Satin Sheets and Strawberries (16 page)

She blinked and stared up into the sincerity shining from his darkened eyes. He did love her. Joy radiated from her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and with a tear-filled voice whispered, "I love you."

Logan kissed away the drop of moisture from the corner of her eye. "Please, Kelli, don’t cry. I know we have a lot to work out, but we will work it out."

"I wasn’t crying about that. I always cry when I’m happy."

He placed a tender kiss on the end of her nose. "Then I better buy stock in the company that makes Kleenex, because I plan on making it my life’s mission to see you’re always happy." He captured her sigh of contentment and turned it into a moan of ecstasy.

#

Logan glanced up from his mail and smiled as Kelli walked into the kitchen. She was dressed in a sparkling white leotard with a silvery-threaded sheer billowing skirt. Her hair was braided into a coronet with silver ribbons running through it, and a pair of shimmering wings completed the outfit. "You look sexy as hell."

She glanced down at her fairy outfit and curtsied. "Thanks, but I wasn’t trying for sexy. I have a group of sixty-three first-graders arriving in one hour."

"I still can’t believe you have seven tours lined up already and you’re not officially open."

"That’s okay, I’m not officially charging them." With a shrug of her shoulder she asked, "Is everything set up by the theater?"

"For the third times, yes." He chuckled and said, "You’re not used to delegating. The tables for the drinks and cookies are up."

She leaned down and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Thanks."

"How do you expect to make a profit if you don’t charge for the school tours? The small amount you do charge only covers the cost of the punch and cookies you provide."

"I couldn’t live with myself, if I had to make a living off six-year-old kids." A dreamy smile lit her face as she said, "Wait until you see their faces. It’s magic. For one day they’re allowed to believe in fairies, pots of gold, and magical kingdoms underground.

Logan stared at her expression and saw the magic. He tenderly traced her cheek and said, "You believe, that’s why they believe."

Kelli felt a fiery blush sweep up her cheek and quickly turned toward the refrigerator. She opened the door and said, "Grown-ups don’t believe in such rubbish."

He studied her back as she poured herself a glass of milk. Maybe grown-ups don’t believe, but Kelli did. During the past two weeks they had become friends and lovers. They had worked side by side during the day getting Fairyland ready for its opening the next Friday night, when the drama club would present A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each evening she had listened to his hopes and fears for his career. The nights were spent in each other’s arms.

With a glance at the letter still in his hand, he asked, "What do you think of Utah?"

"Utah?" A thoughtful expression crossed her face as she answered, "Salt, Mormons, and a bunch of large white-toothed singers come to mind. Why?"

"I just received a request for an interview there next week."

Kelli fought the panic threatening to overpower her—Utah was over two thousand miles away. He’s asking your opinion, be supportive and understanding. Oh, hell, tell him not to go. "Is it what you’ve been looking for?"

He glanced from her confused expression back to the letter. "It’s more. I won’t be part of a team, I’ll be heading it."

She plastered a smile on her face. "Congratulations, I say go for it."

Logan placed the letter on the table, stood up, and walked over to her. He gently cupped her chin and raised her face for his inspection. Tears were sparkling in her eyes as he asked, "What’s wrong? Don’t you like Utah?"

Kelli bit her lip and rapidly blinked her eyes to keep the tears from falling. With a ragged sigh, she said, "I’m going to miss you."

Logan laughed as he hauled her into his arms. "It will only be for a couple of days. I’ll be back before you’d miss me."

With the warmth of his arms supporting her she voiced her deepest fear. "Not then. I’ll miss you when you move there."

He stiffened and backed up a step. Looking into her eyes he said, "You’d be coming with me."

Startled, she asked, "Me? Why?"

"Because it’s customary for a husband and wife to live together."

Kelli opened her mouth: when nothing came out she snapped it shut.

Marriage! He was talking about marriage, families, and happily ever after.

He was talking about giving up Fairyland and moving to Utah. She gazed up and locked eyes with the man she loved. She’d move to Afghanistan to be with him—how much worse could Utah be? Still mad at the panic he’d caused in her, she said, "You could at least have asked me."

