"This is kind of nice," I commented as we slowly made our way north along Main Street.

Claire nodded, "Yeah. I wonder sometimes about living in a place like this, you know? I know there's trade-offs but sometimes being in the city kind of gets to me. Life seems a lot more relaxed in places like this."

The part of town where our hotel was located looked much like any modern suburban area, but the downtown still had a lot of that small-town charm to it. Even though much of it had been torn down and rebuilt over the past decade or two.

Claire and I both slept in a bit this morning. Partially because the hiking yesterday actually tired us both out, and partially because the places she wanted to visit today didn't open till after ten.

It was closer to one o'clock now, and we'd spent the past few hours touring the art district. There weren't that many studios to be honest, but Claire didn't want to rush it so we stayed quite a while in each spot. She talked to some of the artists where she could, and things went pretty well.

She was a budding artist herself so she could relate to the people she spoke with and she understood a lot of the artwork we'd looked at. Claire did some abstract paintings and some photography, and she was pretty good at drawing. She had a good eye and a creative flair.

Of course I was proud of her and encouraged her to explore those talents, but I was also a little concerned about her future. I knew she made some money at it already, she took some commissions over the internet, she had people following her on social media, and she'd even sold a few pieces. But I also knew it wasn't easy to make a living at that sort of thing.

We passed another little restaurant and my stomach gurgled softly. I glanced at Claire again and asked "What do you think about stopping for lunch?"

She smiled, "Let's finish our walk up the street first? We're only three blocks from the end. Then we can grab a bite and make our way back down on the other side of the road, ok?"

"All right hon," I smiled back at her.

Three blocks wasn't far, but I knew it would still take us a while. She was walking slowly and stopped frequently to window-shop. She even ventured into a few of the shops to look around.

She hadn't bought anything yet, and I was secretly relieved about that. Even at the art studios, there were a few times I was sure she wanted to splurge on prints or even an original piece, but she seemed content to just look rather than buy.

Not that I'd say anything of course, I still wanted her to enjoy herself and enjoy our vacation. I just kept worrying about our financial situation going forward, and I knew whatever money we wasted on frivolous stuff now would be less money we had in a few months for her meds or any other requirements that came up.

We continued our slow trek northwards, then she came to a halt in front of another shop window.

"What do you think?" she asked with a wide grin. "Want to get some piercings? You could do your ears, I could do my nose. Or we could get matching tattoos!"

I groaned, "No hon. Just... no."

Claire laughed, "You know I'm only kidding dad! It's fun to think about though. We could get like matching hearts in the trans pride colours or something. Wouldn't that be neat?"

"Not really sweetheart," I grimaced as I shook my head.

She continued to smile as we moved on. Past the tattoo parlour she turned off the main street and went down a little alley. There was another little shop in there, and instead of standing at the window she wandered inside this one.

I followed her in without looking at the signage first, and was caught off-guard by the strong smell of incense.

I suppressed a cough as I looked around. My heart sank as I realized it was some kind of new-age shop. There were dream catchers hanging in the window, above a display of crystal balls and fancy mirrors and other shiny things. To the left was a wall full of packaged incense and baggies of loose herbs and what-not. A table was full of various kinds of crystals and other bits of worthless rock. Another table held a wide array of scented and shaped candles and candle holders.

Off to the right were some display cases full of jewelry and similar small items. The cash register was also over there, along with the employee. I also spotted a small black cat curled up on a cushion on the counter. It was to the right of the cash register, near the windows.

The woman behind the counter was tall, maybe an inch or two shorter than me. That put her about the same height as Claire. She looked to be in her mid-forties. She had shoulder length blonde hair, with some streaks of grey in it. She was attractive though, and in fairly good shape. She was decked out all in black and had a pentacle hanging around her neck, I figured that was part of the 'uniform' when you worked in a place like this.

I knew Claire was into some of this stuff a year or two ago, but I thought she'd outgrown it. She looked fascinated though as she moved to a couple bookcases at the back wall and started studying what books were available.

For now I just stayed near the front door and prayed she wasn't going to waste any money here. If she had to buy a souvenir I'd rather she got something meaningful, like from one of the artists she'd talked with earlier. This was all just pointless crap. And it was pointless crap she could buy back home, probably cheaper too.

I didn't notice the blonde had slipped out from behind the counter until she was right next to me. I almost jumped slightly when I realized she was there.

"Oh I'm sorry dear," she said when I reacted to her. "I didn't meant to startle you. I was just wondering if there's anything I could help you with?"

"Uh, no thank you." I replied as I shook my head. "I'm just here with my daughter."

According to the name-tag on her dress the woman's name was Selene. She glanced towards the back of the store where Claire was still examining the books. I suppressed a sigh when I realized she'd pulled one off the shelf and was flipping through it. I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance she'd wind up buying the damn thing. And a one-in-four chance this blonde would make some comment about not being a library, or at least find some other way to encourage Claire to waste some money here.

