Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (164 page)

“
Yeah, I was thinking about having a dessert segment.”

“
Really?” Wow. Ethan wanted to do a segment on her desserts. He must be desperate if he was willing to overlook her behavior earlier.

Ethan pulled the cover off one of the containers. Gwen inhaled the spicy scent of tomato sauce and baked chicken. With a will of their own, her legs moved her toward the table.

He pulled out a chair, gesturing for her to sit. His hand brushed her arm as he pushed her forward.

This all seemed so strange. Why go to all of this trouble for a recipe?

Ethan lowered himself into the chair next to her. “So what do you think?”

Gwen tucked her hair behind her ear. She would be crazy to turn down his offer. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll give you the recipe.”

He stared at her for a moment, then leaned forward. “I don’t want the recipe. I want you.”

“
No.” Gwen vaulted out of the chair, rattling the dishes on the table. She backed away shaking her head. “You saw how I am.”

Why would he want a girl like her? She couldn’t put a complete sentence together in front of him. He needed someone that wasn’t a bumbling idiot.

Ethan stood. In two steps, he closed the distance between them. He reached for her hand, his thumb rubbed back and forth. “You’re doing fine now.”

Gwen ran their conversation through her mind. No flirty comments. No “I love you’s.”

“
So you really don’t want a taste? ‘Cause I hear my Chicken Parm is pretty good.”

For the first time, Gwen couldn’t think of a single awkward thing to say.

* * *

Mrs. Haverty peered through the window at the dim interior. Gwen and Ethan laughed at a table in the corner, their heads pressed together. For a botched spell cast so many years ago, the wrinkles smoothed out just fine.

A beautiful young girl with a knit cap covering her brown hair stopped at the door. “Great!” she sighed.

“
What’s wrong, dear?” Mrs. Haverty asked placing a comforting hand on the girl’s arm.

“
I was hoping to get here before they closed.” The girl burrowed deeper into her coat. “I’ve been craving one of their gluten and sugar free oatmeal cookies all day. My brother was supposed to get me one and forgot.”

Mrs. Haverty tsked. “What a shame you came out here for nothing.”

The girl tucked her hands in her pocket, letting her gaze fall to the pavement. “Well, it’s not like I had anything else to do.”

“
What? A beautiful girl like you doesn’t have plans on Valentine’s Day?”

The young woman frowned, shaking her head.

Mrs. Haverty slid her arm around the young girl’s shoulder, guiding her forward. “There’s a coffee shop around the corner that is still open. How about I buy you a cup of coffee, Maddie?”

Maddie’s head snapped to Mrs. Haverty. “How did you know my name?”

Mrs. Haverty knew many things. One of them being, don’t cast a spell during happy hour.

~~

The Gift

by Jonathan Gould

The warmth of the early morning sun was streaming in through just-opened windows, filling the house with its invigorating warmth as I leapt down the stairs and marched into the kitchen. Straight away, I spotted Jodi standing by the table, engrossed in the morning paper. I couldn’t help smiling.

That’s my lady, I said to myself as I sidled up behind her, peering over her shoulder to see what she was perusing.

Sensing my presence, she turned and smiled.

“
Nothing too important, dear,” she said.

I looked down at the paper and saw straight away that she was right.

“
Theater listings? Why are you looking at those?”

She shrugged. “I guess it just fell open there.”

“
Too bad,” I said. “Wouldn’t expect there’s anything there we’d want to see.”

“
Of course not, dear.”

“
And can you believe how expensive they are?” I added. “Why would anyone want to spend that kind of money on a play?”

“
Boggles the mind just to think about it,” she said as she folded the paper.

That’s what I loved about Jodi. So sensible and practical. We always saw things exactly the same way.

* * *

I was out of the door and almost at the car when I realised I didn’t have my keys. Straightaway, I rushed back into the house and up to the bedroom.

Jodi was sitting on the bed. She looked up as I came in.

“
Something wrong?”

“
I can’t find my keys.”

“
You probably left them in your old trousers. I’ll check the laundry hamper.”

As she stood up, I noticed a small card in her hand.

“
What have you got there?” I took a closer look. It had a big heart on the front.

“
Is it Valentine’s Day today?”

She nodded, quickly filing the card into a drawer as she passed the dresser.

“
Who’s it from?”

“
My secret admirer.”

“
You’ve got a secret admirer? And who would that be?”

“
Never you mind,” she said with a smile as she handed over the keys.

I chuckled. Jodi was just like me. Neither of us took Valentine’s Day seriously. Just another one of those rorts for extorting money from you, that’s what we both thought of it.

As I took off again, she called after me.

“
Have a good day, dear.”

* * *

The morning was crazy. I had three reports to write, a presentation to plan for the committee meeting next week, as well as several million emails that each required an immediate response. It was a great relief when midday finally rolled around and I was able to take a well-earned break. As the day was still glorious, I decided to take leave of the office and eat lunch in the nearby park.

Unfortunately, the park proved to be far less peaceful than I had hoped. Everywhere I looked, all I could see were couples. They promenaded down the paths in two-by-twos, like some sort of human Noah’s Ark, holding hands and looking adoringly at each other. I averted my eyes as I searched out a decent eating spot, away from all this lovey-doveyness. Such public displays were definitely not my thing. What I had with Jodi, now that was real. We didn’t need any of this goo-goo eyes nonsense. It was inside, deeply felt.

