Page 104 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“In here if you’re looking for me.” I hoped that he was. I hadn’t seen him yet today. And even though we’d spent most of yesterday together while moving me here, and it wasn’t really my style to be clingy, I found myself longing to see or hear from him each day.

“If you’re looking for your parents, they’re out enjoying free Canada Day cake at some park. I can’t remember which one.” They’d be taking off on their trip in a few days, and the first twenty-four hours of living together had been pretty good. Otto was the quintessential quiet dad, doing his own thing. And Sally had naturally found the right balance between doting and letting me find my own way.

“Happy birthday,” James said, bending to lay a kiss on the crown of my head.

“Not my birthday.”

“Then happy Canada Day.”

“Thanks. You, too.” I half expected him to be holding a strawberry milkshake from Peter’s. But instead, he had a small wrapped box.

“What’s this?” I asked, immediately freaking out. We were in that undefined zone where we were dating, but not really talking about it or what it all meant to us.

I suppose we knew what the other person wanted in a relationship, although I wasn’t sure he’d figured out that I was now starting to want that cozy togetherness, too.

Even though I was certain it wouldn’t happen for us, seeing as, eventually, Estelle’s very real magic would wear off. Then I’d be alone once again, off to find my way, off to find a new tribe to call my own.

And this pretty little box looked like a gift. The kind you’d give a serious girlfriend.

He set it beside me at the kitchen table. “It won’t bite you.”

No, but what it represented might.

I squeezed out a smile. “Thanks.”

“Open it.”

I slipped off the ribbon and opened the palm-sized box, lifting up the delicate square of cotton covering the item inside. And there, staring up at me, was a piece of the most beautiful pottery fragment, edged in silver to wear as a necklace.

The one from the museum. The one with the painted hands. The original, authentic piece. The one that was expensive. Way too expensive.

“James…” There were a lot of reasons this should not be sitting in the palm of my hand. “I know I said I’d pay you back if you bought this, but I can’t. I really need to put all my money into the park right now.”

Even living rent free for the next two months wasn’t going to help me afford this item, as much as I longed for it.

I handed it back to him, but he only unclipped the necklace, ready to clasp it on me. “Try it.”

Dangerous, dangerous game.

He came around behind me, waiting for me to sweep my hair off my neck. I scrunched my eyes shut, pushing away tears.

I distinctly remember wishing for this necklace. The strong longing I’d had for it. The words in my heart slipping from my mouth.

And now here it was. This meant my wishes were still in effect. All of them. It made me want to slam myself into the bathroom, and cry and cry until there was nothing left.

James gently fed the silver chain around my neck, doing up the clasp. His fingers brushed my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He smelled like sandalwood and reassurance. This moment felt intimate. Filled with love.

The fragment fell at just the perfect height to wear with almost everything. I angled it, peering at its authentic, ancient glaze. One of a kind.

Like James.

But it was too much. Too expensive. How could Estelle grant this wish right now? James had been without work for several weeks, even though he could probably head back now that the warehouse had been released. But there were still so many, many reasons he shouldn’t have bought this necklace.

For starters, today was a holiday so the museum gift shop was closed. But most vitally, the present was too much, too pricey. Instead of spending hundreds on me, he should be buying himself groceries to feed his giant muscles. He should be planning his next spontaneous trip without the obligatory pit stops to excavation sites, just because I was enthused about them. It should be about him.

I met James’s gaze, my throat dry, my brain lacking the words I needed to deliver in order to return this amazing gift that was thousands of years old, and made me feel like the kind of woman a pharaoh would build a pyramid for.

James was watching my reaction, his brow furrowed. I felt for the poor man as my eyes filled with love and gratitude. I was all over the place these days. The idea of Estelle’s magic creating all of these beautiful moments between James and me was messing with my head, creeping under my skin, and making me doubt everything I felt.

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