Lover's Island

by Wjuanae

Genres: African American Urban; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Love and loss aren't unfamiliar territory to Nyimah Deveraux. She's learned to live after losing the love of her life and found the courage to love again. The man she moves on with keeps her pockets lined but doesn't know how to love her correctly.

Cree Baptiste is the head of the infamous Baptiste Crime Family. He has more riches and power than the average man, but he yearns for the right woman to take her place by his side. 

When fate aligns the paths of Nyimah and Cree, their worlds passionately collide. Nyimah is willing to risk her current relationship, revealing secrets and creating enemies in the process, while Cree is ready to challenge his family traditions to be with Nyimah. Just as quickly as fate unites the lovers, circumstances threaten to keep them apart. Will their love be strong enough to weather the obstacles thrown at them, or will skeletons of the past kill their dreams? Buckle up and take a trip to Lover's Island, where love resides, and no rules apply.

Release date: February 20, 2024

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Nyimah maneuvered around her salon suite, stocking the shelves with her homemade hair products. In a little under a year, she had been able to build her small hair hustle into a full-blown business. With the help of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Jabari, she’d been able to secure a three-room suite in her city, which she had then turned into a beauty bar. Here she employed hairstylists, lash and nail techs, and a professional esthetician. To some, her efforts might have appeared small, but to a girl who came from nothing, with no support, it was a huge feat.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked around at her accomplishments. There was one person she wished was here to celebrate in this success with her: the late love of her life. “You would be so proud of me,” she whispered to herself as she swiped away her tears.

“Good morning, boss lady,” Aida, her assistant and friend, greeted as she walked through the door with Starbucks in her hand. “Your ten a.m. appointment should be arriving soon. It’s a new client, and she’s getting a frontal wig install,” she commented as she handed Nyimah her Frappuccino.

“Morning, Aida. Thank you. Did you kiss my babies for me this morning?”

“Your babies gave me hell this morning. I started to drop both of their asses off to you and Jabari. Mommy needs a break.” She sighed as she took a seat at her desk in the lobby. Aida had two toddlers, who ran her crazy, but she loved them dearly. Being that Nyimah had no children of her own, she had offered to keep Aida’s kids on many occasions.

Nyimah chuckled and pulled a blunt from her YSL purse. “We got a little while before the client gets here. You hitting this with me?”

“I’m in,” Aida answered.

Nyimah nodded her head toward the front door for Aida to follow her. Once they got outside, Nyimah pulled her jacket shut as the crisp February air greeted her. The girls headed for the back exit, which led to the alley behind their building.

Nyimah lit the blunt. “Girl, I need this as much as you.” She blew out an exasperated breath.

“Jabari?” Aida asked as she rolled her eyes to Nyimah.

Nyimah nodded.

“You know you can do so much better than that nigga anyway. You don’t need him anymore. Never needed him in the first place,” Aida told her.

Nyimah took a long drag from the blunt. She opened her mouth, and a cloud of smoke slowly escaped. “I don’t know why I put up with his shit. We fight so much, and I’m at the point where I’m tired, Aida. I really am.” She passed the blunt to Aida. “He blames his cheating on the fact that I’m still in love with my former boyfriend. This nigga is jealous over a dead man.”

“That’s just his way of trying to manipulate the situation and justify his infidelity. I really can’t stand niggas. They will gaslight the fuck out of you. He knows he wouldn’t be in the picture if Ace was still alive.”

The sobs Nyimah fought to conceal escaped at the sound of his name. Nearly five years after his murder and she still hadn’t come to terms with the fact. A man who had loved her unapologetically and with his entire soul and being was gone from her life forever. It had taken five bullets to put him down. He had held on for an entire hour, while Nyimah had rushed to leave her cosmetology class at the college she attended at the time. Ace, otherwise known as Asun, her soldier, had defied death long enough to profess his love to her one last time. A piece of her had died with him that day as well. “I miss him so much,” she sobbed.

Guilt rushed over Aida. She regretted mentioning Ace’s name in front of Nyimah. She hadn’t been friends with Nyimah long enough to personally know Ace, but she had witnessed the devastation Nyimah felt from his absence. His death had nearly killed her too. “I’m sorry, Ny. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Nyimah gripped Aida’s arms as she sobbed, shaking her head vigorously. “It’s not . . . your fault.”

