RUTA SAT AT A SMALL TABLE, a glass of champagne in front of her. She watched the couple dance to the small combo she’d hired for the party. A smile broke across her face and joy welled up inside her.
“They make a beautiful couple,” Mario said. “I was right. They belonged together.”
“You were right? But I was the one who saw it first. It was my amulet, my potion. You just drove the man around the city a few times.”
“I thought you told Sabina there was nothing to the potion and amulet,” Mario said.
“So I told a tiny white lie. What harm can it do? She’s never really believed. And I would rather see her happy with a good man than alone and confident in my talents. The charm and the potion worked. I am satisfied. This afternoon I saw a wedding in my crystal ball.”
“Maybe it was my matchmaking that got the job done.”
“We make good partners,” Ruta said, patting his hand. “Maybe after I close my shop, we can go into business together. There are plenty of single people in New York looking for spouses.”
“I don’t know. I have a fiancée now to think about. Do you think we could make any money at it?”
“You know, it was all my work that got you and Iris together. And you haven’t even thanked me.”
“How is it your work?”
“Remember that key chain I gave you for Christmas last year?” Ruta asked.
Mario reached into his pocket and pulled it out. Ruta held up the charm and Mario gasped. He’d seen the very same charm dangling from Sabina’s neck. “You gave me a love charm?”
“What harm could it do? Now look at yourself. You have a lovely fiancée and beautiful life ahead of you. You should thank me.”
Mario chuckled, then gave Ruta a hug. “Thank you,” he said.
Ruta blushed, then waved him off. “Go. Dance with your beautiful Iris. And remember, it isn’t how we come to love, it is that we recognize it when we find it.”
Vicki Lewis Thompson
Julie Elizabeth Leto
Kate Hoffmann
