It had been over a month since the night Lucy had spent in Zeb's arms. She had seen him off the next morning then raced home to change and report back for work. There had been a lot to do over the next week and she had fallen into bed exhausted every day, and she imagined that it had been the same for Zeb and that was why she hadn't heard from him. It was as if he had disappeared from her life. But now, a month later, she knew he was doing it purposely, and she couldn't deny that it hurt.

She tried being reasonable, telling herself that he probably had a very good reason to not contact her, but in the end, she always came back to the same answer, she had given him what he wanted, and he had disappeared. It was truly the Monroe curse happening all over again.

She was only thankful that she wasn't pregnant.

Her goal now was to finish her work at the LeClair house and disappear. She would head back to New Orleans and find a decent job to help support her and her grandmother, and if Zeb ever did return she wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of having to see him again.

Lucy parked the car and walked towards the supermarket. Her grandmother demanded that she needed to stop on her way home and pick up her favorite hot sauce for her dinner. Lucy had told her she would go at the end of the week, but she had been insistent, and when she was insistent there was no saying no to her.

Keeping her head down, she picked up a hand basket and walked to the aisle where she knew the condiments were. She only got a few side looks and no one talked to her which suited her just fine. Swinging by the dairy aisle, she picked up some creamer and few other things they needed before making her way to the checkout, picking up a newspaper and paying for her items.

As she was paying she felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see Holden Brown watching her closely. Thanking the young girl at the checkout, who was staring at her just as hard as Dr. Brown was, she made her get away as quickly as she could, but it wasn't quick enough.

"Wait up Lucy!" Dr. Brown called out to her once he cleared the doors of the store and was in the parking lot.

Lucy pretended not to hear him and was almost to her car when he caught up to her, reaching out to grab her arm,but she side stepped him and she noted him frown at her reaction to him.

"How is your arm? You never came to see me." He looked at the arm which was covered with her shirt sleeve.

"Fine," she said, opening her car door and throwing the groceries across the seat.

"I wondered if you had heard from Zebadiah? I haven't heard from him in over a month and I'm starting to get worried."

"Why should I have heard from him?" Lucy asked, relieved that she wasn't the only one that hadn't heard from him. That meant there was a good chance that something was keeping him away. "He's a big boy, I'm sure he can take care of himself." She turned to leave.

"Wait, I wanted to know... that night, when I helped you..." He looked at her as if he expected her to know what he was talking about. "You said something."

"What did I say?" she asked with a frown. She didn't remember saying anything.

"You said, 'he's the one, you'll be happy', Zebadiah said you were dreaming, but..."

Lucy looked away, whatever she saw was a good thing, she could do the reading and give him good news, unless something had changed.

She gave a sigh, knowing he would hound her until he had his answer she reached out and placed her hand on his bare forearm and looked into his eyes. "What did you think I was talking about?" she asked. It was the right question because she saw it all before her. A tall man, a wedding cake, moving into a new house, a party where they were old and gray.

"Marry him, you'll be happy," she said, turning once again to leave, but he reached out and stopped her once more.

"How do you know about him and how do you know we'll be happy? This town is not exactly open to people who are different," he insisted, but at least he had the grace to look embarrassed by his words.

"What's his name?" Lucy asked, and Dr. Brown seemed hesitant to share it. "I'm not going to put a curse on him," she said with an eyeroll.

"Mark, Mark Peters."

"Here's the deal, you're different, but you and Mark will both be accepted. You'll make a life here and everyone will be supportive, at least publicly. Sure, many will go home and talk about your personal preferences behind your back, and you might lose a few patients, but others will make up for them."

"Why would they accept me, they have never accepted you?" he looked confused.

"In some ways today's the world is different and in other ways it never changes. Being gay still has its challenges, but the town will look at themselves as broadminded and pat themselves on their backs for being so accepting of you and Mark because it's more acceptable now than it was. However, being a witch will never be acceptable. Your homosexuality is definable, and it only affects you directly, my gifts are a lot less definable and can affect anyone at any time, not to mention I am sometimes the bearer of bad news not good. That tends to make people fear what I have to say."

"So, you don't say anything at all?" he asked, looking at her with something close to pity.

"Oh no, I always say something and that is often what makes people hate me, especially when it's bad news." This time she did make it into her car, and she started the engine and pulled away without looking back. She didn't need Holden Brown's pity.

The drive home was a short one and Shy was pleased to see her. She spent a moment greeting him before entering the house and calling out to her grandmother.

"That took you longer than I expected," she greeted as she took the bag of groceries.

"Sorry, I got away later than I expected." Lucy grabbed the paper and moved to sit on the porch outside. The evening had cooled off and she was eager to sit by herself for a minute or two. She leaned back and took a deep breath, pleased by the news that Holden hadn't heard from Zeb either, it gave her hope.

With a smile she opened the paper, she had got it with the intention of scanning it for a job in New Orleans, but now she didn't feel in such a rush to do that. Humming, she reached down and patted Shy who sat next to her as she flipped the pages, glad that their little town didn't have nearly as much crime New Orleans did.

She almost flipped past it, she would have, if not for the photo attached. It was a picture of Zeb and Gianna. He had his hand in the small of her back as he was walking towards a car. Gianna looked lovely in a flowing gown, the photo was black and white, so she had no clue what color the dress was, she focused on the photo and the details because she didn't want to read the blurb that was next it.

She knew she had to, but she didn't want to. Taking a deep shaky breath, she let her gaze wander over to the words. "Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Beckett are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Gianna Beckett to Mr. Zebadiah Abbott a..." Lucy couldn't read anymore as a sob caught in her throat.

How could she be such a fool! 

The only good thing was that no one but her and Zeb knew just how big a fool she really was. It was cold comfort though. She looked down at the photo once more and then ripped it out, balled it up and threw it into the water next to her.

"Lucy, dinner's ready!" Etta called.

"Great!" she said with false enthusiasm. There would be time for tears later, and there would be a lot of tears. "I'm starved!" She moved into the house, letting the screen door slam behind her. "I'm going to go back up to the LeClair mansion to work a little bit more tonight when we're done."

"Is there that big of a rush? Thomas said that the job wouldn't be complete until late fall at the earliest."

Lucy nodded. "I'm getting bored with it. I need a new challenge. I thought the city would make a good change." She tried to make it sound as off-handed as possible. "But I'm not sure, I still have some time to decide what I want to do." She dished herself up a large serving, wondering how she would be able to choke it down.

Somehow, she did, and somehow, she managed to keep up her end of the conversation, telling Etta about her run in with Holden Brown. Eventually, the dinner was eaten, the dishes were done, and Lucy found herself driving back up to Zeb's house.

She didn't turn on any lights as she made her way up the stairs to his study where she stood silently and looked around her. There weren't that many memories, but there were a few. She looked over at the big bed and slowly walked towards it.

Closing her eyes, she sat down and let the tears come, and once they started they wouldn't stop. How long she cried for she couldn't say, but she swore she heard the house groan around her as if it felt her heartbreak.

However, Lucy knew that life had to go on, so she eventually stopped crying, picked herself up and went home to sleep. Tomorrow she would work with a vengeance and finish the job as soon as possible, hopefully before Zeb returned.