Aida put out the blunt, then steered Nyimah back into the salon. She led Nyimah to her salon chair and glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine thirty, and the client would be arriving any minute. She knew she needed to console her friend quickly. “Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to call Paige?” Aida asked, referring to her friend and Nyimah’s best friend.

Nyimah nodded as she reached for a roll of paper towels and ripped off three. She hated that she put up with a nigga like Jabari after losing a man like Asun. “No, I’m okay. I got to get to this money. Stick to the plan we made. One foot forward, always. He always said that,” she stated as she wiped her nose.

“What’s the plan?” Aida asked curiously.

Nyimah stood and checked her appearance in the mirror. “Get back and get up,” she replied vaguely. “Can you thread five needles for me?” She opened a playlist on her iPad, pushed a button, and music began to play from the surround-sound speakers throughout the salon. Thinking of the plans she had promised Ace she would fulfill lifted her spirits. She pushed her sad thoughts of him to the back of her mind and plastered a smile on her face.

Aida nodded her head as she gave Nyimah a skeptical look. If she hadn’t been standing here a few minutes earlier, she never would have guessed Nyimah had just finished a gut-wrenching cry. It took a special type of strength to be able to bounce back like that, and Aida admired that quality. She knew that resilience would be what helped Nyimah break free of Jabari’s suffocating shackles.

“You popping out this weekend? I know the club ain’t too much of your scene, but there’s this event at this lounge in Durham. The lounge I been telling you about.” Aida said as she handed Nyimah the threaded needles.

“I’ll think about it. I can use a night out,” Nyimah replied as she set up her station in preparation for her first appointment.

“Your nigga trying to keep your fine ass in the house. No more! We popping out,” Aida said. “I’m making my baby daddy keep the kids, and we out!” She laughed.

Nyimah smiled and nodded. “I’m game.”

Just them the doorbell rang, announcing the client’s arrival. “Good morning, love,” Nyimah said, greeting her first client of the day when she came through the door.

The client sat in Nyimah’s chair and removed her bonnet from her head. “I’m so embarrassed to show up with my head like this, and on my first appointment with you. My li’l sneaky link had me out late last night,” the girl stated as she ran her hands through the natural curls of her wild Afro.

Nyimah motioned for the client to follow her to the shampoo area of the salon. “No worries. I’m going to get you right.” She smiled as she sanitized the shampoo bowl before leaning the client back. “So, what’s your name?” Nyimah squeezed a palm-sized amount of shampoo in her hand and massaged it into the girl’s scalp.

“I’m Brielle. My homegirl Asia referred me to you. I live in Greensboro, but my woot de woot, my li’l sneaky link, lives here in Rocky Mount. So I get slayed twice on this trip.” Brielle chuckled. “You really like that with the installs too. Nobody in Greensboro fucking with you,” she added.

“Thanks, girl.” Nyimah finished on the second wash and moved to conditioning Brielle’s hair. “That dick must be supreme to make two-hour trips for it,” she commented. One part she loved about her job was that her clients kept her up to date on all the latest tea and drama. Nyimah wasn’t a nosey person, but she was used to her clients overindulging her when it came to their business. She thought of herself as a hood therapist. Her clients could vent and trust that their conversations would never leave Nyimah’s shop.

Brielle nodded her head and closed her eyes as Nyimah rang the water out of her hair. “Elite, bitch. And I leave with racks after every link. He so friendly with the money that I would make him my man if he didn’t have a girl already.”

“Follow me,” Nyimah said, and then she headed back to her salon chair.

Aida looked up from her phone. “How you know he got a girl?” she inquired when she caught Brielle’s eye.

Brielle waited until Nyimah had finished blow-drying her hair to respond. “I know he has a girl because he told me. I don’t give a fuck about none of that, though. I’m just here for a good time, not a long time. The fucks and funds. Get the head, get the bread, and then leave. She can put up with his dog ass. I don’t need those types of problems. You feel me?” She shook her head, thinking that she would never want to be in the position of girlfriend to a cheating-ass nigga.

