reflexology, reiki—already have an appointment for that. Tantric healing—what’s that?”
“Oh, tantra could possibly be the most powerful healing of all.”
“Really?” He flipped to the section indicated, then drew back at the picture of a couple entwined in a lovers’ embrace. “Are they talking about sexual healing?”
“Like I said, one of the most powerful forms of healing. It’s an ancient practice.”
He stared at her. “You have to be joking.”
“Not at all.”
“But…people actually practice this?”
Her eyebrows arched. “Some do. I think I could help you find a local practitioner.”
“That’s okay. I’ll pass.” Lifting the book, he said, “I’ll take this and read up on some of this other stuff. Maybe I’ll find something helpful.”
He tamped down on the frustration that threatened to overwhelm him. He was grasping at straws. What would his family say if they could see him now?
As he followed the woman to the register, he shook his head. His poor mother would be even more confused than he’d already made her when he’d given her the number for a handyman. Jack had tried to ignore her hurt look when he’d insisted he didn’t have time to help her any more this week, but the guilt of letting her down and lying to her weighed heavily.
“Is that going to be all for you?” the woman asked.
“That’s it.”
The issue wasn’t so much his time but his need to help his family become more independent. Not to be there for them was just as hard on Jack. He’d been holding them all together for so long, he had to fight the urge to run to the rescue any time his mother needed something fixed or his brother needed advice. They had to learn to stand on their own feet, though.
What would they do if he wasn’t around?
The woman handed him a bag with the book in it. “Receipt’s inside.”
“Thank you.”
“It would do you a world of good.”
“I’m sorry—what would?”
“Tantra.”
“Oh, that. I don’t know. Seems a little…personal.”
“Any kind of healing is going to be tailored for the healee. This type of thing is no different.”
“It’s hard to imagine hiring a professional for something like that.”
“That’s not necessarily how it works.”
“How does it work then?”
“If you’re lucky, you meet a healer and enter into a relationship with her where she imparts her gift to you.”
He shook his head. “That takes care of that. I haven’t had much luck lately—at least, not what you’d call good.”
“But if you met a woman with the healing touch, you’d be open to it?”
“Maybe, but that sounds like something I might need to work my way up to. I’m a novice at all this alternative stuff. I’ve tried some of it, like I said, and I’m open to other options. Maybe I should try some—” he consulted the book “—hypnotherapy, then perhaps some reflexology. Maybe after all that I’ll look at the tantra and see if it seems any more appealing.”
“All that takes time. Can you afford to wait?”
A chill shot up his spine. Both his father and grandfather had been struck down in their prime. “I think so.”
Her expression was so full of doubt that he had to resist the urge to ask her if she knew something about him he should know. How nuts was that? Of course she didn’t know anything. She didn’t know him from Jack Sprat.
She leaned across the counter. “Not many know this, but there was a family right here in Miami where all the women inherited the gift of sexual healing.”
Again not sure how to respond, he nodded and she said, “I only know because I met the mother and one of the daughters. Must have been at least ten years ago. The daughter was just fourteen at the time and she was this quiet thing. Nothing like her sisters, according to the mother, but there was something about that child. She came in for some feng shui classes—” she gestured to a book leaning against the register “—and she had this presence. I have my own gift. I can tell things about a person. I sensed this powerful energy about her, so I wasn’t surprised when the mother, Maggie McClellan, hinted at the family background. They all have it. There’s an aunt, too—she comes in from time to time—but you’re closer in age to the daughters.”
“But even if I was interested in pursuing…that, which I’m not saying I am, what are my chances of meeting any of them?”
Her shoulders shifted beneath her loose cotton dress. “The aunt was in recently, so I believe they’re still around. Can’t be all that many McClellans in the area. What was that young one’s name…Evelyn? No, Erin McClellan, that’s it. She was an excellent student of feng shui. I’d be willing to bet she’s practicing it somewhere.”
“You’re suggesting that I look up this woman, strike up a relationship, see if she’s interested in sharing her ‘gift’ with me?”
“Something like that.”
He stared at her a moment in disbelief. How could she think such an insane plan would work? Only a desperate man would embark on such a mission.
“One step at a time. Thank you for the book. You have a good day.” He headed for the door, but she stopped him halfway there.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t take too long with that one-step-at-a-time stuff.”
He gave her a half smile, then continued on his way. His chest tightened and he rubbed it. He had time. The one thing he wasn’t was a desperate man.
2
“YOU ARE A DESPERATE MAN.” Amanda Barnes, Jack’s good friend, power walked over a pile of seaweed and regarded him through narrowed eyes. Beyond her, white clouds drifted past a pale blue sky.
He inhaled a breath of salt-tinged air and lengthened his stride to keep pace with her, though the tightening in his chest increased with the effort. “I went there because you told me to go.”
“And you do everything I say?”
“Not normally.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m not saying that I’m even thinking about taking this woman’s advice, but I thought you’d have an opinion on tantra.”
A wave crashed along the shore beside them and she swerved to avoid the spray, her short blond hair swinging. “I think tantra
