Was Stacie that woman? Her grandmother would tell her to trust her visions. The women at the retreat would tell her to trust the universe and things would happen as they were meant to be. Her very Catholic mother would shake her head and avert her eyes, then cross herself and mutter a prayer for her wayward daughter—the one that refused to be married off and give her grandbabies.
The vegetables she had bought at the farmer’s market still sat on the kitchen counter, untouched and waiting for her indecision to falter. She kept rethinking her bold offer. What if Stacie didn’t like Mexican food? Should she invite her over to her apartment or meet elsewhere? There were too many questions and not enough answers and they were insistent, crowding her thoughts and chasing away any sense of calm. She attempted a few breathing techniques she had learned, but meditation failed her so she decided to work on her yoga.
*
“Of course, now you call,” Maria mumbled while trying to quell the thrill dancing in her chest and making her fingers tingle. She pulled herself up from the upward facing dog position in one smooth, graceful motion, and rolled her neck to ease the last of the tension there.
The phone rang again, the shrill noise reverberating through the apartment and overwhelming the soothing sound of native flutes she preferred to play in the background. She padded across the worn Navajo rug she used as a yoga mat over to the stereo and turned it down rather than just turning it off. She hadn’t realized when she bought the thing at a second hand shop that it liked to eat homemade tapes, and she didn’t want to spend the next half hour trying to rewind the spool and risk ruining her copy. The apartment, with its hand me down couch and mismatched furniture reflected her view on life. There wasn’t a thing in the place she couldn’t walk away from, other than a few personal items that had sentimental value. She didn’t need “things” to feel rich, and she tried very hard to instill that concept into her students at the retreat. Bigger houses, bigger cars, new furniture every year, all so that you can impress your neighbors when they come over for dinner and a glass of wine? It didn’t make much sense to her, not when it was the company that was important, not the surroundings.
Speaking of company. Maria picked up the phone on the third ring, the warmth in her voice a poor substitute for the smile on her face. She wasn’t sure Stacie would call until now, and she wasn’t going to lie, it made her happy. “Hello?” She twirled the cord around her finger and leaned against the door, pleased that she didn’t sound as eager as she felt and silently laughing at herself for acting like a teenager.
It wasn’t Stacie. She fought past her disappointment to hear what the woman on the phone was saying to her. She didn’t stay disappointed for long. The package she meant to give to Stacie sat on the kitchen counter. The dried, stalky plants bent into small bundles and tied with a string, all ready to steep into the medicinal tea Stacie’s friend had asked for—the friend who was now on the phone, telling her that Stacie had been called away for an emergency and couldn’t make it tonight.
“Everything’s okay, I hope?”
“Yes. I don’t know if she told you what her job is but she is a veterinarian and one of her client’s called her,” Josie said. “I have no idea when she’ll get back tonight, but I do have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition?” Maria asked, pushing herself off the wall and standing up straight as an arrow. Now her curiosity was piqued. Stacie’s friend, Josie, had a pleasant voice, if a little strained…but underneath, another layer came through, something beyond casual interest.
“Yes. One that I hope you will say yes to.”
Maria hung up the phone after a brief chat with Josie. An address and another phone number were scribbled on the back of a paper bag, the result of an unexpected invitation to dinner.
Maria spent a few minutes putting away her groceries. There was no need for them now since she wouldn’t be cooking tonight. While she was doing that, she tried to get a fix on Josie. Their brief conversation didn’t give her much to go on but she got the distinct impression that Josie was trying to feel her out. I wonder what Stacie might have told her about me? Maria made it outside and was about to turn the key in the Bug’s ignition when she realized something. She was nervous in that ‘check for stains on your shirt, am I wearing matching shoes and does my hair look okay?’ way that she felt whenever she went for a job interview.
She was going to meet a woman—a friend—who was important to Stacie. Someone important enough to willingly go to a farmer’s market just for some tea and herbs, especially when it was so obvious that Stacie had no idea what she had been looking for. Maria wasn’t even sure she would have found the place if it wasn’t for Rowan. And just now? Josie had sounded protective on the phone, but not in the way a lover would be, even an ex-lover.
“Jesus, I’ve got to stop reading into everything,” Maria said, rolling her eyes at her amateur attempt to play psychic detective. She barely knew Stacie and she was already creating a history between the two women—one of whom she hadn’t even met yet.
She turned the key and the VW Bug surprisingly rumbled to life without any hesitation. She shifted into gear and headed out, perfectly willing to accept her car’s enthusiasm for the road trip ahead as a good omen.
*
Maria wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Perhaps more awkwardness or
