Divine's Emporium

by Michelle L. Levigne

  "Nothing special about my place," he finally said. But he turned left when he should have turned right, and drove his truck past the cluster of school buildings, toward the edge of town where all the greenhouses and farms stood.

  "It's your place. I thought pals share everything." Her lips curved up just enough to notice as she spoke.

  "Pals, huh?" Jon-Tom liked the sound of that. He even more liked the sound of share everything.

  When they reached his family homestead, he slowed enough for her to get a good look at the big old farmhouse with its wrap-around porch, twice the size of Divine's Emporium. Her smile got bigger. He remembered that Caryn had blinked once when she first saw the house and never smiled. That was a good sign.

  Slowly he drove down the long gravel driveway and out into the big turnaround behind the house. He stopped the truck so Jeri's window faced his fantasy playground.

  As she slowly climbed out, Jeri acted like someone in a dream, her mouth opening wider with every heartbeat. Her eyes got big enough to fall into--as if he hadn't fallen into and drowned in her eyes a dozen times already since she walked into his life. Finally, when he saw the sparkle come back to her eyes and a grin of pure, child's delight replaced that open-mouthed look, he turned her toward his masterpiece.

  The playground had forts. Two looked like Old West forts, two resembled castles and one mimicked a space station. Each had poles to slide down and rope ladders to climb.

  There were five slides. Three were enclosed, curving, painted like snakes on the outside. A crow's nest had a ladder inside the column that supported it, and two rope ladders like rigging on either side. He had built swaying bridges and drawbridges and a miniature Golden Gate, climbing towers with pivoting arms to swing on, a pirate ship with three cannons that shot water, and ropes for swinging across shallow water-filled trenches. There was a maze made from four-foot-wide plastic tubing, like a hamster run, that went up ten feet in the air. An enclosed pit was full of rubber balls and another pit was filled with sand and enough plastic buckets, shovels, sieves and other toys to furnish two beaches.

  The playground spread out over an acre, and Jon-Tom had plans on his drawing board to expand it. Someday.

  "Can grown-ups play there, too?" Jeri half-whispered. She flinched when Junior let out a questioning little coo, and grinning, reached back into the truck to scoop the baby out of his car seat.

  "Grown-ups?"

  "I never got to go to the playground when I was a kid. You go to amusement parks and you see the kids playing on things like--heck, only a shadow of this--and you get so jealous. You realize, I never set foot inside a McDonalds until a few months ago. They had stuff like this, but all plastic and only a fraction of the size, and I was still jealous. Can I?"

  "Go ahead." He gestured at the playground that had given him many happy hours of planning, designing and building. It had been a labor of love, taking the last four years. He had started it for his own children, and expanded it when friends shared their dream of opening a daycare. He was happier than he could fully understand, that Jeri wanted to play on it.

  Caryn had told him to sell it to an amusement park or go into business designing playgrounds. She had never wanted to touch it or even acknowledge its presence otherwise. Just before she left him, he realized the only reason she didn't demand that he haul it away as an eyesore was because she had no plans to live here with him, and was only staying until she could get him to sell the family farm.

  No, he wasn't going to think about Caryn anymore.

  To his surprise, Jeri didn't move. She still stood there, cuddling Junior, looking at everything and grinning. Jon-Tom had the frightening suspicion that some of that sparkle in her eyes was tears.

  "Does anybody play on this?"

  "I let folks around here use it for parties. There are a couple companies that come out and rent the grounds for their company picnics. Things like that."

  "Why aren't you running that daycare, when you have this for the kids?"

  "Well, my friends are still getting their training and licenses, and you have to get approval from the state. And other considerations." He shrugged. Why, even when he was doing what he wanted, did everything always come down to money?

  "Could you use a partner?"

  "For what?" He could hardly speak for the huge lump in his throat and the thundering of his heart.

  "Well, funding, for starters."

