by Caroline Lee
“But you bring up a good point.”
His voice had gone husky, and Allison felt herself shiver in response.
“Are we dating?” He continued. “I can’t go around introducing you as my girlfriend if we’re not.”
She managed to get her throat working enough to say. “Your girlfriend, huh? Is that what you want me to be?”
Slowly, he shook his head. “Actually, no. You and I, we’re… Well, I feel like we’re too mature for girlfriends and boyfriends. Maybe we need a new word…”
Allison felt her palm go sweaty where she gripped his hand. She swallowed. “How about if I call you my ‘gentleman caller?’ ”
He shifted forward once more, until they were almost touching. “And how about me? What should I call you?”
Allison managed a shrug, and wondered if he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. He was so close! So intoxicatingly close. If she leaned just a bit, their chests would touch, and she could press herself against him, and everything would be right in the world.
“I did have one thought.” He was staring at her lips. “How about if I call you the woman I’m falling in love with?”
And before Allison had a chance to respond, or even process the jolt of joy that had gone through her at his words, he was kissing her. His arm around her back, her fingers playing with the hair at the base of his neck, their bodies pressed against one another. It was the most incredible kiss she could ever imagine. It was…
Marvelous.
After what seemed like too short of a time, though Allison admitted she wasn’t in any condition to be keeping track, Joshua pulled away and rested his forehead on hers. They stood like that for a while—neither moving nor speaking, just breathing in each other’s scents.
Through it all, his words chased each other through Allison’s brain. The woman I’m falling in love with. He loved her? The thought caused her joy and panic and wonder and excitement, all rolled into one.
Because she was fairly certain she was falling for him too.
“Joshua, I—”
He straightened and lifted one finger to her lips. “If you’re going to break up with me before we’re even officially dating, or if you’re going to tell me you regret this, then I’ll probably cry.”
She couldn’t contain her smile. “I don’t regret it.”
“Good. I don’t either.” His eyes darted away, then back, then away again. Was he nervous? “That was pretty…um. That was nice, huh?”
Nice? “That was incredible.”
Just like that, his smile bloomed, and he met her eyes. “Yeah, it was. Unequivocally.”
She was about to reply—although she didn’t know if she could without blurting out I love you!—when her phone buzzed loudly in her purse, which was strung over her shoulder. She jumped, and jumped again, when it buzzed a second and third time.
“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly. “I guess I didn’t turn that off for our date. I should’ve—” Another buzz made her scramble for the device to turn it off, but her finger hovered over the button when she saw the ID.
She glanced up at Joshua. “It’s Peggy. My friend, the social worker.” Peggy had been the one who’d helped Colin and Nellie get settled.
As she’d expected, Joshua looked as eager to find out what Peggy wanted as she was. “Well? What’s she say?”
Allison scrolled through the messages to read from the top. “She says…the kids are settling in…and…um…” She sucked in a thrilled breath. “We can see them, if we want!”
She met Joshua’s eyes, and knew her excitement was mirrored there. They were both smiling, even bigger than they had been a moment before.
“What does she mean ‘if we want?’ Of course we want to.”
Allison’s fingers flew over her phone’s screen. “I’m asking her when— Oh!” She read the reply. “Tomorrow, Peggy says.” She flipped over to her calendar app. “I’m available after four, I think. How about you?” she asked Joshua.
“I’m available any time you want.” He bounced a little on the balls of his feet. “Could we bring them dinner? We don’t have to go anywhere, if that’s not allowed.”
Allison grinned as she asked, and when Peggy’s reply came through, she looked up at him. “She says ‘totally.’ I think the kids have been asking about us too. Wouldn’t it be great to see—”
She bit off her comment with a squeal when Joshua wrapped his arms around her and gave her a little spin. Not too far—just enough to make her breathless and giddy and feel significantly younger than forty. “What was that—”
This time he cut her off with a kiss, and she was happy for it. She wrapped her arms around him, throwing all her excitement into the kiss, and tasting his joy in return.
By tomorrow evening everything would be perfect.
CHAPTER SEVEN
They were holding hands when they climbed up the front porch steps of the home that acted as Post Falls’ group home, and Joshua couldn’t quit smiling. Because they planned to see a movie after their “dinner date” with Colin and Nellie, he’d met Allison at River’s End Ranch after her appointment with Ellie. All she’d told him when he’d climbed in the car was that the mama-to-be was really close to welcoming her baby, and he’d respected her privacy obligations. They’d instead gotten into a conversation about the Idaho foster care system.
When they’d gone to her condo, she’d barely kept him waiting at all while she finished changing out of her scrubs and into the jeans and T-shirt she now wore. He liked that she was so low-maintenance, but he suspected her speed was really due to her excitement at seeing the kids again.
They’d spoken of little else on the drive over, so he knew she was as anxious—and nervous—to see Colin and Nellie again as he was. From her contact with her social worker friend, he knew Allison had been getting updates, and he knew the kids had asked after them. He even knew they wanted to see them… But how would they react once they were face-to-face?
Allison greeted her friend Peggy with a big smile, and the social worker’s pleased expression said she was happy they’d come.
