Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee Read Free Book Online Page B

says, “She’s doing all right. Dropped her suitcase. Yes, yes. Long story. Her veterinarian kit was ruined. Clothes needed washing. I bought her some island gear.”
    I glare at him. Why is he telling her? She’ll fly me to India in a minute.
    “Yes, yes. Give everyone my love.” Uncle Sanjay hangs up.
    “You were supposed to tell her I’m having a great time!” I say.
    “I know you wanted to tell your parents only the good things yesterday, but they should know the whole truth, the good
and
the bad.”
    “But I won’t get to stay here. Mom will send a plane ticket, and I’ll have to leave—”
    “We won’t let that happen, nah?” Uncle Sanjay pulls on a sweater. “Come, let’s go.”
    He walks me five long blocks to a yellow bungalow with flower-filled window boxes. The small garden is lined with rows of bright flowers. Two giant cedar trees stand on each side of the brick path to the porch.
    A sign on the front door reads:
TONI BABINSKY, RN FOSTER CARE FOR CATS AND DOGS, INTUITIVE CONSULTANT 550 SITKA SPRUCE ROAD
    “Intuitive, my foot,” Uncle Sanjay mutters under his breath. He rings the bell. Stu prances around, his tongue hanging out.
    Toni answers the door in a flowing green robe, the dogs barking by her feet. “Doc! And Poppy! I’m so delighted you could make it. Why don’t you come in?”
    Stu trots past Francine and right on inside. Francine wags her stubby tail, but Stu ignores her.
    Toni stands back to let us pass, but Uncle Sanjay looks up at the darkening sky and shoves his hands into his pants pockets. “I’ve got lots of catching up to do,patient charts to write up, that sort of thing.”
    “You’ll be missing all the fun,” Toni says.
    “I’ll come back for Poppy in half an hour, all right?”
    “You’re leaving me here?” I step backward and give him a
don’t leave me here alone
look. He’s supposed to come in with me.
    “I promise I’ll be back,” Uncle Sanjay says.
    “Come on in, honey.” Toni smiles.
    Okay. I take a deep breath and step inside.
    Her house smells of incense and potpourri. I try not to sneeze, for fear of disturbing all the crystals and beaded curtains. Rocks and chunks of seaglass decorate the windowsills. Francine snorts and flops over to be petted, and Droopy cringes under a table but wags his tail when he sees Stu. Stu and Francine chase each other around the house. Well, Stu chases. Francine waddles.
    A black cat is curled up at the top of a kitty condo, and a white one perches on the windowsill, watching the birds outside and flicking its tail.
    “Those two are Hansel and Gretel,” Toni says, leading me through the living room to a covered back porch overflowing with ferns. “Found them in the grocery store parking lot, in the Dumpster.”
    “In the garbage? Why would anyone do that?”
    She shrugs. “What can I do? The universe put those kittens in my path. I had to help them. Sit down.” Shewaves her arm toward a round wood table. “I’m making tea. Healing relaxing herbal blend?”
    “Any kind is fine.” I sit at the table, pushing hanging ferns out of the way.
    Toni bustles into the kitchen and shouts while she clinks cups. “Doc’s a good man, lets me bring in the animals at a discount. He knows I’m strapped.”
    He lets her bring them in for
free
.
    Toni bustles back out with two cups of tea and a teapot shaped like an elephant. She sits across from me at the table and takes my hands in hers. “Now, don’t talk. Let me read your spirit. Some readings don’t turn out properly because, well, the person won’t shut up. If you stay quiet, you’ll learn.”
    I nod and sip the tea, a burst of lavender flavor.
    “I’m tuning in to your energy. Repeat after me these affirmations: I am love.”
    “I am love.”
    “I am divine.”
    “I am divine.”
    “From this place of clarity, breathe in strength and power, energy from Mother Earth.”
    I breathe in the scent of Stu’s farts.
    “Breathe out love and feel your heart