He laughed and hugged her arm a little tighter against his side. "That's pretty close, but not close enough. So, are you a poor little rich girl, slumming it and hiding from boyfriends who only want your trust fund instead of you? Idiots, that's what they are," he added, his voice taking on a rasp that made her heart pound.
"Umm, something like that. So, what sins are you paying for?"
"No sins, no crimes, no skeletons in the closet." He let go of her arm to open the door of his truck and waited until she had climbed in to shut the door for her. He got in on his side before he continued speaking. "You probably won't believe this... Well, about two hundred years ago or so, my great-great-whatever grandmother ended up here, pregnant and widowed and sick and tired of people telling her what to do and what was real and what wasn't real and... Let's just say she had more books in her covered wagon than any other supplies. She believed in things you can't see every day, know what I mean?"
"Like magic. Like the things you sense but you don't exactly see at Divine's?"
"Yeah." Brick stared at her a long moment before swallowing hard and shaking his head, like coming out of a daze. He started up his truck and pulled away from the curb. "Anyway, she came out here and brought some folks who felt the same way, cared about what's between your ears more than what's in your hands. And one winter night, just before Christmas, she was out walking alone, listening to the magic she heard in the night, and she found this girl...said she was a Fae, after Granny fished her out of the river, where the ice had broken through. She put a spell on Granny, that as long as she believed in magic and did what she could to help other folks, she'd always have what she needed, and more than she could ever use up." He shrugged and cleared his throat and finally looked at her. "Kind of a cute faery tale, huh?"
"I believe in the Fae," Lori murmured.
"Yeah... Something told me you might. Anyway, lots of weird, neat things happen here in Neighborlee. Granny wanted a school here, so her son built the college. And she made it part of the family tradition to keep the story remembered, and to keep doing for people. So here we are." He laughed. "And here we are." He turned the truck into a parking lot and Lori looked around, stunned to see they had driven all the way across town already and sat in front of the college theater building.
"Part of magic is just believing," she offered, when he had hurried around the truck to open the door for her.
"I've spent a lot of time wanting to believe." He offered her a crooked, wistful grin. Then someone called his name and a foursome hurried across the parking lot to catch up with them. Lori didn't have a private moment with him before the play started.
She laughed, which she supposed was the whole point of this new interpretation of A Christmas Carole. Thinking of Dickens, of the conversations she and her cousins had had with the man, she thought maybe he would appreciate the ability to turn his ghost story into a comedy and make people laugh. Especially at Christmas. He might not have understood some of the humor, the sight gags, but he still would have approved.
Lori didn't even notice that mistletoe and holly hung all over the auditorium, and sprigs of it decorated the end of every aisle, until she walked out with Brick, her hands sore from clapping. When she realized, she looked at her hands, ran her fingertips over her throat, touched around her eyes. No itching, no swelling, no hives, no redness. It was a Christmas miracle.
Or maybe some of that magic that had surrounded Brick all his life and soaked into him had rubbed off on her.
Either way, she didn't care. She had finally been able to listen to the line about "a stake of holly through the heart," without instantly falling into seizures from the need to scratch. Was she cured?
Deliberately, she stopped under a huge bundle of mistletoe and holly in the reception room, where non-alcoholic rum punch and other pseudo-Dickens-era refreshments waited for the audience. Brick only took three steps before he turned around and hurried back to her. He glanced up once, to see what she was looking at.
Then he kissed her. Soft and lingering, with a humming sensation that went down to her toes and shot sparks off the ends of her hair and eyelashes. Brick kept his eyes closed for a good five heartbeats after he lifted his lips from hers, so it didn't matter what special effects she gave off.
Oh, yeah, Lori knew she was cured.
They didn't say much to each other after that. She appreciated the quiet, so she could let the moment sink in, and savor it. He led her back to the coatroom after only a few sips of the punch, and she let him. After a few steps, she moved out ahead, pulling on his arm.