“Colin has asked three times when you would get here.” Peggy’s round face seemed like it had been made to smile. “I just need you to fill out some paperwork, and I’ll tell the kids to meet you in the dining room.”
He had to let go of Allison’s hand long enough for them to sign the forms, but he kept sneaking her little glances, and liked when she grinned back at him. Well, he liked just about everything she did, and her smiles weren’t any different.
Yesterday’s lunch date had been amazing. Of course, if somebody had asked what they’d eaten, Joshua couldn’t say. But he didn’t think he would ever forget that kiss he’d shared with Allison on the streets of Riston. Her touch—her taste—had shaken him to his core, and he’d been thrilled how many times they repeated the exercise. It seemed she wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss her.
But it wasn’t until this morning, after a good night’s sleep, that he remembered his great aunt’s warning: Allison isn’t the woman for you. How could she say that? How could the fairies say that? The time he spent with Allison yesterday—the conversation they’d shared, the kisses they’d shared—just proved to him she was The One. She was the woman he wanted in his life forever.
The thought of “forever” was a sobering one, but the more he considered it, the happier it made him. He wanted a forever with Allison Ravenwing. It was liberating to realize, and only a little terrifying. As far as he knew, his Aunt Jaclyn had never been wrong when it came to interpreting the fairies’ intentions. So why now? Or, could they possibly be right, and there was something he didn’t realize that was holding them apart?
“Thank you very much, Dr. Hardy.”
Peggy’s words jolted him back to the here and now, and he handed her his pen while she filed his paperwork.
“Why don’t you two go on back to the dining room, and I’ll send Colin and Nellie back to find you?”
/> The way Allison gripped his hand on their way through the house told Joshua she was nervous too. Would the kids be happy to see them? Did they resent the advice to come here, rather than keep running?
When he and Allison stepped into the cozy eating area, Joshua did the only thing he could think of to calm them both down. He pulled her into his arms and smiled against her lips at her enthusiastic response.
An exasperated noise from the hallway startled them apart, and Joshua found himself flushing when he looked over to see Nellie’s smirk. Her younger brother—whose bruises looked like they were healing nicely—wasn’t nearly as judgmental. Without saying a word, Colin rushed across the room and threw himself against Allison. His hug lasted only a few seconds, before he launched himself at Joshua. But when Joshua accepted the little boy’s hug and returned it with as much emotion and caring as he could, he felt…
He felt something change. He felt something bloom, deep inside his chest, in the place where he kept his feelings for Allison, where he kept his smiles and his joy and his love. Holding Colin—feeling the little boy’s arms around him—felt as perfect as having Allison in his life.
What would the fairies say about that?
Nellie’s voice broke through his thoughts. “So, like, did you bring dinner or what? Because we’ve been looking forward to this all day.”
As Joshua straightened, he exchanged a look with Colin. The boy’s eager nod warmed Joshua’s heart as much as his sister’s casual compliment had. Grinning, Joshua pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and waggled it in Nellie’s direction.
“I’ve already got the pizza delivery place’s number pulled up. I thought we’d wait to order once we knew what you liked.” He hesitated when he saw the siblings exchange incredulous glances. “Unless, that is, you don’t like—?”
“Pizza!” Colin began to jump up and down. “Pizza, pizza, pizza!”
Nellie’s sudden smile lit up the room. “That’s awesome! We love pizza, but we haven’t had it in a while.”
And so the next several minutes were filled with discussions about toppings, crusts types, and sizes. Colin declared he could eat at least six pieces himself, and Joshua was still chuckling when he called in the order for two larges. He was sure they’d have leftovers, but judging from how much the kids seem to like pizza, he didn’t mind leaving it with them.
Once that was taken care of, Allison did a good job of carefully asking after Colin’s injuries. The boy assured her he’d been to a doctor—which is exactly what Peggy had related too—and that he was feeling much better, but he let her check them over anyway. Joshua’s throat tightened as he watched the woman he loved skim her fingers over the little boy’s fading bruises and split lip.
When she was finished, Allison took Colin’s hand. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry this happened to you, and I’m sorry you didn’t have anyone to help you.”
“That’s okay.” Colin’s grin was crooked and not quite convincing. He exchanged a glance with his sister. “I had Nellie to help me. She took me away. And then you two helped, and then Miss Peggy... And she says we might have a new home soon.”
Allison glanced up at Joshua, and he offered her a sad smile. They knew Peggy was planning on placing the kids in a foster home—with a family—as soon as possible, and they’d discussed the unlikelihood of being allowed to see Colin and Nellie once that happened. Still, Allison offered the little boy a brave nod.
“That’s right! I know Peggy is working really hard to make sure your new home will be so much better than your old one.”
Colin rolled his eyes. “That won’t be too hard. It’s not like we had a real home anyhow.”
Joshua could see from Nellie’s expression that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the topic of conversation. Gently, he said to her, “Don’t feel like you have to tell us anything, but if you ever want to talk about what happened, we want you to know that we’re here for you.” He knew, no matter what happened, he and Allison would always be ready and willing to talk with Colin and Nellie.
The girl shoved her hands in her pockets and shifted uncomfortably. He offered her a reassuring smile.