Nyimah nodded her head in agreement as she braided Brielle’s hair back in single cornrows for her frontal wig installation. “These girls be thinking they winning because a man comes home to them every night. The side bitches think they got an up because they get the man with no strings attached. But they’re both losing. I feel your logic, though, boo. No shade.” She moved through the braid down quickly. After reaching for her hair oil, Nyimah applied droplets between each braid. “At least you getting something out of the situation. Most of these girls don’t even be getting a meal out of these niggas.”

Aida chuckled in agreement. “That part. You sound like you fucking with a breadwinner, though, and ain’t too many of them out here.” She put her hands on her hips. “It ain’t my baby daddy, is it?” she asked, only half joking.

The girls laughed in unison.

“Shit, I hope not. Now you got me scared to show you a picture of the nigga.” Brielle laughed harder and pretended to wipe beads of sweat from her forehead. Then she unlocked her phone and passed it to Aida as Nyimah began gluing down the frontal.

“Ooh, shit,” Aida whispered as she looked at the man next to Brielle in the picture. The two of them were lying in what appeared to be a hotel room bed. “This is the nigga?”

Brielle nodded. “That ain’t your baby daddy, is it?”

Aida shook her head and handed the phone back to Brielle. “Naw, he don’t have any kids.” But her tone of voice had changed in a matter of seconds. Seeing the familiar face in the picture had ruined her mood.

“Oh, so you do know him?” Brielle asked, reading the signs in Aida’s demeanor.

Aida cleared her throat, trying to get her friend’s attention. “Nah, not really. But my homegirl right here knows him real well.”

Nyimah stopped working and glanced at Aida in confusion. “Let me see him, girl,” she told Brielle. Brielle held the phone up, and Nyimah’s stomach dropped when she saw Jabari lying next to Brielle. To add insult to injury, the nigga cheesed for the camera. He made no attempt to hide his face, which was typical side-nigga behavior. “That motherfucker,” she spat, laying her comb down on the vanity. “Did you know I’m the bitch that dog-ass nigga belongs to? What type of time are you on? Because you real bold to come in here and sit in my chair like you wasn’t just fucking on my man.”

Brielle eyes widened, and she held her hands up in surrender. She kicked herself for running her mouth to these two complete strangers. She understood if Nyimah believed she had booked her to be petty, but Brielle had honestly had no clue.

“Girl, I swear to God I didn’t know. He never spoke of his girlfriend much, and I never cared enough to ask,” Brielle said. “You think I would come and sit in your chair if I did? For you to tape my eyelids down and whup my ass? Hell no! I’m not built like that. I promise I’m not like that.” One thing she was never ashamed to admit was that she was no fighter. She got money and sat pretty. Confrontation turned her off. “Please don’t make me walk around with my frontal half glued down and shit,” Brielle nearly begged.

Nyimah’s foot tapped the floor repeatedly as she sighed heavily. It seemed like Jabari embarrassed her with a new side bitch every year. She knew she could only blame herself for putting up with his infidelity. “I’ma be honest with you. Jabari ain’t shit, and I know this. If you say you didn’t know who I was, I’m not about to let that interfere with my bag. However, had the fact been known that you are fucking my man, I never would have accepted your appointment,” she stated. Nyimah recalled how many appointments she had turned down previously because Jabari had had relations with those women in the past. The nigga was a constant disappointment.

“I respect that. If I knew, I never would have booked with you. I just want you to know that,” Brielle stated.

“Uh-huh,” Nyimah mumbled as she resumed laying the lace to perfection.

Music filled the awkward silence as Nyimah finished up and styled the hair in big curls. She thought of how she couldn’t wait to get home and hear what lie Jabari would come up with this time to cover his ass. She knew a night of arguing would follow, but she’d use it as an excuse to get out of the house and go out with her girls this weekend.

“All done,” Nyimah said ten minutes later, as she admired her work in the mirror. “The wig is four hundred, and the install is two hundred. That’s five hundred and seventy-five dollars left to pay, minus your deposit.”

Brielle peeled six blue faces out of her stack of money and handed them to Nyimah. “Keep the change for a tip,” she said.

“Honey, you ain’t doing her any favors. That’s her money anyway.” Aida smirked and shook her head.

Nyimah cut her eyes to Aida as she tucked the money in her bra. “Leave her alone. If she says she didn’t know, she didn’t know,” she responded in a sarcastic tone that only her friend could pick up on. “Before you go, tell me this. How long you been seeing Jabari?”

