Another odd chill crept down Lacey’s spine, and she had to fight the urge to fidget. It was as if Madame could truly see into her soul.

“These cards represent your present,” Madame Karma continued, indicating the middle row. “Your professional life is going very well, although I do see a…presence. Someone or something that is frustrating you and is, for lack of a better term, a thorn in your side.”

Thorn in her side? An image of Evan Sawyer instantly materialized in Lacey’s mind, and she found herself gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes. “What about this thorn in my side? Will it-he-go away?”

“Patience, my dear,” Madame said, looking up briefly. “I will know more after I read the last row, which represents your future. Now, back to the present. While your professional life is progressing nicely, your personal life is decidedly lacking. I see…loneliness. No male companionship, although…” She frowned.

“What?” Lacey asked, leaning forward.

“Someone is looming on the horizon.”

A fissure of hope filled Lacey. “A nice someone?” A nice someone would be…nice. A non-whacko, non-self-absorbed, non-jackass someone. She hadn’t had a date in over a month. And the last three dates she’d gone on…A shudder ran through her. Those dates could be summed up in three words: stink, stank, stunk.

“A someone who is somehow related to the shadow hanging over your professional life. Let us continue on to the last row of cards, which represent your immediate future.” After studying the seven cards, Madame Karma pursed her lips. “Regarding this thorn in your side, I can see clearly in this grouping of cards that it is a man. A man who is close to you, although only in proximity, not in a sexual way. Perhaps a coworker.” She looked up and her dark eyes locked with Lacey’s. “You know to whom I am referring.”

“I can think of someone who I’d describe as a thorn in my side,” Lacey said slowly. “He’s the man who manages this building complex.”