Ticket 1207 (9 page)

Jill smiled. “Well, she sounds like she’s back to normal, except for the limited mobility.”

Sharon nodded, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote an address on it. “If you dare, you can pay her a visit. She’d probably like the company.” She handed the paper to Jill. “She’s been talking a lot about ‘baby jackass.’ Her name calling is a sigh of affection.”

“We sure will,” Jill said with a glance at Shawn.

*******

“This isn’t the swamp,” Jill said as she drove past well-maintained homes in a nice neighborhood. “Theo told Rene she lives in the swamp with an alligator guarding her place.”

Shawn pointed to one of the yards. “There’s a gator. Granted, it’s made of cement. It’s also guarding the house we’re looking for. Does the koi pond qualify as a swamp?”

“Apparently, in Theo’s opinion.” Jill turned into the driveway and killed the engine of her car. “I’ll carry in the cakes, you grab the flowers.”

“I sense a trust issue forming between us,” Shawn said as she brushed crumbs of the petit four she’d swiped. “It was a bonus cake. There’s still a dozen in the box.”

Jill brushed more crumbs from Shawn’s chin. “Yeah, your whimpering at the bakery paid off, and there were four bonus cakes.”

“I fed you one.”

“You’re the cutest little pig I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” Shawn said with a laugh and handed Jill the box of cakes.

They got out of the car, and Jill noticed a little boy sitting on the porch surrounded by plastic army men. She smiled at him as they approached. “Is Theo your grandma?”

“If you’re selling stuff, I’m
posta
tell you to go away,” he said.

“They’re fine,” a woman said as she opened the screen door. “Son, it’s much too cool for you to be sitting out here on that cold cement.”

“I’m warm, Momma, I got a blanket.”

The woman smiled at Jill and Shawn. “I’m Candace, and I know who you are. Sharon called me and said you’d be coming.” Her eyes flashed wide as she lowered her voice and said, “I’m so thankful. Momma’s not happy about having to stay home, but our dad gave Sharon and me strict orders to make sure she stays put. I think your company will brighten her day. I didn’t tell her you were coming, I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“We won’t stay long. I’m sure she needs her rest,” Jill said.

“Oh, honey, y’all stay as long as you want. You keeping her occupied gives me a break.” Candace patted Dalton on the head. “I’ll be back out here in a minute. You stay on the porch, got me?”

Dalton nodded. “I will.”

Shawn expected Theo’s house to look a lot like the store, but there were no shrunken heads, bottles, or poultice bags. Instead, there were pictures of children adorning the wall in the foyer, and they all favored Theo. The furnishings were nice, and Christmas decorations were still up, giving the house a cheery appeal.

“Momma,” Candace called out as they entered the den. “You have company.”

Theo, Jill, and Shawn all stared at one another in shock. Theo was dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a dark green sweater. Her hair was down and styled. Without the wild printed dresses and matching turbans, she looked like anyone else. Her expression brightened for a second, then morphed into a scowl.

“Candace, I told you I don’t see no customers in my home!”

“Drop the act, Momma, these people are your friends. Look at the gifts they brought you. Show some respect.” Candace smiled at Shawn as she took the flowers. “I’ll just go put these in water and make some coffee.”

“Act?” Jill said as her brow rose.

Theo looked totally deflated. “Please excuse my manners. I really am happy to see y’all. Make yourselves at home.” She smiled as Jill and Shawn sat on the loveseat. “You two look happy. I imagine you’ve already gone out on a few dates by now.”

“You’re not really a voodoo priestess, are you?” Shawn said.

“My mother really was. She had the gift of healing, and she tended many people who couldn’t afford to see doctors. Unfortunately, I was never able to master that ability.”

Jill nodded. “So it truly is just power of persuasion.”

“I have Momma’s recipes for the balms she used to make.” Theo sighed. “My shop is a novelty for tourists, but I do have a little power of my own. You both saw me dressed in that garb, noticed the way I spoke, and I’m sure some part of you did believe that I was legit. Power of persuasion is just that, it’s powerful. Look at you two. You’re obviously a couple.”

“We are,” Jill said as Shawn took her hand. “So the powder was…what?”

