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)
“Aunt Marj comes close,” I say, “but she’s a professional chef.”
“So I beat a professional chef, huh?” Brendan grins. “That’s high praise.”
“Honestly, Brendan, I have nothing but high praise for you right now.”
My cheeks warm at the sentiment I just allowed to come out of my mouth.
I’ve tried.
I’ve tried to listen to the cards. To not get swept away with the clear chemistry that Brendan and I share.
In fact, that’s a big part of the reason why I steered clear of him for about a week. Even after those amazing two nights together.
The cards have been so strange lately. Never have they given me reason to doubt my family.
But I don’t want to think about the cards tonight. I want to enjoy this meal with Brendan and hope he’ll forgive me for dripping burger juice down the front of his T-shirt.
“I’ve been thinking about my tattoo,” I say.
“Have you found an image that you like?” He takes a bite of burger.
“Not yet. But it’s going to have something to do with the tarot I think.”
He swallows, wipes his chin with his napkin. “An image from one of your cards maybe?”
“Yes, but I haven’t decided which one.”
“Which one speaks to you the most?”
“That’s kind of a loaded question because they all speak to me, depending on when I draw them and what question I’m asking.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“But the one that seems to be gravitating toward me right now—and I don’t think I want it as a tattoo—is the hierophant.”
“What’s a hierophant?”
“To the ancient Greeks, a hierophant was a person who brought people to religion. Brought them to the presence of a deity or something else holy. He or she was considered an interpreter of mysteries, of secret knowledge or sacred truth.”
“Interesting.”
“But in the tarot, it has another interpretation as well. It represents conformity to social standards.”
Brendan laughs out loud, nearly choking on his bite of burger. He wipes his mouth. “Sorry about that. But conformity to social standards? That’s not you, Ava. That’s the opposite of Ava.”
“Right? This is a card that I’ve never drawn for myself, until the night I got that text.”
“I suppose that makes sense. You’re faced with a mystery regarding the text.”
“Right. And I drew it again last Sunday, only in reverse.”
“What does it mean in reverse?” Brendan asks.
“Well, the meaning of the cards have to be interpreted based on the question that you’re asking at the time.”
“All right. What were you asking?”
“I was asking about my family. About the mysteries. And that’s when I drew the hierophant card in reverse. And the word that came to my mind? It was hypocrisy.”
Brendan’s eyes go wide. “With regard to your family?”
“Yes, and I can see you’re as surprised as I am.”
“I’ve known the Steels my whole life,” he says. “I’ve always known all of you to be good people. Certainly not hypocrites.”
“I know.”
“So that’s what it means? That card in reverse means hypocrisy?”
I clear my throat. “It’s not that simple. The tarot isn’t an either-or kind of thing. The card is still the card, even in reverse. You have to take its original meaning into account as well.”
“All right.”
“Plus, cards can be interpreted differently depending on the question that is asked and depending on the person who’s reading them. It’s not an exact science. It’s not science at all.”
“I’d love to learn more about it. I know nothing about tarot cards.”
“Why would you want to learn more about it?”
“Because it’s important to you, Ava. And that makes it interesting to me.”
I stop my jaw from dropping.
I like Brendan, and boy, the sex is amazing. But with this one statement, I’ve lost a little piece of my heart to him.
Most guys in my life—and there haven’t been that many—have rolled their eyes at the tarot. In fact, one of them thought I was a witch. Which isn’t an insult, but in his ignorance, he thought it was.
But not Brendan Murphy.
He accepts me for who I am.
Except that the tarot can’t be explained with any simplicity. I’ve studied it for years, and I’m still a novice in many ways.
“There’s no simple way to explain the tarot,” I say.
“Give me the condensed version, then.”
I laugh. “There is no condensed version, Brendan.”
“Okay, I give.” He grabs the bottle of ketchup and squirts a small portion onto his plate. “But I do find it interesting. Especially when you did that reading for me. It made me think differently about a lot of things.”
“That’s really what the tarot is for,” I say. “At least the way I use it. Sometimes it spurs something regarding a question I’m seeking answers to. Or regarding something I’m seeking guidance on, even when I don’t have a specific question.”
“I think it’s amazing,” he says. “In fact, Ava Steel, I think you’re amazing.”
There go the cheeks again. They’re on fire, and I’m pretty sure I’m three shades of red.