“He obviously loves you—a lot.”
“He does?”
“Sure. Why would anyone willingly make such an ass—I mean, spectacle of himself if he didn’t love you above all else?”
Michelle glanced toward Brett still teetering in the middle of the church aisle. “I don’t know.”
“Do you love him, Michelle?”
Michelle’s eyes cut toward Ryan still frozen in mid-glare at the uncouth interloper, then lowered her voice to a whisper, “Can he hear us?”
Tessa cocked her eyebrow at Jack, silently asking him.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know.”
Just then a miniaturize version of the Truelove Manual popped into Jack’s lap, opened its leather bound cover and started flipping pages. Within seconds the old parchment pages settled.
Tessa leaned over to read, but the page was blank—only Jack seemed to be able to scan the text for an answer.
“Ah ha, there it is!” he exclaimed. “No, Michelle, no one can hear us as long as they stay frozen in time.”
Tessa repeated her question. “Do you love Brett?”
“Yes,” the bride whimpered as though her confession of love were painful. “b-but I can’t m-marry him. I don’t want to live hand to mouth the rest of my life.”
Tessa looked at Brett again, this time really taking a moment to study him. He didn’t have that beaten-down or lazier-than-dirt look about him. He was muscular and well-toned, toned in a way only hard work and clean living toned a man. An aura of determination and self-confidence clung to him like a second skin. Through equal parts of hard work and fortitude, this man would carve a nice niche in this world for him and his.
Suddenly, she didn’t feel so bad about meddling in Michelle’s life. Just because Tessa didn’t believe in true love, didn’t mean Michelle couldn’t lose herself in the fantasy.
“Why do you think he couldn’t provide for you? Does he have a job?”
“Yes,” Michelle answered, warming to her topic. “He works in a shop that builds custom-made motorcycles. He’s very talented. He said that one day he wanted to own his own shop.”
Tessa nodded, “So he’s ambitious. That’s good.”
Michelle’s shoulders slumped. “Talk is cheap. My dad used to tell us that he was going to have his own bar, but all he did was spend his time and money down at Patrick’s Place. Daddy died last year.”
“Does Brett drink, do drugs or gamble?”
“No drugs. Maybe a beer or two every now and then, but not like Daddy.” Michelle let a small smile etch across her lips. “Brett says you might as well light a match to your money and watch the ashes float away as to gamble it away.”
Tessa liked her answer. So far, so good. “Does he go to work on a regular basis?”
“Yes, except when he took off to be with me when Daddy died, I don’t think he’s missed a day in the three years he’s been at the shop.”
“So why do you think he won’t be a good provider? He has a good job. He doesn’t waste his money on vices. And most importantly, he loves you enough to make an ass out of himself in front of all these people.” Tessa shrugged her shoulders as she waved her hands palms upward. “What more could a girl want?”
Michelle looked at Ryan.
Tessa grunted sarcastically, "Oh come on, what is Ryan going to give you? A huge house big enough the two of you can live together without really having to live together? Diamonds big enough to tempt some thug to knock you over the head for them? Oh yeah, and a lot of alone time. I'll give you ten to one odds that he and his 'personal assistant' will have to go to some place exotic at least twice a year—without you."
"But he cares about me," Michelle whispered almost to herself.
"I'm sure he does, just like I'm sure you care about him. But is it love? A man, just like a woman, needs passion in his life. Is 'caring' going to be enough to spark the passion a man needs? Cause if caring can't spark it, stealing a taste of the forbidden fruit will."
Michelle seemed to be pondering Tessa's questions.
"Look at him. Is that anger or fear of losing you on his face? No, it's disdain. Some underling, someone not up to his standards has dared crash his sanctimonious world.
“You are his noble project,” Tessa continued, hoping she was close to the mark concerning Ryan’s motivation for marrying Michelle. “He wants to introduce you to high-brow culture, groom you for his society. I’ll bet in his way of thinking, it's like making a silk purse out of a pig's ear sort of thing.”
“You think Ryan doesn’t love me?”
Tessa shrugged a shoulder, trying to look indifferent when in fact her heart was damned near pounding out of her chest. “It doesn’t matter what I think. What do you think?”
Michelle stood silent, her gaze ping-ponging between Ryan and Brett. After a moment, she spoke, “I think you’re right. I have always, will probably always, love Brett. I don’t know what made me think I could shut him out of my life." Michelle squared her shoulders. "I can’t marry Ryan. I love Brett.”
Tessa smiled at Michelle. Jack let out a celebratory whoop. “Good girl! I knew you’d figure it out.”
Michelle smiled back at them. “Now, if you’ll undo whatever you did to everyone, I’d like to get this over with as quickly has possible.”
“Oh yeah, right! I’ll just—uh, just uh…” Tessa pinned a glare at Jack. “You wanna help me out here?”
“Right.” Jack thumbed through the book for a moment, then stopped to read. “Just snap your fingers three times in rapid succession."
A millisecond after Tessa snapped her fingers the third time, chaos exploded around them. Everybody moved at once. The groom finished his turn toward the quickly advancing wedding-crasher. Michelle's mother stood, then fainted straight away. The minister sputtered as the bridesmaids huddled together trying to figure out what to do to help Michelle.
But Michelle didn't need any help.
“I’m sorry, Ryan,” she said as she handed her bouquet to her Maid of Honor. “Emma, take care of Mama. Tell her I’ll call her later and explain.”
Then Michelle ran down the aisle and threw herself into Brett's arms.
Tessa had barely whispered a heartfelt "Good luck" before she felt the room began to spin and the air filled with red, swirling sparkles. Slightly dizzy, she squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to find her balance.
A heartbeat later, Tessa and Jack were back in her living room.
“My God,” Jack’s voice, thick and husky, glided over her like warmed velvet. “You are beautiful."
Tessa opened her eyes and almost screamed. Jack stood naked before her—at least, she assumed he was naked. A chair blocked her view of him from his belly button down. Desire, pure and primal, burned in his hazel-green eyes.
A sudden thought seized her. If he was naked, that meant she was… A quick glance down at herself confirmed her worst fear. Naked as the day she was born!
Not bothering to smother her scream, she dove behind the couch for cover.
Could her life get any worse!
***
The Boogie Man turned off the flat screen TV where she and the Enchanted Corp had been spying on Tessa and Jack, aka the Truelove Fairy and her faithful sidekick. “Obviously, neither one of them believes in true love yet, much less that they are each other’s true love. But at least they are speaking to each other now. That’s a step in the right direction.”
“Definitely, a work in progress,” the Tooth Fairy grumbled.
The Easter Bunny nudged Santa Claus in the ribs. “Yeah, but this one is going to be a hoot to watch!”
~~********~~
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