by Holly Jacobs
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
“Just one more thing,” Clarence said. Grace waited, a question in her eye. “I lied. Who were you talking to in the car and on the plane?”
“My fairy—”
Obviously he didn’t like the beginning of her explanation, because he cut her off. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. If Max has you committed, let me know and I’ll visit. I’ll even bring you your favorite candy with a nail file in it, if you like. I don’t know why I did what I did, but I’ve underestimated you.”
With that, Clarence Darington—kidnapper, would-be-husband, and a man wanted by a loan shark—jumped into a waiting cab and sped away.
Then she thought of her job offer. A job out of town, away from her and Max, that was the ticket. She doubted he’d really changed his opinion of her; he just wanted to keep himself out of trouble. But he was right about one thing, he had underestimated her.
“Is he gone, dear?” Myrtle asked, suddenly appearing in the middle of the rose garden.
“Yes, he’s gone, thanks to no help from you.”
“Oh, we knew you’d manage just fine. You’ve always been such an independent girl, and you have a good head on your shoulders. But if he’s gone we’d better let Max out of that taxi cab. I think he’s about ready to do that poor driver in.”
With a giggle and a small poof Myrtle was gone.
Grace sat back down on the bench to wait for the man she loved.
“I KNOW I’VE SEEN that damn casino more than once!” Max bellowed at the driver. “If you don’t know where the Amazing Grace Wedding Chapel is, then let me out and I’ll find a cabbie who does.”
“Oh . . . The Amazing Grace Wedding Chapel?” the driver asked in very unaccented English. “Why didn’t you say so?”
As he spoke, he made a U-turn right in the middle of the street. An oncoming semi almost landed in Max’s lap, and the cabbie’s foot was probably through the floor. “We’ll be there in half a minute. It’s only a block away.”
A block away? They’d driven around in circles for so long, he was turned around, but then he saw a very familiar looking building.
“Isn’t that my hotel about three blocks down that street?” he asked.
The driver looked confused for a minute. “Sir, I believe you’re right, though why you bothered to take a cab when you only needed to walk four blocks, I don’t know. But people are hard to figure. Why, once I had a woman hire me to drive her three doors down the block. Go figure.”
The driver really did look confused as he pulled up in front of a hideous neon-pink building surrounded by roses. Max suspected that the reason he’d been driven through half of Nevada was threefold: Myrtle, Blossom and Fern.
The cabbie looked at the meter, and his confused look was replaced by shock. “Fifty-seven dollars? That can’t be right. I only drove you four blocks.”
Max felt sorry for the poor guy. “Don’t worry about it. This was one appointment I didn’t want to miss. I appreciate the ride.” He tossed a very large denomination through the window.
“Girls,” he said to the thin air when the cabbie drove away. “I know you did it. I don’t know why, but I know it was the three of you. Grace had better be here, and she had better not be married to Clarence Whatever-his-name-is. Grace,” he called, hurrying toward the ugliest, pinkest building he’d ever seen. “I’m coming.”
Nine
GRACE CLOSED HER eyes and waited, certain that Max was on his way. He hadn’t had the opportunity to play her white knight, but there was no question in her mind that he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
“Grace?”
She sat up straight. It was Max. He ran up the walkway, a flash of black among the thousands of roses. She stood and smiled at him. Everything would be all right.
“Grace,” he said again, rushing to her and pulling her into his arms. “What happened? Are you all right?”
She laughed for the sheer joy of it. Max was hugging her close, as if he feared she’d disappear again. “I’m fine. Really I am.”
He held her away from him and looked her up and down. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” She pulled him to the bench next to her. “So much has happened.”
“I was worried sick about you.”
“So was I, at first. The fairies put some kind of spell on Clarence. The dimwit kidnapped me and brought me here to marry him. I was only annoyed at the fairies because I knew you’d come to my rescue. But then they lost you. That’s when I started to worry. I thought I was a goner, but they found you. That’s when I made my big mistake.”
“Your big mistake?”
She nodded. “I said I wasn’t sure I wanted to be rescued. I mean, it’s a new millennium. A woman should be able to stand on her own two feet. The minute I voiced the thought, I wished I could suck the words right back in. The fairies took me literally, which means I had to rescue myself.”
His brows rose a fraction of an inch. “That’s why I spent the last hour in a taxi, driving around Vegas in gigantic circles?”
Grace laughed. “Yep, that’s why.”
“So how did you get rid of Clarence?”
“I told a big lie. I told him that if I married there would be no inheritance. That was enough to scare him off. I’m surprised you didn’t meet him on the sidewalk. He just left.”
“That’s a shame. I really wanted to have a little talk with him about stealing my woman.”
My woman. Grace liked the sound of those words. “What would you have said to him?”
“I wasn’t thinking about using words. This is a case where a physical demonstration would have been better.”
Grace stared at him in surprise. Sweet, humorous Max appeared able to do bodily harm—a lot of bodily harm if that ferocious look in his eyes was real.