  "Jeri--"

  "I have a huge wad that's just sitting there, useless. You must have guessed that by now. I know you well enough to know you won't just accept it as a gift or even a loan. So I want to buy into this." She gestured with one hand, taking in the playground and the framework of the building that would be the main facility of the daycare in another year.

  Jon-Tom hoped that gesture took in the farmhouse and all the dreams sleeping inside.

  "Partner, huh?" He liked the images that sprang to life in his head. Not all of them having to do with hordes of children from neighboring towns playing here every day.

  "Of course, you're going to have to teach me an awful lot. And maybe I'll get my teaching certificate and work here." She shrugged and met his eyes, trembling a little, but smiling.

  He rather hoped she saw in his eyes some of the ideas that were coming to him. "I'm just a spoiled rich girl who didn't learn anything useful while I was growing up. Just like Angela and the folks in this town have had to teach me about taking care of Junior, well...you have an awful lot to teach me."

  Jon-Tom nodded. There were quite a few things he wanted to teach her. And things he wanted to learn from her. Starting with how she'd feel wrapped up tight in his arms, the taste of her lips, the way it would feel to kiss her while she laughed, the way she would look first thing in the morning, while she was still asleep and cuddled up next to him. He hoped she was a snuggler, not someone who demanded a king-size bed so it felt like he was sleeping alone even when he had company.

  Nope. That was going a little too fast. Although he dared to hope that blush meant she had some of the same thoughts.

  "Anything you want to learn--"

  "Jon?" A familiar male voice rang out over the crunch of tires pulling off the gravel into the grass in front of the barn to the far left.

  He swallowed a groan and turned around in time to see the SUV jerk into park and the driver's door swing open. A tall, buzz-cut man in military blues hopped out.

  "Jerry," he muttered.

  "What?" Jeri looked from the stranger to him.

  "He's Jerry." Jon-Tom sighed as his childhood friend ran around the SUV and helped a small, white-blonde woman get out. "I'm guessing that's Maggie."

  "Timmy!" the woman shrieked, and flew across the yard to them. At the last minute, she stopped herself, just when Jon-Tom thought she'd yank Junior from Jeri's arms.

  For five long heartbeats, the two women looked at each other. Jon-Tom felt the crackling in the atmosphere as they sized each other up, questioning and judging and even a little begging for answers.

  Jeri nodded. Tears sparkled in her eyes and her lips trembled, but she smiled and held out the baby.

  Maggie sobbed and clutched her little boy close. Junior--Timmy, now--made a cooing sound, and he held out his little hands to Jeri.

  "Thanks, pal," Jerry said, coming up behind Jon-Tom.

  "What's the story?" He watched Jeri, who helped Maggie sit down on the bench painted to look like a candy cane.

  "Her slimebag stepbrother took the kid and thought he was dumping him on me, and then he hung around to take pictures and prove I was a bad father. So what's the story with the girl?"

  "She's mine." Jon-Tom didn't flinch at the growl in his voice. Best friend or not, if Jerry criticized Jeri even by hinting, he was dead meat.

  "Thought so. The creep sent Maggie dozens of photos, trying to prove I had kidnapped Timmy and taken up with some bimbo and she was hurting the baby and two-timing on me. Glad you have somebody, finally."

  "Do you have somebody?"


  "Oh, yeah. Maggie and me, we're fixing things and we're talking about her coming overseas with me, instead of waiting until I get back. Funny, but I think her brother actually helped us, taking the kid like that. Made us talk and get over a lot of problems. Most of them were his doing, anyway."

  "Good." Jon-Tom watched Jeri, who watched Maggie cuddle and kiss her son. He remembered the day he met her, how reluctant she had been to even touch the baby. Now, the pain at losing the boy visibly radiated off her.

  He hadn't counted on Jeri falling in love with Junior, and how hurt she would be when everything was settled.

  She didn't cry until Jerry and Maggie drove away to their hotel. Jon-Tom didn't think the prospect of the newly reunited family coming back tomorrow for dinner and to talk was much comfort to her. He kept his arm around her as they watched Jerry's SUV go down the long drive.

