Sassy Blonde (Three Chicks Brewery 1)

“Ready?” Penelope asked, undoing her seat belt.

Maisie stared at the sign. She needed to get answers. For everything. “Hell yes,” she told Penelope and then got out in an instant. She strode toward the small store, with Penelope hot on her heels.

When she entered, ethereal music played through the speaker on the desk. A black cat with bright green eyes cleaned its paw on the counter. Strings of lights hung around the ceiling, with plants decorating the corners of the room. Along the far wall were shelves displaying tea sets and herbal teas, with celestial pictures on any available surface. Scented candles warmed the space, smelling both earthy and spicy.

The cat meowed, almost in greeting, when Luna came out from the private room at the back. She was everything one would expect a psychic to look like. She had long blond hair that was the whitest blond Maisie had ever seen. Her eyes were a striking gray color that stayed with a person after they peered into them. Luna was both soft and sweet, and full of so much warm light, it practically exploded out of her.

“Hi, Maisie,” Luna said with a bright smile. “It’s so nice to see you.”

“Good to see you too,” Maisie said, stepping farther into the shop. “Have you met my cousin Penelope?”

“Not yet, but I did sense you when you moved to town.” Luna smiled.

Penelope laughed nervously, settled in next to Maisie, and grinned down at the cat, giving him scratches on the top of his soft, furry head. “Oh, you are such a lover.”

“He most definitely is,” Luna said. “Please feel free to sit and relax while Maisie and I chat.”

“Thanks.” Penelope sidled up to Maisie. “I think I’ll just visit with this sweet fluff ball while you’re having your talk.”

“Oh, yes,” Luna said. “He will like that very much.”

Feeling oddly nervous, Maisie gave Penelope a quick wave and then followed Luna into the private room. Curtains draped from the ceiling to the floor. A round table with a fringed cloth sat in the center of the room, with two cushioned chairs around the table. In the middle of the table were crystals in a bowl.

“Please, take a seat,” Luna said.

Maisie did as she asked, wiping her sweaty palms on her dress.

Luna sat across from her, reaching her hands out, palms up. “Please give me your hands.”

Maisie exhaled slowly and slid her hands into Luna’s delicate ones. For as long as she’d known Luna, she’d never had a reading done by her. She never really believed in it all. But the way Maisie had gone about things wasn’t working anymore. She needed a way out. And people in town swore by Luna’s gifts. Besides, Clara had planted the idea with her hex talk; Maisie was simply running with it.

Luna’s head cocked, wise eyes warm. “Is there something specific you’d like to address?”

“I think I might be hexed,” Maisie admitted. “Can you tell if I am?”

“I can try.” Luna bowed her head, breathed deep. Once. Twice. And again. “Ah, I see,” she finally said, lifting her bright gaze. “No, you’re not hexed. You’re simply not doing what you should be doing. And your guardian angel, which I like to call your guide, is annoyed that you’re not listening.”

Maisie had heard Luna was amazing, but that came out so fast and clear that Maisie’s mouth dropped open. “Okay, so how exactly do I fix all this?”

“You’ve got to start listening to your guide,” Luna explained, as if that was all very simple. “Your chance for happiness is coming to a head. Your guide is trying very hard to get you to hear the message—you need to stop and listen.” She cocked her head, eyes closed, a look of such peace crossing her face. “The message I keep hearing is that to succeed, you need to be yourself. Trust in your heart.”

“All right,” she said, feeling like she hadn’t trusted in her heart for a very long time. Since the brewery opened, she’d been following Clara and Amelia’s leads.

Luna opened her eyes, a twinkle in their depths, and she gave a nod like she already figured Maisie out. “Once you accept your place in this world, things will become less hard for you. Life will settle into where it should be, and your guide will quiet down.” She hesitated, her head tilting again. “I see a man.”

Maisie stiffened. “A man.”

“Yes,” Luna said slowly, glancing back down at Maisie’s palm. “A man you care for very deeply. Your souls are twined intimately in ways most are not. But this man, he’s got a secret. A deep one that still wounds him.”

The direction change made Maisie’s head spin. “Do you know what kind of secret?” she all but whispered.

Luna snapped her eyes to Maisie’s again, and rose, the color in her face oddly gone. “I’m afraid that truth is not mine to share. That’s all I have for you today. If things don’t settle for you in a week, come back, and I’ll see what I can do to ease this guide of yours.”

Maisie rose on shaky legs. She took a step forward to leave, when something suddenly occurred to her. “Do you know who my guide is?” she asked.

Luna gave a gentle smile. “Your Pops, of course.” As Maisie reeled from that, Luna said, “And, Maisie? Ask for help. It’s out there.”

The sun began to set over the mountains outside of Hayes’s office window. He’d spent the last few hours going through the surveillance footage from various cameras at the amusement park hoping he could catch a glimpse of the truck leaving. Hayes had watched the footage again…and again…and again. They didn’t have a direct shot of the parking lot where the truck was parked. So far, he’d come up empty. Last night, he’d crashed at home after a hot shower, only to come back into the station at eight o’clock this morning after word came in that Detective Stewart agreed to work a joint investigation. Since then, he hadn’t left his chair except to grab food. And Hayes felt each and every hour that had followed. His eyes strained, but his gut told him there was something in these videos he could use to catch the person who hurt Maisie. Exhausted, he stretched out his shoulders and leaned back against his chair, rubbing his eyes.