20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Mars

Even though I had to leave early Sunday morning to meet Holly at the shop before Mika and I headed to the craft fair, Samuel still got up before me.

When I came into the kitchen, he was sitting there waiting for me. He was drinking his coffee and looking way sexier than any man had a right to look this early on a Sunday.

“Morning,” I said, leaning down for a kiss.

“Good morning. We’re having oatmeal for breakfast. I cooked some sausage for you to crumble in it the way you like.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” I poured myself a cup of coffee and then fixed myself a bowl of piping hot oats. When I sat down across from him, he put down his tablet and took off his glasses.

“Kitten, there’s something we need to talk about.”

I froze with my spoon halfway to my mouth. “Okay, that sounds ominous.”

“It’s nothing that bad. I’ve just noticed a pattern with you that concerns me, and I think we need to discuss it.”

“Still ominous.”

“This thing with this customer of yours. Do you do things like this often?”

“Holly’s a special case. Her life is kind of a shit show, and having someone to guide her helps her.”

“And is she the only one who’s prone to call you up at home with problems that only you can solve?”

“No, but she’s the only one doing it right now.”

“You’re too nice for your own good, baby boy. You need to set some boundaries, or you’re going to burn out.”

“I know, but how am I supposed to say no when she sounds so out of balance?” I knew he was right, but it wasn’t as easy as he made it sound.

“So what’s your end goal with her? What are you hoping to achieve?”

“I want her to reach a point where she realizes that she doesn’t need me to give her the answers, that she already has them.”

“And do you think that’s what you’re doing to further that goal?”

Damn him for being all logical and shit because, no, this wasn’t helping her grow in her own power. She had to learn to trust her intuition for that to happen.

I sighed. “No, it isn’t. You’re right. I do need to put my foot down with her.”

“And not just her. You care about all your customers, I understand that, but they need to respect your time. You can’t be there for them if you don’t take time to fill your own well.”

“I know you’re right. I’ll talk to her.”

“Good boy. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”

I gave myself a pep talk all the way up to the shop. Samuel was right. I couldn’t keep doing this, so I needed to have a talk with Holly.

Even though I got there a good half hour before I told Holly I would meet her, she was sitting out front of the shop in her car waiting for me when I arrived.

When she saw me, she flung her door open and hopped out. “Mars, thank you so much. I wasn’t sure what to do last night, but I knew you could help me.”

“Let’s go inside, and you can tell me what’s wrong.”

She didn’t wait until we were in the shop. She launched right into all her business out here where anyone could hear.

“It’s Calvin. He wants to get back together, and I don’t know if I should say yes or no. He swears he’s learned his lesson and that this time will be different.”

I got the key in the lock and pushed open the door. “Go ahead and have a seat at the table, and I’ll get the water on so we can have a nice cup of tea and talk.”

I’d planned to have everything ready for her, but since she was early, she’d have to sit there and wait until I was ready. This was not going to go well.

As soon as I had the thought, I could hear my aunt in my head. “Marsi-parsi”—she always called me that—“you have to remember you get what you expect. The universe simply returns the energy you send out, so watch your words. Even the ones in your head.”

I took a deep breath. “You know what, Holly? Before we do a reading, let’s take a few minutes and meditate.”

“Oh, umm, okay, I’m not really very good at meditation.”

“That’s fine. You can just sit quietly while I do it then. I just need to get centered first.”

“I guess I could try.”

“That’s the spirit. Now, let’s go into the healing room. I have a couple of meditation pillows in there.”

I put on the flute music that I liked to use when I meditated indoors. Once we were in position, I looked right at Holly. “You have to sit quietly, not talking. Just focus on your breathing and try to be open to any messages Spirit might send your way.”

I took a few deep breaths myself and mentally began reciting my mantra. I am healthy, I am happy, all things work in my favor. Once I could tell I’d reached the place where I was relaxed, I opened myself up to what I needed to know today, and a peace and feeling of rightness spread over me. I might not want to tell Holly she had to stop calling me, but it was the right thing to do.

When I felt grounded and ready to proceed, I opened my eyes to find her watching me.

She smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it. I tried, but my thoughts were just all over the place. But I could tell by looking at you that you were completely relaxed, almost like you were somewhere else.”

“I’ve been meditating since I was a child, and at least once a quarter, my mom comes and teaches a class on meditation. She’s the one who taught me. Maybe that would help.”

“Maybe. Anyway, are you ready to do my reading? Calvin’s waiting for an answer, but I don’t know what to tell him.”

I pushed myself to my feet and motioned for her to go ahead of me out of the healing room.

“We can do a reading. But, Holly, you already know what you should do.”

