Read Jinx for Free Online Page A

a controlling interest, made the businesses profitable again, then sold off the pieces for far more than she’d invested in the first place. The whole process resulted in a lot of hurt feelings all the way around.
    Of course, there was some other talk about Hannah as well. That she used less-than-legal methods to divide and conquer. Some folks even whispered that she had ties to ubervillains and employed them on occasion to get what she wanted. But nothing had ever been proven. In addition to being a ruthless businesswoman, Hannah had enough money to make just about any problem disappear, including society gossip.
    But she couldn’t quite break through the thin pink wall put up by the older matrons, no matter how hard she tried. And Hannah tried. Taking people to lunch, sending them presents and hard-to-get items, throwing lavish parties herself. For some reason, being rich wasn’t enough for Hannah. She wanted to be one of the in-crowd too.
    “That was probably just an oversight on Nate’s part. Next time, dear, I’m sure you’ll get an invitation. It was nothing, really. Just a simple barbecue,” Grace said.
    She let out a sympathetic cluck and leaned over, like she was going to pat the other woman’s hand, but Hannah jerked hers away, almost spilling her tea. Joanne smiled and poured herself a cup of the steaming beverage. Abby kept on shuffling her things, ignoring the drama.
    I decided to follow suit and reached for one of the star-shaped sandwiches. Surely, a few carbs wouldn’t hurt. I could pretend the bread was whole wheat—
    My power surged the moment I picked up the soft mound. I immediately dropped the sandwich back onto the silver platter.
    Too late.
    The sandwich was featherlight, but it hit the edge of the platter with the force of an anvil. The dish flew into the air, flipping end over end six—no, seven—times before landing right side up in the exact spot where it had been a moment before. The sandwiches that had been on the platter also rose into the air before stacking themselves neatly back onto the silver surface—one on top of the other until they formed a perfect little pyramid. The final sandwich plunged point first into the others, creating a star shape atop the mound of bread. There wasn’t a chef alive who could have created a more perfect display.
    Mouths agape, everyone stared at the now-immaculate platter. I sat perfectly still, scarcely daring to breathe.
    “Well, you certainly don’t see that every day,” Joanne said in a wry tone.
    “No,” Hannah replied. “You certainly don’t.”
    Hannah put her teacup down on the platter. She did it gently, with caution, given the weirdness of a moment ago. But that one small act was enough to upset the delicate balance my luck had achieved between platter and bread.
    And send the pyramid of sandwiches tumbling into my lap.
    Bread and cucumbers and cheese and mayonnaise splattered onto the front of my shirt and dripped off my lap onto the thick rugs below. But that wasn’t the worst part. The cup tipped over too, sending a spray of tea at me. The brown liquid hit my chest before dribbling down my torso, making one enormous, soupy mess.
    At least the tea had cooled down. Otherwise, I would have been badly burned. That was the weird thing about my luck. It made bad things happen to me, but they were never terribly serious or life-threatening. Just horribly embarrassing. Like this particular moment.
    The other women stared at me. Shocked and disgusted.
    “Well,” I said, trying to laugh as I picked a bit of cucumber off my cheek, “I guess I won’t be needing a facial anytime soon. Mayonnaise is supposed to be great for your skin, right?”
    Nobody answered me.

4
    The meeting broke up after that. Grace, Hannah, and Abby said their goodbyes to Joanne and me. I echoed their sentiments from the floor, where I was on my hands and knees picking up soggy pieces of tea-soaked bread.
    Joanne lounged in her chair and surveyed the mess. A