A Day to Remember

Chapter 1 “I don’t want to go back to work,” Isabel Moran whined as the three women walked away from the restaurant where they had been having their lunch. Amelia Samuels laughed and linked arms with her friend. “Tough. Do we need to frogmarch you there?” “Please don’t. I couldn’t stand it.” Bryony Murphy rolled her eyes with a smile. Isabel moaned about her job every day. She had been there for five years and she wouldn’t do anything to move but she would complain about it all the time. It was a recurring theme after lunch. “It’s your own fault,” she pointed out. “You chose to work in a bank.” “It was the only job available at the time.” Isabel indicated their surroundings. “Jobs are hard to come by around here.” “You’re telling me,” Amelia grunted. “I’m not keen on where I’m working but it’s all that was available.” “And you’ve been working there ever since you left college,” Bryony pointed out. Amelia made a face. “I hate it but I’m, sadly, very good at it. Plus, the benefits when you get to supervisor certainly outweigh my hatred.” Bryony heard this almost every day. She loved her high school friends, but they just wouldn’t stop about their jobs. Isabel had been a bank teller for some years after moving back to Tempe after leaving a relationship and Amelia was the general manager of a chain of book stores. Their jobs paid a decent salary, but they were always moaning. Isabel had wanted to be an actress and Amelia wanted to be a writer. Thirty-three and it still wasn’t happening for them. “Moan, moan, moan, you two,” Bryony teased, nudging Amelia. Isabel snorted. “Well, we weren’t lucky like you. You walked into the TV station the day they were looking for researchers and now you’re one of the top stooges for Crooked Cowboys.” Bryony snorted. She hadn’t been lucky. Her CV certainly wasn’t very strong, but her interview had impressed Matilda Slater, the producer of Crooked Cowboys. Researching traders who ripped off people and did shoddy jobs was an interesting job and Bryony liked the undercover work. It was a perfect job for her, even when everything around her was falling down. “Luck had nothing to do with it.” “Yeah, right,” Isabel shot back. “It’s like fate has set you on a path.” Amelia groaned and pushed Isabel away. “No, not astrology stuff again, please,” she begged. “I can’t bear that stuff.” “You need to get out more.” “I do. With you. And it always gets me into trouble.” Bryony giggled. Isabel was into horoscopes and always looked up hers in the paper. She actually believed the tarot card readings and had a huge amount of crystals and things on the Zodiac. It was a daft quirk but it’s what made Isabel, Isabel. “Do you remember that guy who tried to use ‘what’s your star sign’ as a chat-up line a few months ago, Amelia?” Amelia groaned. “Oh, God. That one. I still get shivers.” Isabel frowned. “When did this happen? You never told me.” “You were on holiday with your latest beau and then came back from it broken up with him. It wasn’t the time to talk about guys.” “A handsome but awkward-looking guy came up to us after eyeing us across the bar for most of the evening. And the first thing he said was ‘I’m an Aries, what are you’?” Bryony could still remember that night and she and Amelia still laughed over it. “I loved your response.” “Piss-keys!” Amelia declared, causing an old lady to glare at them as she walked past. Isabel looked confused. “You’re saying it wrong. It’s pronounced Pisces.” “Nope. Piss-keys.” Amelia jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “As in off!” Isabel stared. Then she burst out laughing. “You two are awful.” They reached the traffic lights and waited for the light to change. It was a hot day and very busy. Bryony could feel her blouse sticking to her, sweat trickling between her breasts. Living in Arizona meant it was hot more often than not, but she had grown up with the heat. She didn’t mind so much, although she could do with less sweating. They were halfway across the street when Isabel started squealing, grabbing their arms, and pointing at a shop down the street. “Oh, I want to go in there!” They had stopped in the middle of the road. Bryony grabbed her friends as a car horn blared at them and hurried them to the sidewalk. She frowned at the store and it took a moment to realize it was a*****e where you got your fortune told and could buy things related to astrology and the horoscopes. “In there?” “I’ve been meaning to look inside for weeks but I haven’t had the time.” Isabel was jumping up and down like a little girl. “We’ve got enough time before we have to be back at work. Please, guys, please?” Bryony and Amelia looked at each other, Bryony breaking into a laugh first. “I swear, you’re like a little girl in a candy store.” “Well, I can’t. I’ve really got to dash.” Amelia patted Bryony’s