With a flourish, Logan knelt on one knee and gently grasped her cold hands. "Kelli SantaFe, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her face radiated love as she said, "It would be my pleasure." The next instant she found herself being kissed senseless, wrapped in his secure arms. A giggle escaped her as Logan muttered an oath concerning the wings attached to her back.

A series of small nips ended the kiss and he stepped back and promised, "We’ll finish this later. Your guests will be arriving in twenty minutes and I told Ruth I’d help her pass out the cookies she baked." His hand was gentle as he secured a wayward curl into her braid. "Lord, I can’t believe I just proposed to a fairy."

Kelli beamed and lovingly kissed his cheek. "It’s my glamour." She walked to the door and said, "I have to go, I’ll see you at the cookie table later."

He started to pick up the mail, then stopped. "Kelli, do you want any children?"

"Hundreds," was followed by a kiss blown from her fingertips as she shut the door. Logan swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. She did say hundreds, didn’t she? Impossible, no woman could have hundreds, but then again Kelli wasn’t your average woman. Two kids would be nice. A boy to carry on the name and a darling girl who believed in fairies and was the spitting image of her mother. He placed the mail on top of the refrigerator and headed out the door. Then again, four kids had a nice ring to it.

#

Kelli greeted two busloads of loud boisterous children with a smile. This was the best part of owning Fairyland, guiding a youngster into his imagination. Teachers and homeroom mothers gladly turned the tour over to her as she quickly assembled sixty-two antsy six-year-olds on the benches in the theater.

Logan sat spellbound at the rear of the theater as Kelli told stories about some well-known fairies. She was magical. The children listened wide-eyed to every word she said. She told them tales of Irish chieftains and the fairy hills of the Tuatha De Danann and a mischief-maker named Robin Goodfellow. She explained how a fairy was invisible to a person, unless it wanted to be seen, and why never to step into a fairy ring.

He watched as she captivated every child with legends of heroic deeds and the power of love. The children cheered the fairy knight, Midhir, as he won the mortal woman, Etain, from her evil husband. Loud hisses and boos were yelled at the Leshiye, the forest fairies of Russia, who were known for their nasty tricks. They listened as she explained how the world’s population increase had caused some serious problems for the fairies of the world. There is no place they can call home. Since they are invisible to people, they live in constant fear of being stepped upon.

Kelli lowered her voice and said, "Five years ago a delegation from the F.F.F.F. came to my cottage and asked if they could take up residence on the property. Imagine my surprise when I could hold the whole entire delegation of twenty-five in the palm of my hand." She held up her hand and a collective sigh filled the theater.

"Ms. SantaFe, what does F.F.F.F. stand for?"

Kelli smiled at a teacher who had brought her first-grade class here every year since Fairyland opened. "It stands for the Freedom Fighters Federation of Fairies. Fairies are very patriotic and loyal to their country, they even have been known to go to war. Gremlins are members of the fairy family who made a name for themselves during World War I and II. These fairies love to tinker with machinery, especially aircraft. Since they are invisible they could cross enemy lines and do mischief to the enemy’s planes. Unfortunately, the enemy had gremlins of their own, and many a good fairy lost his life during those wars."

Kelli looked out over the transfixed faces and smiled. "You got me sidetracked. Where was I?"

A freckled-face redhead shouted, "You were telling us how the fairies came here."

"Oh, yes. The delegation heard I lived alone and had plenty of room for their families. I immediately said they could, provided I could invite people to walk through and see if they could spot a fairy or two. They took a long time to talk this over between themselves before they agreed.

"We’ll be starting our tour in a moment, so I want to explain the rules. First, and very important, don’t leave the path. You could accidentally step on a fairy or squash their homes. Second, no running. Fairies are very tiny, and so are their legs. You could have the misfortune of running one down." Logan chuckled as ninety percent of the children looked down and nervously shuffled their feet. Kelli raised her voice and said, "Line up with a partner. Two by two." As the teachers and mothers helped gather the children, Kelli waved to Ruth and Logan. With a beaming smile she asked the group if they were ready. As the roar died down, she started to walk into the woods to scout up fairies.

