station, she leaned in close and let him guide her hand, quite satisfied at hearing the little intake of breath he couldn’t quite mask when he touched her.
Keeping it simple because, at this point, he was having trouble concentrating on the lesson, Finn called the group to the front table and demonstrated how to pipe on a simple shell border around the bottom edge of the cake.
Julie watched with interest as Gustavia quickly mastered the motion then began to deliberately mess up. Before long, Finn was there, guiding her hand until she created a series of perfect shells. As he walked back toward the front, Gustavia glanced over at Julie and winked. Then, the next time Finn looked in her direction, she dipped her finger in the frosting and, with her eyes locked on his, tasted: slowly, seductively, licking her finger clean.
He reddened slightly.
At each step, with each new skill: basket weave, leaves, ribbon and dot borders, they repeated the dance and the tension between them mounted as Julie watched. The poor man. Now she really did feel sorry for him.
Finally, the class was over, and each participant had a boxed cake to take home. Gustavia signaled for Julie to go on ahead while she stayed behind for a moment. As the door closed behind her friend, she walked over to Finn, grabbed the front of his shirt, and planted a hot one on him before he had time to think.
Then he couldn’t think at all, could only feel. Her lips, warm on his, the sweet taste of sugar not quite able to cover the taste of her. The heady flavor that was hers alone. For a moment, they both rode the lightning, until she decided she was finished, pushed him away, and strode from the room.
Yeah, he thought, you can get her out of your system. Sure.
Chapter Fifteen
“You didn’t?” Ammie nearly shrieked when Gustavia told the others about her after class encounter with Finn, then pulled out a ten and placed it in Kat’s waiting hand. It was becoming such a common sight that no one even bothered to ask what the bet had been.
“I did. Say what you want, but the man’s got a nice…”
“Butt?” Julie asked.
“Voice?” Kat chimed in.
“Shoulders?” Amethyst offered.
“Well, I was going to say set of lips, but that all works, too. He truly is very well put together.”
“I really need to have Estelle lend me her eyes again.” Kat muttered.
“Be worth it.” Julie said. No one disagreed.
“His aura could use a bit of work. I see some dark spots and his heart colors are—I don’t know quite how to describe it—pale and displaced.” Amethyst waved her hands to indicate a spot near her heart. She was fishing for information and Gustavia knew it.
“Probably from losing his wife.” Gustavia figured anyone who went through that type of ordeal would be burdened. “Lila’s death put a lot on him, especially with the way Sam was struggling when I met them last year.”
“He’s the one,” Kat said. “Your soul mate. It all fits.” Gustavia rolled her eyes and Kat called her on it. How did she always know?
***
When Gustavia’s cell rang later that night and she saw Finn’s name on the screen, she took a moment to decide whether or not to answer. She’d ridden the high generated by that kiss all the way home, but with his history of flip-flopping on her, wariness seemed in order.
With a sigh, she clicked to answer the call. Best to meet the situation head on.
“What was that?” He was riled up. “And what did you do to yourself?”
“It’s called a haircut. See, they have these places called salons where people with scissors style hair and other people pay them to do it. It’s all very modern. Very convenient.”
When the comment was met with a snort, she continued on, “I’m not sure whether you noticed, but I’m a woman; women often frequent these types of establishments.”
“Oh, I noticed. Trust me, I no
ticed.”
“Well, there you go, then. I’m glad we cleared that up. Is there anything else? Any other female convention I can explain for you?”
He changed the subject. “You kissed me.”
“I did,” she admitted.
“Why?”
Now it was her turn to snort. “Didn’t you like it?”
She heard him breathe in and out loudly. His annoyance was easy to discern.
“Stupid question.”
“Oh, I thought we were playing the stupid question game. You started it.”
“Okay, then, here’s one for you. Did you do it for me? Change the way you look because you were angry at me? Or because you thought I was judging you?”
And since that was a valid question, she answered it.
“Maybe—partly. But, mostly I did it for me. I should be able to cut my own hair without it being a momentous occasion and the fact that it has become such a big deal means I haven’t been doing it nearly enough.” As she made the comment, the truth of it sank in. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not on the hunt or anything. You’re safe.”
Her words, the scorn behind them, added to his confusion and he snapped. “Safe. No one is safe. Lila was just driving to the grocery store. It was three miles away, a five minute drive, and now she’s gone. Gone forever. Safe? Your car is in the shop right now because some creepy criminal type cut your brake lines and you almost…” He broke off then started right in again. “Safe. Please. No one is ever safe, no matter what you do. My daughter was slipping away from me, and I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t keep her safe.”
“Finn, I…”
“Don’t talk to me about safe.” Abruptly, he cut off the call.
Now she felt badly about upsetting him.
Chapter Sixteen
In order to write, Gustavia needed her ritual. First, she took a brisk walk around the neighborhood, just to get the blood moving. Next she set her phone to silent mode to reduce that distraction. Since it was summer, she carried her laptop out to the covered patio in her back yard. Rain or shine, the garden offered sights and sounds that boosted creativity. Then she burned some sage or incense to clear her head and finally, she meditated in order to contact her muse.
Bells On Her Toes (The Psychic Seasons Series Book 2) Page 11