“I mean it; your past is your own business and—”
“Me and Colin, we figure you have a right to know.” The girl shrugged, her attention on the tiles of the floor. “If you want to, that is.”
Joshua reached his arm around her shoulder, careful not to hold her too tightly, but pleased when she didn’t pull away. ”We’d love to hear anything you’re willing to share.”
Allison, who was still holding Colin’s hand, nodded in agreement.
Nellie took a deep breath. “He was our uncle, but not really. Our aunt was supposed to take care of us when Mom died, but she was drunk all the time, and her boyfriend didn’t like us much. He made us call him Uncle Barry, and he did a lot of mean things…”
Joshua wanted to ask if the man had ever done anything to her, but the thought made his fists clench and his stomach ache. Nellie told their story impassively, with plenty of shrugs like it was no big deal, but he could see the pain hidden right under the surface of her face. She knew what had happened to them was wrong, even if she was trying to make light of it.
They all moved to the small table as she told them how she’d stockpiled supplies, and they’d run after Barry’s last angry beating. How they’d hitchhiked south and westward, not sure where they were going. How they’d walked and camped and gone hungry for a few days, rationing their supplies, until they’d stopped at River’s End Lake to rest, and their lives had changed for the better.
When Nellie trailed off, Allison tightened her hold on Joshua’s hand, which she’d gripped under the table when the girl’s recitation began. “I don’t know if it will matter to you, Nellie, but I’m beyond proud of you. You’ve had to be so grown up, and you’ve managed so much—” Her voice caught, and she looked away, blinking rapidly.
Joshua exchanged a significant look with Colin, who was sitting across the table. The little boy shifted awkwardly, as if he were as uncomfortable with the praise as his sister had been. But then he blinked and smiled a little too enthusiastically to be genuine.
“So…who’s up for some Uno?”
The boy’s question broke the awkward silence, and all four of them chuckled gratefully. Colin found the deck of cards in the game cabinet and was soon winning the rousing game. When the pizza was delivered, they almost didn’t notice, they were having so much fun.
But they settled into their cheesy goodness—sausage and onion for the ladies, half a pie of pepperoni for Colin, and the other half anchovies for Joshua—and kept up the laughter. Joshua entertained them with stories about rocket launches—and felt a special glow at the look of adoration Colin sent his way when he spoke about spaceflight—and Allison shared some of her grandfather’s tales. It was obvious from their reaction they’d heard some of the old Salish legends, but they listened eagerly, making Joshua wonder how much connection they had to their heritage. Maybe Allison could help them with that.
Later, stuffed and happy and still giggling, Nellie suggested a walk in the garden outside. Peggy had made it clear the kids shouldn’t leave, but the garden was surrounded by walls and would be nice in the late-summer dusk.
As they headed outside, Joshua was telling them about his aunt and her matchmaking claims. “I think she said it’s been close to thirty couples over the last year, or something like that.”
Nellie was skeptical. “Fairies?” she scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
They stepped out into the garden, and Joshua felt a tingle travel up his body from the compacted dirt path. He glanced down at Allison’s hand, where it rested in his, but she showed no sign of experiencing the same sensation. No, it was something unique to him.
And to his family.
He knew. He knew they weren’t alone out here. He could feel them all around him. Not Allison, not the kids—although his love for them all formed a tangible c
loud around their little group—but…something else, something older. Something as old as the large apple tree in the corner of the garden; as old as the rocks at his feet. As old as the dirt and the moon. As old as the scent of late-summer growing things and the breeze that caressed his cheeks and lifted the hair away from his temples.
“Oh, really?” he whispered to Nellie, dropping Allison’s hand and stepping further into the little oasis of nature. “I’m not so sure…”
When he was in the exact center of the garden, he turned and faced the little trio. Allison stood with her arm around Colin’s shoulders, while Nellie’s arms were crossed in front of her chest and her foot tapped impatiently.
Joshua grinned and lifted his arms from his side, and felt the weight of time and life and love lift off the ground under his palms. When his hands were parallel to the ground, he spread his fingers, and with a jolt that almost knocked him over, the fairies came out to play.
All around him, the garden lit up with tiny pinpricks of golden light, flitting from leaf to leaf. Little points of fire, not there a moment ago, no rhyme or reason to their movements.
“Fireflies,” scoffed Nellie, apparently forgetting that was an impossible explanation.
But Allison’s look of wonder and enchantment told Joshua she understood. Her face slowly bloomed into that genuine smile he loved so much, glowing in the golden light of Joshua’s new little talent. And just like that, there in the dusk-shrouded walled garden, he could see the truth.
Between them, stretching from her chest to his, Joshua could see a faint golden line. He moved to one side slightly, but the line—the string?—didn’t change. It was connecting his heart to Allison’s, and was there always.
Is this what Aunt Jaclyn saw? Is this what the fairies pointed out to her? Is this how she knew which couples belonged together?
But no, that couldn’t be it. She’d said the fairies told her Allison wasn’t the one for him, but here was evidence that she was. Joshua built his life on “evidence,” and even though he couldn’t explain—or fully understand—what was happening here, it was impossible to ignore the evidence.
