Lucky Streak

Mike ran a hand through his hair. “This has to stop,” he muttered, glancing at his agitated father.

Amber placed a calming hand on Mike’s back. She couldn’t talk to him now, but Gabrielle was right. They did need to discuss Edward’s mental health and the possibility of having the older man see a doctor.

The car came to a stop and to Amber’s surprise, Clara Deveaux stepped out from the driver’s seat, Edward’s beloved jujus in her hand. Between her own father’s health and Mike’s return, Amber had forgotten all about Clara’s possible visit.

The other woman made an impressive sight as she strode up the driveway, her long, flowered dress flowing around her as she moved.

“Who is that?” Mike asked.

“What is she doing here?” Edward yelled.

Before Amber could reply, Clara spoke to Amber. “It’s a good thing you asked me to come. This man needs saving worse than I thought if he’s relying on black magic to help him keep the curse away.” Clara waved the juju in the air.

“You invited her here?” Edward turned toward Amber, his face beet-red, his eyes deep and accusing.

“Who is she?” Mike asked once more.

Amber’s invitation, which had seemed like an answer to Edward’s troubles, suddenly seemed ill-advised. Not that she knew why.

But Edward glared at her with a look of betrayal in his eyes. Like father like son. His expression reminded Amber of Mike’s the night she’d confessed.

Lord help her, Amber thought, her stomach clenching because she didn’t know what kind of trouble she might have caused by bringing Clara here. Mike, who stood beside her, was as confused as Amber by his father’s reaction.

She opted for the simple truth. “I met Clara when I was buying your gifts,” she said to Edward. “The dreamcatcher, the tea and candles. You liked them, remember? Clara’s lovely, which you’d see if you just give her a chance.”

“I knew those things reminded me of her!” Edward yelled before darting around Amber, and running for the house.

He returned minutes later, armed. “Git going! Leave!” he shouted at Clara. “I don’t need your help!” He dangled Stinky Pete in front of the woman, like a loaded gun.

“Dad!” Mike shouted. “Put that thing away.”

It was like a scene out of some bizarre comedy. Amber expected Clara to run away screaming.

Instead, the other woman strode up to Edward, getting in his face as if she had the right. “Give me that poor animal. A descented skunk?”

“How did you know it’s descented?” Amber couldn’t begin to imagine.

“It’s obvious.” Clara shook her head as if surprised Amber even had to ask. “Even a crazy man isn’t going to live with that kind of odor around him.”

“Excuse me, but did you just call my father crazy?” Mike stepped forward to defend his parent.

“Pot and kettle,” Edward muttered.

“Just how do you know this woman?” Mike asked.

“Ask her,” Edward said.

Amber turned to Clara. “Well?”

“I’ll explain in a moment,” she said to Mike and Amber. She glanced at Edward. “Now, what in the name of the Goddess were you thinking, making that animal your pet, you crazy old coot!” Clara asked him. “You’re nuttier than you were seven years ago!”

“And you’re bossier,” Edward snapped.

“Age will do that to you.”

Watching the byplay, Amber shook her head in dismay. Clara hadn’t mentioned knowing Edward before. And worse, the mild-mannered Clara Deveaux Amber had met in her shop had been replaced by a strong, take-charge woman with an agenda, leaving Amber feeling betrayed.

“How could you have deceived me that way?” Amber asked Clara. “I invited you here to help him and you used me to…to what?” She splayed her arms in front of her, frustrated and annoyed.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Mike. Beyond his confusion, Amber was sure there was anger simmering below the surface. Anger at Amber for bringing this woman into his father’s already off-kilter world, creating more chaos and causing him obvious pain.

“I should have told you…” Clara stepped toward Amber.

“That’s right, you should have,” Amber said.

Beside her, Amber felt Mike’s curious stare, but he remained quiet. Obviously, he was content to observe and find out just what kind of trouble Amber had caused him now.

“Honey, when you first came into the shop, you were just another customer.” Clara touched Amber’s shoulder.

“And when you realized I was talking about the Corwins?” Chilled, Amber ran her hands up and down her arms, shocked she’d been taken in by this woman.

“You were talking about us to this stranger?” Mike asked, his voice hard.

“I was looking to buy a gift for my father-in-law. I said he believed in curses and I wanted something to show him I respected his beliefs, something that would help him,” Amber said. “She drew the conclusion after I gave her my full name.”

Mike nodded slowly, seeming to accept that explanation, and Amber’s guilt eased a little.

“Edward and I knew each other a lifetime ago-” Clara’s stare drifted toward Edward and lingered, softening.

“One I wish I’d never lived!” the other man shouted at her.

“Oh, be quiet, I’m talking to Amber.” Clara waved a hand, causing her bangles to clink together the way Amber remembered.

Mike blinked. “They’re bickering like some old…couple,” he said to Amber under his breath.

She nodded, having caught those same undercurrents. Shocked, Amber merely glanced at Edward, expecting him to balk at being told what to do, but to her surprise, Edward crossed his arms over his chest and heeded Clara’s words. He shut up.

Though Clara spoke to Edward in a no-nonsense tone he understood and respected, there was no mistaking how her whole expression changed, grew softer and more caring when her gaze fell on him.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mike said.

“Beats me,” Amber said. But realizing Clara had genuine feelings for Edward allowed Amber’s feelings of betrayal to let up. But she was still upset she’d been played for a fool.

Much the way Mike must have felt when he realized Amber had lied to him. For the first time, Amber not only knew what she’d done to him, she was able to empathize and feel his pain. She owed him an apology, not just for the omissions, but for getting angry when he hadn’t understood her so-called justification.

For now though, she turned her attention back to Edward and Clara.

“Honey, once you invited me to visit you here, I realized the Goddess had a larger plan at work for me. She’d sent you to my shop for a reason. We had a past-” she gestured between herself and Edward “-and I never lived up to my end of things. You were offering me another chance to right an old wrong,” Clara explained.

“Why didn’t you just tell me you knew Edward after I’d invited you?”

“I was afraid you’d take back the invitation and I’d lose this second chance at our relationship.” Her eyes grew damp and misty at the prospect.

Amber’s heart clenched as she finally accepted the other woman’s reasons.

“We ain’t got no relationship!” Edward insisted before Amber could forgive her.

“We shared a past,” Clara said firmly.

Amber wasn’t sure she wanted to know what kind of past.

“I promised to help you once, Eddie, and I mean to do it now!”

“Eddie?” Amber repeated numbly.