Kate Hoffmann - A Fare To Remember

Hell, what twist of fate had brought Sabina into his life? If he’d left just a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later that morning, he never would have run into her. And he never would have touched her face or run his fingers along her arm. And that current would have never passed between them. And then he could have ruthlessly done his job.

“Yeah,” he muttered. Turning from the counter, Alec retrieved a bottle of Scotch from the cabinet above the sink and poured a healthy measure into a glass. “You’re ruthless, all right. You take one look into those violet eyes and turn into a freaking marshmallow.”

He tossed down the Scotch in one quick gulp, then poured himself another. A new plan was in order. A strategy to deal with unexpected feelings. He grabbed the bottle and headed upstairs to the den. The Yankees were playing. He’d watch the game, get a little drunk and try to convince himself that he had absolutely no attraction whatsoever to Sabina Amanar.

And if that didn’t work, he’d resign from his job and go sell houses in Brooklyn.

“HE WAS IN MY CAB. I’m sure it was him,” Mario said. “I picked him up a few months ago in SoHo and he was talking on his cell phone. I remember him because I thought he might be a good match for Mrs. Methune’s youngest daughter, Lydia. It was definitely Alec Harnett.”

Ruta leaned forward and braced her arms on the back of the cab’s front seat. She peered through the small Plexiglas window. “And you dropped him off in front of my shop?”

Mario nodded. “That’s where he wanted to go-Ruta’s. I drove around the block and I saw him go inside.”

Ruta shook her head. “Simon Harnett hasn’t had any luck with me and now he sends his son to do his dirty work? I’m sure Bina told him exactly what I would have said. No! Her first loyalty is to her family.”

“Maybe she’s too loyal?” Mario asked, his brow arching. He met Ruta’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“And what are you trying to tell me now? Do not speak in riddles. We have been friends for far too long.”

Mario pulled the cab over to the curb in front of Ruta’s shop, then twisted around in his seat. For a woman who claimed to be psychic, she wasn’t very good at reading her own granddaughter. “What life is this for a pretty young lady?” Mario asked. “This city is made for romance, and Sabina spends her weekends working on your accounts and sewing pretty dresses that she never gets to wear.”

“I have introduced her to many young men. What more can I do? In the old country, she would have been married years ago, with babies at her feet. I have made charms, I have given her potions. Nothing seems to work.”

“Romance is a bit more difficult these days,” Mario said.

Ruta pointed to the photos on the dash of the cab. “Your pictures say differently. Do you think you can do better for Sabina? If you can, then I give you permission to try.”

Mario chuckled. “And what if you don’t approve of this young man I choose?”

“You are my friend, Mario. I trust you to drive me around this city safely. I will trust that you can find a good man for my Bina.”

“I already have a good man in mind.”

Ruta reached into her pocketbook and withdrew a ten dollar bill. “Then you do your magic. And I will begin to save for the wedding, yes?”

“Yes,” Mario said. He flipped off the light on the top of the cab, then jumped out and circled around to Ruta’s door. “But I want one promise from you,” he said as he helped Ruta out. “You will not interfere with Sabina’s romantic life. No predictions, no warnings, no visions. And no curses.”

“It is against my natural instincts. I must look out for the girl now that her parents are gone.” She sighed. “But I suppose I can make that promise.”

Mario gave Ruta a quick peck on the check. “Why don’t you and I have a cup of tea at that nice little coffee shop around the corner? And when I’m done, you can read the leaves. I’m thinking of making a…change in my life.”

“A change?” Ruta slipped her arm through his and walked with him down the sidewalk. “I sense this has to do with Iris. I had a vision of Iris last night while I was watching Letterman. I saw her in a beautiful white gown with a lovely diamond ring on her finger.”

“You did, did you?” Mario chuckled softly. “You always see my future much more clearly than I do, Ruta. And did you happen to see how and when I proposed to Iris?”

“No,” Ruta replied. “But I am sure if we put our heads together we can figure that out on our own. The important thing is that she will say yes.”

“And you’re sure of that?”

“As sure as I can be. But I can always mix up a little potion to dispense with any reservations she might have. And you can do your part by finding a ring with a very large diamond.”

Mario gave Ruta’s hand a squeeze. If only it were so simple. Now that he’d made the decision to propose to Iris, all he could think about were the reasons she might refuse him. Maybe a potion was the answer. After all, what could it hurt?

“IT DIDN’T WORK,” Sabina muttered as she walked through the bead curtain into the shop. She set the small brown bottle on the counter in front of Chloe.

Chloe took a sip of her quadruple espresso and stared at the bottle. Sometime between last night and this morning her hair had gone from pink to blue and she’d pierced her other nostril. Sabina shook her head in bewilderment. Chloe was strange, but she was the best employee they’d ever had.

“How much did you give him?” she asked, holding the bottle up to the light.

“I didn’t give him anything. I drank it,” Sabina replied.

“That’s not how it works. You give it to him and then he’ll find you irresistible. If you take it, then you’ll find him irresistible. And you already do, don’t you?”

“It worked!” Chloe and Sabina turned to see Mrs. Nussbaum hurry through the front door, the bell announcing her arrival.

“Are you all right?” Sabina asked as the old woman stumbled to the counter.

“I’m much better than all right,” she replied. “I’m…” She bent closer and whispered in Sabina’s ear. “Satisfied.” Mrs. Nussbaum drew back, her eyes twinkling. “I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Sabina frowned. “I’m not sure I do, Mrs. Nussbaum.”

The old woman fanned herself with her hand. “Your grandmother is a treasure. A worker of miracles. A gift from God. My husband, Irving, was having issues…” She lowered her voice again. “In the bedroom. Well, we tried everything. Those little blue pills, racy movies, I even performed a little striptease for him.”

