Read Between the Grinds (The Curse of Between Book 1) by Cat Collins

Author:Cat Collins [Collins, Cat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dramatic Tuba Books
Published: 2024-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

I Ubered to the Tea House, uttering every Romani curse I’d ever heard at Rex on the way. They weren’t going to stick, but it made me feel better to get them out. And hey, it fit the brand. I was certain my poor driver was going to come in and buy every charm that my family sold in the gift shop to make sure I wasn’t cursing her.

Skirting in the door, past my cousins Charity and Selene, my tanti Rhoda, my mom, and grandma who were both engaged in a tea reading at tables in the back of the room, I turned for the stairs to Uncle’s office. My female relatives congregated together all the time. They welcomed me, always, but I never felt like a part of them. Not really. Besides, I couldn’t avoid the inevitable.

The Tea House was a converted Victorian which, frankly, looked odd in a desert town, but it fit the vibe, so the Doe family bought it years ago. Back when my grandpa, God rest his soul, was in charge of the family. Not that I knew him. He’d died before I came to Between. I’d just heard so many stories about the legendary Eli Doe it was hard not to feel like I knew him somehow.

Now that Sampson was the patriarch, the family and the business were run differently. Eli had been a traditionalist, so yes, the women had been made to wear skirts and gold jewelry. The entire family looked and acted every bit Romani. Uncle had kept those principles intact, but he was big on updating and bringing the Romani life into the modern world, so we were reading tea leaves on YouTube, live streaming, selling merch, performing shows, and doing God knew what other stuff to make money.

Which is just one of the myriad of reasons I wanted out. I didn’t trust anything about him. He was always looking for the angle. Always.

With every step climbed, my stomach clenched more. It was like the descent into Hell, only I was going up.

I knocked on his office door, waiting for permission to go inside. He, of course, made me wait several minutes before calling for me to enter.

“Ah, Esme. I was expecting you earlier. I suppose you had trouble getting here without your expensive car the family money bought for you.”

“My apologies Uncle. There was a misunderstanding with the mechanic. I had to take an Uber. Would it be possible for me to get a loaner car until he fixes mine?”

I stood tall and straight with my hands folded, just like he expected of me. He stood from behind his desk, walking around to lean on the edge facing me. “You must think I’m an idiot, Esme.”

“What? No sir.”

In truth, he was very smart. And connected to people and things I’d not like to be associated with.

“Why did you think you could get away with leaving out the most important information this morning? You told me all about your poor little

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