"This way," Mrs Harrostone said, rounding the sofa Jake had been on moments before.

Ebony trailed the fortune teller down a corridor of polished floorboards, towards the back of the shop. It had a distinct cottage feel all of a sudden, with mint coloured walls and paintings of places Ebony had walked a thousand times—the surrounding rainforest, the creeks and waterfalls hidden along several walking tracks. As they passed a room off to their left, Ebony feared that was their destination. With a crystal ball on a table, a teapot, a deck of cards, and floaty curtains running around the room it was a room fit for a fortune teller. But Mrs Harrostone continued down the corridor, to where an old wire door shone with the last hours of sunlight. She held the door open and let Ebony pass through.

"This isn't normally where I do readings," Mrs Harrostone began, "but I think we could both do with some fresh air."

Ebony never said anything but she was relieved to be venturing outdoors, especially when it happened to be a beautiful courtyard of blue stone pavers, bordered by rose-covered trellises and a fence that edged the wilderness. Little lanterns looped around the roof and a wrought-iron table and chairs sat in the centre, adding to the courtyard's charm.

Ebony took a seat and breathed in the air. It was forest fresh, and just the thing to calm her. That, and the fact that Jake had postponed his appointment time. She imagined him at the counter, squinting at the delicate operation before him, probably cursing Ebony's name with every bead he threaded onto the string. She was still smiling to herself when Mrs Harrostone sat opposite and poured two cups of coffee. The plunger was steaming. Ebony guessed it was left over from the fortune teller's break a few minutes ago. Although, the cups and brownies might have been carefully orchestrated for the reading, as an attempt to put a reluctant client at ease. Then again, Jake was supposed to have his reading first. Maybe they always had afternoon tea out in the courtyard? They did seem close.

Staring off into the forest, Mrs Harrostone took a sip of her coffee and sighed wearily. When her gaze moved to Ebony it was piercing, like she was scanning Ebony's life in a single glance. Had the reading already begun? If so, Ebony was scared. Either she was about to hear some cold hard facts about her life, or she would be guided down the wrong path by a swindler, confused beyond belief.

Unable to stand the woman's gaze any longer, Ebony glanced around for any sign of tea leaves or anything that might show there would be a reading in the next few minutes. Unless that was the fortune teller's plan—allow her new clients to stew in silence and observe them like mice in a science lab. Considering that Ebony had been squirming for the past two minutes, she was pretty sure that Mrs Harrostone had constructed a full psychological evaluation by now. 

"How does this work exactly?" Ebony asked, keen to break the silence. "A tarot deck, maybe?"

Mrs Harrostone gently set down her cup onto a saucer. The woman seemed in no hurry at all. "I think we'll leave the usual props for today and rely on old-fashioned intuition and ability. Although, I will need to borrow a treasured object from you, if you have one?"

Ebony rubbed her bare wrist. She would have offered the bracelet. But now... "Not on me."

"It is a shame about the bracelet, but if I'm honest it was probably too new to give a good reading. Perhaps your hand?" Mrs Harrostone reached across the table. Her fingers were petite, trembling a fraction, and Ebony questioned if the woman was really as well as she claimed to be.

The moment Ebony grasped the woman's hand she expected there to be a physical sensation, like sparks flying between them—or energy, at the very least. All she felt was dry skin and some more trembling on Mrs Harrostone's part. Every few moments she glanced at the fortune teller to gauge her reactions, but Mrs Harrostone's eyes remained lightly on Ebony.

"You have questions to which you have no answers," Mrs Harrostone said. "I cannot choose what the universe tells me, but I'll guide you as best I can."

Ebony nodded, thinking it was obvious she had questions. If she didn't, she wouldn't be there. It was probably a line Mrs Harrostone used with every new client, and Ebony was starting to feel like a fool. Jake had seemed so normal, better than normal, not the kind of person to be seeking wisdom from an airy-fairy woman.

"Let's put aside the doubts you're having. Ask me something, Ebony. What do you want to know?"

"Lots of things," Ebony said, bursting with the truth. "I don't know where to start! The questions seem to be endless."

"Take a breath," Mrs Harrostone said, squeezing Ebony's hand. "It's okay, we've got time."

"No, we don't. Jake has already delayed his reading for me. I don't want to keep him waiting all night."

"He'll be fine." She smiled thoughtfully. "Maybe a little put out. But Jake could do with a lesson in patience. He's always moving here, there, and everywhere. Boy can hardly be still for a minute."

