Leap of Faith (La Flor #1)
Read Leap of Faith (La Flor #1) Online
Authors: Ml Rodriguez
Book One - La Flor Series
Copyright
Leap of Faith © Copyright 2015 by ML Rodriguez
First ebook edition: 26 May 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, printed, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without the permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Leap of Faith
is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For mature readers (18 and older).
Cover Design by: Pink Inks Designs
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Edited by: Champagne Book Editing
Formatted by: Integrity Formatting
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
To my little monsters
Your patience and support made this dream a reality.
I love you always and forever with all my heart.
A Fortune Told
Jake (March 2004)
I can’t believe I let myself get talked into this. If any of my buddies find out I’m getting my “fortune” told, they’ll have a field day giving me shit. But, really, what am I to say when my wife gives me her big, beautiful, chocolate puppy eyes and her pouty lips?
She gets me every time, but when have I ever denied her anything? She makes my world whole—she and Rylee are the most important and precious people in my life and I’ll do anything they ask, even something as stupid as sitting my ass in this hard-as-hell chair in this creepy tent.
This
is what happens when you bring your family to a carnival and your girls see a fortune-telling tent—your ass goes inside and you wait for a charlatan to give you the typical “you’ll find love, money, and live forever” fortune.
Shit, everyone knows these things are fake. But whatever Faith wants, my baby gets.
So here I am, sitting across from a “psychic” woman dressed to the nines in gypsy clothes, including a red bandana and a crapload of bangle-thingies on her wrists that make noise every time she moves. Her face has so much make-up caked on, she looks scary but yet so real.
Gitana, she tells me is her name, circles her ring-loaded fingers around her crystal ball, making humming sounds. I sit back and wait for her to spout her bullshit.
Suddenly, she stops and her eyes go wide. She looks up at me and swallows.
My smirk is wiped off when her eyes start glistening.
What the fuck?
“You are a good man, a father, and a husband,” Gitana says. “You will know much joy but you will also know much sadness. Unfortunately, you will find death.”
At this, my back goes straight. Is she for real?
“What the hell?! Aren’t you supposed to tell me some crappy happy-ending fortune?” I ask her chuckling nervously.
“With many I do but you—with you I cannot. The spirits show me your future,” she tells me seriously. “A future that cannot be ignored. Do you wish for me to continue?” I nod reluctantly and she continues. “You will face death and win only once. A ghost will help you, a ghost with purple eyes, who’s disillusioned with a broken trust. When you meet him, your time on this Earth will be numbered, and you must prepare for the sadness that is to come. You will trust him with your life, your dreams, and your treasures; they will become his to watch over and love. You will die but your spirit will remain on this Earth to help your loved ones—you will become a guardian.”
She tells me all of this with tears running down her face, smearing her make-up, and a trembling voice.
“What the fuck?!” I yell at her. “Are you telling me I’m gonna die? That I’m gonna leave my wife and my child alone?”
I want to choke the life out of this fake bitch. What the fuck is she trying to pull?
“I am telling you your fortune,” she says with pity in her eyes. “You are a good man and are needed for a higher power than here. You are to be a guardian, a protector of man. It is an honor that comes with much sacrifice.”
“No! This is fuckin’ bullshit!” I yell at her and rise, knocking my chair over and not caring. I want to see my so-called future, so I reach for the crystal ball.
“No!” She yells but is too slow to stop me.
As my hands touch the crystal ball, a bright light explodes and I feel a shock go through my body. A flood of images runs through my mind, taking my breath away, and I fall to my knees.
I’m on the ground for several minutes before I shake my head to clear it and look up at Gitana, but I don’t see her. She’s gone and I’m alone. I stand and scan the small tent. She’s just disappeared . . . into thin air. As I turn in a slow circle, I see the crystal ball shattered, pieces scattered throughout the tent.
What the hell just happened? What were those images? Were they really my future? But, they can’t be, I tell myself as I right my chair and sit with my head in my hands. Those images can’t be my future—it has to be all this mystical crap that’s fucking with my head.
After several minutes, I get to my feet and turn to walk out, spooked out of my ever-lovin’ mind. Before leaving, I feel a gust of wind against my face and I hear the word, “Guardian,” eerily whispered, sending chills down my spine. I make a dash to the exit and try to forget the creepy-as-fuck things I saw and heard in there. As I step outside I look around and find one of my treasures.
“Hey, baby,” I hear Faith say, as she comes and gives me a kiss. “Everything okay, love?”
I nod. I bring her body flush with mine and I kiss her like my life depends on it. “I love you always and forever,
mi tesoro.
You and Rylee are my world,” I tell her, looking into her eyes. “Let’s get out of here.” I put my arm around her and take Rylee’s hand in mine. Together we walk away from the tent.
When Rylee asks, I tell her the Gypsy woman said I’d live a long life filled with riches and love. I laugh and tell her I didn’t expect to hear otherwise.
Except, that’s not what the old lady told me.
That day, my life changed—the old Gypsy was right. Like she predicted, years later I met a ghost with purple eyes. The one I was to give my world and treasures to, to watch over and love, to be there because, like that old woman said, I would face death once and win, but the second time . . .