Cards of Love: Wheel of Fortune Read online

  Wheel of Fortune

  A Cards of Love Story

  Ella Fox

  Contents

  Cards of Love

  Wheel of Fortune

  The Wheel of Fortune tarot card

  Note from the author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Also by Ella Fox

  Excerpt of Until Mallory

  About the Author

  Wheel of Fortune

  A Cards of Love novella

  ©Ella Fox 2018

  Edited by Gemma Rowlands

  Proofed by Judy Zweifel

  Cover by Lori Jackson

  Cards of Love

  Pick your card.

  Choose your fate.

  Fall in Love.

  Pick another card.

  Fall in love all over again.

  Which card will you choose?

  Cards of Love series, featuring tarot-based stand alone stories written by over two dozen authors.

  Wheel of Fortune

  Jackson Howell was tall, dark, handsome- and the single most annoying person I'd ever met. Our fathers were best friends, but that didn't mean a thing to us. It seemed like he lived to prank me, and I always responded with anger.

  On the first day of preschool, he'd dumped a pail of sand down the back of my favorite yellow dress. In tenth grade, he started a rumor that I had a virginity pact with Jesus. It took almost the whole year for someone to tell me why no guys ever looked at me. It wasn't that I wanted to date anyone, but it would've been nice not to be avoided like the plague.

  When I moved back to our hometown after college, I was ready to turn over a new leaf where Jackson was concerned. It was time to deal with the feelings I had for him. He wasn't hard to find. Within hours of my return he was serenading me with Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up at the Olive Garden.

  Later that night I turned over the Wheel of Fortune card... and Madam Aria explained that Jackson Howell was my destiny.

  The Wheel of Fortune tarot card

  There are many explanations about the meaning of this card in a reading. All essentially boil down to the same thing. For the purposes of this story, I liked this description the best. It’s from Divination & Fortune Telling.

  The Wheel of Fortune is the Tarot card meaning fortune. When this card makes an appearance, you can be assured that your luck is about to change. You can look forward to positive outcomes in your love, life and happiness.

  Some say The Wheel of Fortune can mark a time of transition from one type of fortune to the next. If everything has went wrong for you previously, then your luck is starting to turn from the point this card represents. Your relationships, business and career will all begin to improve, even if previously there seemed to be no hope.

  In a way, The Wheel of Fortune also symbolizes fate and that which is meant to be. What is for you won’t pass you and a strange turn in events could ensure that you are about to get what has been for you all along. Destiny is stepping in to push you towards what is yours.

  Note from the author

  If you enjoy insta-love, happily ever after and reading about a virgin couple, you’re in for a treat with Wheel of Fortune.

  For Willow Winters, who came up with the idea to have a big group of authors write stories based on individual tarot cards. This story wouldn’t exist without her.

  Chapter One

  Chloe, Age 12

  “Chloe Annabelle! If you don’t adjust your behavior right now you won’t like the consequences,” my father bellowed.

  I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “No! I’ve had it with Jackson having to be around all the time. I understand having to get along with him when Aunt Maddie and Uncle John are around but it’s not like they’re going to be there Saturday night. Since they’re not, he’s not welcome at my birthday party and that’s final,” I answered, using one of my father’s go-to lines.

  Dad looked like he was about to blow his top, but if I got my way about not having Jackson at my thirteenth birthday party the following weekend, it would be worth it.

  He assessed me for several seconds before he let out a long sigh. “That’s your final answer then? No Jackson?” he asked.

  I held back a victorious grin as I nodded. Yes, I thought, I’d won this time. Without Jackson around the girls coming to the party wouldn’t be given the opportunity to spend the night fluttering their lashes and making goo-goo eyes at him. I was willing to risk dad’s wrath in order to avoid a replay of what had happened at my last party.

  “Then you leave me no choice,” my father said sternly. “I’m done with you acting like a spoiled brat. This isn’t the first time I’ve been ashamed of your behavior where Jackson is concerned, but as of this moment, I’m over it. You are grounded for the next week and your birthday party is canceled.”

  I begged and carried on for days, but my dad never backed down.

  It was just another reason for me to be mad at Jackson.

  Jackson

  Age 13

  The way Madam Aria stared at me over the purple-tinged crystal ball made me feel edgy. There was knowing in those kohl-rimmed eyes; an awareness that made me think she could read me like a book. Maybe my best friend Alec was right when he claimed she was a mind reader.

  I rubbed my damp palms against my jeans and forced myself not to run away like some scared elementary school kid. Seconds passed in silence before Aria nodded as though she was satisfied with whatever she saw in me. Her lips turned up at the edges as she closed her eyes and hummed something beneath her breath while her hands cupped the sides of her crystal ball. For a second I swore I saw something swirl in its depths, but when I blinked it was back to being a plain purple orb.