  She shivered a little, but didn't make a sound until it vanished beyond the trees lining the road. Then her knees buckled.

  Jon-Tom caught her and held her, letting her soak his shirt, just like she had before. He wondered if he would ever get to hold Jeri while they celebrated.

  "This is so stupid," she groaned when the tears finally slowed. "I knew your friend was coming to take Junior away, but for some reason--" She hiccupped and tried to step back as she rubbed her face dry.

  Jon-Tom refused to let go of her. To his delight, she didn't insist. He even imagined she relaxed a little against his chest.

  "You'll see him again," he offered.

  "Once a year?" She shrugged. The motion rubbed more of her against his chest and set off an interesting chain reaction inside him. "I want him all the time. I want to be surrounded by kids."

  "You will be, once our daycare gets running. Or are you going to take back that offer?" He grinned, glad he had thought of something to catch her attention. She stiffened and tried to step out of his arms. He just held on tighter.

  "Never," she finally said, after meeting his gaze for a few seconds. "I want to be your partner and learn everything about kids there is to know. Everything you can teach me."

  "That ain't much." He relaxed a little when she snorted and one corner of her mouth curved up in a trembling smile.

  "You know the important things. I want to be a mommy someday. I want to go barefoot all the time and learn how to cook, really cook, and have a vegetable garden and--"

  "And grow old with me?" he said, before he lost his nerve.

  "Grow old with you?" She swallowed hard. "As in?"

  "Everything. The ring and the license and having kids. You did say you wanted to be a mommy, didn't you?"

  "Yeah." She blushed just enough to be noticeable.

  "Here's something I want to teach you right away." He cupped her cheek in one hand and leaned down slowly, so he wouldn't frighten her.

  Jeri's smile grew brighter. She closed her eyes, tipped her head back and curled her little hand around the back of his neck the moment their lips touched.

  * * * *

  Somehow, Jeri wasn't surprised that Angela waited for them on the front step of Divine's Emporium the next morning. She beamed as if she had watched and listened the entire time the night before as they made plans and kissed, cooked together and kissed, laughed and kissed. And then for variety, kissed some more.

  For all Jeri knew, Angela had been there.

  "What brings you two here so early on this fine, bright summer morning?" She didn't wait for their response, but opened the door and led the way inside.

  "We need a ring," Jon-Tom said. "The most beautiful ring in the entire world."

  "But sturdy," Jeri hurried to add. "Something I can wear when I cook and clean and take care of babies." She sighed and leaned a little closer to Jon-Tom, and felt his arm wrap a little tighter around her waist. She hoped she never got used to the delicious thrill that shot through her every time he touched her.

  "And what makes you two think I'd have something like that here?" Angela said with a chiming laugh.

  "Everything anybody needs is here at Divine's." She looked up at Jon-Tom. "After all, we found each other here."

  * * *

  Divine Wishes

  In Holly's dream, she and Maurice waltzed around a grand ballroom, straight out of Versailles. They were dressed in 18th century court costumes, glittering with jewels. Totally alone in the ostentatious room, they were surrounded by starlight and sparkles of magic.

  Maurice thought they were having a wonderful time until the music coming from the invisible musicians ended--and didn't start up again with another song.

  "Oh, come on," he said, looking around, as if maybe this time some other inhabitants of the dream would become visible. "That's only our eighth dance--I can go all night, can't you?" By his reckoning, it was nearly five in the morning. He could cram days of fun and dancing into the next half hour, if he tried hard enough.

  "It'll start in a minute," Holly said. She seemed slightly distracted.

  He scrambled for something to say to bring that smile back to her lips. "So, Holly Berry, what do you want for your birthday?" he said when the music resumed and they stepped out again.

  "I don't need anything." She smiled, but that happy glow didn't quite fill her eyes like it had only a few minutes ago.