arm and waved as she hurried off. “Have fun!” Bryony scowled after her, knowing what that meant. She would have to babysit Isabel while she prowled around the store. “Thanks, Millie,” she muttered. “I shall remember that kindness.” “Oh, come on.” Isabel linked arms with her and they walked down the street. “It’s not going to kill you.” “You know I don’t like this stuff, Izzy.” “Bryony, it’s only a bit of fun. And if you’re going to be grouchy, at least come in with me.” “Why can’t you go in by yourself? You’re not twelve.” Bryony saw Isabel’s pout and sighed. “Fine, I’m coming.” She wasn’t needed at work. Unless something came up, it was a half-day. She had no excuse to run away. Isabel opened the door and practically pushed Bryony inside. Then Isabel disappeared among the aisles, looking and touching at practically everything. Bryony hovered near the door, counting down the minutes until she could leave. She didn’t mind a bit of fun with astrology but when you took it seriously, much like Isabel did, and treated it almost like an obsession, it drove her mad. Bryony was practical. She preferred simple, level-headed facts. Tarot card reading was fun at a fair, but to take it as gospel was another thing. She had been raised in a West Baptist household, her family being run with an iron hand by her father. When she revealed that she was in a relationship with Tara, they disowned her and threw her out. Bryony had cut off contact with her parents and her two sisters, not wanting to listen to their diatribe every time they sent her messages. In her mind, obsession with astrology was the same as being obsessed with religion. And she had no problem with either, as long as they didn’t try to preach to her. “I see a sceptic before me.” Bryony gasped and spun around. A tall, handsome man with a shaved head and wearing a long black robe was standing just behind her. He looked very imposing. Bryony squared her shoulders even as she took a step back. He was a little too close for comfort. “You’d be correct,” she said. “It’s my friend who loves astrology, tarot cards, and fortune telling. She’s just dragged me in here because she can’t bear to be alone.” “And nobody can change your mind?” “Not a mind of practicality.” The man chuckled. Then Bryony saw his nametag on his robe: Jeremy. “Even practical people like some astrology in their lives,” Jeremy said smoothly. “Not me.” “You don’t believe in fate?” Bryony folded her arms. “I believe in hard work.” Jeremy smirked. “So, that’s what you think contributes to being on Crooked Cowboys?” Bryony rolled her eyes. That was no trick he knew of her profession. She had been on the show often enough to gather her own following. “You’ve seen the show. That’s not guesswork.” “You don’t think it was luck you got on there?” “Luck? The only luck was going in on the right day. But I’ve got to where I am with hard work, not praying to the sun, God, or looking at tea leaves.” Jeremy tilted his head to the side, surveying her thoughtfully. “But we can see things in different ways. Just like you do things in different ways.” “What do you mean by that?” “Well, you prefer women, don’t you?” Bryony’s mouth fell open. She didn’t broadcast her sexuality. It wasn’t something she made known; not everyone was comfortable with a gay woman. How did…? “What…?” “I have a knack for spotting it. And you have a fancy for someone. Someone a little older than you. You like her a lot. And she likes you.” Jeremy’s eyes glinted. “Really likes you.” An older woman liked her? Bryony could feel herself coming out in a cold sweat. The only older woman she knew who liked her was her ex-girlfriend, and she wasn’t allowed anywhere near Bryony at all. The shiver went down her spine and Bryony shivered. “You’ve been drinking some strange stuff, Jeremy,” she said stiffly. “She will save you from an attack very soon,” Jeremy continued, his smirk widening. “That will bring you closer. I see wedding bells before the year is out.” Wedding bells. Bryony felt as though the walls were closing in on her. She couldn’t breathe. Jeremy’s leer didn’t do anything to ease the fear clogging up her throat. She staggered towards the door, pushing past Jeremy. “I need to get out of here,” she gasped. It was slightly easier to breathe once she was outside, but not much. Bryony leant against the wall and dragged air into her lungs. They were burning as if she had been running the marathon. What the hell had just happened there? He had to have known something, surely? None of that could have been guesswork, unless he did that to every single woman who came in. This was why she didn’t go into those places. They set her teeth on edge. And Bryony had no intention of stepping foot in there again. She set off down the street, hurrying back to the office. Isabel would have to find her own way back, alone.