The Lie of Love by Belinda Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

concerned.’ She picked up
her coffee. ‘I should take this with me and get started. I do believe people
are looking in this direction and expecting me to do something amazing.’
    ‘Thank you, again,’ Darcy said
earnestly. ‘I’ll go and talk to the ladies, see who wants to go first.’
    Storm nodded and took her drink
to the tucked away corner of the café where she had set up her table whilst
Darcy made her way to the crowd of expectant customers.  As she scanned
the gathering more closely, she was disappointed to see that Julia Simmons had
not arrived, as she had hoped she would. Julia had been instrumental in helping
out with many of the events they had planned for the next few months, not least
the Lifeguard Olympics that she and Harry had cooked up between them, an
event that Darcy was particularly looking forward to, and Darcy wanted to be
able to thank her by paying for a surprise reading for her.
    ‘Thank you all for coming to our
fundraising event and we appreciate that you’ve made a special effort to brave
our unpredictable British weather to come out today,’ Darcy began, trying not
to show her nerves. Speaking in front of crowds was another part of the
fundraising effort that she had not bargained for but now realised that she
would have to do a lot over the coming weeks. It wasn’t something that came
naturally to her. Amanda had warned that she would have to consider doing local
radio and TV appeals too and the thought of it had sent her into a week of
sleepless nights.  She drew a deep breath and forced a smile. ‘So… do we
have any preference over who goes to see Storm first or shall we just work in
order of who arrived first?’
    ‘I think that’s fair,’ one lady
said and there was a rippled murmur of agreement from the others.
    Darcy nodded. ‘Ok.’ She looked
around and was about to ask who that would be when a silver haired woman who
had to be in her eighties if she was a day stood up.
    ‘That would be me,’ she smiled.
    Darcy had
to stop herself from raising an incredulous eyebrow. She wondered how much
future this woman thought she had left that she wanted it reading. 
Instead, she held out an arm as the lady made her unsteady way towards the
front. The old lady took the offered support and Darcy led her over to the
quiet table where Storm waited with a welcoming smile.
    Storm had been a great hit with her public and the event had
run over by half an hour, but everyone involved in its running, as they packed
away and thanked the last attendee, agreed that it had been a remarkable
success and a lot more fun than they had imagined it would be.  The
excitement levels had increased with every person who returned to their table
full of enthusiasm, or equally mystified by what secrets Storm and her cards
had revealed to them, and as they shared the rapidly growing cache of stories,
the noise levels had increased too, until the café was alive with the highly
charged atmosphere. Storm had had to ask politely, on more than one occasion,
that they kept it down as the cards needed quiet to work. But even when it was
more subdued, the atmosphere was so infectious that Darcy had almost come to
look forward to her own reading, rather than the dread she had felt at the
thought of it earlier that day. Amanda had remarked more than once how
impatient she was for them to finish so that she could do the same.  
    ‘Still want to see what your
future holds?’ Storm smiled as Darcy went over to thank her, yet again.
    ‘I’ve got a feeling it holds a
rush home and some slapdash attempt at dinner followed by a moody husband who
was expecting some culinary delight,’ Darcy joked. ‘I’m not sure I need cards
to tell me that much.’
    ‘What are you afraid of?’ Storm
asked. The smile had gone from her face and the woman that peered out from
under the heavy fringe was an altogether more calculating and formidable
prospect. Was this the real Storm, Darcy wondered. Had the hapless hippy been