"You know, today is the first time in years I didn't mind keeping up the family tradition," Brick said, as they walked down the theater building steps. "Sometimes I think I got allergic to the trees because of the pressure. Silly, huh?"
"No, not at all. Remind me to tell you about some of my stupid allergies, sometime." She sighed as he tucked her arm through his again.
"You're magic. You make the bad go away," he continued, before she could do more than inhale sharply at his words. Had Brick guessed? "We're good for each other, aren't we? I know it's kind of fast, only knowing each other a day, but when it feels this right--" He shrugged, which did interesting things to her stomach, with the two of them walking so close together.
"I've always believed in magic," she offered softly, and lifted her gaze to the sky to look for the wishing star. Even Fae were allowed to have wishes come true, once in a while.
Monday, December 10
"Psst. Maurice?" Phill crept into the book room of Divine's Emporium and looked in all directions, using magical senses as well as physical. "Hey, Cuz, where are you?"
"Man, what is this? Grand Central Station?" Maurice glided into the room. "Hey, Philio, up here." He turned a somersault and came in for a landing on top of the rack holding videotapes and DVDs. "First Lori shows up, now you. If Asmondius shows up and acts like nothing happened, I'm gonna check myself in for some head-shrinking." He staggered sideways, nearly falling off the uneven footing on top of the video boxes. "No, wait, that already happened. Along with the rest of me."
"Very funny." She snapped her fingers and shrank herself down to his size, to land on the tapes next to him. "How are you doing?"
"Hunky dory. Which happens to be a great sandwich shop, from what I hear. I don't get out much in this weather."
"Yeah, I know. I spend a lot of time in Neighborlee." She sat down so she could hang her legs over the edge of the rack. "How come nobody told us you were exiled here? I mean, we heard you were exiled, but--"
"Hello? Time's different between the Human realms and back home. I bet only a month or two have gone by. It's been a year for me. Man, for someone who spends so much time out here, you'd think you'd keep the time differentials straight." He tapped her on the top of her head and grinned.
"Yeah, well, I'm not so good at keeping anything straight lately." Phill managed to grin at his teasing, and gladly scooted over so he could settle next to her. She watched, fascinated, as his wings folded up and then turned sideways so they wouldn't get in the way. "Why in the world did they stick wings on you, anyway?"
"You know Asmondius. Always trying to teach a lesson. It's not so bad. I mean, how else could a guy my size get around when his magic is as small as he is? And you're not here to get flying lessons, are you, Cuz?" He nudged her with his elbow. "What's up? Looking for a great Christmas gift for Will?"
"I want Will to be my Christmas present, but how do I tell him?"
"You could just come out and--no, you'd probably kill him, wouldn't you? I was there when Sephrinia did her dive bomb routine on his brother, Erasmus." He winced. "Poor guy--and lucky guy. At least he got everything settled in one swell foop."
"That's fell swoop." She managed to grin, grateful for his teasing.
"Yeah? You ever seen this guy try leaf-gliding? Definitely a foop." Maurice demonstrated, gesturing with one hand, sweeping up in the air, then taking a dive-bomb downwards. "But Erasmus is a swell guy, so it works out. He
and Sephrinia, they're expecting their third by now, right? Lucky guy."
Something penetrated Phill's gloom and desperation. She focused on the wistful look in Maurice's eyes, the twist of his mouth, the sigh hovering at the back of his voice.
"You aren't--is there some girl back home--"
"Somebody I want to stumble over me when Need sends her on a rampage? Are you nuts?" He shrugged elaborately--which made his wings unfold and snap out, spreading behind them. They fluttered, nudging her, but not enough to knock her off the videotape rack.
"Uh, from that reaction..." She dropped her attempt at kidding. "Something in the romance department has got you depressed. Join the club."
"You and Will haven't figured out yet that you're perfect for each other, have you?"
"I figured it out a long time ago, but how do you tell your best friend that you want it to be a 38/10 proposition--or 24/7, if we decide to settle in the Human realms. Can you believe, it never occurred to me that Will was a boy and I was a girl until about three years ago--Fae realms time, not Human time."
