Perfectly Matched (30 page)
Authors: Heather Webber
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Women Sleuths, #chick lit, #Heather Webber, #Lucy Valentine
“No, she’s not,” Laurel Grace insisted.
“Why isn’t she?” Amanda asked her daughter.
“She’s—she’s . . .” I was waiting for the words “a fraud” to fall from her lips, and was shocked when she said, “She’s not blond!”
I held back a smile as I fingered my long dark hair, trying to think of what to do, what to say. I knelt by Laurel Grace’s bed and improvised as best I could. “Fairies are just like people.”
And Crafters
, I added silently.
“We come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors.”
She gazed at me with big blue eyes as though I wasn’t even close to measuring up to her idea of a fairy. It was true I more resembled Esméralda from Disney’s
Hunchback of Notre Dame
, which might be a tad bit confusing to a five-year-old looking for the Tinkerbell sort, so I tried really hard not to be offended when she started wailing again.
I saw Cherise’s lips moving but couldn’t hear what she was saying, and then her left eye blinked twice. Laurel Grace immediately quieted but still wore a tremulous pout.
Cherise had used a curing spell to calm the little girl.
Amanda quickly said, “Why don’t you look under your pillow, honey?”
I recognized a chance to escape when I saw one. “I should be going. Lots of stops to make tonight. Lots of teeth lost!” I backed out of the room as Laurel Grace pulled the satin pouch from beneath the pillow.
“How did she know my name, Mommy?” I heard from the safety of the hallway.
“Because she’s magical,” Amanda answered. “Do you believe now?”
“Maybe,” Laurel Grace whispered.
I had to smile at her noncommitment.
Cherise had followed me out. “Thank you, Darcy,” she said as we walked down the stairs. In the kitchen, she pressed a check into my hand. “I’ll let Velma know what a great job you did.”
I was ready to put this whole night behind me—and hang up my wings for good. I tucked the check into my purse. “You’re welcome.”
Cherise rubbed her ears as if they were still ringing. “She’s tiny, but she has a pair of lungs that can rival an opera singer. Sometimes spells come in handy, don’t you think?”
I fidgeted, not sure what to say.
Before I could come up with a response, she added, “I just wish Dennis could be here right now. He’s really missing out on an important event in his daughter’s life.”
She stared expectantly at me.
She had me. As a Wishcrafter, I was obligated to grant the wish. However, if Cherise wasn’t pure of heart in her motives for making the wish, my spell wouldn’t work no matter how hard I tried to grant it.
Do no harm
.
My nerves tingled as I said softly, “Wish I might, wish I may, grant this wish without delay.” I winked my left eye twice, which would look merely like a twitch to a mortal, but other Crafters would know my spell had been cast. “You’re sneaky.”
“I know. Sorry about that.” She gave me a mischievous smile. “You just can’t trust anyone these days.”
is available at bookstores everywhere.
Coming Soon:
A Witch Before Dying
– August 2012
The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy – Spring 2013
***
About the Author:
Heather Webber (aka
Heather Blake
) is the author of over a dozen novels. She's
a Dr Pepper enthusiast, total homebody who loves to be close to her family, read, watch Reality TV (totally addicted, especially to competition shows), crochet, occasionally leave the house to hike the beautiful mountains in the northeast, bake (mostly cookies) and dreams of owning a house at the base of Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, VT.
Heather grew up in a suburb of
Boston
, but she c
urrently lives in the
Cincinnati
area with her family.
***
Other books by Heather:
The Nina Quinn Mystery Series
:
The Lucy Valentine Novels
(romantic mysteries)