Suddenly, his dangerous look faded, and her sweet Max was back. Gently, he wrapped her in his arms and said, “I was so worried about you.”
“I was, too, at first, but when I realized the fairies set poor Clarence up, I ended up feeling sorry for the guy. I even offered to help him find a job.”
“You what? Regardless of why he did it, the guy kidnapped you. How could you offer to help him get a job? For that matter, what kind of job do you hope to get him? From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t look very employable.”
“Oh, he’s perfect for this job,” Grace said, grinning impishly. “He’ll be playing boy-toy for a bunch of old women. Don’t you think that’s punishment enough for what he did?”
“Only if one of the women is Doris.”
“Oh, I think that’s a delightful idea,” Grace said, clapping her hands as she added another facet to her plan. “I’ll make Doris a part of the deal.”
“Then he’ll definitely get his just reward,” Max said, chuckling. “Remind me never to make you mad, okay?”
“Okay,” Grace murmured, snuggling against him and savoring the feel of him. She basked in his warmth, and all the frustrations, all the fear for her sanity, all the worry about the Steps and her work faded. Being held by Max was all that mattered.
“Grace, where do we go from here? What are your plans about us?” he asked.
“Plans? About us?” she repeated breathlessly. Just being next to Max set her heart to racing. She could scarcely breathe, much less think about them.
“Yes, about us. As in, what is going to happen to us? So, where do you want to go from here?”
“You were going to make an appointment for me with your friend . . .”
Grace allowed the sentence to fade. She didn’t want, or need, to see a psychiatrist anymore. She couldn’t explain the fairy godmothers, but she did believe in them. If that meant she was crazy, then so be it. She didn’t want anyone curing her of this particular d
elusion.
Max gave her a reassuring hug. “Grace, after all I’ve witnessed, and all we’ve been through since we met, there’s no way I could deny that your fairies exist. It’s my professional opinion you’re not crazy.”
“So you aren’t going to send me to your colleague?”
“You’re not crazy, so it isn’t necessary,” he said. “Now that we’ve settled the matter of your mental status, let’s get back to my original question. What are we going to do about us?”
“I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”
She looked nervous, Max decided. More nervous than she had when she’d walked into his office.
Max knew it didn’t make sense, but it felt as if Grace had been the center of his soul for his entire life. He wanted to tell her he loved her. In fact, he wanted to shout it to the world, but he was afraid it would be too much for her to handle after all she’d been through.
He gently tightened his hold on her, hoping his touch said all he couldn’t say out loud yet. “I want a chance to talk about it, but not here.”
“Where?” Grace asked, not that it mattered. She would follow Max anywhere. She wanted to take him by the hand and drag him into the chapel. She wanted to promise to love, honor and obey—well, she wouldn’t promise to obey—but she had no doubts about the love and honor part.
Despite how much she wanted to say the words, she held off. Things were going too fast, and she needed to slow them down. “I have a room,” Max said. “We can—”
“No hanky panky,” Myrtle said as all three fairies winked into view.
Grace gave a resigned shake of her head. They were back. It had been too much to hope they would leave her in peace. She might not want to believe they were just delusions, but she did want some time alone with Max. “Go away, girls. My white knight has ridden to my rescue, so your job is done.”
“Not until you walk down the aisle and declare your true love.” The three godmothers sat on the bench across from them.
“Max, could you excuse us a minute?”
His gaze swept the garden. “Sure. Where are they?”
“They’re on the bench across from us,” she said. “I need a minute to talk to them.”
He rose. “I’ll be just over there.”
At the loss of his touch, Grace felt an almost a physical ache. She wanted to chase after him and make him hold her again, but she knew she had to take care of first things first. Three fairy godmothers needed to be taught a lesson in true magic—the magic of the pen.
“Myrtle, Fern and Blossom, we need to talk.”
“Talk is what you and Max need to do,” Blossom said. “Gracey, you love him. We know you do and you know you do, so tell him.”
“I’m not ready to say those words to him,” Grace announced, deciding it was time to let the fairies know who was running this show. She should have done it the moment they appeared in her car. Then things might have turned out differently.
But then she might not have met Max, she realized. As she recalled Max’s touch, she realized she wouldn’t alter the past. She would, however, take charge of her future with Max.
“What’s wrong with telling Max right now?” Fern frowned, her displeasure evident.
“Right now, the only thing I’m going to declare is I’m tired. Too tired to sort this out. I need a night. One full night with no fairy interventions.”
“It’s our job.” Myrtle’s arms folded across her ample chest, daring anyone to challenge her.
Grace accepted the challenge. “Make that two nights. You’re hereby taking a leave of absence. A forty-eight hour absence. Max and I want to sort things out for ourselves.”
The three fairies opened their mouths, but Grace held up her hand. “Don’t say a word. If you want to see this match work—and I know you do—then I must prove to myself that what I feel for Max originated from me. I have to know that it’s not some magical spell you three whipped up.”
