“No. So his sudden disappearance is odd considering the guy is usually chomping at the bit to get to work.”
“I guess we have to wait and see if Mike comes up with anything on the guy. In the meantime, I am going to see Clara and talk to her about the journal. Want to come?”
He shook his head. “I’d rather keep working.”
Lauren took one look at his tense expression and decided he needed a break. She rose and walked behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“Your crew is working,” she said, massaging his stiff muscles, working her fingertips into the tight knots. “You can take a break and come with me. It’ll do you good to get out of here for a little while.”
He groaned and tilted his head forward, giving her better access to his neck and shoulders. She pressed into his muscles, then released, taking her cues from the appreciative noises coming from the back of his throat.
“So you’ll tag along with me to Clara’s?” Lauren asked once she had him more relaxed. “And maybe grab a quick lunch at The Diner before coming home to deal with this place?”
“I’ll do anything you ask as long as you don’t stop touching me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned down, pressing a kiss against his cheek. “Much as I’d like that, there are workmen in rooms all over the house.” Straightening, she walked around to face him. “Let’s go talk to Clara. I bet she’ll have some insight into the diary.”
“Oh joy,” he said sarcastically. But a smile tugged at his lips.
She’d obviously relaxed him, but she doubted it would last long. Not once he discovered that instead of accepting his offer of a loan, she’d made arrangements with a friend in New York, a model with a good income, to buy her Porsche for cash.
BELLS TINKLED, announcing Crescent Moon had visitors. Clara sensed these people were important even before she looked beyond the long strings of beads that partitioned the back end from the rest of her store.
When she stepped out, she caught sight of Lauren Perkins and Jason Corwin browsing through her wares, waiting for her. “If it isn’t two of my favorite people!” Clara said as she strode out to greet them.
“It’s good to see you, too.” Lauren smiled, but as always, Clara sensed the hesitancy behind the mask. The young woman was never quite certain of her welcome.
Hoping to change that, Clara wrapped her arms around Lauren first, enveloping her in the bright blue of her caftan.
She then turned to Jason, hugging him the same way.
“I was so worried when I heard about the fire. But I knew in here you were both fine.” She clasped her hand against her chest, feeling her beating heart, which had indeed informed her that the fire hadn’t touched them.
“More likely the town gossips let you know there were no injuries,” Jason said, laughing as he discounted her sixth sense.
Clara stared at him-through him-before she broke eye contact.
As there were no other customers, she could give them her full attention. She sensed they needed it. “Lauren, what can I do for you?” she asked.
“Are you so certain we’re not here for Jason?” Lauren grinned.
Clearly she understood Jason well.
Clara smiled. “You’d think after my tarot reading he’d become a believer.” She liked Jason too much to fault him for being a skeptic.
“Ah, yes, the tarot reading,” Lauren said. “He mentioned something about that.”
“What did he say?”
“Something about a fortune-teller predicting he’d meet me.” Her eyes danced with laughter at his description.
“Did he tell you I predicted a lady in red would rock his world?”
“Not in so many words,” Lauren murmured.
“And if I recall, he suggested you might be wearing a red mask.”
Startled, Lauren glanced at Jason. “I don’t believe he mentioned that.”
“I love your outfit.” Clara pointedly glanced at Lauren’s red fringed boots and matching scarf before nodding knowingly. “There’s still time for him to come around.”
Lauren and Jason glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.
“Come sit.” Clara gestured to a small table where she consulted with customers. “I just brewed some tea. Let me get some for you both.” They obviously needed to relax.
A few minutes later, she joined them, placing small teacups in front of them. “So. What brings you here?”
Lauren reached into her purse and pulled out a small book. “I found this in my grandmother’s house. It was written by one of my ancestors and we’re hoping you can shed light on some things.”
She handed it to Clara, but the negative energy emanating from it was so strong, Clara let it drop to the table.
“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked.
“Evil spirits?” Jason asked, laughing.
Clara shot him a quelling look. “Disturbing auras,” she explained, using delicate words to avoid upsetting Lauren. “Did it belong to your grandmother?”
“I don’t think so. It’s not in her handwriting. But I think it might have belonged to the Mary Perkins who set the actual curse.”
Thankfully Jason kept quiet.
“How do you know?” Clara asked, intrigued despite the book’s negative energy.
“The references.” Lauren gently flipped through the pages. “A lot of these pages are worn with age and it looks like they’ve been ruined by water, but there are legible words.”
“Like what?” Clara leaned over to get a better look.
“Curse and offering,” Jason said, his tone cool and slightly sarcastic. “I told Lauren you’d probably be able to give her some insight.”
Jason’s wariness stemmed from the fact that the diary mentioned the Corwin Curse. He obviously didn’t take the words seriously.
Lauren did.
As she should, Clara thought. “Sit tight.” Clara rose and retrieved a book from her personal library. “This has a chapter that explains the origins of curses, how to set them, break them, things like that. I don’t like to deal with negativity, so I’m more than happy to help you understand the offering involved with this curse.”
“That would be great,” Lauren said, her tone eager.
Clara perused the book until she came to the chapter she remembered, then she skimmed the pages to refresh her memory. “Well, here’s what I can tell you. Offerings are used in different ways. They can be for worship or devotion,” she said, reading from the book. “Or to be more specific in the case of the Corwin Curse, the diary could indicate that something was offered as a gift in return for placing the curse.”
“This is ridiculous.” Jason sounded annoyed. “Even if some crazy witch thought she placed a curse on my family, who’s to say things like curses and spells even exist?”
“Who is to say they don’t?” Clara asked, staring at him pointedly.
He frowned but said nothing.
Lauren had winced at his use of the term crazy witch.
“Does it say what the offering was?” Clara was reluctant to touch the diary again.
Lauren had no such concerns and began to flip through it. They sat in silence as she thumbed through page after page, slowly scanning each one before moving on.
She shook her head. “It’s really hard to read, but it talks about an offering and then-” she turned some pages, squinting as she looked for writing that was more legible “-something hidden in the heart of the house.” She frowned. “How odd.”
“Nobody ever mentioned an item important to the family? Something that might be missing?” Clara studied the young woman’s serious face.
Lauren shook her head. “Not to me. I wonder if my sister knows anything. Not that she could tell me if she did.” At the mention of her sister, Lauren’s shoulders slumped down.
She obviously loved her family despite everything.
Jason reached for Lauren’s hand. “We could go see her and you could talk to her. Even if she doesn’t answer, it might make you feel better.”