“Almost five months.” Brielle lowered her eyes and clutched her purse tightly.

Nyimah took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and nodded. “Okay. Just go, love.” She pointed to the exit.

Brielle walked toward the door and then suddenly stopped. She turned around to face Nyimah. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know.”

“Bye, Brielle!” Aida said as she waved excessively.

“You okay?” Aida asked Nyimah after Brielle had walked out. “I’ll go beat her ass if you want me to. Snatch the lace and all, bitch. I got you!”

“Nah, I’m good. Fuck that shit. He ain’t worth it.” Nyimah waved her hand in dismissal.

Nyimah was sitting at her vanity at home when she heard the front door open and close. She knew it was Jabari. He had been gone for a few days, supposedly on a business trip to Charlotte. However, Nyimah knew that wasn’t the entire truth. Brielle had been with him days ago. But she decided to play it cool tonight. A night out with her girls would be what she needed to restore her energy.

“Hey, baby,” she said when Jabari entered the bedroom.

“Wassup?” He kissed her cheeks and went to put his bags in the closet. “Where you going looking good like that?” he asked as he sat down on their king-size bed.

“Out with Paige and Aida,” she stated, looking at him in the mirror as she applied her makeup. “How was your trip?” she inquired.

Jabari removed the retro Jordans from his feet and shrugged. “It was cool. I got my re-up. The usual. How your week been?”

Nyimah rolled her eyes inconspicuously. “I had a great week. I was booked all day, every day, but I exceeded my weekly goal.”

“Sounds like business is doing good.”

She nodded and smiled. “It is. I’m starting to get clients outside of Rocky Mount. Can you believe I had a girl come all the way from Greensboro? Her name was Brielle, Brianna . . . something like that. But, anyway, she said I been getting mentioned up there, and she had to come get slayed by the queen. Your girl out here making motion,” she said as she cut her eyes in his direction.

Jabari cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. That was the smallest indication Nyimah needed to know Jabari knew exactly whom she was referring to. The nigga held a good poker face. Someone who had just met him would never guess Jabari knew who Brielle was. But it had been going on three years with Jabari, and Nyimah knew every trick in his playbook.

“I’m proud of you, bae. These bitches ain’t seeing you in this hair shit or any aspect. That’s why I love you,” he said. Then he went over and placed a kiss on her cheek.

The player in him would never let Nyimah see him sweat. It was true. He did love her and wanted her for himself only, yet he had a hard time committing. He knew it was selfish and fucked up. From the first time he met Nyimah, back when she was still Asun’s, he had imagined her being his woman. She was only about eighteen then. Eight years later, they were a couple. Jabari knew he didn’t make it easy for Nyimah to stick with him, but he loved her for never giving up on him.

“I probably go check out Peanut until you get back home, go to the bar. Some slight,” he announced.

“Uh-huh.” Nyimah nodded as she closed her eyes and sprayed the setting spray across her face. “I’m surprised I’m not getting any pushback about going out tonight. You sure you good?”

“I’m good. You deserve a night out, as hard as you’ve been working. Enjoy your night, because you’re all mine this weekend. I already set up your appointments with your nail and lash tech and picked you up some pieces from the Fendi collection you’ve been eyeing.” Jabari winked at her.

Nyimah shook her head as she smiled lightly. Moments like this were the reason she had fallen for Jabari in the first place. He could be so romantic at times that it had been easy for him to court her. Jabari wasn’t Asun, but he was fine as hell, and he provided for Nyimah. At the beginning of their relationship, he had treated her like a queen. If he could keep his dick in his pants, Nyimah would have no complaints. However, he simply could not.

If I didn’t know he was fucking on Brielle all weekend, I might actually be flattered, Nyimah thought.

“I’m looking forward to it,” was what she said. She would play his game for a while, all the while formulating her escape plan. After today, she realized that she deserved so much better. She couldn’t continue to subject herself to a relationship that she wasn’t happy in. Nyimah decided that enough was finally enough.

Jabari leaned in to kiss Nyimah’s forehead before stepping into the bathroom and turning the shower on. “Where you going, though?” he called.

“Some lounge in Durham,” she answered vaguely.

