The Three Card Draw, by Helen S. Palmenteri

Chapter 1, page 1:

She could feel it coming. There would definitely be thunder tonight, and heavy rain. Used to be, Molly loved listening to the swollen, steady drops falling on windows, gently knocking on the roof. Lately, she checked the weather forecast on her iPhone the way a germiphobe with OCD washed their hands. Greensboro had seen more than its share of storms this winter, and the old wives’ tale had yet to be negated. Thunder means snow in 10 days. It wasn’t the snow that creased her brow; she loved the quietness that accompanied snowfall and all the storybook details. But not now. Not tonight.

Molly could feel the migraine looming. Her neck felt stiff. She was restless and that one spot on the top of her head was starting to throb. Even if she never checked the weather forecast, she knew what the weather would be as soon as she woke up in the morning. Headaches after a fitful sleep meant storms. Depressed upon awakening, undoubtedly the day would be overcast. If she woke up feeling like an irritable old man, the day would most definitely be disgustingly humid. Molly wore the weather like clothing. On mild, sunny days she felt happy and confident. Warm, humid, overcast days were like wearing pants a size too small while bloated after a trip to the all you can eat buffet. Yes, tonight there will be rain, and lots of it.

Normally, Molly’s eyes were a soft, pale green; the color of sea glass. They swirled with dark gray now, as the storm approached. She shuffled her deck of tarot cards. She felt a connection to this deck. The cards depicted delicate paintings based in Celtic mythology. Her ancestry was Scottish and Welsh. Not long ago, she added a lengthy trip to the Celtic lands to her bucket list. The well-worn cards slipped easily in her hands, sliding together to rejoin into one complete stack. She took in a slow, steady breath and exhaled even more slowly. Her eyes closed with concentration. She cut the deck into three separate piles and then carefully stacked them back into a singular pile. She slid the top card off the deck. The Tower card...

“Crap.” She took another breath, drew another card. The Devil. “Are you freaking kidding me?” she exasperated. She decided against drawing the third card, as was her nightly ritual. She was teaching herself about tarot, and three cards pulled every evening was sort of like homework. She had gotten pretty good at the cards, but was still too shy to read them for anyone else. Anyway, she could see something was up, but until she felt as though the axe had been removed from the left side of her skull, an in depth reading would have to wait.

* check back frequently to find out what Molly sees in the cards!