Page 109 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

With our supper made, we moved to the back patio where the heat from the day was waning, our clothes from earlier drying on the clothesline. The air was filled with the scent of freshly mowed grass, and dark clouds formed in the west. After the heat of a July day, it wasn’t odd to have a rainstorm or even hail in the evening, and I was sure that in an hour or two, we’d feel the rush of cold air as the storm gained on us.

We ate slowly, and I savoured the homey feeling of spending the day with Char.

“So, Mrs. Laven says you owe her from cards?” I asked as I finished my supper. My tone was innocent, but inside I was still laughing over the way Char had been taken by my favourite childhood neighbour.

Char placed her palms flat on the tabletop and scowled. “She’s a shark.”

“Yeah, she cheats.”

Char gasped in fake outrage and flicked a piece of broccoli at me. “Why didn’t you warn me? I owe her, like, fifty bucks!”

I tried to hold in my mirth, but my shoulders were shaking, and the odd snort and chuckle was breaking loose.

“Just let it out, you little alien pirate,” she said on a sigh, leaning back in her chair. Her expression was adorable, resigned but also happy, like she’d enjoyed being sharked by Mrs. Laven.

I let out a loud guffaw from the bottom of my stomach, and soon Char was laughing, too. The moment felt cleansing and light, one of my favourites from the day.

I leaned across the small bistro table and kissed her, sweet and slow.

A perfect day with the woman who’d so long ago captured my heart.

CHAPTER40

~ Char ~

“Today was nice,” I told James as we sat at the small patio table in the backyard. I’d allowed myself to explore the edges of my contentment without question, simply testing its edges, bouncing in the weight of it.

He found it hilarious that Mrs. Laven had conned me out of fifty dollars, and any possible sting from his mirth had been happily kissed away. Not that there was any sting. I was actually a bit tickled in the way the older woman had outmaneuvered me so smoothly.

All day, James and I had stayed fairly busy. Being with him from almost dawn until now had felt fluid and natural as well as so incredibly easy. From our work on the park, to chores around the house, to cooking supper. Normally, I’d be tired of someone by now and feeling antsy, but not with him. In fact, I wanted more.

Was this what it was like for couples like Sally and Otto?

“The afternoon was the best,” I added, tentatively trusting that maybe today had been real. No wishes. No magic. Just us being us. Friendship with a relationship layered over top. Building something that could outlast any magic Estelle sprinkled on us.

“Even better than watching the backhoe tear down the warehouse frame?”

I grinned at the memory. Seeing the strength of the machine as it cracked the strong wooden joists, tearing apart a building that had withstood so much time and weather was very cool.

But even as gratifying as it had been… “Still wasn’t as nice as this afternoon.”

James held my hand across the table. “It’s better when we’re together.”

“It is. And it was fun. Being here for the afternoon.” Playing house.

“You turning into a homebody, Char McDonnell?”

The word ‘homebody’ froze me.

“Is that what you’re looking for?” I asked.

His eyes solidly met mine. “I told you what I want.”

“Serendipity?”

“Yes.” His thumb rubbed lines across my knuckles, grounding me, keeping me here in the moment instead of giving into my fears and freaking out.

“But you also want a homey wife,” I said, voice hoarse. I blinked like I had a speck of dirt in my eye, my thoughts jumbled. Maybe my definition of homey was off. Maybe it meant something like what today had represented to me.

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