Jabari was quiet for a minute. “Ace old stomping grounds, huh? Why the fuck you gotta go out in ratchet-ass Durham?”

Nyimah rolled her eyes as she slipped the white Bottega boots on her feet. “Why does it matter, Jabari?”

“You tell me. Is there a specific reason y’all going to Durham, of all places?”

Nyimah sighed in annoyance. She unlocked her phone and sent a text to Aida to let her know she was about to be on the way. Nyimah knew where this conversation with Jabari was headed. Anytime Nyimah came remotely close to anything related to Asun, he became extremely insecure. It was sick to Nyimah. She couldn’t understand how someone could be so threatened by someone who was six feet under. “It’s not like I’m going to see him,” Nyimah replied in annoyance.

Jabari chuckled from the shower. “I know you not, ’cause that nigga in the dirt.”

“Yet his name is still in your mouth,” she said. It was a thought that was never supposed to manifest itself as speech. She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. An argument would surely ensue after this.

Jabari stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Water dripped from his six-pack as he walked into the bedroom. “Fuck that nigga,” he spat as he stood in front of Nyimah. “That nigga left you! Without shit! I’m the one that’s been here for you, supporting you, funding your fucking dreams, and you still put that bitch-ass nigga over me!” He was furious. “And you wonder why I fuck other bitches,” Jabari scoffed as he brushed past Nyimah.

Nyimah stood there, almost paralyzed, for a second. Jabari had never raised a hand at her before, but the verbal abuse he inflicted on her landed harder than any blow he could ever throw. He knew all the right buttons to push to make Nyimah feel like nothing. One thing Nyimah would never allow was anyone disrespecting Asun’s name. No man had had enough balls to step to him directly when he was alive, Jabari included. Asun had instilled that much fear in niggas’ hearts. Even when they killed him, they shot him in the back, because they knew they couldn’t allow Ace to get an up. He was a beast, her fucking beast, and she would go to her grave defending his name.

“Nah, nigga, fuck you! Don’t you ever speak ill of his name. You wish you were half the man he was! You’re jealous of a dead man. Seriously? And you want to gaslight me, tell me my love for my deceased ex is the reason why you cheat? You’re sick! All the money and support you gave me could never amount to the love that man gave me. You don’t know the fucking half,” Nyimah shouted.

“You better cherish that love, because that nigga ain’t ever gonna give it to you again,” Jabari replied coldly from where he stood in the doorway to the bathroom.

Inhaling deeply, Nyimah shook her head at Jabari, stomped out of the bedroom, and walked out of the house. She got into her car and pulled out of their driveway quickly. She drove two miles down the road before pulling over and completely breaking down. She hated that she had let Jabari’s words affect her. He had deliberately ruined her night by starting an argument over Asun. It was his MO. He knew that this was enough to sour Nyimah’s mood. She wondered if Jabari took pleasure in seeing her hurt.

After pulling down her sun visor, Nyimah slid out the photo she kept there of her and Ace. The photo had been taken during one of the hottest days of the summer of 2016. Nyimah was four months pregnant in the picture, and the happiness on both her and Asun’s face was undeniable. Many nights Nyimah wished her body had been strong enough to carry that baby to full term. Maybe then she wouldn’t still be so affected by Asun’s death, because she would have a piece of him to cherish for the rest of her life. Now she had nothing but two urns of ashes on a mantel.

“I miss you so fucking much. Why did you have to leave me like this?” Nyimah said aloud as she ran her finger along the tattoo of Asun’s name on the inside of her right wrist.

Minutes later, she resumed driving and pulled into the nearest gas station. Her iPhone rang, alerting her to a call from her best friend, Paige.

“Hello?” she answered as she wiped the tears from her face.

Paige instantly frowned when she noticed her friend’s demeanor. “What’s wrong, baby?” she asked empathetically.

“Jabari and I got into an argument. He thinks I’m going out in Durham to somehow be close to Asun. I’m tired of him thinking he can disrespect Asun’s name and shit be cool. But I’m good. I’m at the gas station, and then I’m on my way,” Nyimah replied as she walked into the store. “I’ll see y’all in about fifteen minutes.”

“Fuck Jabari insecure ass. Okay, call me if you need me,” Paige said before hanging up the phone.

