He finished his wine and set the goblet down. “When individuals wish for a fairy godmother and one isn’t available, the wish is passed to me and my brothers. They’re also fairy godfathers.”
A laugh burst from her, startling him.
“Ha,” she exclaimed. “You had me for a moment. Tell me the real secret. Spit it out. Let’s get this over with.”
This reaction, he understood. He’d expected disbelief. Who in their right mind would accept his words at face value? “I know it sounds farfetched, but I’m not lying.”
She frowned. “Of course you’re lying. You don’t have an ounce of whimsy in your little finger. There’s no way you’re a Fairy Godfather.”
He tensed. Was this the beginning of the end? Would she refuse to believe? Tell him to leave? “And yet, I am.”
Emotions flashed across her face, the last one a mix of anger and hurt. “But you’ve done nothing but make fun of me for chasing my fairytale ending.”
“In the beginning, I did. But then…” He trailed off. It wasn’t time to admit she’d won him over and he’d fallen hard for every part of her. That there wasn’t a thing about her he’d change.
“But then what?” she persisted, anger still evident in her voice.
Sweat broke out on his brow. She had every right to be mad. Hell, to send his sorry ass packing. It was time to be humble. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.” She scrubbed at a tear that had fallen on her cheek.
He held very still—afraid the wrong movement would make up her mind in a negative fashion—and forced himself to wait.
A lifetime later, she gave him a watery smile. “Tell me more about your being a Fairy Godfather.”
He wiped the sweat from his brow and relaxed. “When we were little, we were bounced around from foster home to foster home. Then, one night, we overheard them talking about separating us because no one wanted to take on three boys. Unbeknownst to me, one of my brothers wished for a fairy godmother that evening.”
“How old was he?” she asked.
“Five.”
“That makes sense.”
“Anyway, his wish was granted, and we were sent to a new foster home. To Clarabelle’s home. A home we never had to leave because she adopted us…”
“And?” As if she were reliving history with him, another tear slipped down her cheek.
“Clarabelle was a fairy godmother.” He left out the part about her new title including the wordghost. She was a fairy godmother ghost. Clarabelle now lived in the second veil in Harmony, Missouri.
Then again, why leave out that part? If fairy godfathers could be real, so could ghosts. And if he and Sophie were to have a chance at making their relationship work, he had to be transparent.
“Was?” Sophie asked, reaching out and taking his hands.
“She’s dead now,” Stone admitted.
“And?”
“When she died, she had unfinished business. And when that happens, Magicals have a system where they can ask for time to finish their business before crossing over.”
“That’s a nice perk,” she said.
He nodded. “Her unfinished business was to tell her boys of her true identity. Once she did that, instead of crossing over, she somehow talked the powers-that-be in the second veil into letting her hang out there so she could run us through fairygodmother boot camp. A task we had to complete to earn our wands.”
“There’s a fairy godmother boot camp?” Sophie asked, jumping up and walking to the window again. “What does one do at this camp?” She turned to look at him.
“She trained us on how to help those in need.” He resisted the urge to go to her, sensing she needed space. “And how to use our wands to conjure up the things our clients wished for.”
“Let me get this straight. Your secret is to tell me you’re a fairy godfather, you have a wand, you can conjure things, and your mom is a ghost?”
