Page 49 of A Wish for Jinnie
Jinnie hung her coat up on the stand, watching water trickle from it and form a small puddle on the floor. She went to sit on the comfortable Chesterfield next to the counter, then decided against it. Leaving marks on its fine leather wasn’t the best of ideas. She unfolded the cheap plastic stepladder Sam kept for reaching high places and perched on that instead. Off came her boots, then her socks. Crikey, her tootsies looked like she might be suffering from trench foot. Jinnie raised one leg into her lap — ouch! — and began massaging to restore the circulation.
Sam reappeared carrying two towels, one of which he gently placed round her shoulders. Jinnie took the other and rubbed her feet. Crinkly skin and bluish tinge notwithstanding, she was ridiculously pleased that she’d trimmed her nails and painted them recently.
‘The kettle’s on. I’ll fix us a cuppa in a minute.’Ah yes. The great British cure-all for everything from broken hearts to bunions. No, that absolutelywasn’ta bunion, her foot was just a bit puffy —
‘Forgive me, Jinnie, but I’m not sure why you’re here. In your note you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to see me again.’ Sam sat on the Chesterfield, his face downcast and his hands clasped between his thighs. ‘I kind of understand, but I thought we’d got past the Christmas thing. I thought — I hoped — we were friends. Good friends.’
Before Jinnie could reply, he headed out back. She heard the clatter of the tea caddy, and the clinking of spoons. Leaving a note had been a cowardly thing to do. She should have been honest, explained that she’d seen Sam withthatwoman and jumped to conclusions. But that would have laid her feelings bare, and exposed her to yet another humiliating situation. She’d gone along with thewe’re just friendsthing: admitting that seeing Sam with someone else had felt like a hammer blow to her heart was too much to reveal.
‘Here you go. I added some sugar and a dash of whisky to warm you up a bit.’ Sam passed Jinnie a mug, and she accepted it, wrapping her fingers around its heat.
‘Thank you. And I’m sorry about the note. It wasn’t a nice thing to do. I just didn’t know how to explain —’
Damn it! Sam smacked his forehead and was off again! Did the man seriously have no clue what Jinnie was trying to say? Or rather, what she was hopinghewould say? Not that Jinnie had any visions of him going down on one knee and begging her to marry him. And she wasn’t planning on pouncing and locking lips, not in her current bedraggled state.
Sipping the tea, and getting a welcome buzz from the whisky, Jinnie listened as Sam clattered around.What on earth is he doing?
The answer came a moment later.
‘I found it.’ Sam held aloft a lamp which bore more than a passing resemblance to the one Dhassim had emerged from. ‘I was going to give it to you the other day, but then you quit and… Well, you’re here now and I’d like you to have it.’
Talk about bad timing! Jinnie was here to discover if Sam really loved her, not to gain ownership of a vessel that might contain a genie’s long-lost squeeze. She reluctantly took the lamp from Sam. It was in better nick than Dhassim’s, suggesting Sam had given it a bit of a clean. Which begged the question: how many rubs away was it from emanating the alluring Aaliyah? Assuming she was in there in the first place.
‘Ah, thank you. It’ll look lovely alongside the other one. The perfect pair.’ Jinnie smiled at Sam, touched again by his thoughtfulness. ‘It’s so nice and shiny … I guess you gave it a bit of a buff?’
Sam laughed hard and long. He had the loveliest laugh, all deep and gurgly and infectious. Jinnie joined in, although she wasn’t totally sure what they were laughing about.
‘Jinnie … from the first day you walked into my life, you’ve enchanted, amused and downright bewildered me. You fill my thoughts when I wake in the morning, and distract me constantly when I’m trying to write. I’ve been so afraid to cross the line between friendship and… I thought I’d blown it completely, although I still don’t know what I did to upset you.’
Discussing the mystery woman could wait. All Jinnie could do was hold her breath as Sam moved closer. They were inches apart, his hand reaching out to stroke her hair.
‘You are something else, Jinnie Cooper,’ he murmured. ‘Stumbling in here like a drowned rat, but not a hair out of place.’Oops, forgot about that.‘And I know there’s something odd about your cousin, and your obsession with the lamps, but I really, really don’t care. When we kissed it was pure magic, but then I went and spoiled it…’
Much as Jinnie adored Sam’s voice, and his laugh, and pretty much the whole package, she didn’t want to talk any more. They stood together, Sam’s arms embracing Jinnie, pulling her towards him. Jinnie closed her eyes, felt his lips on hers and …
Thump-thump-thump. Crikey, she knew her heart rate was up but —
‘Did you feel that?’ Sam drew back and looked down.
Jinnie hadn’t realised she was hugging the lamp to her body when they embraced. Something had certainly moved — and sadly, it wasn't the earth. ‘Erm, I think it was just my tummy rumbling. Skipped breakfast, and that whisky on top. Bad decision.’
Sam took a step forward, and Jinnie took a step back. If he’d already cleaned the lamp, and they’d accidentally rubbed it when they touched, then —
‘Ooh! That does not feel good!’ Jinnie doubled over dramatically, shifting the lamp behind her back. ‘I’d better nip home and take some Rennies. Eat something, maybe.’
The lamp gave another shudder, and she gave an exaggerated groan of pain. ‘I’ll be right back, I promise. Soon.’
Before Sam could speak, Jinnie belted out of the door: coatless, bootless, and clueless as to what would happen next.
Chapter 44
‘Is this Aaliyah’s?’
Jinnie placed the lamp on the coffee table. Sprinting home like an out-of-condition athlete had left her wheezing and breathless. Her bare feet ached, and she felt she’d like nothing more than a hot shower and a lie down. Oh, and time to think about the things Sam had said, and what they really meant. But that had to wait.
‘I am not certain.’ Dhassim touched the lamp tentatively. ‘It is possible, but how can it be that my lamp and Aaliyah’s ended up in the same place?’
How, indeed?What was it called again? Serendipity, a word Jinnie had learned in her late teens when she watched the movie of the same name starring John Cusack. If someone had told Jinnie all those weeks ago that a genie would come into her life — or that a man like Sam would turn it upside down — she’d never have believed it.Whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye.Sometimes all you had to do was wish hard enough.
