Claire Robyns Second Guessing Fate (awful conversion) (pdf)

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pages filled with squiggly handwritten treasures. Hiding at the bottom, exactly as she remembered it, was the leather-bound album she was after.
She dusted off the cover and flipped it open. � SWhat do you think?�
Helen� "!s fingers stroked the air above the strip of Champagne lace as if afraid to touch. � SIt� "!s lovely.�
A sharp tug and the garter her granny had worn over seven decades ago came free from its lick of glue. � SSee the tiny pearls embedded
all the way around? They match your necklace even though no one will see.� She pressed the lace garter into Helen� "!s hands with a warm
smile. � SJust remember not to throw this one.�
� SI� "!ll take good care of it,� Helen promised.
Before putting the album back, Gemma flicked through some pages of the black-and-white photos. Helen stopped her progress to peer at a
photo of Granny Tilly posing in a manner typical of her era, body stiff and caught in profile, hair scraped up into curls and her face turned directly
toward the camera.
� SShe must have been about twenty then,� Gemma said.
Helen flicked her gaze between Gemma and the photo a couple of times. � SYou� "!re the splitting image of your Granny Tilly.�
� SReally?� Gemma looked again and shrugged. � SThere� "!s some resemblance, sure. She is my grandmother, after all. My
mother swears the cooking gene skips a generation and I inherited mine from Granny Tilly.�
� SThat� "!s not all you inherited.� Helen dragged Gemma to the mirror in her bedroom. � SYou� "!ve inherited her eyes, nose, hair,
cheekbones. You even have the same beauty mark on the wing of your left eyebrow.� Helen� "!s voice dropped to a whisper. � SThis is what
Madame Hooch was talking about when she said you� "!d already come into an inheritance.�
This time, Gemma� "!s automatic retort stuck halfway up her throat.
A witch� "!s birthmark, some might say. Must be so, because you bewitched me the moment I first laid eyes on you.
It� "!s just a mole, Nick.
An adorable, priceless mole, darling.
She held the album up to compare the photo with her reflection. Goose bumps prickled her skin from head to toe. Granny Tilly had given her
something far more valuable than her classic features and a mole. Her natural ability to blend flavors to create a burst of new tastes, her passion
and talent, the essence of her culinary gene.
Gemma backed away from the mirror. Her legs connected with the bed and she slumped down gratefully. � SEverything Madame Hooch
saw is real, everything she predicted has come true.�
Helen left the room and returned with a shot of whiskey and a grimace. � SNot everything, honey, not yet.�
� SI know. Nick is going to dump me.� She� "!d already guessed as much without any cosmic help. Gemma threw back the contents of
the glass. The golden liquid hit her bloodstream at full tilt and she waited for the burn to fuse her Jell-O-bones back together.
� SAnd then you� "!ll meet the guy that� "!s really meant for you,� Helen reminded her.
� SMy soul mate,� Gemma tested on her tongue. But no, she still didn� "!t do soul mates. The idea of a Nick Upgrade, however, found
a snug corner in her mind. A Nick who didn� "!t keep her shut out from the rest of his life, a Nick who might just stick around, a Nick who
wasn� "!t predestined to break her heart and dump her.
� SI want that one,� she said slowly, still working through the details in her head. � SI want the other Nick.�
Helen gave her a blank look.
� SI want the whole man, the love, the kids, the happily-ever-after,� said Gemma. A flicker of doubt tightened her throat, but she cast it
out. � SI want it all.�
If Madame Hooch was right about everyone and everything else, why couldn� "!t she be right about this? That thought was like adding a
teaspoon of baking powder to the basic needs, wants and urges she� "!d flatlined years ago. � SI don� "!t even have to go out naked.�
� SHoney,� Helen came to sit beside her on the bed, � Syou� "!re starting to worry me.�
� SThere� "!s nothing to worry about.� Gemma choked back a giggle. No reason for worry, self-doubt or hysteria. � SI� "!ll be
dressed in vintage Hooch.�
Nick had given her a preview of how much she� "!d been missing out on. Madame Hooch promised the full-length feature. Gemma was
suddenly, desperately, ready to take heed of what Madame Hooch and the universe had planned for her. She nibbled her lip, turning a frown on
Helen. � SI need to get rid of Nick.�
� SNo, Nick has to dump you. If you change your karma, you might never find the true love Madame Hooch promised. You have to
remember that your real soul mate is around the corner� �but only if you let fate take its natural course. You have to let Nick dump you, honey.�
� SHe� "!d better do it quick.� Now that she knew what she wanted, now that she could actually get what she wanted, she was in a
hurry. Besides� �� SI� "!m not all that keen on waiting until Nick gets around to the heart-breaking part.�
� SMaybe there� "!s a way to speed him on his way and still stay inside the rules,� Helen mused.
Chapter Ten
Nick pushed through the frosted glass doors. The familiar, stale air hit him square in the face and he drew his first easy breath in hours. The interior
was musty, the lighting dim from dust-stained shades silhouetting the velvet banquettes along the walls. Rustic wooden tables were scattered
across the rest of the floor, and the chairs had been rearranged at will by the patrons of Patrick� "!s.
Nick let the door swing closed behind him and stepped farther inside, scanning the room until he found Gus and the others at a booth over
on the far end. Content that one part of his world had remained right side up, he rested an elbow on the bar counter.
� SThe usual?�
Nick grunted an affirmative. He felt his insides begin to unwind as he watched Patrick O� "!Hara pull a pint of Smithwick� "!s and stand it
to drip.
Patrick leaned across the bar, scratching whiskered cheekbones with his fingertips while the ball of his palm supported his chin.
� SWhere� "!s the lass tonight?�
� SGemma?�
� SAye, and what happened to the wee Candice, then?� Patrick� "!s eyes twinkled with the same Irish spirit that lilted his voice after
more than two decades off the emerald island. His grin revealed crooked teeth and a hint of understanding.
Nick returned a weak smile. � SCandice left me a couple of months back.�
� SAye� �� Patrick scratched his beard some more. � SIs it to be Gemma, then?�
� SNot anymore,� he said gruffly.
What a hell of a day.
He rubbed at his eyebrows, but that did nothing to rub the memory from his head. � SHow� "!s my ale doing?�
The older man gave him a thoughtful look, then straightened to wipe the pint glass and hand it over. � SI� "!ll be sending another over in
ten minutes, will I?�
� SMake it a round for the table.� Nick wended his way to the guys� "! table, absently greeting the various regulars without stopping to
chat. As he approached the corner booth, Gus looked up from the conversation and cut off midsentence.
� SHey,� Jackson called out, shifting along the banquet seat to make space. A frown dominated his broad face. � SWhat you doing
here? Aren� "!t you supposed to be at a wedding?� [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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