Logan and Ruth watched as the last child and teacher disappeared from sight. "She’s wonderful with them, isn’t she?"

A frown pulled at his mouth as he answered his aunt. "Yes, she is." Is this where his Kelli belonged, with the fairies and the children who came to see them? Was he wrong about Utah?

#

Kelli turned and answered a question a small girl had asked and chuckled at her grin, that was missing a tooth. First-graders were at the perfect age for Fairyland, still young enough to believe in the magic of the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. Every year the number of tours she performed increased as word spread from school district to school district. What would happen next year when she wasn’t here? Who would spark the imagination of a child?

As she led the kids to a meadow where a fairy ring was visible she studied her surroundings. This was the only home she’d ever known and she loved it. She knew every tree, every inch of ground, and every animal. Who was going to take care of them when she was gone? What would happen to Angus, Caer, and their cygnets who were about to hatch?

With forced happiness she gathered the children near the ring and explained, "It’s believed the ring is formed by dancing fairies. It is said if a person steps into the ring they will be imprisoned in the fairy world."

She chuckled as sixty-two pairs of eyes widened. "This one is totally harmless." With a light step she crossed over the boundaries of the ring and stood in the center. "See, there’s nothing to fear from this one. Would anyone like to step in with me?" Sixty-two heads shook and one hundred and twenty-four little legs stepped backward. "Okay, maybe later." Out of the hundreds of students touring Fairyland each year, she’d only had two kids volunteer to step into the ring with her.

Kelli pointed out and named different trees and bushes along the way. She gave a brief talk on how baby trees start and grow and drew the kids’ attention to a few bird’s nests. She sighed as they reached the end of the tour without any fairy sightings, except for the statues she had positioned throughout the park. Last year two kids had earnestly sworn they had spotted a real fairy. The first child’s teacher had written it off to the boy’s imagination. When a second boy spotted a fairy two weeks later, his teacher assured Kelli he was the most honest and realistic child in her class. Kelli had smiled politely and said she understood those things, but on the inside she was fascinated. The boys came from different schools and even different towns, they didn’t know each other, yet both boys’ descriptions were identical.

"Logan, did you know that seventy percent of Utah’s population is Mormon?"

He glanced up from an article in a journal he was reading. "So you informed me yesterday." With a gentle smile he reached for her hand. "Nervous?"

"Not unless Mormons still practice polygamy."

He folded his journal and placed it on the coffee table. With a light tug he pulled her into his arms. "Okay, short stuff, let’s see the book." She snuggled against him and placed the encyclopedia on his lap. He pulled her closer as he glanced at the pictures of Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. "Ever been camping?"

Images of a scared sixteen-year-old girl crossing the country on foot filtered through her mind. She had made it from New Mexico to Pennsylvania hitchhiking; she’d only accepted rides from families on vacations. She had been young, but not stupid. Many nights she’d slept out under bridges and on park benches. It really couldn’t have been called camping. "No."

"Look at these mountains and canyons, they’re perfect for camping." His voice held a catch of excitement. "Have you ever seen country like this?"

"Yes, I was born and raised in northern New Mexico."

"Damn." He closed the book and dropped it on the table. He tenderly raised her chin and kissed her. "I’m sorry, Kelli. I didn’t mean to bring that up. I thought you were raised in Pennsylvania."

"No. I didn’t come east until I was sixteen."

"Why did you pick Pennsylvania?"

"I didn’t. I was planning on Maine."

"Maine?"

She chuckled. "I opened a map and Maine was the state that was the farthest away. I was going to celebrate my independence with a lobster dinner and then get a job with a small fishing fleet."

"I take it you like lobster."

"Never had it."

He laughed. "Lord, woman, what am I going to do with you?" The answer was expressed by her suddenly darkened eyes. "Did I tell you I love you today?"