“Did you try bondage?” Chloe asked. “I hear older guys like that a lot.”

Sabina shushed Chloe, then turned back to Mrs. Nussbaum. “What did she give you?”

“She gave me a potion. I have no idea what was in it, but it worked. I poured a bit on top of his apple cobbler and we had a night of passion that you wouldn’t believe. I just came to get more. I have big plans for tonight. I’m making a custard pie. Mr. Nussbaum loves custard pie.”

Sabina cleared her throat. “I’m afraid my grandmother is busy at the moment. But I’ll have her call you when she gets back.” She gently grabbed Mrs. Nussbaum’s elbow and steered her toward the door. “Good day, Mrs. Nussbaum.”

The elderly woman turned and smiled. “It is a very good day, isn’t it?”

Sabina watched the older woman exit, then turned and stalked to the back of the store, cursing beneath her breath. “One day, that stubborn old woman is going to get us both in trouble,” she muttered. “Nana! Nana, come out here right now.”

A moment later, Ruta emerged, dressed in her Gypsy costume. “I hear you had a date last night, Bina,” she said.

“That’s not what I want to talk about.”

“The charm is working.” She gave Chloe a wink. “You said he was handsome. Where did you meet him, darling?”

“I met the man on my way to get bagels. It had nothing to do with the charm. But we do have to discuss the potions you gave Chloe and Mrs. Nussbaum.”

“I have to get ready for Mrs. Marston’s reading. We are going to summon the spirits of her three dead ex-husbands today. Something about missing stock certificates.”

“Nana, what did I tell you about potions?”

Ruta blinked, then sent her granddaughter a nervous smile. “I don’t know, Bina,” she said, waving her hand distractedly. “Did you tell me something about potions?” She gave Sabina a blank look, but Sabina wasn’t about to fall for that old trick. Ruta was an expert at using her advancing age to manipulate any situation. She conveniently forgot conversations whenever it suited her, yet managed to remember the vital statistics of every single professional man who walked in the door of the shop.

Sabina raked her hair out of her eyes. “Do not play the old woman with me. We’ve discussed this at length and still you won’t listen.” She reached out and grabbed her grandmother’s hand, turning it palm up. “Let me tell you your fortune, Nana. If you want to lose this shop, then you keep right on mixing those potions.”

“What is wrong with my potions? They have been handed down for generations. Tested by time. I may be an old woman, but you worry like an old woman.”

“And if one of our customers has an allergic reaction or doesn’t follow your directions or heaven forbid, dies, what then? We will be sued and you will lose this shop and everything you own. And Simon Harnett will be waiting on the sidewalk to snatch it all up and turn it into condominiums or a huge hardware store or some silly shops that no one really needs. And then where will we live? Where will all our tenants live?”

Ruta waved her hand. “Don’t be so dramatic, Bina. No one is going to die. Neither Simon Harnett, nor his son, Alec, can force us to sell if we don’t want to.”

A sick feeling settled in Sabina’s stomach. “Alec Harnett?”

“Hey, wasn’t that the name of the guy who was in here last night?” Chloe asked.

“He came again last night?” Ruta asked. “Mario told me was here yesterday around noon. He dropped him off out front and saw him go into the shop. Did you talk to him, Bina, or did you kick him out? You should have called me. I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

Sabina swallowed hard. Her mind spun with confusion. They’d had no other customers over the lunch hour except for Alec Harper, the man she’d met on the sidewalk that morning. A whirl of emotions surged inside of her as the truth became more apparent.

Sabina drew a shaky breath. “No, Nana,” she lied. “We didn’t have any customers. Mario must have been mistaken. Besides, we’re not talking about the Harnetts, we’re talking about potions. No more. Agreed?” She reached up and tugged the charm over her head, then pressed it into her grandmother’s palm. “And-and no more charms. They give people false hope.”

“No more potions.” Ruta muttered something else in Hungarian before she spun on her heel and walked back through the bead curtain, her jewelry jingling as she moved.

She glanced over at Chloe. “Why are you smiling?” Sabina asked.

“This is the most interesting thing that’s happened in this shop since your grandmother summoned the spirit of Marilyn Monroe by mistake.” Chloe paused. “She was supposed to be looking for Caroline Monroe.” She tucked her hands under her chin and braced her elbows on the counter. “So, what are you going to do? You could always put a curse on him. Maybe make all his hair fall out. You know how men are about their hair. Or you could make him impotent. Not forever, because that would be cruel, but for a year or two.”

Sabina glanced up at the clock, then grabbed the phone book from behind the counter. “Find out where Alec Harnett’s office is. Harnett Property Development. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Where are you going?” Chloe asked.

Sabina didn’t bother with an answer. She and Alec had made a date yesterday to meet for coffee. “Same place, same time.” It was nearly nine. If he was waiting out on the sidewalk, then she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to tell him exactly what she thought of his deception.

As she walked down the sidewalk, she recalled their encounter in his kitchen. Things had been going so well and then everything had come to a dead halt. He’d probably begun to feel guilty. No, Sabina thought. That would mean he had a conscience, something that didn’t run in the Harnett family line.

Sabina held her breath as she rounded the corner. She froze when she saw him leaning against a mailbox. In truth, she hadn’t expected him to be waiting. And now that he was, she wasn’t sure where to begin.

He straightened as she approached, his gaze fixed on her face. “I was hoping you’d come,” he said, smiling weakly.

Sabina stopped a few feet away. It wouldn’t do to get too close. “Alec Harnett,” she said.