  It’s just glass, and this is nothing more than a parlor trick, I assured myself. A person with the ability to truly see the future would charge a lot more than ten dollars.

  Besides, having Madam Aria tell your fortune was something all the kids in town did at the yearly carnival. She’d been around so long that my parents had their fortunes told by her back in junior high. They called it a rite of passage, whatever that meant.

  It was meant to be a harmless bit of fun, but something about being seated across the round scarf-covered table from her made me feel weird. I startled when her eyes popped open, and she focused on me with intent concentration, unlike anything I’d ever seen.

  “Praise the Goddess! I haven’t come across one of your kind in many years,” she murmured.

  I wrinkled my brow with confusion. My kind?

  “You are what seers refer to as a devoted. In the world of mysticism it is the most celebrated union.”

  I stared at her blankly. Celebrated unions? Maybe the incense I smelled was masking the scent of marijuana.

  Aria snorted as if I’d said that aloud. “A devoted exclusively desires one specific soul throughout eternity because that soul belongs to their perfect counterpart,” she explained. “You and your beloved find each other in every lifetime, and no matter what obstacles are put in your way, you have always fallen in love. In some lives, your path to each other has been easier than in others. No matter what, you are always up to the challenge of winning your other half. In this life however, you met her much earlier than in your other incarnations.

  “Unfortunately for you that early meeting does not mean your path to love will be quick or easy. Although that soul will always be the yin to your yang, in this life, your beloved has been more stubborn than in previous lives. That’s because her heart was broken by someone she should ha
ve been able to rely on. She is a survivor, this girl. For one so young, she’s very headstrong. You will need to be patient and true to capture her heart. She requires special attention and she will not come easy.”

  My heart started to beat faster. Aria had to be talking about Chloe Holland. We’d met early. Our fathers had been best friends since my dad moved to Bliss, Massachusetts. They’d met on the first day of third grade and since both had names that began with H their cubbies had been right next to one another. The rest was history. Like our fathers before us, Chloe and I were always in the same classes because of our last names. Unlike our dads, we weren’t best friends—not for lack of trying on my part.

  She had been born four months after me and although she’d started out life in the town of Bliss like I had, her family had moved to Brooklyn before her first birthday. Her dad had moved back to town with her when we were three and a half, just two weeks before we started preschool—right after her mother bailed out on her and Uncle Leo.

  My parents had told me to make Chloe feel welcome, and I’d done my best, but everything I did backfired. I’d been trying to get on her good side since the very first day I met her but other than stomping her foot and glaring at me, she hardly gave me the time of day. I wanted to think Chloe was the girl Madam Aria was talking about but the way things were going I was starting to believe she was never going to like me. I didn’t know why but the bottom line was that the only girl I cared about couldn’t stand me.

  Before I could ask any questions, Aria closed her eyes again and gripped the ball tight. It felt like a dozen years passed before she opened them. Her eyes locked onto mine as she leaned forward and grabbed my right hand with her left.

  “I know you’re confused and that sometimes you wish you could stop liking her but that will never happen. It’s very important for you to use your head and make wise choices,” she said forcefully. “Your beloved’s life this time around has caused her to build walls around herself. She feels less than and she’s channeled that into jealousy of you.”

  My shoulders slumped as the hope building inside of me was snuffed out because I thought Aria’s words ruled Chloe out. She wasn’t jealous of me and she had no reason to be. While I did okay in school, Chloe killed it. Everyone loved her—my parents, our teachers, and all the kids at school. The one and only person she didn’t get along with was me. If anything, I was jealous of her.

  “Because of this,” Madam Aria continued, “you must try different things than in any of your other lives and you will need to be patient. I can see an alternate version of your future in the ball that isn’t what it should be. In that future, you would both be unsettled and unhappy because you are meant to connect in every lifetime. Neither of your souls can thrive without that connection. Without it, the lessons you’re meant to learn in this lifetime would be lost, which would set off a cycle of discord between you that will continue over many lives. Do you understand?”

  I understood nothing but nodded anyway. Okay, I thought, she’s just pulling your leg. Smile, say thank you, and leave the tent. Go back to the carnival, have some funnel cake, and ride the tilt-a-whirl a few more times.

  “Thanks, Madam Aria.” As I spoke, I stood and pushed in my chair.

  She grinned up at me as though she knew something I didn’t. I was just at the exit of the tent when something happened that changed everything.

  “By now you’ve noticed that no other girl has ever caught your eye. There’s a reason for that. Your heart and soul has always known who it belongs to. In order to win Chloe, you’ll need to be strong and believe with your whole heart, ” Madam Aria called from behind me.

  My eyes widened in surprise as I spun to face her. I was stunned to find that she had gotten up from her table and was just a few feet behind me.

  “Ah, yes,” she crowed, a good amount of satisfaction in her tone. “Now I’ve got you thinking.”

