Page 53 of Fairy Tale Marriage

“Thank you.”

“I was a foolish old woman not to see it before.” Doña Isabella’s eyes narrowed, as something else occurred to her. “You said this work took you a while to create. How long a while might that be?”

“I worked on it sporadically over an eight-year period. At one point I gave up on it altogether. But my sister-in-law helped me through some tough times and encouraged me to finish what I’d started.”

Isabella released her breath in a gusty sigh. “Then you knew McIntyre long ago. Before my Madalena came into his life.”

“We were briefly married,” Shayne confessed, wondering how the Doña would receive the news. “But my brother thought I was too young and had it annulled.”

“This explains much that I did not understand.”

Apprehension filled her. “Has it changed your mind about coming to live with us?”

“No, my dear.” To Shayne’s delight, Doña Isabella leaned forward and embraced her. “It has proven to me that I made the right decision. But you should tell your husband about this artwork and allow him to judge it for himself.”

“I can’t.”

“Because it is too revealing,” Doña Isabella guessed shrewdly. “It is sad to see two people so much in love and so afraid to show it.”

“You’re wrong,” she insisted steadily. “Chaz doesn’t love me.”

Isabella regarded her with open amusement. “When you are as old as I, you will see the folly of your words, as well as this decision regarding your artwork. And when you do, you will either laugh with your husband over your foolishness. Or...”

“Or?” Shayne prompted, dreading the response.

“Or you will cry in your lonely bed, filled with regrets that come far too late.” And with that, she took Sarita’s hand in hers and tapped her way to the frontdoor.

“What do you mean she’s left? Where’s Sarita?” Chaz shot from behind his desk, ready to chase them down. Damn it all, he’d drag the old crow back by her hooked nose, if necessary. In fact, he half hoped it would be. “I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.”

His response was so telling, it took a moment to speak. “It’s all right,” Shayne attempted to soothe. “She’ll be back.”

“What did the witch tell you? Will she let us have Sarita?”

“Pretty much.”

“Pretty much? What the hell does that mean?” He thrust a hand through his hair, his gut twisting at his wife’s sudden nervousness. “Let me guess. More conditions?”

“Just one. Ipromise, it’s the last.”

“I’d feel better if she promised it was the last.” He propped his hip onto the corner of his desk and fought to control his impatience. Over the past month, he’d found that particular skill more and more difficult to master. “Let’s have it, sweetheart. What’s the catch?”

To his concern, she wandered toward the far end of his office where a large picture window faced out the front of the house. “This would be a perfect place for a Christmas tree,” she murmured.

“We already had that discussion, remember?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist, looking suddenly small and alone. “I was hoping you’d changed your mind.”

“Not even a little.”

“But Sarita—”

“Forget about the damn tree, Shayne, and tell me what the Doña wants.”

She turned, taking unfair advantage of his soft nature by allowing huge, glittering tears to fill her eyes. “She’s a child, Chaz. She doesn’t understand that you have some personal reason for hating Christmas. All she knows is that she’s alone and without family—at least family she recognizes—and it’s Christmas. Only there’s no music and no laughter, no tree or presents.”

He straightened and cautiously approached. There was something going on here, something that escaped him. “Why do I have the funny feeling we aren’t talking about Sarita, anymore?”

She paled and he knew he’d struck a nerve. “I... I’m sorry.” She clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head to look directly at him. Her chin quivered in a way that twisted him into knots, but she didn’t back down, refusing to give in to her distress. “You're not the only one who has bad memories of past Christmases. But I'd never take them out on a child. I'd do everything I could to give her happy experiences, hoping that they'd give them to me, as well.”

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