  "Yeah, well, what's wrong with having something you want for a change, instead of just something you need?"

  "I don't want anything...except this. Every night. I can even put up with not remembering during the day." Her voice wavered a little. "I think."

  A sure danger sign.

  "Dancing every night, huh?" He swallowed hard, fighting the thick sensation in his throat that tried to choke him. "You deserve a lot more, to my way of thinking."

  "And you," she said, tipping her head back and giving it a defiant little shake.

  "Me, huh? Flatterer. But I said you deserved more. As in better, not worse."

  Holly giggled as she pulled a hand free and slapped his arm. "You!"

  She laughed more when he partially crumpled to the floor, pretending to be mortally injured. "Clown."

  "Yes, my lady. Gladly, my lady." Maurice swept an extravagant bow, touching the floor with his fingertips. He stepped back up to her and held out his arms. In moments, they were dancing again, floating across the floor.

  "So," she said after a few moments, "when is your birthday, and what do you want?"

  "To be real for you, for just an hour," he said, feeling as if the words had been pulled out of him.

  Holly stopped. He stopped. The music faded, and the grand ballroom darkened around the edges, as if the nighttime would swallow it up at any moment.

  "Maurice, you're all the real I need," Holly whispered. She smiled with not a hint of that misery that sometimes darkened her eyes.

  He bent to kiss her cheek. The grand clock in the tower high over their head...clattered like Holly's alarm clock.

  She froze, starlight in her eyes. And then slowly faded into mist.

  "No!" Maurice howled, as the ballroom turned dark around him and he fell backwards, out of the Wishing Ball and back to his seated body.

  "Come on, give a guy a break," he groaned. With a surge of anger, he called up all his magic and vanished in a shower of sparks, to erupt into the air over Holly's bed.

  Eyes closed, she turned off the alarm clock and curled back into sleep. She was smiling and her cheeks were flushed.

  Maurice hovered over her for a few moments, watching her, breathless with an aching he had never known before.

  He knew her habits, after watching her so many mornings. He didn't have much time. When he landed on her pillow, he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

  "I promise you, Holly Berry, we'll see each other at solstice, and we'll have a great time, just you and me. Promise."

  In Divine's Emporium, Angela rested her hand on the Wishing Ball and sighed, as she watched Maurice flutter away from Holly's bed and just hover there, watching her as she slowly woke. With her free hand, Angela wiped a few t
ears from her cheeks.

  "Oh, Maurice, that's not what I wanted for either of you. Not yet, anyway. Now what are we going to do?"

  Lips pursed in determination, Angela stroked the Wishing Ball until the image cleared, to be replaced by a soft lavender shimmer. She waited, but the face she wanted to see didn't appear.

  "You can't avoid me, Asmondius," she muttered, and tapped at the Wishing Ball with the tips of her nails until it chimed. "I may not be Fae, but I've seen enough to know my way around Fae magic. At least, enough to modify Maurice's punishment. You and I are going to give him a very merry Christmas, whether you cooperate with me, or not."

  ~*~

  Find out what Maurice gets for Christmas in Have Yourself a Faerie Little Christmas.

  * * *

  About the Author

  Michelle Levigne has been a book addict since kindergarten, starting with Dr. Seuss and graduating to the Happy Hollisters juvenile sleuth series, then an abridged two-volume set of Rudyard Kipling found in her parents' bookshelf (fell in love with Mowgli and Kim) before detouring through a flirtation with Star Trek in fifth grade (who is better, Trek's Dr. McCoy or X-Men's Dr. McCoy?) before being captured by the Black Stallion like all the other girls in her class. In junior high, she fell captive to Greco-Roman mythology and found The Odyssey after watching an old Kirk Douglas movie on rainy Sunday afternoon. (And some people still believe her when she says she read it in the original Greek.) Then in senior high, the addiction took over her life and she became a pusher--she started writing.

  To learn about other universes and genres Michelle writes in, visit her Web site: www.Mlevigne.com.

  * * * *

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