  Hell yes, she did.

  “I, uh… how do you know her name is Chloe?”

  Aria grinned like a Cheshire cat. “I saw her in my ball. I know you think she doesn’t like you, but that isn’t the case. It will be many years before you understand that. You have her heart—always—but you haven’t earned her trust yet. That’s what you must focus on. Show her that you’ll always be there. If you do not succeed, your soul will never be fulfilled and you will repeat this pattern for many lives to come. All things are connected. You will be rejected many times, but if you stick with it, I promise it will be worth it. Good luck.”

  Then, as if nothing weird had happened at all, she waved her hand dismissively, turned, and walked back to her table.

  Chloe

  Age 19

  The way Madam Aria looked at me made me feel itchy and uncomfortable. Unlike most kids in town I’d only ever had one reading from her. It was supposed to be fun, a little bit of fluff. I’d been fifteen and fixated on the idea of my mother coming back into my life—something that I’d hoped and prayed for every single day since she packed up and left.

  The note she’d left had explained in a very cut-and-dry way that being married, and having a child, wasn’t what she wanted. Fame and fortune was. Of course I only found out about the note later. At three, I hadn’t been the sharpest knife in the drawer. The fuzzy memories I had indicated that my father hadn’t been surprised by her defection because there had been signs from the beginning.

  They’d met in college, him for business, her for theater. She’d been certain she’d be the most famous actress of her time, but when that didn’t happen right away, she decided to get married—and fifteen months later, I was born. She’d played that part for a hot minute before deciding that stardom was still her destiny. In an effort to save the marriage, Dad uprooted everything to move from Bliss to Brooklyn so that my mother could land a “breakout role” on Broadway. She’d been adamant that it was only a matter of time.

  It hadn’t been, and she’d blamed the lack of roles on the fact that she’d been married with a child. I think by the time she left, my dad was happy to see the back end of her, and looking back, I can’t blame him.

  It wasn’t like that for me, though. I wanted a mom. What I got was a have a nice life, I’ll send presents when I’m famous letter that I hadn’t even read until a few years after the event.

  She hadn’t been in contact at any point after she left, nor had she gotten famous. The reality I refused to accept was that she was one of the most spectacularly selfish people on earth. I’d held onto hope for her return in the way that only someone with faith could. At least I had, until Madam Aria looked at me over her swirling purple crystal ball.

  “She’s not coming back. I know that hurts you as nothing else can right now, but the truth is that it’s for the best. The woman you’ve built up in your mind is a fantasy, my dear. In reality your mother is selfish and cruel—and not the influence you need in your life.”

  I’d shaken my head emphatically. That wasn’t true at all! My mom was funny and kind. She danced while she cooked and sang silly country songs a little too loud when she was cleaning. I didn’t understand why she’d left me but I believed that someday she would come back and when she did we’d cook and clean and sing those silly songs together. I just knew it.

  Aria shook her head as if she’d heard my thoughts. “Your memories of your mother are not accurate. You have replaced the bad of her with the good memories created with someone else. The woman who does all of the things that have made you feel safe and loved will always be there for you. Your mother has nothing in common with her and deep down you know this. It’s why you’re so jealous of this woman’s son.”

  I sucked in a breath and sat back in shock. It was like pulling the curtain back in Oz and seeing the man behind the bluster. Aria was talking about Jackson’s mother, the woman I called Aunt Madeline. For the first time, all of the pieces came together. I’d always been jealous that Jackson had a mom who doted on him.

  I remembered the first day of preschool, when I�
�d been the only one of the kids being dropped off by a daddy instead of a mommy. Dad had been excited for me to start school with his best friend’s son, so when he saw Madeline hanging Jackson’s bag in his cubby he’d made a beeline for her.

  I’d smiled shyly at the boy with the soft-looking light brown hair and mischievous grin as our parents introduced us. He walked away and said something to another child as his mother hugged me and told me how pretty I looked in my favorite yellow dress. I leaned into her and soaked up her attention like a sponge. She giggled and pulled a small hairbrush out of her purse after I asked her if she knew how to do good pigtails. Daddy had trouble getting them even but Madeline did it in no time. I beamed up at her and thought about how she was prettier than the lady in the movie I loved so much, Mary Poppins. The only thing I didn’t like about that movie was the end, but I had Daddy trained to turn it off before Mary went up with her umbrella.

  When Daddy thanked her for fixing my hair, Madeline waved him off. “Are you kidding? You know I’m delighted to have a little girl to dote on.”

  My heart felt like it would beat out of my chest with excitement. She wanted a little girl and I wanted a mommy. A real mommy who would do my hair and play with me instead of a mom who left. She’d been mean and hadn’t ever wanted to play with me, but I just knew Madeline would want to spend tons of time together. Maybe it was possible to swap one mommy out for another.