“We’d never—”
“We couldn’t!”
“It’s against all the rules.”
Grace ignored their objections. She wasn’t backing down. This was too important. “Rules or not, the three of you are officially off duty for a full forty-eight hours.”
“Grace, we’d be derelict in our duties—” Myrtle started.
“Or else,” Grace interrupted.
Myrtle’s eyes narrowed. “Or else what?”
“Or else, I—” Grace didn’t need to finish the statement. The three fairies were obviously reading her mind again because their faces grew pale.
“You wouldn’t!” Blossom looked ready to faint.
“If I can create three fairies, then I can write a book where the fairies lose their powers and have to live as mere mortals for one full year.”
“Oh, Gracey.” Fern appeared ready to cry. “What have we ever done to you?”
“Besides turn my world upside down?”
“I don’t understand why you’re so upset. It is going to end with a happily ever after.” Myrtle looked as sick as her sisters.
“I won’t know that until I have a chance to really get to know Max,” Grace asserted. “That means no fairies, no bad-tempered stepfamily, no kidnappers, no parties. I need time. Quiet, peaceful, sane time to be sure of my feelings.” She paused and softly added, “Please?”
Myrtle scowled. “Grace, you know we’re not supposed to—”
“And, if I don’t get that time,” Grace broke in, her mind working overtime on the delicious possibilities. “I’ll make it worse than just being human for a year. I could give birth to a new fairy whose one goal in life is to see you three married to humans, which would mean you would have to stay human forever.”
“Oh, to think that you could be so mean!” Blossom wailed.
“We should have known after all the awful things she made us do to Nettie, Pauline and the rest.” Fern shook a stern finger in Grace’s face. “You’re . . . you’re warped.”
“Grace,” Myrtle said, her chastising tone making it evident she meant to argue.
Grace folded her arms across her chest and gave them each a hard look. “There is no discussion. I have forty-eight hours with Max. No eavesdropping or visits from the three of you. No matter what happens. Max and I will work out what happens next.”
“Fine.” Blossom produced a bright yellow hanky and inelegantly blew her nose.
“You’ll miss us,” Fern warned.
Not ready to trust the three, Grace added, “And no peeking. Swear it.”
Three hands rose in unison. “On our fairy oaths, we swear.”
Before Grace could respond, they were gone in a puff of smoke.
She nervously rubbed her hands together. She had her time alone with Max, and now it was up to her, Grace MacGuire, to see if this magical feeling in her heart was fairy magic or a one-true-love fairy tale come true.
“Max?” she called.
He came back up the path. “What happened?”
“We’re alone. I scared them off.” The idea of turning the fairies human was still tempting. She had the Danner series to finish, but after that she could pitch the idea to her editor. A series of three books to wrap up the fairy tales.
“You’re sure they’re gone?” Max glanced over his shoulder. “For good?”
“We should be so lucky,” Grace said dryly. “No, just for forty-eight hours. I wanted time to think without them.”
“To think about what?”
Was it her imagination, or did Max look as nervous as she felt? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know that answer, so she said, “To think about your question. You know, the one about what’s next?”
Max led her down the path. “I think the first thing we do is get something to eat and unwind. I don’t think I�
�ve ever had a couple days like these.”
“And I pray you—no, we—never do again.” Grace would definitely lose her marbles if she had to live through another fairy adventure.
“THEY’RE GONE. They’re really gone.” Grace flopped on the bed in Max’s room at the Love Nest Inn. It was quaint, even romantic with soft peach walls, doilies on the dressers, and lace curtains. It seemed so un-Vegas, so normal.
“What do we do first?” she asked Max.
“Eat. If you’re hungry, of course,” Max answered, sitting on the chair next to the bed.
“I’m starving,” she admitted.
“Should we go out or stay in?”
“In. I’m so tired, I don’t think I could handle a restaurant.”
“Dinner it is.” He picked up the phone and paused. “I just realized, I don’t know what kind of food you like.”
“Italian food is my favorite, but I like most anything except Brussels sprouts. Can’t abide those little green balls of yuck.” She pulled off her pumps. Next week she’d buy some new sneakers. And jeans. She’d spent too long in her dress and heels and never wanted to get dressed up again. “I don’t know your favorite food, either.”
He smiled. She might not know his favorite foods, but she already relied on his smile. It warmed her through and through.
“I love Italian. Chinese, too. And I can’t stand broccoli, so you can eat my broccoli, and I’ll eat your Brussels sprouts.”
“Sounds like a good deal,” she said as he dialed the phone.
Max placed their order, hung up and studied her a moment. “While you were missing I started thinking about all the things I didn’t know. Now I know your favorite foods, but there’s another thing that’s bothered me?”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know your middle name. It’s stupid, I know. But it’s bothered me that I didn’t know it.” He sat next to her on the bed. “I want to know everything about you.”
Grace felt her face grow hot as she mumbled her middle name.
“What did you say?”