Miracles for Nick

by Holly Fuhrmann

  "Nope, I'm not getting out until you understand,” Nick said. He stood right in front of her as he said, “You. I want you."

  "Well, maybe I don't want you anymore.” Glory tried to sound convincing, but wasn't quite sure she managed it.

  "Yes, you do.” Again that smile, as if Nick had figured out something she hadn't.

  "Of all the egotistical—"

  He reached out and traced her forearm with his index finger. Just that one small touch was enough to stop Glory mid-sentence.

  "You want me as much as I want you,” he said. “The fairies were right. You've been my dream—my secret wish—forever and a day."

  "I don't want to want you.” That much was the truth. Glory didn't want to want anyone, because wanting led to needing, and if you needed someone they could let you down. She'd been hurt by Garth, and she didn't want to be hurt again.

  "I know,” he whispered, as if he'd inherited the fairies’ ability to read her mind.

  "I was married before,” she said by way of explanation.

  "I know."

  "It didn't work out.” Despite the fact they'd been together for five years, it wasn't really Cynthia who had broken them up. They'd been broken almost from the beginning. Two strangers sharing a life, but not sharing what really mattered—themselves.

  "This will work out,” Nick promised.

  "How do you know?"

  "Because I love you."

  "That's what Garth used to say before her found Cynthia and her big boobs.” She looked down at the small mounds beneath the gorgeous peignoir. “You're not going to get big with me."

  "I saw what you had last night, Glory, and I hope to see them every night for rest of our lives. Besides, more than a handful's just a waste."

  She smothered a giggle. “What did you say?” she asked, though she'd heard him the first time.

  "More than a handful—"

  "No, before that.” She wanted to hear him say those words, those magical words, over and over. They were big, they were scary, and like the fairies had said, they had a magic of their own. He loved her. Nick Aaronson loved Glory Chambers!

  It was magic. It was a miracle.

  "I want to see you every night for the rest of our lives.” His grin said he knew those weren't the words she wanted.

  Glory was scared and exhilarated. She was flying higher than any fairy had ever soared. He loved her. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops. “I—” she started.

  "Shh,” Nick said. “Let me finish, then you can take your turn. I want that happily-ever-after the fairies promised me, and I know that can only happen with you. You're every dream I've ever dreamed. You're the miracle I've been waiting for. I love you."

  "You're sure the fairies didn't cast a spell on you?” she teased. But if the fairies had managed to cast a spell on Nick, she'd been caught in it as well.

  "They can't make someone love someone. Love is too strong a magic, even for fairies,” he said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. I love you, Glory. I've been waiting my whole life for you, and it took a bunch of fairies to show me that my dream was right in front of me. Do you think you can learn to love me, too?

  "Nope."

  "Nope?” he echoed in disbelief.

  Gently she reached out and caressed his face—the face of the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life waking up to and going to sleep next to. The face of the man she loved. The face of the man who was her happily-ever-after. “I don't have to learn how, because I already love you. I didn't think—didn't dare hope—that you'd feel the same."

  "You know, I used to think I'd never find what my family had. I mean, I knew three perfect couples. Their love radiated between them, and it was obvious that each of them was half of a whole. How could I expect to find that? Lightning doesn't strike the same tree four times. And yet, here you are."

  Nick looked at the woman he loved and knew he'd found his miracle. He scooped her up. “Tell me that you've at least got a bed in this place?"

  "Now that I've got some time, I'm planning to unpack.” She pointed toward the bedroom door. “But the bed's set up and it's in there."

  "Good. And don't worry about unpacking, at least not until we move these boxes to my house."

  "Your house?"

  "Unless you want to live somewhere else after we're married."

  "Married?” she repeated.

  "Sure. You know, my Mom's done nothing but complain about missing Joy and Max's weddings. She's going to badger you into letting her help plan this one.” He headed toward the bedroom.

  "Wedding?"

  "Do you think Bernie would officiate?"

  "Wedding?"

  Nick set her on the bed. “I know Mom's going to want a huge, blow-out celebration, but she's going to have to plan it fast because I can't wait long. I understand why my siblings didn't wait for a family wedding. I'd whisk you off to Vegas tonight if I didn't know that Mom would kill me.” He stripped off his shirt and threw it to the floor. “And though I might have to wait a few weeks for the wedding, I think I'm going to have to insist on jump-starting the honeymoon."

  "I think this is one instant I'm in total agreement with you, Counselor."

  As he climbed into the bed next to the woman he loved, Nick ran his hand over the silk covering her body. “Have you gotten tired of hearing me say ‘I love you?’”

  "I'll never get tired of hearing those words.” She reached for him. “I love you, too."

  Nick Aaronson sank into Glory's glorious embrace and knew he had his miracle.

  Epilogue

  "And here's a toast to the happy couple,” Miriam Aaronson said. “May your life be full of the miracle of love, and may you always find magic in each other's arms."

  Three couples burst out laughing, and Miriam looked at her children and their spouses a moment before she added, “And here's to me! I finally got to not only attend, but plan, one of my children's weddings."

