“All I want is for you to find peace. Peaceand love,chère. Now go, but watch yourself. Those winds of change are blowing strong. I feel it in my bones.”
With those foreboding last words, Celeste releases my hand, and I flex my fingers to shake off her predictions. I back away from the table, turning in the direction I was headed, making my way through the crowd of tourists who’ve gathered in front of musicians playing a tuba, a trumpet, and a trombone. Static rushes in my ears, drowning out the sound of the brass playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
With my arms wrapped tightly around my middle, I pick my way across the gray stones beneath my feet, careful not to catch a heel in the cracks.
What the hell was that about? Change is coming whether I want it or not?As if that’s news. It’s the one thing I can always count on—shit changes.
Someone slams into me from the side, and my purse strap yanks against my shoulder.
“Not today, motherfucker,” I bite out as my grip tightens, and I lock eyes on a kid who should definitely be in school. Then again, around that age, I wasn’t either.
His eyes go wide before practically bulging out of his head when he gets a good look at me. I’m attractive. I have a body built for sin and a face to match.
My silky dark hair flutters in the breeze as I tilt my head at him. “You hear me? Not today.”
The kid’s head bobbles like one of those toys on a dashboard, and as if by magic, his hand releases my purse strap. “S-sorry, ma’am. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
I spear him with a don’t-fuck-with-me glare. “Right. And I was born yesterday.”
He licks his lips and drops his gaze to my tits before backing away slowly. “You’re fucking hot.” At least this, he says to my face.
“Get your ass off the streets before you get picked up for all the shit you’ve done.”
He nods, but it’s unlikely my words will change a damn thing. The sorry excuse for a petty thief breaks eye contact after another beat before trotting away through the crowd. Probably off to find an unsuspecting victim.
At least it wasn’t me.
You can’t save them all, Mags. You can’t save them all.
With that truth echoing in my brain, I start marching again, my focus on getting to this meeting before I’m actually late. Tardiness isn’t something Mount tolerates, even from his wife’s best friend. Him marrying Keira has definitely made my life easier, but it’s clear where my bread is buttered, and I show proper respect. No one wants to wake the beast that man can be, especially not me. I’m all about self-preservation.
As I move to cross the street, dodging pedestrians, something catches my attention through the plate glass window of a building on the other side. An eerie greenish-gold gaze collides with mine.
Not. Possible.
Blinking, I spin around in the middle of the street, then rush toward the window to get a better look.
It can’t be him. Not now. Not after all this time. That’d be like conjuring a damned ghost.
A small crowd of tourists blocks me as they gather around three boys drumming on five-gallon buckets, but I sidestep them to stare through the glass. Those haunting eyes I thought I saw? They’re gone. And the seat where I thought I saw them?Empty. Again.
It’s not the first time I’ve thought I saw the man those eyes belong to, but I’m always wrong.
He isn’t coming back for you, and he never was. You’ve had fifteen years to get that through your damn head.
You’d think I’d learn. But old habits die hard, especially my habit of looking forhimin every face I see.
“Change is coming.”Madame Celeste’s words filter through my head as I stand on the sidewalk, staring at people eating brunch in the restaurant.
The scent of rich spices waft around me, and I swear I hear his voice.
“Some things don’t happen twice in a lifetime, Magnolia. You’re one of them.”
Those words are from the past.
Fifteen years ago, I let myself forget who and what I was, and I made the ultimate mistake.
I fell in love.