“Oh shit,” I curse. I try never to curse out loud, but this calls for curses in the most cursed of curse-y curse kind of way. “Oh shit, shit, shit.”
“What?” Leandra gapes at me. She throws both hands over her mouth suddenly. “Oh no! You’ve got it, don’t you?”
“No! There was a bracelet sent here for cleaning by your grandma. Toren picked it up, and he happened to see Milo down here with me in the shop. That’s uh…how he found out. But I…I just cleaned the thing and gave it back to him. Nothing happened. I even tried it on just to make sure I didn’t miss any spots. It never got stuck to me or anything.”
“Oh shit,” Taylen says as blandly as he can possibly sound. He’s clearly trying not to freak me out.
“Oh shit,” Leandra echoes.
“Oh double shit,” Taylen echoes her echo.
“Oh triple shit with a cherry,” Leandra echoes his echoed echo. “It’s supposed to guide us to our soulmates.”
“No! I’m not…I’m…I just cleaned it,” I protest. “That ship sailed a long time ago. It left the dock and is never coming back. It might have even sunk along the route. Everyone was rescued, so there was no loss of life, but the ship is no more. It’s at the bottom of the ocean, and it can’t be excavated because it’s too rotten. It would only come up in pieces.”
“Sweetheart, if there are pieces left to come up, they can always be put back together,” Taylen whispers. “Ouch! Leandra, mother of mercy, I swear to—”
“Hmph,” Leandra sniffs. “You sounded too much like Granny there. If you’re so worried about your toes, buy better shoes.”
“I don’t need steel shoes to work in an office!” Taylen retaliated.
Leandra rolls her eyes. “No, but you need them around me, so improve or stop running your mouth. Your verbal diarrhea is smelly.”
“You’re smelly!”
“How very mature of you.”
“Okay,” I put up both hands. “Let’s not talk about curses anymore. Or about Toren. I’m glad this happened. I didn’t think I would be, but I am. I’m glad Milo is going to get to know his dad, and I’m glad he’s changed. I’m so happy he’s happy and that Milo is happy. But as far as Toren and I go, that’s over. We can be friends, and we’ll always be Milo’s parents. But more than that, it isn’t in the cards.”
“No, but it’s in the curse.”
“Taylen!” Leandra fumes. “I’ve had about enough of your snarkiness for one day.”
Taylen eyes the door and mutters, “Yeah, I think I better go.”
Leandra folds her arms over her chest. The dress, which is impossibly tight, moves with her and looks even more impossibly amazing on her. “That’s right. Luna and I have business to talk about.”
Taylen waves at both of us before he walks out the door. He does still look a little sheepish. I bet he’s going straight to wherever it is people go to buy steel shoes.
Leandra sighs and shakes her head. She reaches up and starts swirling her ponytail around her index finger. “Uh, now that we’re not talking about curses, we can talk about the good stuff. Jewelry, and not cursed jewelry either. Your jewelry. And my shop…”
“I have some pieces set out that I’d like to show you.” Finally, stable ground. I could use some of that.
“Oh, good! I’ll pick some out for myself. I also brought a few things with me. Just some stuff we had that just happened to be your size. I want to give them to you as a gift. But show me yours, and then I’ll show you mine. Gosh, that sounds wrong. I mean, show me everything you’ve made, and I’ll go and get the clothes. It’s in my car.”
“I can’t let you do that,” I start to protest, but Leandra cuts me off with an upturned palm and a big grin. “Oh yes, you can. I always wanted you as my sister, and it looks like I’m going to get my wish after all.” Then, her eyes nearly cross. “Oh, shoot. Right, no more talking about curses.”
I barely smother a groan. It’s quite a few hours until six, which is when I can corner Toren and ask him about it. Shoot. But not with Milo within hearing range, so it means I’ll have to think of a way to send Milo to his room to get something and then bring up the subject and make sure it can be roundly debated, discussed, and debunked within two to five minutes.
Holy pooper dooper, am I actually cursed?
CHAPTER 13
Luna
The time between the admission about the curse and six in the evening, when I can close up the store, is even longer than anticipated. All I can think about is going upstairs and getting an explanation. I need an explanation. Am I cursed? Is Toren cursed? Are we cursed together? And why don’t I hate the idea as much as I should? Especially the soulmate part?