Page 117 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

Officer Beddoe explained how Greg had been swapping out pieces in the museum for months. He was also behind the online scam, putting shipping insurance on the artifacts he’d accidentally broken, before sending them all off on the same day to make it look like something had happened in the post office. He then blamed Canada Post for breaking the shipped pieces and claimed the insurance.

As for my warehouse, he’d only planned to leave the stolen goods in there overnight before meeting up with a dealer. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the siding removal, the items had been immediately found.

“The timing is crazy!” I said, thinking about the string of events that had happened in order for him to get caught. How had it all stacked up so neatly? So many things had needed to happen. From me spotting the fakes, to Greg hearing about my warehouse and putting the items in there after James and I had gone through, to me being at the museum to talk to Richard on the right night about the fakes, and to the most coincidental—the siding people finding the cases of pottery… it was all so incredibly unbelievable.

“Kismet,” the officer said. “Someone up above must have been looking out for the museum.”

God?

Or had it been Estelle?

I smiled, my gut telling me she’d had something to do with it all. I had my own fairy godmother, and I had a feeling she’d just helped me catch a man who’d been ruining one of my happiest places. I grinned up at the Calgary Tower, feeling incredibly lucky and incredibly blessed to have Estelle as my fairy godmother.

CHAPTER44

~ James ~

Char looked happy, lighter than she had in weeks, but also exhausted. I wanted to sweep her away for a weekend camping trip to the Lower Kananaskis Lake with me. I wanted to enjoy the last heated days of summer in the mountains before the evenings got frosty, but she couldn’t. She was ramping up for the final push to finish her park.

But she needed a break before a break took her.

“Can you push everything back a week? Come out and play with me,” I begged. I’d been supportive since the park’s inception. Surely she could weasel out of one or two days of park work. Weren’t her friends still helping her? They could take over for a short stint.

This week Char had seemed to finally let go of her fears around us, and I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to revel in every moment. I wanted to stand on top of a mountain and tell the world that she was mine, mine, mine. That I’d found the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

Char rubbed her forehead, and it was clear I was adding to her stress. Why was I pushing her? She’d come and found me in my basement suite, where I’d been studying for tonight’s cartography exam. She’d been happy and buoyed about the news from the museum, and I was ruining it.

And yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I was like the fat kid in that Willy Wonka book. I was greedy for more, unable to stop. But instead of wanting chocolate and sweets, I wanted Char.

“I’m sorry. It won’t be forever.” She leaned against me on my black leather couch, her eyes pleading. “It’s just right now I have a lot of deadlines and reports and receipts to send into sponsors and the various grants that have supported the park. There’s already a playground, and it’s been amazing, but the kids are getting filthy because there’s no top soil or sod. I promised the kids trees and grass and basketball nets. I’m so close, James. I’m sorry. It’s just two more weeks.”

“I know.” I gave her a hopeful look, wiggling her leg. “Maybe you could quit your job tonight and get a new one? One with better hours?”

She gave me a light snort. “Yeah, those fall out of the sky. I wish!” She sighed, her body softening as though visualizing the perfect job.

“One where you can nerd out on old things.”

“It would be incredible to work around artifacts all day, but I don’t have a degree.” She looked so wistful, I wanted to fulfill that dream for her. Right now. Forget cartography. I had a new mission: find her an amazing job.

She smiled and added, “What if I found a job that included some travel? I could go places for free!”

“Or we could save up and go to Mexico for Christmas. Just you and me.”

“What?” Her unfocused gaze snapped to me. “A trip? For us?”

Okay, so a couple’s Christmas destination vacation might be moving a bit too fast. But I’d seen the hopeful spark in her eyes. She wanted it.

“Well, I mean…” I acted casual, my heart thrumming like I was about to ask her to marry me. “If you can’t get away for some camping, then maybe Mexico at Christmas? You should be free by then, right?”

I gave her my best smile, and she laughed, her body pressed against my side. “Sure. You buying?”

“Nah. You’ll be rolling in the dough by then.”

She was smiling for real now, her spirit lifted, the stress of her day seemingly shed.

“You really do love me, don’t you?” She rocked her shoulder into mine, giving me a secret smile like she couldn’t quite believe it was true. She reached over and mussed up my hair. I grabbed her hands and tipped her backward onto the cushions, my body pressed over hers. She giggled. “If I’m around all the time, you’re going to get so tired of me.”

“Hm.” I kissed her once on the lips. “I think we need to experiment with that.” I trailed my lips down her neck. “Explore the limits.” Another kiss, this one along her collarbone. “See where the boundaries are.” My lips met hers again, and I sunk into the haven of enjoying the last woman I’d ever kiss. She was the one my heart had been waiting for. I was done searching. I’d found her.

---