2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mars

“I think this one’s my favorite. What do you think, Kismet?” I held up the silver chain with the pretty jade stone on the end, letting it swing in front of her face. She followed the pendulum with her eyes as it swung back and forth. “It’s really pretty, and it has great energy.”

Then, quick as… well, a cat, she reached out with her paw and swatted it out of my hand. She gave me a bored look, hopped down off the table, and sauntered across the room to her window perch. I let out a sigh and leaned down to pick up the pendulum.

“So violent, Kissy. Now I’ll have to smudge this one before I can sell it.”

I set it off to the side and started unpacking the rest of the box. I’d gotten a new shipment of items in for my store, The Chrysalis Moon, and I was trying to get them all priced and on the shelves for the weekend. I’d been at it all morning, but I kept getting distracted by the merchandise, so here it was mid-afternoon, and I still had three boxes to unload.

The chime on the front door let me know someone had come in. My shop was in an old house over on the north side of town. It had originally been my aunt’s shop, but when she passed away, I got the store. I loved it, but because it was an old house, it had a bunch of little rooms, and I couldn’t see the front door from where I was sitting.

“Hello. If I can help you with anything, let me know,” I called out so the person who came in would know someone was here. The shop was open Monday through Saturday, but my helper, Ziva, didn’t work on Wednesdays, so I was here by myself.

“It’s just me. I come baring bats and burgers,” my best friend Steven said, as he walked into the room carrying a cardboard box and bag from the Burger Barn.

“How did you know I hadn’t eaten?”

He chuckled. “You never remember to eat on Wednesdays when Ziva isn’t working.”

He wasn’t wrong, but lucky for me, he worked just around the corner from the shop, and he often popped in to feed me on those days.

“You know me too well. Now, what’s in the box?”

“Honestly, I don’t know what Roxy put in here, but she’s been having a ball. Our house is covered in bats, pumpkins, and ghosts.”

His girlfriend, Roxy, crocheted the cutest animals, and she’d asked me if I’d be willing to sell them in the shop. Of course, my answer was yes, not only because Roxy was awesome, but also because I loved to support local artisans.

“Well, don’t just stand there holding the box. Let me see what she sent.”

“You have no patience, Marsy.”

“Yeah, yeah, like that’s news. Now, gimme.” I made grabby hands at the box. He handed it over, and I reached in, pulling out one cute thing after another. “The bats are adorable, and the little jack-o’-lanterns… so cute.”

“She was worried it was too late for many to sell, but she has more at the house if you run out.”

I picked up a bat and lifted it in the air, moving it up and down, making its little wings flop.

“Trust me, these will go speedy quick. Tell her if she’s still interested in making things, snowmen would be awesome in the winter.”

“I’ll tell her. I think she was planning on doing gingerbread men for sure.”

He pulled out a chair, sat down at the table, and started divvying out the food. “So what’s up? Anything worth mentioning? I know Halloween’s a busy season for you.”

“Yeah, it is. We’ll be having our traditional Samhain drumming. I was hoping for a bonfire this year, but it’s been too dry. We’ll have to make do with the chiminea this year.”

“Well, my dad thanks you for not setting the town on fire.”

“I’d like to thank your dad.” I waggled my eyebrows and laughed.

Steven froze with his burger halfway to his mouth and glared at me. “Man, you gotta stop saying shit like that about my dad.”

“Where’s the lie, Stevie? Your dad’s hot.”

He reached over and grabbed the pickles I’d taken off my burger. “You’ve thought my dad was hot since you figured out you were gay. We were, what, fifteen? So I’ve been hearing that shit for like twelve years.”

I shook my head and let out a sigh. “And sadly, he only gets better with age.” I loved to give Steven shit about his dad being hot, but I was only half joking. He really was a silver fox.

“I don’t see it. Besides, you two play for different teams.”

“Yeah, yeah, so you say. Now, on a serious note, are you and Roxy coming to the drumming? She’d really like it.”

“If we come, are you going to make us stand in a circle and talk about our feelings and shit?”

“Absolutely, but you’re still coming, right?”

“I’ll ask her.” He picked up a small box off the table that I’d unpacked but hadn’t priced yet. “Are these oracle cards or tarot cards? I don’t know the difference, but Roxy wants a deck for Christmas, and I have no idea what to get.”

“That’s a tarot deck, and those aren’t a good choice for her. They’re kind of dark and gloomy looking. She needs something cheerful. I have a few that would be good for her. Just let me know when you’re ready. I got you covered.”

“I know you do. She loved everything I gave her for her birthday.”

“That was easy. Her birthday was in February, and amethyst is a beautiful stone.”

“Yeah, but the amethyst dragon was beyond perfect.”

The door chimed, and I called out a greeting before I shoved the last bite of my burger into my mouth.

“Here.” Steven held out his hand for my trash. “I’ll get this cleaned up while you take care of your customer.”

“Thanks.” I left him to it and went through the door that led to the front room. It was the biggest of the rooms, which was good because it kept people from feeling closed in when they first came in. The walls were lined with figurines of different deities, tarot decks, and a decent selection of books about different spiritual practices.

A young woman I’d never met before was wandering around looking at things. She looked a little lost, which wasn’t unusual the first time someone came into the store.

“Can I help you find anything?” I asked.

“Oh!” she jumped and placed her hand on her chest. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to check and see if you’re finding everything okay? My name’s Mars.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tabitha. I actually came in for incense. My roommate shops here, and she buys one that smells so good.”

“The incense is right through there.” I motioned through the door that led to the room where my incense, candles, and resins were located. “Do you know what it’s called?”

