by Nalini Singh
Mike merely smiled. “If we can, it would be a delight. Now, if you don’t mind, I have your suit waiting in the men’s room. I trust I will not have to ‘wrestle’ you into it?”
Steve laughed at that. “Believe me, I’m more than eager.”
RACHEL GAVE HER SITUATION A LOT OF THOUGHT, AS HER two guests, her mother, and her sisters fluttered around her, helping her into her dress, then fixing her hair and face. It wasn’t until they were almost ready that she had a moment alone with Cassie and Bella. “How did you do it?”
The two women exchanged looks before Bella asked, “Do what?”
“Steve and I had a talk the other night. About the one log in the front woodstove that just keeps burning. The spark plugs that were an exact match. The insulation that wouldn’t run out. Having on hand the three helpers we needed to keep our inn running. And now, getting my family here in time for an unexpected wedding on the tail end of a big blizzard—Mike using my e-mail, and the pastor saying it was all arranged via e-mail!” She looked up into Cassie’s blue eyes. “You somehow did it all, didn’t you? Or at least had a hand in it. It had to have been you. How? And why?”
The two women exchanged looks. Cassie sighed and shrugged. “We do this every winter solstice, that’s why. Northern or Southern Hemisphere, we seek out miracles that need to happen, and make sure they happen.”
“Sometimes they happen on their own, and sometimes we just…help them along,” Bella admitted with a shrug of her own. “It’s been our joy, and our assignment, for as long as we can remember.”
“Assignment?” Rachel asked, confused. “From who?”
Both women just looked upward for a moment, then back at Rachel again with identical smiles. Cassie reached over to where she had laid her coat and muff on the counter in the ladies’ room, pulling a small, roundish, wrapped present out of one of her coat pockets. “Here. One more gift for the two of you. It’s not frankincense, but then that fell out of fashion ages ago. And it’s far more practical for you.”
Curious, Rachel carefully opened the package. A bundle of pink fabric came out, resolving itself into a finely crocheted baby suit, the kind with little footies on the leggings, and little steel snaps up the torso. For a moment, she was confused at why it was such a practical gift…and then blushed bright red. Cassie grinned at her, patting her on the shoulder. Bella smiled and straightened.
“Don’t you worry about a thing. When the world has reached its darkest point, just remember that the light will come back into your lives once again,” the dark-haired woman said. “And now, we must be going.”
“Wait—one question. If you’re…you know, you,” the bride-to-be asked, “the Three Magi…aren’t you all supposed to be males? And why are calling yourselves a Buddhist, a Muslim, and a Reform Jew?”
“Because miracles happen all the time, regardless of whatever faith you follow,” Bella told her.
“And gender does not matter,” Cassie added. “Only love, unity, compassion, and brotherhood. So long as the teachings are good, does it matter who delivers them? Merry Christmas, Rachel.”
“Don’t ever forget how much you love each other—and have a good life together. That’s an order,” Bella added. She grinned. “Now, go and marry that wonderful man.”
Rachel started to rise from the chair that had been brought in for her to sit in while having her hair and face done, then looked up at Cassie. “How long will that log burn?”
“Until the end of tonight. I was going to make it last eight days, but since you figured it out…” The blonde shrugged. “Well, some of the magic goes out of it when people do that.”
“A little mystery in life is necessary, to slip the miracles through the cracks in people’s attention spans,” Bella said. “By the way, that idea you have, to pamper each other one day a month, that’s a very good idea. I think we’ll keep it in mind for our next visit, and suggest it to others in the future. Just make sure you don’t forget to do so, hmm?”
“Yes, keep the love alive,” Cassie agreed. “It’ll light up your lives, even on the darkest of nights.”
Rachel would have asked more, but her mother poked her head through the door, murmuring that it was time. She looked at Cassie, who lifted a pink-nailed finger to her lips, and understood the two women wanted her to keep quiet about what she had figured out. Deciding she would comply, Rachel nodded her head, acquiescing. One task at a time, as her groom-to-be liked to say…and that task was now for her to marry him.
Epilogue
“A BUDDHIST, A MUSLIM, AND A REFORM JEW,” MIKE stated with a laugh as he escorted his friends out to their car. “We sound like the start of a bad joke—hey, maybe I can come up with the rest of it?”
Bella snapped her fingers. A length of pipe materialized midair, just in time for their friend to walk into it with a bonk. “There’s your ‘rest of it.’”
Cassie giggled, watching Mike grimace and dissolve the apparition with a snap of his own fingers.
“Very funny, Balthazzar. Watch it, or I’ll sic a camel on you!”
“No, thank you.” Bella shuddered. “I still remember the trouble we had with them, and the delay we suffered over two thousand years ago.”
“Me, too,” Cassie agreed. “I much prefer modern conveniences.”
Bella nodded. “Well. Next time, I think I’ll be a female Baptist. You, Melchior?”
“I was thinking a female Pagan. Caspar?” Mike asked their third member.
“Greek Orthodox. And I want to be a man next time. Where are we going, anyway?” Cassie asked him.
Pulling out his electronic notebook, Mike consulted it with a few taps from the stylus. “Argentina. A city called Rosario, which is located on the western banks of the Rio Paraná, at the edge of the State of Santa Fe. We’ll be looking for a dance instructor, and the arrival of his long-lost childhood sweetheart.”
“Sounds like fun.” Peering all around them, Cassie gestured at their snow-dusted car. The wind was still blowing, but only lightly this time. The blizzard she had arranged was now over. “No one is watching. Shall we just go?”
“I don’t feel like driving, so why not?” Bella shrugged.
All three laid their hands on the vehicle. It vanished with a soft white glow. Mike held out his hand to the two ladies. “See you in six months, then?”
“At the next winter solstice,” Bella agreed with a smile, reaching to shake his proffered hand. Cassie, never one to stand on formality, pulled both of them into a group hug, making her friends laugh. Like the car, they vanished in a soft glow of light. The wind stirred for a moment, swirling rapidly through the parking lot. It covered their tracks, obscuring the fact that the VW Bug hadn’t backed out or driven away, then gentled back down into a winter zephyr, stirring only a few flakes here and there.
From somewhere within the church, the strains of the “Wedding March” could be heard all the way out by the parking lot…had anyone been outside to hear them.