Locating a seat was not easy. It seemed like the couples’ brigade had commandeered every available park bench. Eventually, I was able to find a spare seat on a little-used side path, beside a pair who, would you believe it, were actually wearing matching T-shirts. I sat down and reached into my case to take out the sandwiches Jodi had made for me, trying to avoid eye contact with the couple sitting opposite and gazing raptly at the cards they each held.

That was when I remembered. It was Valentine’s Day. That explained all of the couples, and all of the overdone displays of affection. Annoying as it was, I didn’t feel like going back to the office. It was just too nice to be outside. I grabbed a sandwich and held it up to my lips …

Ouch!

Something hit me hard on the head. For a moment, the world spun like a merry-go-round. I grabbed hold of the seat, in order to steady myself, and looked down. There was a big ripe plum lying on the ground. I looked up and realized that I was sitting beneath a tree laden with the blasted fruit. For a moment, I considered moving, but there still wasn’t much of an alternative in the way of seating, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to test out my still shaky balance. Besides, there didn’t seem to be any more plums in a direct line with my head, so I figured I was safe staying put.

I took the sandwich again and made to take a bite. Suddenly, something odd about the couple sitting opposite made me do a double take. I quickly closed my eyes. Clearly, my brain was still affected by the impact of the falling fruit. I slowly counted to ten, then, when I felt that the world was no longer spinning, I opened them again. But it didn’t help. It was still in front of me, as plain as day.

The couple themselves didn’t look particularly peculiar, that is, as long as you didn’t find the sight of two people staring at each other as if there was nothing else in the world to be anything unusual. It was what I could see above them that was making me goggle. They both had a big bubble, like the kind you see in cartoons, floating above their heads. And inside those bubbles was the face of the opposite member of the couple.

“
Isn’t that sweet? Corny, but sweet.”

The voice came from my left side, right beside my ear. I quickly turned to view the speaker, but the only people I could see beside me were the aforementioned matching T-shirt couple, both of whom seemed utterly unaware that there was actually someone else beside them on the bench.

I was so perplexed by this apparent voice out of nowhere that it took me a moment to register the recurrence of the bizarre phenomenon I had just witnessed in front of me. This couple had them too; the strange bubbles above their heads, each of which contained the face of their partner in T-shirt crimes.

“
Now that really is special.”

This time, the voice came from my right side. It was high in pitch, like a child’s, but had a strange sense of knowingness about it.

I quickly turned the other way, but there was absolutely nobody close by.

“
And the best bit is, they had no idea they were doing it. Each of them bought the other a t-shirt, completely unaware that they were about to receive one that was exactly the same.”

The voice was now directly in front. This time, I turned slowly. By now, I was well past goggling. The sight before my eyes made the thought bubbles seem like the kind of thing you see every day, and twice on Sundays.

There was a tiny cloud hovering in front of me. And reclining on the top, stretching his legs out over the edge, sat … a child? Or was it an angel? His blond, curly hair overlooked a cherubic face, but his eyes twinkled mischievously. There were wings on his back, and he was clad in nothing but a white cloth around his groin.

“
And even after all that,” said this angelic figure, “they actually went out and wore them in public. Now that’s what I call true love.”

“
Who … what …how …” I managed to stammer.

“
Cupid’s the name,” said the apparition, “although I would have expected you to have figured that out by now.”

“
You’re Cupid?” It wasn’t my strongest reply, but under the circumstances, it was all I could muster.

“
No, I’m the Wizard of Oz. Of course I’m Cupid. Who else could I possibly be?”

Fair point, I figured, but it still didn’t tell me much. “But what are you doing here? And aren’t you meant to have a bow and arrows?”

“
Bow and arrows? Sheesh, what century do you think we’re living in? I’ve got wireless technology now,” and he held up what looked like a little remote control, with a flashing heart-shaped light on the top.

“
Then why are you still dressed like a baby?” I said, starting to warm to this little fellow’s attitude.

“
My clothes are at the dry-cleaners, smart guy,” Cupid snapped back at me.

“
Very good,” I laughed. “So maybe now you can tell me exactly what’s going on.”

“
You’ve been given a gift,” said Cupid. “You have the power to see other people’s true loves.”

“
True loves?”

“
Exactly. Those faces you can see in the bubbles over people’s heads. Those are their true loves.”

“
So those couples …” I pointed at the ones beside me and on the opposite benches.

Cupid nodded. “A perfect match. Mr and Mrs Right. Damn fine work on my behalf, if I do say so myself.”

“
You do this? You choose somebody’s true love.”

“
Been doing it for years. Tricky work, but rewarding.”

“
But how do you choose?”

Cupid frowned. “It takes time to really figure it out. There are a lot of factors you have to take into consideration. You need to know there’s a deep and abiding connection before you can make a decision.”

I nodded. It sounded just like Jodi and me. “So there really is no such thing as love at first sight?”

“
Absolutely not,” said Cupid. “Load of bunkum. Mind you, there definitely is lust at first sight. You should speak to my cousin, Eros. The things he could show you, you wouldn’t believe. But true love, on the other hand, that takes time. For example, check out those two over there.”

I followed Cupid’s pointing finger. The couple approaching was really young. In the thought bubbles above their heads, the faces of their other halves could be made out, although they were kind of blurry.”

“
You see,” said Cupid. “It’s looking positive, but I haven’t completely decided yet.”

At that moment, the young lad’s eyes alit on the female half of the couple on the opposite bench, giving her a good looking over. The face in the bubble over his head became noticeably blurrier.

“
Then again, maybe not,” Cupid chuckled. “Hey, would you like to see who your true love is?” Suddenly, he was flashing a mirror up in front of my face.