“She said it’s called Balance.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s one of my more popular ones. Let me show you.”

I walked with her and stopped in front of the incense rack. This was one of the few things Troy, my ex, had done right. He’d built this shelf unit for me using PVC pipe, and it was perfect for displaying my homemade incense sticks.

“You’ll find the bags right here.” I pointed at a box filled with long plastic bags. “You can pick and choose as many scents as you want, but I highly recommend keeping them to one type per bag.”

“There are so many to choose from.” She started picking up different sticks and smelling them.

“I try to keep a good selection. I’m working in this room right over here.” I pointed towards an opening that led to the room where Steven was sitting. “We call that room the tea room. I have a large selection of herbal tea blends and plenty of hot water if you want to try a cup.”

“Thank you. Viv told me I would love this shop, and I think she was right. It just feels good in here.”

“That’s what we aim for. If you have any questions, just holler at me.” I left her to shop and joined Steven at the table.

“New customer?” he asked.

“Yeah. Ziva made these really cool flyers that kind of explain the shop and what we do here. I’ll give her one before she leaves.”

“That’s a good idea. You have so many workshops and events out back, and I bet a lot of your customers have no idea.”

I shrugged. “The ones who are supposed to know, know.”

He sighed. “That whole the universe leads the right people to the right thing attitude is fine and dandy, but you’re running a business here, Mars. You have to let people know what you’re offering.”

“I believe if a class is for someone, the information will cross their path in some way.”

“And maybe you sharing about your shop and your classes is the way. Just think about that.”

“I know you’re right, but Dahlia always said Spirit led people to the ranch when the time was right, and that seemed to work for them.”

“Wildflower Ranch is a commune, Mars, not a store. Speaking of the ranch, how is Dahlia doing?”

Steven always enjoyed hanging out with my mother, but he wouldn’t have asked about her if I hadn’t brought her up first. She could be a touchy subject, depending on how things were going at the time.

On the one hand, she didn’t understand why I wanted to live in town or why I kept the shop after my aunt passed away. On the other hand, she was the one who made most of our tea blends and harvested most of the fresh herbs I used in my incense and candles. She also gave a monthly class on ethical foraging, which was really popular.

“She’s good. Her October foraging class was last Saturday, and she stayed in town the night before.”

“At your place?”

“No, she slept in the healing room. She says she feels close to my Aunt Lilly there. But we did go out to the new hot pot place to eat, so that was good.”

“So things are okay with you two, then?”

I shrugged. “She still wants me to sell the place and move back to Bison Bend, but I think she’ll always want that. To her way of thinking, they’ve created the perfect place, and everyone should want to live there.”

“Well, that underground house is pretty cool,” he insisted. “Roxy and I really enjoyed our week on the ranch. I don’t know that I would want to live there full-time, but for a week, it was fun.”

The underground house functioned as a short-term vacation rental where people could get away from the hustle and bustle of city life—and to the people who lived at Wildflower Ranch, city life meant any town, no matter how big—and enjoy the slower pace of an intentional community. At least, that was the spiel people got when they came to stay.

What it really amounted to was a lot of work and a lot of solitude. Needless to say, growing up on Wildflower Ranch hadn’t been ideal for an extrovert like me.

“Dahlia liked you guys being there. She really enjoyed teaching Roxy how to make wild plum jelly.”

“Oh, do you have wild plum jelly for sale?” Tabitha stuck her head around the corner.

“No, sorry. We don’t stock any food items. I was talking about someone else. But is there something I can help you with?”

“I just thought I would check out the teas you mentioned. I’ve been having a hard time going to sleep at night. Do you have anything for that?”

“I have a couple of different teas that help with sleep, actually.” I got up from the table and joined her at the wall where the teas were on display. “But this one is my favorite. It has hibiscus, peppermint, licorice root, lavender, chamomile, and valerian root. All organic, of course. The other one is just as effective, but I like the taste of this one much better.”

“Okay, I’ll try that one then.” She picked up a package of tea. “You only sell it in loose leaf?”

“Yes. Do you have a tea ball? I have a small selection if you need one.”

“I used to have one, but I haven’t used it in ages. I should probably grab one just to be safe.” She selected a tea ball and then looked over at the table where all the stuff I’d yet to put out sat. She pointed at the pile of crocheted animals in front of Steven. “Oh, what are those? Are they for sale?”

“They sure are. I just haven’t put them out yet. Feel free to take a look, though.”

She set down the other items she had on the table and dug through the pile, inspecting each of the animals before selecting one of each. “My nieces and nephews are going to love these.” She paused and then added a second bat. “And I want this one for my desk at work. Did you make these?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t crochet, but Steven’s”—I pointed at him—“girlfriend makes those. She’s really into Amigurumi and makes all kinds of animals.”

“Amigur… what emi?” she asked.

“Amigurumi, it’s what they call it,” Steven said. “Roxy says it’s a Japanese word for crocheted dolls and animals.”

“Oh, cool. Learn something new every day. But you tell her I said they’re adorable.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Here, Tabitha, let me carry this stuff to the register for you so you can continue shopping.” I picked up the stuff that she’d placed on the table.

“Thanks, but I really have to get back to work. I only came in for a few sticks of incense, and look at what you made me do.”

I looked at the pile of items she’d amassed and chuckled. “Guilty, but let’s get you checked out so you can get back to work.”

“Sounds good to me. But I’ll be back. I didn’t even get to see half the things I wanted to look at.”

I looked at Steven and said, “Sounds to me like the universe sent you here at just the right time.”