The Parting Glass (Caitlin Ross Book 4) by Katherine Lampe

Author:Katherine Lampe [Lampe, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-03-11T23:00:00+00:00

I lay awake for a long time, considering Timber’s request. I wanted to do it, no question of that. But could I? Would it be possible for me to take a step back from my feelings for the man and receive him as a client? It could go either way. Sometimes being involved with the querent helped. Sometimes it made reading impossible.

I’d have to bring him back to the shop. No way was I going to undertake such an important and charged job in public; it just wouldn’t be safe. I thought having him in the shop would be okay, though. The energy had shifted. Since the Solstice, our night together had lain between us like some rotten thing neither one of us wanted to acknowledge. That had changed. I had admitted I loved him, at least to myself, and acted on it. He, in turn, had admitted his desire for me, if in a sideways fashion. It made things easier. Besides, he’d never been in the reading parlor, and if I had a place of power in the World-That-Is, the parlor was it.

So. I’d need some other safeguards. Things to remind me of my place and purpose. I chewed it over a little while longer, making a list in my head. Yes. I could do this.

I rolled over and went to sleep.

Waking a little before ten in the morning, I made coffee and set to work. Bath first. Not a long one, just enough to get me centered. Nothing in the water but sea salt and a pinch of sage. Nothing too powerful. Nothing the least bit alluring.

After the bath, I dressed in what I thought of as my “Professional Priestess” outfit, an ivory shift dress with Celtic knotwork in white around the neck, arm openings, and hem. I’d embroidered the knotwork myself. It had taken forever, but the effect made the effort worth it. I put on my amber and jet necklace and earrings. Those had given me a bit of a pause, since I’d worn them on the Solstice, but they were part of the regalia. Forsaking my usual chunky sandals, I slipped my feet into a pair of soft ivory flats with satin ribbons that wound around my ankles. I left my hair loose to my waist and brushed it until it shone.

Downstairs, I opened the reading parlor. It seemed like forever since I’d been in there. Not, in fact, since Timber and I had started on this business; I’d seen my last real client the same day he’d come over for the first time. The room needed airing out, so I opened the louvered windows.

I changed out the candles on the sideboard, replacing the old stubs with fresh beeswax tapers. A red pillar went on the table. I lingered over the selection of incense, settling in the end on a cedar and copal stick, which I stuck into the burner in readiness. I spread out my red velvet reading cloth, adjusting the pillar candle to accommodate it.

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