For some reason the woman was still standing next to me. Apart from her glance in Claire's direction, she didn't seem that concerned with what my daughter was up to or what she was interested in. I wasn't sure what to make of that, to be honest. I figured now she knew which of us was the easier sell, she should be hovering around Claire and trying to foist some expensive crap on her.

Instead Selene asked me softly, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help you? If there's anything at all, you just ask ok?"

It was almost starting to feel creepy now. I glanced at the woman again then said "Honestly, I'm just waiting for my girl to finish up. Maybe you could see if she needs some help?"

Selene glanced towards Claire then looked back at me. She replied quietly, "She already knows exactly what she wants. You're the one who needs a little guidance."

By now Claire had put the book back on the shelf, and she was looking at the candles and candle holders. I was relieved to see she didn't appear to be in a buying mood. From the look on her face she seemed content to just browse.

I looked at the blonde and said "I really have no idea what you're talking about? But I can promise you, I'm not looking for anything in here."

I didn't want to be rude but I wasn't sure what else to say to her. And she still hadn't moved away.

Instead she leaned closer and whispered cryptically, "She already knows. Keeping the truth from her isn't protecting her, it's just making her worry."

Claire finally noticed the cat on the counter and gasped as she moved closer, "Oh my gosh what a beautiful cat! Can I pet her?"

"Let her get a good look at you first hon," Selene replied. "If it's ok with her, then you may pet her. If she's not in the mood, best to leave her be."

My daughter had her back to us now as she was trying to introduce herself to the little black cat.

Selene turned to me again and said quietly, "Think it over. If you change your mind, come and see me."

With that she slipped something into my hand, then turned and moved back behind the counter.

I was left staring at her, completely confused. I had no idea what was going on, what she was talking about. I looked down at the folded piece of paper in my hand and almost wondered if she'd slipped me her phone number or something. My first instinct was to just crumple it up and drop it in the nearest garbage can, but curiosity got the better of me.

Claire was cooing over the cat and talking to Selene about it, apparently she'd been given permission to pet it. While the two of them were busy with that, I unfolded the little piece of paper to see what the strange woman had given me.

My heart skipped a beat and I'm sure my face went white.

Inside the paper were three words written in pencil, 'I can help'. What just turned my blood ice cold though was below that. Taped to the paper was a fresh green four-leaf clover.

My hand shook slightly as I folded the paper closed then slipped it into my pants pocket.

Eventually Claire had enough of the cat, or perhaps the cat had enough of Claire. She said goodbye to the cat and the blonde, and the two of us stepped back out into the alley.

As she led us out onto Main Street again to continue our slow walk north, Claire asked "What were you and that lady talking about?"

I shook my head slightly, "She was trying to uh, sales-pitch me? Kept asking if I needed help with anything."

Claire gave me a little glance and asked, "She sure seemed interested in you. I almost thought she was going to give you her number or something."

That brought some colour back to my face, but I just shook my head "Uh, no."

She giggled, and said "The cat was adorable. I kind of wish we could get a cat of our own at some point? But I know it's a lot of responsibility to look after an animal."

After a moment she added, "Not to mention expensive."

I could hear the disappointment in her voice, and suddenly wondered if she knew I'd been fired. I couldn't help wonder if that's what Selene meant when she said 'she already knew'. I'd been trying to keep it from Claire so I wouldn't spoil her vacation. If she already knew though, that might explain why she wasn't spending any money. Why she was just window shopping, just looking.

My heart was racing now and I almost didn't notice Claire was talking to me again.

"What do you think?" she asked. "Does that sound good?"

I blinked, "Sorry sweetheart, I missed that."

She grinned, "You really must be starving. I said there's a cute little cafe right there, we could stop for lunch. Does that sound good?"

"Oh," I smiled. "Yes that's perfect."

The two of us went inside and got a table by the window. It was a small, friendly little place. The prices looked extremely reasonable, and the food turned out to be quite good.

My mind remained elsewhere though. I had a couple minutes to myself when Claire left to visit the washroom, and I slipped that piece of paper out of my pocket to have a closer look at it.

It was exactly what I thought. A fresh four-leaf clover. It looked like it'd been picked less than an hour ago, and hastily taped to a random scrap of paper. The words were written in pencil, 'I can help'. It was improbable. Impossible. Claire was the only person in the world who knew my chosen name.

I trusted Claire, I knew she wouldn't have told anyone else. But even if she had, there was no explanation for how that woman would come up with a fresh-picked four-leaf clover in the middle of the day, in the middle of downtown.

When I spotted Claire returning from the washroom, I tucked the paper back into my pocket and tried to put the whole thing out of my mind.

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