Lucky Streak (Lucky 2)

Amber watched his agitated state with concern. He paced back and forth, periodically glancing out at the window facing the only house nearby.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” She tried to think of something to calm him down. “The market’s pretty slow right now. The chances of him selling quickly aren’t that good.”

He shot her a wild-eyed look. “But people will come to look at the house. They’ll look at me. They’ll talk. And then the curse will come up. I don’t want to be a freak show for people to gawk at.”

Amber lowered herself into a chair near the window, hoping to calm him down. “If you take down the jujus and the totem poles, nobody would know there’s anything here to talk about.”

“And leave myself unprotected? Have you lost your mind?” His voice rose. “Do you want to know what happens to Corwin men who aren’t careful?”

“What happens?” she asked quietly. She didn’t know if her soothing tone would relax him, but it was worth a shot.

“Same thing that happens in the end to every Corwin man. Take my grandfather. He was in love with his wife. Only he caught her in the act with the neighbor, him buck naked, them going at it like rabbits, to hear him tell it. My grandfather shot the bastard and my grandmother had a heart attack right then and there. He was never the same.” He placed his hand over his heart, which had to be beating rapidly. She could tell by Edward’s flushed face that his blood pressure was off the charts.

“Sounds like something out of a soap opera,” Amber said, the pain in this family tree unfathomable. Poor Edward.

“Well, it’s real life. Then there was my folks. Had us three boys and they were happy. Thought they’d beaten the curse and then they got careless. A huge nor’ easter hit the coast and wiped out most of the town, including my father’s blacksmith business. Tools, equipment, building, all gone.” Edward swiped the air with his hand.

Amber reached for rational thought on this one. “Aren’t hurricanes common on the East Coast though?” she asked gently, so as not to further upset him.

“Yeah, I heard that explanation more than once. Gabrielle likes to spout that nonsense, too. An act of God, nobody’s fault, there’s no such thing as a curse,” he said, mimicking phrases he’d obviously heard. “The storm hit late in the day and we were all home from school. Only, my father was at his shop. Mom was worried about Dad, so she left us with my grandmother to go look for him. She never came home. A flash flood hit hard and she drowned.” Edward turned away from Amber.

But not before she caught the burst of pain and fear in the older man’s eyes. She now understood why he believed so strongly in the curse. A weaker man would allow his tragic past, not to mention the

awful things he’d gone through in his own life, to drive him insane. For Edward Corwin, it wasn’t just his own life that carved out his reality, but the lives of his ancestors, too.

“Every Corwin male who ignored the curse has lived to pay the price. Myself included. Stayin’ here alone on the edge of town has been my salvation.” Edward nodded his head, emphasizing his point.

Amber was tempted to mention that it had also been his downfall, but she realized he wasn’t in any frame of mind to hear those words, let alone understand them. “Why don’t I go outside and talk to the Realtor. See what his plans actually are,” she offered.

Before Edward could answer, Gabrielle’s little black Lexus convertible pulled to a stop in front of the house. She headed up the unpaved walkway and Amber opened the door before she had to ring the bell.

“Uncle Edward, you need to pave the driveway or I’m going to break an ankle,” Gabrielle said, grabbing on to the doorframe for balance before she stepped inside.

“I ain’t your uncle,” he muttered.

Gabrielle glanced at Amber and grinned. “Yes, you are. You’re my uncle by marriage. When are you going to stop arguing with me?”

He made a frustrated sound and returned to peering out the window.

“What’s going on?” Gabrielle asked.

“The house next door just went up for sale,” Amber explained. She looked from her pajamas to Gabrielle’s pretty skirt and sleeveless top.

Somehow the other woman managed to look like a model even at 9:00 a.m. A pale model, but maybe it was the precarious trek across the gravel that had shaken her, Amber thought.

“Harry Winters is moving?” Gabrielle asked, obviously surprised. “I thought he liked being alone as much as you do,” she said to Edward.

“Yeah, well, after you got Mayor Mary Perkins arrested last year, Harry wasn’t afraid to go out anymore. He met a lady friend at the Wave not long after it was rebuilt from the fire.”

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows. “And just how would you know all this?”

Amber wondered that herself. For a man who rarely left the house and didn’t talk to anyone when he did, Edward sure knew a lot.

Edward glanced away, refusing to meet their gaze. “Harry and me talk sometimes. Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. Neighbors do that,” he muttered, a mass of contradictions. “Now, would you two go away and give me some privacy?”

“I really should jump in the shower first,” Amber said.

“And I brought my laptop to work down by the lake.” Gabrielle gestured out back.