Labor of Love
Chapter 1
"I see a spectacular sunrise."
An icy shiver skittered up my spine, and the fine hairs on the nape of my neck prickled. I know my
reaction seemed a little extreme, but…
When Jenna, Amber, and I walked into the psychic's shop, we didn't tell her our names. So Saraphina
had no way of knowing my name is Dawn Delaney.
Sunrise…dawn? See what I mean? It was just a little too spooky. It didn't help that I thought I saw
ghostly apparitions in the smoky spirals coming from the sharply scented incense that was smoldering
around us.
Although I certainly didn't mind that the psychic considered me spectacular. If the sunrise she mentioned
was really referring to me—and not the sun coming up over the Mississippi River. Her words were
vague enough that they could apply to anything or nothing.
I'd never had a psychic reading before, so I wasn't quite sure how it all worked. I was excited about
discovering what was going to happen, but also a little nervous. Did I really want to know what was in
my future?
My hands rested on top of hers, our palms touching. Her eyes were closed. I figured that she was trying
to channel whatever it was that psychics channeled. I'd expected the psychic to be hunched over and
old—wrinkled, gray, maybe with warts. But Saraphina didn't look much older than we were. Her bright
red hair was barely visible at the edges of her green turban. She wore a flowing green caftan and an
assortment of bright, beaded necklaces. Her colorful bracelets jangled as she took a firmer grip on my
hands and squeezed gently, almost massaging my fingers.
"I see a very messy place. Broken. Boards and shingles and…things hidden," Saraphina said in a soft,
dreamy voice that seemed to float around us.
Okay, her words calmed my racing heart a little. We were in New Orleans, after all. I didn't need a
psychic to tell me that areas of it were still messy, even a few years after some major hurricanes had left
their marks.
"I hear hammering," she continued. "You're trying to rebuild something. But be careful with the tools.
You might get distracted and hurt yourself—more than hitting your thumb with a hammer. You could
get very badly hurt. And worse, you could hurt others."
Not exactly what I wanted to hear. I wasn't even sure if I truly believed in the ability to see into the
future, but I was intrigued by the possibility.
If you knew the future, should you accept it or try to change it?
"Lots of people are around," she said. "It's hot and dirty. There's a guy…a red and white baseball cap.
The cap has a logo on it. Chiefs. Kansas City Chiefs. I don't get a name, but he has a nice smile."
I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
For Jenna, Saraphina had seen "fire that doesn't burn." The fire part sounded scary, but the not burning