Nyimah sighed as she rounded the corner to grab a bottle of water. She noticed a middle-aged black woman staring in her direction. Nyimah rolled her eyes and walked down the candy aisle. She picked up a Snickers bar and realized the woman was still staring. “A picture might last longer,” Nyimah muttered under her breath as she headed for the counter.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” the woman called from behind Nyimah.

Nyimah placed a ten-dollar bill on the counter and turned to face the woman. “Can I help you?” She looked her up and down. The woman wore a white head wrap, and crystals adorned her neck.

“No, but I think I was sent to help you. Please don’t take offense to this. I wasn’t going to say anything, because situations like this are so delicate, but my spirit won’t let me rest until I pass this message to you,” the woman explained.

Raising an eyebrow, Nyimah clutched her Gucci bag tightly. She didn’t know this woman from a can of paint, so what message she could possibly have was beyond Nyimah. “Why would you have a message for me?”

“You lost someone very dear to you. Am I right? I’m hearing the name Ace, Asus, Ason . . . Does this mean anything to you?” she asked.

Nyimah chuckled nervously. Anyone who knew of her knew she was connected to Ace. She didn’t know what this lady was selling, but she wasn’t interested in buying. “You have a nice night,” Nyimah said as she grabbed her bag from the cashier.

“Nadi, wait,” the lady called out to her.

Nyimah’s stomach dropped, and she halted in her steps. She spun around and faced the woman. “What did you just call me?” Nadi was a special nickname Asun had given her. It came from her name, Nyimah Diana, and it was a name only Asun had called her. “How do you know that?” Nyimah whispered as she pulled the woman to the side.

“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but I am a medium. My name is Peggy. Normally, I don’t approve of unsolicited messages like these, but your king is very loud on the other side right now. He wants you to know that you’re worth so much more than you’re going through. I’m hearing a man’s name that starts with a J. He’s saying that this man is no good for you. Also, he’s saying that you will find love again, and you’ll know when you meet that person. He’s saying you mustn’t continue mourning him, but you must celebrate his life instead. He walks with you every day. A baby? He is saying that the baby girl is there with him, and she loves you very much too.”

Peggy closed her eyes as she passed along the channeled messages. A tear escaped her eye as a smile spread across her face. “This man loves you so much. He’s mentioning a trip to Paris? Did you two go to Paris before?”

Nyimah shook her head yes and covered her face with her hands as she boo-hooed. She now knew this lady was telling the truth, because the trip to Paris was a secret trip Nyimah and Asun had taken. No one had known about it, and at the time, that had made their travels even more exciting. “We did.”

Peggy held Nyimah’s hands in hers. “Nadi, he wants you to stop hurting. ‘Remember the plan, remember the plan.’ He’s repeating that. True love will find its way to you again. It won’t be anything you have to question. It’ll feel very similar to what you had with him. ‘Do not feel guilty about loving this person,’ he’s saying. This man is being sent to you to help you heal and grow. Sunni . . . ,” Peggy said.

Nyimah’s heart swelled at the mention of Sunni. He was Asun’s younger brother. Nyimah hadn’t seen him in years, because he reminded her so much of Asun, and the pain was too much to bear. “What about Sunni?” she asked.

“You’ll see him soon. ‘Keep in touch with him,’ he said. That’s your connection to him. He’s still your family too. ‘Connect with him and you’ll also reconnect with a piece of yourself,’ he said.” Peggy finally opened her eyes. “Lastly, he wants you to know that he is at peace, but he can’t fully rest until he knows you are okay in this realm. He doesn’t want you crying over him all the time. Remember what he used to tell you? Where will he always be, even if he isn’t here physically?”

Nyimah smiled sadly. “In my heart,” she answered.

“He lives there eternally. He said thank you for making his life worth living, and he loves you so much. He’ll be waiting for you, but until then, don’t stop living and stop settling. That ain’t real, and if it’s not real—”

“We don’t want it,” Nyimah interrupted, finishing the statement for her. It was something Asun had always said. “Thank you,” Nyimah said as her voice trembled and tears fell. Peggy didn’t know how much she had needed to hear those words. She had seen on the internet before where psychics would approach strangers in public and pass along messages from dead loved ones, but she had never thought she would experience it firsthand.

“It’s gon’ be all right, beautiful. There’s so much more life in store for you. . .