“A little flour, salt, and the wish of an old woman to see you happy. Y’all did the rest.” Theo held up a finger. “The first day I came into your store and saw you two together, I sensed the tension between you. I knew a little nudge was all y’all required.” Theo pointed at Shawn. “You already had the confidence, you just needed to be reminded of that. And, Jill, baby, you needed to be reminded that you are worthy of being loved. Before you judge me too harshly, consider that people pay therapists a lot more money than I charge to do the same thing.”

Shawn narrowed her eyes. “I’m gonna have to mull the last part of your statement a bit.”

“This is so
Wizard of Oz
,” Jill said with a blank stare.

“Perfect match! You’re both hardheaded.”

Jill shook her head. “I…I can’t wrap my brain around this. Your face is the only thing I recognize. You haven’t called me a fool or a jackass.” Her shoulders slumped. “I kinda miss that.”

“Give her a little while, and you’ll get plenty of that,” Candace said as she walked into the room with a tray.

“You can hush and pour me a cup,” Theo said, giving Candace the eye.

“This is for Jill and Shawn. Caffeine makes you hyper and harder to control.”

“This is why I need to be back up in my damn shop! I’m gonna start
bustin
’ some ass up in this place if y’all don’t stop treating me like an invalid. Y’all ain’t
doin
’ nothin’ but
pissin
’ me off and
gettin
’ my blood pressure up.”

Shawn clapped her hands together with a big grin. “Theo’s back!”

“Ladies, help yourself to the cream and sugar,” Candace said and pointed to the two cups on the tray. “I need to step outside and check on my boy, he’s got a lot of his grandmother in him.”

Theo stared longingly at the cup as Jill added a spoonful of cream and sugar to it. “That’s just how I take mine,” she said sadly.

“Cover me, Shawn.” Jill took the cup over to Theo and handed it to her. “This is the least I can do because all of your persuasion enabled me to catch one hot woman.”

“That would be me,” Shawn said with a smile as she raised her cup.

“But when you get better, I’m gonna bust
yo
ass for
playin
’ me. You little fart!”

Theo laughed. “That just doesn’t sound right coming out of your mouth.”

Jill knelt on the floor beside the sofa and gazed at Theo’s leg propped up on a pillow. “How’re you feeling?”

“The first couple of days, I ached from head to toe. My ankle throbs every now and then, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as I feared it would.”

“How’d the chicken foot fare?”

Theo took a sip of her coffee and pulled it from beneath her sweater. “I think the bag that you gave me helped protect it.”

“You’re still wearing that thing?” Jill asked with a bewildered expression.

“It’ll be on my neck until I die, then I’m gonna leave it to Candace because that child gets on every last nerve I have.”

“These will go well with your coffee,” Shawn said as she opened the box of cakes and set them on the table next to Theo.

Theo reached into the box with a sigh. “Oh, I feel the love.”

Jill was still staring at the pouch resting on Theo’s stomach. “So that’s a real talisman.”

“Mm-hmm,” Theo said and rolled her eyes when she bit into one of the petit fours. “Marie is, too, and I’m not crazy. Candace and Sharon have both seen her. She pesters my husband the most. He says she pulls on his toes when he’s sleeping.”

Shawn happily reached into the box of cakes when Theo motioned for her to do so and said, “A guy I work with talks to his dead dog. One of the other guys lost a knife that he had an emotional attachment to in a greenhouse. Carl told him that
Muttley
said it was in a drain, even told him what section it was located in. That’s exactly where they found it.”

“Maybe Carl spotted it and wanted everyone to believe his dead dog was talking to him,” Jill said with a tone of suspicion.

Shawn shrugged. “I’m going with the dog story. I’d like to think our loved ones are close by just waiting for us to talk to them.”

Theo touched Jill’s cheek. “You’ve snagged yourself a romantic. She’ll change your world if you let her.”

Jill gazed at Shawn with a smile. “She already has.”

*******

“You really believe in ghosts?” Jill asked as she drove them back to her place.

“I like to keep an open mind. It helps my psychic vision, and I’m getting one right now.” Shawn pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I see a marriage proposal—you’re down on one knee…I’m fanning my face like a beauty queen who’s just been crowned. We’re eloping…you’re making me climb over the balcony for some crazy tradition. I fall—on you, but there’s a happy ending, a sunset, doves, the whole enchilada.”

Jill looked away from the road for a second. “There’s only one problem with your vision. I would never climb over my balcony, much less make you do it. Did you say there was an enchilada in our future?”

Shawn nodded. “I could eat.”

