“Hello? Yasmine?”
“Hey, it’s me. What’s going on?” Yasmine dodged around a pair of lanky college boys, one of whom leered at her as she skirted around him.
As if.
“I hate to bother you, but I’m just so worried.” The worry came through in her voice; it was clear she was trying to hold it back but failing. Her words came out in a tumbling rush. “My friend Sarah… you remember my friend Sarah? She was the one who signed as the second witness on my will. We met at her house to do it.”
“I remember Sarah,” Yasmine said gently, shouldering open the door to the building her classroom was in and heading for the parking lot. Grace had wanted people who knew her to serve as witnesses to her signing her will, and she’d chosen Sarah and Yasmine, and Yasmine had brought the notary with her. Grace had moved to Virginia a few years ago to be closer to her daughter, who’d gotten a job there.
“Right. Well. I haven’t heard from her since Monday, and we think that she had to put her dog down on Monday, and she’s been so depressed, and there’s no one up there to check on her. Her parents are in Florida, and our friends are all scattered about, and she hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts for the last couple of days, and I’m just… I’m worried. I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you could stop by her house and just see that she’s okay? For my peace of mind?” Grace sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
Oh, wow. Yasmine blinked, trying to think as she fished her car keys out of her purse.
“Um… I mean…”
“I know, I’m sorry. If I could think of anyone else to ask, I would,” Grace said. “I’m just… I’m freaking out. She’s all alone, and if she had to put the dog down on Monday, and none of us can get there… I’m about to drive up there myself if I have to.”
It made no sense for Grace to drive all the way up from southern Virginia when Yasmine was only twenty minutes away from Sarah’s house. She might not remember the actual address, but she remembered it hadn’t been far, the one time she’d gone over there.
There had to be a way to make this work while also giving herself a possible out.
“So, she doesn’t usually go incommunicado?”
“That’s the thing; sometimes she does. Not hearing back from her immediately isn’t usually a big deal, but now it’s been a couple of days… but if she had to put the dog down, she might just be ignoring her phone if she’s depressed…” Grace’s voice trailed off again, and she sniffled. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“Okay, so I just got out of teaching a class. I need to go and do a few things at the office. How about you try getting in touch with her again? Leave a few text messages and a voicemail letting her know that if she doesn’t text or call you back, you’re sending someone over there. That way it’s not a total surprise if I end up on her doorstep.”
Plus, maybe she wouldn’t have to make the trip at all. Just the threat of knowing someone was coming might make her respond. Yasmine really hoped so. Trying to go and comfort a woman she’d only met once, who had just lost her dog and whose closest friends had all moved away, sounded like she would be intruding into this poor woman’s life even more.
But if it gave Grace peace of mind… Plus, Sarah had been a very nice woman. Yasmine hoped nothing bad had happened to her. Best case scenario would be that Sarah responded to prevent Grace from sending someone over to check on her.
“Oh, that’s good. That’s a good idea. I’ll do that and get back to you.” The relief in Grace’s voice was so acute that Yasmine felt it as well. Even though she knew she was the one providing the relief.
“If you haven’t heard from her by lunchtime, I’ll go over then,” Yasmine promised, crossing her fingers that hopefully, it wouldn’t be necessary.
But she also knew that she’d do the same for any of her friends if she couldn’t get to them personally, and they’d do the same for her. At the end of her engagement with Mason, she’d gotten a ton of support from all her friends, even though it hadn’t been really necessary. She’d been grieving the loss of her dream more than the loss of him personally.
Mason was a great guy, and he would have made her a pretty good husband, but he was going to make a great husband for his new girlfriend, Audrey. They weren’t engaged yet, but Yasmine was sure it was only a matter of time. They were definitely in love.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll do that now and get back to you. I knew you would be the right person to call.”
Yasmine couldn’t help but smile. That’s how she wanted her clients to feel about her, even if this was outside her usual wheelhouse.
“Okay, I hope you hear from her soon.”
“Thanks, bye!”
Yasmine ended the call and looked up at herself in the rearview mirror. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face and pinned in a neat bun, her makeup enhanced her black eyes, and her cheekbones were popping, thanks to the new shimmer highlighter she’d bought over the weekend. She looked good.
“It’s going to be a good day,” she told her reflection. “Grace is going to hear back from Sarah. I’m going to help a lot of people. Then tonight, I’m going to go to the club and get some stress relief.”
Which was what she now called scening at the local BDSM club, The Outlands. Stress relief. She’d given up on looking for a boyfriend or romantic partnership for herself. It always ended with her realizing that her boyfriend was meant for someone else, a break-up, then him marrying the next girlfriend he got. Happily-ever-afters for her exes, but none for her.
Because Yasmine was cursed.
Chapter 2
Yasmine