“But I don’t. When he left this last time, I told him he couldn’t come back, but he swears things will be different this time. I want to believe him, but I don’t. So I need to know if he’s telling me the truth or playing me for a fool.”

“Okay, let me grab my deck.” I ran my hands lightly over the rack of cards and settled on the same deck I’d read for her from on Samhain.

“Before we get started, there’s something I need to talk to you about, Holly. My shop is open Monday to Saturday, and I’m here Monday through Friday. You’re welcome to come in anytime for a reading or a cup of tea, or just to chat, but the calls to my cell when the shop is closed have to stop.”

“But—”

“No, no buts. I’ve told you before, Holly, you’re a powerful woman, and you have all the tools you need to find the answers. I want to see you grow in that power, which means you have to stand on your own. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re working on your spiritual practice daily and you get stuck, I’m always here to help. And I’m always happy to do a reading for you for confirmation of what I know you already know, but only during work hours.”

“I just don’t trust myself to know what to do.”

“I know, and that’s what we’re going to work on. You learning to trust yourself. Okay?”

She huffed out a breath. “Okay.”

“So let’s test it. What does your gut tell you about Calvin?” I asked as I shuffled the cards.

“That the man I want back doesn’t exist. That he never did anywhere except in my mind. I’m just hoping I’m wrong.”

“Girlfriend, I hear that. I’ve walked that road, and it’s a hard one. So let’s see what the cards say. I’m going to do something called a reconciliation spread. It’ll tell you what you need to know about a possible reconciliation with Calvin.”

I laid out the four-card spread. “This first one tells you what you need to know about the past. In this case, meaning why you broke up.”

I flipped over the Three of Swords card. “This card indicates that there were deep emotional wounds, maybe from infidelity.”

She nodded, and I continued. “This second card tells me where you are now.” I flipped over the card to find the Five of Cups. “That makes sense. The Five of Cups tells me you’re on the fence and maybe not really excited or at least hesitant about the idea of reuniting with Calvin, but you already told me that.”

Again, she nodded.

“Now, this card tells us where he is emotionally at this time.” I flipped over the Knight of Wands and cringed. “So the Knight of Wands indicates a person who’s immature and not ready for a relationship.”

She sighed and shook her head.

“Okay, now the last card. This one will tell us the most likely outcome of a reconciliation at this time.” I flipped over the card to find the Hanged Man. “This says that neither of you has changed or are ready to let go of past hurts. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears, and she nodded.

“Okay, let’s pull one more card. This one is an advice card that will tell you what you need to know.” I turned over one more card to find the Hermit card. “This is a good card for you, Holly. It’s telling you that you should be focusing on personal growth rather than seeking external validation. For real, Holly, this is what I was telling you, and the cards support it. You’re a powerful spirit, and you need to work on developing your faith in yourself before you consider a relationship with Calvin or with anyone else.”

“Well, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was what I knew. He always does this. We break up, and he stays gone for a while, then decides he wants me back. But you’re right. I’m a strong, creative soul, and I deserve to be with someone who wants to be with me.”

“Damn right, you do. And, Holly, I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings by saying not to text me, but I just want to see you grow and flourish the way I know you can if you learn to trust yourself.”

“I know you’re right. It’s just so hard to trust yourself when what you know isn’t what you want to hear.”

“Boy, isn’t that the truth. But, Holly, I meant what I said. You’re welcome at the shop anytime, and I’m happy to do readings for you then.”

I stood up, and she gave me a hug. “Thank you, Mars. I knew I could count on you to tell me the truth, even if I didn’t want to hear it.”

Samuel

After Mars left to go meet with his client, I got to work on the bathroom. I made quite a bit of progress before I received a phone call from Hawk asking me if I wanted to grab lunch. I was ready for a break, so we agreed to meet at Winchester’s.

I had to shower before I could go, but I still managed to beat him there. I went on in and got us a table. About ten minutes later, he came in.

“Sorry about that. I had to take a call from Crowe. He’s out of town on a job and ran into some trouble.”

“Oh no. I hope he’s okay.”

“Yeah, he’s fine. He just has a difficult client. They have a stalker, but they don’t want to follow his directions.”

“That must be a pain in the ass.”

“It is, believe me. It is.”

“Hey, boys, what can I get for you two today?” our server, Polly, asked.

“I’m about to blow your mind, Polly. I’m going to get something new today.”

“Are you?” she asked.

“Yep, apparently, the real mark of a good pub is their burger, so I’m going to try one today.”

“You go ahead and do that. I’ll stick with the Philly,” Hawk said. “And a beer, of course.”