"Ouch. That's a lot of waiting." He folded up his wings and patted her shoulder.
"I don't even want to calculate how many decades that translates into, in Human time. The thing is, how do I wake him up to the fact that we're like two halves of the same whole and we need to pair up, short of slapping him with a biology book?"
"Pair up as in the whole..." Maurice shook his head and whistled. He tried to smile, but the expression fell off his face. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about the whole mis-matched species thing."
"Mis-matched?" Phill leaned back and took a long look at him. All the pieces fell together in her head. She felt her stomach drop, with guilt and pity. "There's some girl here, isn't there? A Human girl." She caught hold of Maurice's hand in both of hers, trying to convey her sympathy with the tightness of her grip. "Let me guess--she doesn't even know you're alive, because she doesn't have enough magic to see you."
"Worse."
"How could it be any worse? You don't have a chance, under the terms of your exile."
"Wanna bet? Angela managed to get me four days of parole every year. So far I've only managed to hook up with Holly twice when I'm full-size and able to talk to her--and have no magic whatsoever. The other two times, things got in the way."
"That's no way to carry on a courtship. You can't cram months of dating into a single day. The poor girl's going to think you're a stalker." Phill sighed. "But at least you get that much time to show her what she means to you."
"Ever hear of Tantalus?" Maurice's smile twisted, looking wry and sickly and bitter, all at the same time.
"Yeah. The Fae clan that masqueraded as gods to the Greeks. Tantalus got in bigger trouble than you, and spent a couple centuries locked up where he could see food and drink and books and other things he loved, but never touch or drink or eat or read or anything." She shuddered. "I know exactly what the poor guy went through. What's that got to do with you?"
"I visit Holly's dreams. We're... Well, as far as I can tell, she loves me, but the thing is, she's sure that's all it is, dreams."
"But when you show up--"
"She doesn't remember her dreams in the daytime. And she can't see me when I'm like this."
"Oh, Maurice, that's awful." Phill flung her arms around him. She silently wept a few tears, pity for both of them in their hopeless love problems.
That's how Will found them, before she found her voice. One minute Maurice was rubbing her back. The next he gasped and jerked back and nearly pulled her sideways off the videotape rack.
"Hey, Will, how's it shaking?" Maurice called, his voice just a little too loud and a little too cheerful.
Phill wondered what in the world was wrong with Will. He just stood there, his eyes wide, his mouth half-open like he was about to say something. He swallowed loud and hard and shook his head. She knew she had mentioned to him yesterday that Maurice was here in town and anchored to Divine's Emporium for his term of punishment. She was pretty sure she had said Maurice was shrunk and had wings, so what could be so shocking to him?
"What's up? Where did you leave Lori?"
"She's going ice skating with Brick and they want us to come along," Will said, his voice cracking a little. He lifted a hand, showing the ice skates hanging by their laces. "I checked with Angela, and she has some in back you can borrow."
"Oh. Great." She glanced at Maurice, wanting to continue their conversation, but how could she ask for advice about Will and getting through to him when he was standing right there?
"It's okay, kiddo, I'm here for the duration. You know where to find me." Maurice winked and gestured as if he would shove her off the edge of the rack. "Go have some fun."
"Oh. Okay." Phill pushed herself forward, falling a few inches before she shifted back to full size, landing with a soft thump on the floor.
"You guys planning on sticking around for the whole Christmas season?" he asked, as she took a step toward the arched doorway out of the book room.
"Maybe." Will sounded somewhat sullen, making Phill stop and look over her shoulder at him. What was his problem?
"My next day at full size is Christmas Eve day. Lots of parties and stuff going on. It'd be great to hang with some folks from home when I'm not stuck looking like a sugar overdose bad dream." He tugged on one of his wings, making a shower of sparks dance around him.
Phill surprised herself with a giggle escaping from her throat. "Sounds like fun. I wouldn't miss it. Will, you do want to stay, don't you?"
"Christmas in Neighborlee, after we missed the last three or four? You better believe it." Will sounded more like his normal self.
