Lucky Break (Lucky 3)

She grinned. “I’m no different than any woman in love. Now let’s continue. Card to the near right. High Priestess. Woman of mystery, as you can see by the red mask covering her eyes.”

He immediately thought of the red Porsche whizzing through town.

“She represents finding things within yourself instead of looking to the outside world. Interesting we’d get the lady in the mask when tonight’s festival is a masked event.”

He rolled his eyes. “I haven’t celebrated Halloween in years.”

Clara eyed him with amusement. “A red rose speaks of a love that awaits passionate expression. Red itself is the color of consummation, raging desire and craving passion.”

He felt a heated flush rise to his face. “Come on. You’re embarrassing me.”

She grinned. “Bottom of the column of four, how others see you.” She turned the card. “King of Pentacles. You see yourself as a failure, the outside world sees someone in control, in charge, capable of taking care of others. Next is the card of hope and fear.” She revealed the next card. “Ace of Cups reversed. You have no hope of love. You fear being alone forever, viewing the cup as half empty instead of half full.” Her words held a hint of sadness and chiding, as if she wanted him to change.

How could he? Jason’s stomach constricted at the accurate description. A lifetime of work and dreams had ended with one urine test. He’d lost everything in an instant.

“Third card in this row. Your obstacle. Ten of Pentacles. The card of community fulfillment. In order to get to your outcome, you need to rejoin the community on all levels.” She lifted her eyes from the cards set out on the table and met his gaze. “Stop hiding behind your past.”

He decided not to argue. There was no point.

“Last card.”

He found himself relieved that his torture was almost at an end. Clara meant well but all her hocus-pocus had accomplished was to make him more aware of his failures and how he’d allowed one mistake to control his life for too long. He was tired of being grumpy and miserable all the time.

He’d returned to Stewart and set up a contracting business. It was an obvious choice. To raise money for snowboarding, he’d worked for his father and Uncle Hank’s electrical and contracting business, so the work was familiar. But instead of enjoying it, he’d been going through the motions.

Maybe the cards were right, he thought wryly. Maybe it was time to put the past behind him and move on. At the very least he needed to get rid of some pent-up sexual frustration.

“Ready?” Clara asked.

He nodded, wanting this over. “What the hell. Show it to me.”

She revealed the final card. “Ten of Cups.” A large smile spread over Clara’s face. “Do you see the white picket fence?” She splayed her hands in front of her. “This goes perfectly with the red mask, the ultimate expression of romantic and abiding love.” She sighed on the last word. “Do you know what this means?”

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

“The cards show you have the potential for happily ever after, Jason.” She smiled.

Those words conjured up another time.

Another place.

Another woman.

He’d been eighteen years old, working and trying to save money to fund his snowboarding. She’d been seventeen and visiting for the summer. He was a Corwin. She was a Perkins. She’d had some starry-eyed notion of them running off together. He’d had selfish dreams of Olympic gold that didn’t have room for anyone else.

Even if he sometimes wished they had.

He often wondered what would have happened if her grandmother hadn’t sent her packing. If he’d gone looking for her once he’d had enough cash. But he hadn’t. He’d used the money to build a name for himself. Hire a coach. Chase a dream that wasn’t meant to be.

“What are you thinking about?” Clara asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“About how you should give me a break.” He’d humored her up until now, but she was bordering on delusional if she thought she could convince him he was headed for a fairy-tale ending.

He hadn’t thought about Lauren in years. When her family had fallen apart a year ago, he’d been far from home, immersed in practice, and she hadn’t been around since he’d come back. The rumor mill had her in New York City, far from the Perkins family mess. He couldn’t blame her there.

“I don’t need to give you anything.” Clara’s voice broke into his thoughts. “The cards say it all.” She began sweeping the deck together, unfazed by his skepticism.

“Next thing you’ll be telling me is that the woman I’ll meet will be wearing a red mask.”