  Wild applause broke out. They'd rented the Warner Theater. A huge old theater, ornate in the style of an era gone by. The reception took place in its foyer—the perfect setting for the fairy tale wedding Miriam and the fairies had put together in just three weeks.

  The fairies had been as insistent on rushing the wedding as Nick. They said they didn't approve of premarital intimate relations, and the sooner they made them legal, the better. But Glory thought they were simply anxious to have things legalized so she and Nick didn't have a chance to change their minds. She could have told them there was no worry. Nick was her dream-come-true.

  Glory gazed at her husband. Any place with Nick in it was Fairyland and heaven rolled into one. She looked at her new family. Grace, jiggling CheChe on her knee, was seated next to Joy, who was cuddling a dozing Zeke. Both women were listening to whatever Joy's step-daughter, Sophie, was saying. The little girl had practically stolen the day, bedecked in her flower girl dress.

  Max and Gabriel were standing behind the women and children, engaged in some animated discussion. And Miriam, looking smugly at the group, was cuddled on her husband, Joseph's, lap. The love Nick's parents felt for each other and for their family was evident in their indulgent expressions.

  "Look at your parents. I hope we feel that strongly about each other thirty or so years down the road,” Glory whispered to Nick.

  "I have it on good authority that our love will stand the test of time. Hell, if we can survive Myrtle, Fern and Blossom, I can't imagine anything that can tear us apart."

  "Where are they, by the way?"

  "They're—"

  "Right here.” Myrtle's dress was as loud as her fire-engine hair, but Glory had become accustomed to Myrtle's flamboyant tastes and thought she looked perfect.

  "Thank you, dear,” Myrtle said, obviously reading her mind.

  Glory was too content to complain.

  "We just wanted to stop by and say goodbye,” Fern said with a sniff. She smoothed the skirt of her pea-green dress.

  "So this is it? You're leaving?”
Once upon a time Glory would have said that getting rid of the fairies was her fondest desire. Now she knew she would miss them all fiercely.

  "We've got other cases that need our attention.” Blossom's gown looked like something Scarlett O'Hara could have worn. Her neon yellow parasol only enhanced the resemblance.

  "The restaurant won't be the same without you.” That was the truth. Glory would miss her—help.

  "I think Dorothy and Don will keep things going well,” Myrtle said. “And don't be surprised if they're heating up more than the cooking soon."

  "Are you three at it again?” Nick asked.

  "Oh, no. Those two didn't need our help,” Fern said. “They just needed the jobs and an introduction."

  "Their relationship is a piece of cake. Nothing like trying to fix up the Aaronson clan.” Blossom sighed her swoony Southern-belle sigh and twirled her parasol.

  "Does Grace have any idea what she's unleashed on the unsuspecting world?” Glory asked with a chuckle.

  "Oh, I think she does.” Nick squeezed Glory's hand. “And I think the unsuspecting world is a bit better for her unleashing."

  "Why thank you, Nick.” Fern's voice sounded a little watery, as if she were on the verge of tears. “Fairies don't cry,” she said, sounding even closer to tears than before.

  "So where are you off to?” Glory asked, hoping to change the subject and avoid fairy tears. If they started crying she knew she would, and crying would ruin her perfect wedding day.

  "Well, we're on our way to New York,” Blossom said. “Grace's editor is just waiting for her happily-ever-after. She's met us in the books, but has never met us in person."

  "Will we see you again?” Nick asked, voicing Glory's unasked question.

  Was this what it would be like? Nick reading her mind, Glory reading his. Two halves of a whole?

  She thought so.

  "Of course,” Myrtle whispered.

  "Sure you'll see us again,” Blossom promised. “Fiona and Bernie want you to come to their wedding."

  "They want us to go to Fairyland?” Glory wasn't sure how she felt about that. Fairies in her life was one thing. Going to Fairyland and being surrounded by fairies was another.

  "Yes, and you wouldn't believe the fight Bernie had to get you all there.” Fern chuckled. “For a stickler for the rules, he's truly loosened up. He and Fiona had a huge argument with the counsel over it. But he won."

  "Don't tell him we told,” Blossom whispered, glancing across the room. Bernie had officiated over the wedding, and he sat next to Fiona. Their love was evident, even to those without fairy powers. It radiated like an aura, cocooning them. “You should get your invitations any day. See, Fiona got her happily-ever-after, too."

  "This isn't goodbye, so no sniffling,” Glory said. “You'll get me started, and I'll ruin my make-up."

  "Before you go, I'd like to propose a toast.” Standing and raising his glass, Nick said, “A toast to Myrtle, Fern and Blossom, three wonderful women who have brought magic and love into our lives."

  "Hear, hear,” chorused the rest of the wedding party.

  For years afterwards, the guests at the wedding argued over what happened next. But it appeared that the three women shrank to the size of someone's forearm and sprouted small wings and blinked out of sight. As they disappeared everyone heard, “And they all lived happily ever after."

  Which, of course, they did.

  * * *

  Visit www.imajinnbooks.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.