"Great! We'll grab Lori and Brick, and I know a girl you gotta meet, and we'll do the whole old-fashioned couples thingy. Sound good?" Maurice winked at her.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Remember that dance class we took when we were little?" Phill leaned against the doorway, feeling laughter catching in her throat as memories surged up to her thoughts.
"Which dance class? Waltzing in Austria? Or something in this century?" He made a shooing motion. "Go check out your skates. I wanna catch up with Willfred here, and we don't need any dizzy girls interfering."
Phill stuck her tongue out at him and scurried off in search of Angela.
* * * *
"Yeah, but what a girl," Maurice added, a moment after Phill disappeared from sight. "So, how's it going, Will? For real, I mean."
"I didn't know you and Phill..." Will felt a moment of disorientation. He knew he stood nearly six feet tall, but for a few seconds there he felt as if he was shorter than Maurice.
No wonder he wasn't getting anywhere with Phill--she was stuck on Maurice, and he was always out and about, spending more time in the Human realms in the last fifty or sixty Human years than in the Fae realms. It was hard for Need to kick in when Phill's perfect match wasn't around to latch onto.
Will firmly believed in the theory that Need didn't kick in until the right male and female were in close and prolonged proximity with each other. That was why Need seemed to always be a surprise to both partners--the Fae traveled and explored in the Human realms and then spent long years in solitary contemplation or study or other occupations.
Which just confirmed that he and Phill were never going to get jolted and shackled by Need, because if it was ever going to kick in, it should have a long time ago. They spent more time together than they did with their own families, combined.
"Me and Phill, what?" Maurice fluttered up until he hovered in the air about eight inches in front of Will's nose. "Just catching up with an old friend. Well, actually, not that old... You do know we're distantly related, don't you?"
"How distant?" Will realized just how desperate he sounded.
"Distant enough that I'm not immune if Need ever hits her. But the thing is, I think she's already got her eye on this guy, and he doesn't seem to realize she's... Well, he doesn't seem to think she's a girl, know
what I mean? Poor sap, doesn't realize what a treasure is right under his nose." Maurice darted in and slapped the tip of Will's nose, adding a couple sparks so the tap stung a little.
"Who does she have her eye on? What kind of an idiot wouldn't notice her?"
"You'd be surprised. If you're smart, you'll find that guy and slap him upside the head, and tell him not to waste any more time. A girl like that, you make her wait long enough, she'll get her heart broken. The way I hear it, a girl gets hurt enough, heart and spirit, Need never happens. The perfect guy for her could be standing right in front of her for years, and nothing would happen. And some stupid mopes, they think they have to wait for Need, instead of making the first move."
He settled down on the videotape rack where Will had first seen him and Phill, hugging. "You know what's really interesting? Human girls, they're independent and smart and they don't need guys to figure out much of anything for them. But Human girls still like being chased. They want a guy to feel like he has to work to catch them, and work to keep them. Keeps things fresh and fun, know what I mean? Maybe Humans are smarter than we are. Guys need to be the hunters again, instead of sitting on their sorry butts, waiting for Need to throw a net over them. Know what I mean?"
"Hunters, huh?" Will glanced over his shoulder, into the shop. He couldn't see the back room where Phill should be looking through all the skates Angela had conjured up for them to borrow, but he could sense her. "Hunters. Yeah. You think Phill..." He knew yellow and blue sparks buzzed around his ears--his usual embarrassing telltales when he blushed.
"I bet she'd love it. But be subtle. Play it slow. Ease into it. The best hunters don't let the prey know they're being tracked until it's way too late to escape." Maurice fluttered up and landed on Will's shoulder. "I happen to know where there's just gobs of mistletoe available, to help give her a nudge in the right direction. After about ten days of it just hanging there, scooping up all that emotional energy, and all the Christmas spirits filling up this town, you catch Phill under a bunch of mistletoe, she's yours. Who gives a flying fig about Need by then?"
Have Yourself a Faerie Little Christmas Page 8