From the moment Ebony had spied Jake lounging in the sofa, he had an ease about him that she was envious of. He'd had no problem wheedling out Ebony's personal life, and that smile of his was so relaxed and easy to look at that it was hard to imagine him any other way. "Really? He seemed so calm before."

"I believe Jake was ready to make a dash for the door when you walked in." Mrs Harrostone snorted a laugh. It seemed so out of place for a fortune teller that Ebony found herself laughing, too.

"How could you tell?"

"I have my ways."

Ebony would've given anything to know what those 'ways' were, especially when it came to information on Jake. "You're very fond of him, aren't you?"

"I am," she confessed, then gave Ebony a pointed look. "But I think you can see why."

"Well, he is very easy to look at."

"Is he?"

Ebony felt her cheeks heat. She hadn't meant to reveal such a thing, but it had added an extra sparkle to Mrs Harrostone eyes. "I meant to say, you know, Jake seems nice."

"Just nice?"

"Okay, he's more than nice! He's fixing my bracelet after knowing me all of five minutes. Not many people would go to that kind of trouble for their own family members, let alone a stranger. Honestly, there has to be something wrong with him other than a lack of patience! No one's that perfect."

"Jake has been coming for readings for a number of years now, and I can assure you he is as flawed as the rest of us. But this really isn't about Jake."

"It isn't?"

Mrs Harrostone shook her head. "Your last relationship is to blame. Every man you've met since, you have compared to the one who broke your heart. You are quick to throw them all in the same basket as untrustworthy in every way."

Ebony hated that Mrs Harrostone might be onto something. "Maybe."

"What was his name?"

"Dave."

"The way I see it, the problem with comparisons is that they will stop you from moving forward. For every man that you will meet, you will continue to look for the same flaws that you saw in this Dave fellow. Try looking beyond, Ebony. It is the same for matchmaking. It isn't necessarily about the percentage of compatibility on a computer screen. It is intuition. Follow your heart first when finding love, for yourself and for others. Smashing the computer might be a good option, too."

"Smashing the computer is a dream I have daily, but I think my Aunt Rose might kick me out of the building if I did that."

Mrs Harrostone frowned. "How is your Aunt Rose?"

"You know her?"

"Yes. And Sage. Fortune tellers and matchmakers are cut from the same cloth, you could say. Our paths cross ways every now and then. But it has been a couple of years since I've seen Rose. And I just wondered..."

"Well, she's the same, if that answers your question." The rudest, harshest aunt on the planet!

"Judging by your expression, I gather she is as warm and cheerful as ever."

Ebony laughed, taking a sip of her coffee. "You know her well, then."

Mrs Harrostone nodded, a subtle smile at the edges of her mouth.

"Speaking of people you might know, do you remember who bought my bracelet?"

"I think it would be unethical of me to divulge those details."

"Can you at least tell me something about her?"

Mrs Harrostone stared at Ebony's hand and squeezed it before closing her eyes. Her concentration seemed strained, her eyelids tensing. "She loves you," she said softly.

Ebony was flooded with cold. It was not the reaction she'd expected after hearing these words, but either the fortune teller thought she was telling Ebony what she wanted to hear, or it was true. And if it was true, then why would Ebony's mother abandon her all those years before? Ebony wanted to pull her hand from Mrs Harrostone's, but she braved another question, "What else?"

"She is sorry to have left you so young. She would take it back."

"Sure, she would," Ebony snapped.

Surprised, Mrs Harrostone looked up to Ebony. "Her past was difficult, complicated. She thought you would be better off with someone else. Perhaps you were."

"Aunt Sage has been there for me my whole life. I love her. But she is not my mother. There is a void...in here." Ebony clasped a hand over her heart, tears falling.

Mrs Harrostone walked around the table and hugged Ebony's shoulder. "She would reveal herself to you if she could, but a lot of time has passed. Finding courage isn't easy."

"She doesn't need courage. I'm not some scary ogre!"

"You're not," she agreed, smiling. "Nor is Jake."

"Unless he's failed to fix the bracelet. He might have stormed from the shop in protest."

"Do you think we should relieve him of his duties?"

"Probably a good idea," Ebony said, rising from the chair. She took one last look at the pretty courtyard and the rainforest beyond. As she followed Mrs Harrostone back inside, Ebony felt lighter as she spied Jake through the archway, sitting at the front of the shop.

"Look beyond," Mrs Harrostone whispered, her gaze darting to Jake.

Ebony rolled her eyes. If she didn't know better, Mrs Harrostone was also a matchmaker.   

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Jake is about to make a big mistake with Ebony's bracelet, find out in Chapter 4!