“Yeah, I’ll have a beer as well.”

“Okay, I’ll put your food in, and I’ll be right back with your beers.”

“A burger? Really?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah, Mars said he thought the best test for a pub’s food was the burger. He wants to go on a tour of the city’s burgers and see if we can find the best burger in town.”

“So you’re pregaming for your date then?”

“I guess. I just like to know what I’m talking about if I suggest we try this one.”

“How are things going between you two?”

“Damn good. We had Steven and his girlfriend over for dinner last night, and everything went great. I think he’s coming to grips with it.”

“And your boy? Is he settling into the lifestyle?”

“Seems to be.”

Polly swung by the table and dropped off our beers, and I picked mine up and took a drink. “I have to tell you, things are better with Mars than with anyone I’ve ever been with. Now I just have to convince him not to move out.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t done that already.”

“We haven’t talked about it. My whole garage is full of stuff he’s bought for his place when he finds one, but as far as I’m concerned, he should just go ahead and unpack it all. I have plenty of room for everything he owns and anything else he wants to buy.”

Just as Polly brought our food, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID to see Fox’s name. “Sorry, Hawk, I need to get this.” I knew Fox wouldn’t be calling me on a Sunday if it wasn’t important.

“Sheridan,” I answered.

“Hey, Chief,” Fox said. “We got another one.”

“Where?”

“Vesper Fire Academy.”

“Shit, that isn’t in our service area.”

“Nope, sure isn’t.”

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

“I am.”

“Are you there now?”

“Yeah, I thought you might want to come.”

“You thought right. I’ll be there in a few.”

“That didn’t sound good,” Hawk said.

“No, it wasn’t. The arsonist struck again… at the fire school this time.” I wasn’t sure what to make of that. It was the first fire that hadn’t been in our service area.

“That doesn’t seem to fit the pattern you’d laid out for us.” I could tell Hawk’s brain was spinning with ideas.

“It doesn’t. Up to now, every fire has been in Station sixty-nine’s service area, but this one isn’t even in the city limits.”

“So what does it have in common with Station sixty-nine?”

“I don’t know. A few of the guys went to school there, and I used to teach there.”

“Didn’t you just teach a class out there on arson?”

“Yeah, a couple weeks ago. Fuck, do you think I’m the link? Are all these fires targeted at me? They did start shortly after I made chief.”

“Could it be a firefighter? Maybe someone who wanted your job?”

“No, at least no one from Station sixty-nine. I would bet my life on it.”

“Well then, I hope you’re right because that might be just what you’re doing.” He waved at Polly, and she came over. “We’re gonna have to run, sorry. Can you get us some take-out containers, please?”

“You don’t have to leave.”

“Yeah, I do. We both know that arsonists like to hang around and watch the carnage, so you need someone to watch your back at the scene just to be safe.”

We packed up our food, and then we both piled into my truck. It didn’t take us long to get there, so there were still fire trucks on-scene when we arrived, but Fox was waiting outside for us.

“I think you two know each other,” I said.

“Yeah, Hawk, right? From TBT?”

“That’s right. We did a system for you a week or so ago.” Hawk stuck out his hand, and he and Fox shook.

“So, how bad is it?” I asked.

“It’s not too bad. The fire suppression system kicked in and put it out before it did too much damage.”

“Where did it start?”

“There were multiple points of origin just like before,” Fox said.

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

“I’m sure. Here.” He handed me his tablet. “Watch that. It’s the security feed from the school. It isn’t great, but it told us enough.”

I pressed play and watched as a familiar-looking character in a Steelers hoodie walked down the hall of the school. He had the hood up, so I couldn’t make out any details, but between the shirt and the way the guy moved, I knew Fox was right; it was our guy.

“Well, shit. Hawk pointed out that it might not be a coincidence that I’d been teaching here recently and that the fires started right after I made chief.” I shook my head. The thought that maybe this was about me was hard to wrap my brain around.

“Yeah, that had occurred to me, but we don’t know anything for sure. But, like Hawk said, it would be quite a coincidence, and I don’t really believe in coincidences.”

I looked over at Hawk. “Do you think Mars is safe?”

“I don’t know. I think we should add some cameras to his shop just to be safe.”

“Cameras didn’t seem to help much here at the school,” I pointed out.

“I know, but I’m not sure what else we can do unless you want to station someone at his place of business twenty-four-seven.”

“I know that shop matters to him, but he matters to me, so protecting him is what I’m most worried about. So what would you do if he was yours?”

“I would put a man on him until this guy is caught.”

“Okay, then do it.”

“I’ll see who we have available and send them to his shop in the morning.”

“Thanks, man.”