"Okay …"
Maurice nodded. "I see what you mean. Didn't see that coming. I do like
Star Trek …" He clasped his hands under his chin and fluttered his
eyelashes.
Angela sputtered,
fighting laughter. "We'll see. If you behave yourself for the next couple
weeks. Now, to business. The guardians can handle the reality of you, in
theory. With others who are sensitive enough to see you, we must tread lightly.
To avoid tipping them in the wrong direction."
"Like Ken?"
"Perhaps. Ken
noticed something, even if he isn't sure what. You don't want to get off to a
bad start."
"I think I'm off
to a great start. Helping two lonely hearts has to make big points with the Fae
Council, don't you think?"
"Did you make
Ken--"
"Nah, he thought
of that all by himself. Guys like that need full-time keepers, helping others
and ignoring themselves." His frustrated look faded into sympathy.
"They'd look good together, you think?"
"I think those
two would be very good together, yes." Angela tugged Maurice's outfit
straight. "And I think they could do with a little help. A little.
Not interference. A few nudges. Clearing a few obstacles out of their path.
That sort of thing. Nothing drastic to catch the attention of Humans, and no
strong use of magic."
"What strong
magic?" he snarled. "When the Council pasted these stupid wings on me
and shrank me, they shrank everything."
"If you don't
fix that attitude, you can spend the entire Christmas season on that
tree." She fought not to burst out laughing when terror blanched his ruddy
complexion.
"It's kind of
hard not to have an attitude when you're used to being over six feet tall and
you're condemned to five inches for two Human years," he moaned He glanced
toward the doorway and leaped into the air, before vanishing in a shower of purple
sparks.
Jo came back into the
room, accompanied by Holly. She wore a royal blue calf-length knit shirt-dress
that hugged her slim frame. "What do you think?" She turned around,
making the skirt flare out.
"You are going
to knock them dead. They'll have to make you secretary to the president when
you interview," Angela said.
"I'll just be
glad to have a job with regular hours, indoors, and no newsprint or diesel
fumes or engine pieces all over the floor."
"Go on back into
that room," she made a twirling motion with her hand, "and don't come
out until you have at least one outfit for each day of the week. That's an
order."
Jo and Holly picked
out three more dresses, two skirts, two pairs of dress pants, and several sweaters
and blouses. They chattered excitedly as they left together, hauling Jo's new
clothes out to her car.
Angela curved her
hands around the Wishing Ball. The dragon's ruby eyes glowed softly in the dim
afternoon light. "I wish for you a happily ever after," she
whispered. Sparks spun up out of the Wishing Ball and shot out across the shop,
through the front door. They split into two streams outside, following the
paths Jo and Ken had taken.
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