Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
I don’t have that kind of time right now, so I choose a less complex spread—my favorite, which is the three-card mind, body, and spirit spread, which I also interpret as past, present, and future.
The three cards are all right side up, which is odd in itself. Of course it also makes them easier to interpret. When cards show up in reversed positions, the interpretations differ slightly.
The first card in my spread—the one that represents mind and the past—is the two of wands. A wealthy man literally holds the world in his hands. The card makes me think of having control over my surroundings. It shows contemplation and assessment of direction in life.
Interesting.
Interesting because I feel absolutely no control over what’s happening to me at the moment. Not with the bizarre message about Darth Morgen, and not with my budding relationship with Brendan. What did I do? I got completely swept away. But Brendan is not why I drew these cards today.
I expected to see a card that was a little more questioning. Instead, the two of wands in relation to my mind and the past seems to indicate there’s something I need to assess. Is my life moving in a different direction?
Perhaps it is, with my new involvement with Brendan Murphy.
But again, that isn’t why I chose to consult the cards today.
I wanted guidance on my family, on the strange text.
Of course…
Brendan got the same bizarre message, albeit in a different way.
So he is involved.
Whatever direction my life is taking with regard to that text I received, Brendan is most certainly involved. So that means my relationship with Brendan is involved as well.
The next card—that representing body and present—is the five of swords. A swordsman stands against a stormy sky.
Hostility.
That’s the first word that spears into my mind as I contemplate this card.
Which makes sense. I’m feeling a little hostile toward Brock at the moment, as if he’s playing some kind of mind game with me. This card indicates the truth in that.
The third card then. Spirit and future.
Also the action I must take—and it’s the only card in this reading from the Major Arcana.
It’s the card of judgment, and the image depicts humans rising before a trumpeting angel.
And as I stare at the image, at the humans hoping the angel will take them to heaven, I feel as though something new is coming.
A rebirth of sorts, or a new phase in my life.
And the strange text has something to do with it.
But viewing each card individually is like reading the lyrics without hearing the music.
What do these cards say when put together?
Something new is coming.
And it may not make me happy.
I bite my lip, fiddle with my lip ring.
Not exactly the result I was hoping for—but that is the guidance I’m getting from the cards.
I draw in a deep breath, stare at the spread once more. Then I grab my notepad and make notations of the spread in my tarot journal.
Then I note how I’m feeling right now.
Which is…confused. Or…not confused so much as slightly fearful that I’m going to find out something I don’t want to know.
But I can’t allow myself to fear the future. I must fight that fear.
These cards tell me two things.
First, Brendan Murphy is going to be a part of my life—at least for now, and at least with regard to the message we both received.
Second? Something is changing. Something that may test my limits.
And I need to be ready for it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BRENDAN
Mom is out back working in her garden when I get home, and I don’t know where my father is. I walk to my bedroom, strip off my dirty clothes from yesterday, and get into a new pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt. I’ll change before my date with Ava this evening.
Then, I walk to the door of my closet, open it, and pull out the small safe I keep on the floor. After entering the combination, I click the door open.
Inside are the originals of the three documents I found in my apartment above the bar.
The birth certificate for William Elijah Steel.
The lien on our property held by the Steel Trust.
And the quitclaim deed, signed by Bradford Steel, transferring all Steel real property to one Ryan Steel.
Ava’s father.
Why would Brad Steel ever sign this document? He had four children—four children who did indeed inherit his fortune in equal shares when he passed away twenty-five years ago.
But at some point—assuming the signature isn’t forged—he signed this deed transferring it all to one of those children.
Ryan.
Why Ryan?
Ryan was the third born, the youngest son of Brad and Daphne Steel.
Why the third child?
Why not the first child or the last?
What is different about Ryan?
The Steel brothers are icons in our town. I’ve heard the stories of when they were younger. Ryan was always considered to be both the best looking and to have had the best personality of the three brothers.