Epilogue

Two days before Christmas the following year…

Shawn reached down and grabbed a handful of pistachios when Jill stopped the train next to her chair. She clamped her eyes shut when the train emitted a shrill whistle. “Honey, that went right up my spine and jarred my brain.”

“Sorry, baby. When’re you gonna be finished with your report?”

“The answer is the same one I gave you five minutes ago.”

Jill sighed and laid her head against the back of the couch. “Can I just tell you how sexy you are in those reading glasses?”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

“I’m gonna be quiet now.”

“I doubt it,” Shawn whispered as she typed. She winced when Jill’s phone rang, then tried to ignore the conversation.

“She’s still working,” Jill said with a long suffering sigh. “Is Nadia home yet?…No, we’re not dressing alike, are you crazy?…Oh, Rene, y’all are grown women.”

“Baby, go in the one of the other rooms, please,” Shawn said testily.

“I’ve been exiled,” Jill said as she got up from the couch and stomped into the bedroom.

Shawn could still hear the conversation, however.

“I made a seven-layer dip because Theo loves it and a pan of chocolate chip nut brownies. Those are Shawn’s favorite…No, we’ll be there at eight if I have to drag her…I can tell you that won’t work. She’s seen me dance naked, and after she stopped laughing, she fell asleep…No, y’all are not going on the carriage ride with us, it’s
our
anniversary thing…No, I’m not doing anything on that seat, do you know how much ass has been on it?”

Shawn smiled as she clicked a key on her laptop and saved the report she was working on. The last year had been revealing. Jill wasn’t the dream woman Shawn had invented in her mind. Jill didn’t always say the right thing. She was picky about their home, and when Shawn dropped her keys on the counter in the kitchen, Jill would growl and promptly hang them on a hook. They argued over laundry detergent and spots on the dishes. But Shawn was quick to mentally acknowledge that Jill was the closest to perfect she’d ever met.

Next to a huge Christmas tree, that Jill had gone over the top decorating since Christmas was her new favorite holiday, sat the one that Shawn had given her the year before. The shrunken head was still the topper, and his red eyes were glowing, compliments of fresh batteries. Presents were stacked next to the door, waiting to be carried to Theo’s for a family celebration. And Shawn had a new diamond in her pendant commemorating their first anniversary. Jill got more track so she could run her train all over the apartment, but her real present would come on Christmas morning when Shawn planned to get down on one knee and slip a ring on her finger.

“You spit this out on my pillow again last night. I rolled over, and it stuck to my face,” Jill said as she walked into the room waving Shawn’s night guard. “I rinsed it off, stuffed it back into your mouth, and somehow, you managed to get it inside your pillowcase. Baby, don’t you realize it’s missing when you get up in the morning?”

Shawn gazed up at her. “I love you, Jill.”

“Is a
but
about to pop out of your mouth?” Jill asked as her brow rose.

“No, I’ve never been happier. I just thought you should know that.”

Jill tossed the night guard onto Shawn’s laptop and climbed into her lap. “I love you, too, ticket 1207. You are my heart’s desire, and you always will be.”

“And you’re mine,” Shawn replied with a kiss. “I’m gonna go get dressed.”

Jill’s brow shot up. “In the Christmas sweater I bought you?”

“Baby, I’m so happy that you love Christmas now, but could you refrain from decorating me?”

“Oh, come on, it’s got a reindeer on it, and the nose flashes.”

Shawn got up with Jill in her arms. “I promise that I’ll wear it later when we’re alone.”

“Just the sweater?” Jill asked with a coy smile.

“Anything you want.” Shawn set Jill on the couch. “Play with the train while I take a quick shower.”

Jill watched Shawn’s butt as she walked into the bedroom, and she sighed happily. Her gaze then moved to the Christmas tree. The loneliest time of the year for her had changed. She no longer resented the decorations or festivities. Shawn’s presence had chased away the cold. Jill was warm inside and out.

She got up and walked past a glass frame with the slip of paper inside that read:
Ticket 1207 belongs to
yo
heart’s desire.
“Right you are, Theo,” Jill said with a laugh as she began to strip away her clothes.

Shawn’s eyes flashed wide when Jill pulled back the shower curtain and stepped in. “Baby, we’re gonna be late.”

“I should say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” Jill wrapped her arms around Shawn’s neck. “I’ve got a present you should open right now.”

“Oh! I already know what it is.”

Their laughter echoed throughout the apartment.