than a shower, a killer outfit, and a sexy pair of shoes. I dug through the pile of clothes still draped over Luanne’s arm chair and came up with the deep-pink dress Sam was so fond of the first time he saw me. It’s definitely too dressy for a day of running errands but who knows? I might have car trouble and I’ll want to be prepared in case I’m in need of some roadside assistance. I matched the dress with a pair of evergreen colored heeled booties and left the sanctuary of the apartment. I look fabulous, but my feet feel like they’re about to fall off.
I pull into my usual parking space in front of Brook’s Bath and Body Shop. I’ll get to Luanne’s errands after I talk to Amber. I need to know why she was so adamant about me staying away from Sam. Her concern for my wellbeing was downright disturbing. If Sam’s hiding something about his past, I need to uncover it before I end up getting hurt, again.
The shop’s ‘Closed for Lunch’ sign is hanging in the window. I use my key and push open the door, the announcement bell chiming above me.
“Amber, are you here?” I call out, making my way toward the back.
“What’re you doing here?”
“Jeez!” I shout, jumping at the sound of her voice. “You scared me.” I place my hand over my heart and turn toward her.
Amber’s sitting in her favorite shadowy corner, presumably waiting for a fly to get caught in her web. I guess I’m the fly. She’s reading a voluminous red leather-bound book and looking spikier than usual.
“What’s that you’re reading?” I ask, heart still hammering.
“You couldn’t handle it.”
“Uh, okay… Well, I was actually looking for you. Do you have a minute?”
Amber lets out an impatient sigh as she drops the book to her lap. “Well…” she drawls.
“Okay, so it’s no big deal or anything, but I just thought I’d follow up with you on the whole Sam James thing.”
“The Sam James thing?”
“Yeah, you know how you were telling me the other day not to get involved with him, and I was just wondering, uh, why?”
Amber rolls her heavily-lined eyes at me and reopens her book, already bored with my questioning. “I would’ve thought it was obvious.”
“What’s obvious?”
“My reason for telling you to stay away from him. He’s left a field of corpses in his path and for some stupid reason I didn’t think you’d want to end up as one of them.”
“As a corpse?” I ask, confused.
“Corpse, ex-girlfriend, jilted lover. Take your pick.”
I lean over the shop’s counter and place my head in my hands. So Amber wasn’t just winding me up the other day. She really does know something about Sam’s history with women. “Amber, please tell me.”
Amber peers at me from over her book and, whether she sees something pitiable in my expression or she’s looking forward to inflicting some pain on me, she drops both the book and the look of annoyance from her face.
“I don’t know everything,” she says, rising from her chair, “but my friend Patty dated him for a couple of weeks last year and he sort of broke her heart.”
“Sam dated a friend of yours?” I ask, skeptical.
“Don’t look so surprised, Ellie. I do have friends outside of the coven.”
“Right. Of course you do, sorry. Do you know what happened?”
“Patty wasn’t very forthcoming on the details.” Amber sighs, examining her black manicure. “Essentially she thought he was serious about her when he was really just using her as a rebound.”
“A rebound?”
“Supposedly he got dumped at the altar by some chick a while back—”
“He was engaged?” I gasp, interrupting.
“Patty said so. Apparently the ex-fiancé did a real number on him. She’s an actress or something and left him a Dear John note before taking off to make it big in L.A., whatever. Anyway, he’s been sleeping his way through Harlow County ever since. Revenge screwing or something.”
Oh no. How could my psychic abilities be letting me down so badly? Sam’s a confirmed heartbreaker and a jilted groom. My alarm bells should be on DEFCON Level 5 by now.
“I can’t believe this,” I say, walking aimlessly around Amber. Sam was engaged, he had his heart broken, and he never uttered a word about it. He knows about my breakup with Tim, knows how reluctant I’ve been to start something new. Is he just leading me on? Could he be that cruel? “What about Patty? How did he end things with her?”