Making Magic (6 page)

The Woodsman’s granddaughter. That was the way he had always thought of her back then. Even at nineteen, his deep respect for the man had kept him from any lascivious thoughts about her. That and her temperament. He hadn’t nicknamed her “Matchstick” just because of her auburn hair. Now, here he was with his arms around her. Of course, she was practically unconscious and her stinky dog was along for the ride.

And from the feel of it, both of them were a bit too skinny. He looked around as he carried her to the other side of the car, but no one was really up this early on a Saturday to remark on him manhandling an unconscious woman. The dog only growled once from beneath the towel as Jake settled Thea gently into the passenger side.

Some of Ouida’s cooking and Grace’s remedies would get her back into fine shape. Not that her shape wasn’t real fine right now. He squeezed his arm between her and the growling dog to get the buckle on the seat belt to engage. She needed a tad bit more padding though, so she didn’t blow away in a stiff breeze.

He picked up the flute case and started to slip it in at her feet, but her hands reached out and grasped it, pulling it to rest across her and the dog. “Thanks,” she said.

Watching her curl one arm around the case and the other around the filthy stray in her lap, he wondered about Thea and her precious things.

Chapter Three

“You precious baby. Precious, precious girl,” an unfamiliar voice cooed above Thea. “Come with your Auntie Mel and we’ll clean you right up.”

The warm but very smelly burden she had been holding was lifted out of her arms. Thea tried to open her eyes and protest, but couldn’t manage it.

“Bailey?” she said, but it came out garbled. She couldn’t get her mouth to operate properly either.

“I think she rescued it somewhere along the way.” That was Jake’s voice. “She wasn’t making much sense.”

“Well it’s no wonder.” And that was Grace. Thea smiled. At last. Now she knew she’d made it home. When soft cool fingers stroked her forehead, Thea finally slid into a dreamless, untroubled sleep.

It was the rumble of her empty stomach that finally woke her. For a while she blinked at the bedside table, then at the wall. She had been in the car and there had been a dog. And then there had been Jake Moser.

She closed her eyes in embarrassment. Wonderful. And he had carried her. Even more wonderful.

But she was home, in her old room from the looks of it. Where was Bailey? She ran her hand frantically down her body and found she had been stripped out of her disgusting clothes and had someone else’s nightgown on. Then she felt a warm weight resting against her backside and turned over to find a strange white dog staring at her, wagging its stubby tail.

“Bailey?” The dog bounced on top of her and licked her face. “Is that you, girl? Where’s the rest of you?”

She recognized those huge expressive eyes, though. Definitely Bailey. But she was so very skinny now, stripped of all her hair. Who on earth had taken on the Herculean task of clipping off all that filthy mess and bathing her as well? She smelled far better than Thea did at the moment.

There was a polite knock on the door. “Sissy, you awake in there?”

That voice was unmistakable. “Yes, ma’am.” Thea swung her feet out of the bed just as Ouida Russell stuck her head inside. She pushed the door open with a broad smile on her face. “There’s my favorite chick,” Ouida exclaimed, eyes glowing as she held out her arms.

Thea came across the room to squeeze the soft round form of the woman she considered her grandmother in every way but DNA. “Oh, I missed you, woman. How are you?” She held the white-haired woman at arm’s length. “You look fabulous.”

Ouida frowned at her. “More than I can say for you, young lady. When the sheriff carried you in here this morning, he near scared us all half to death.”

Thea grimaced and leaned over to pick up Bailey, who was jumping on her leg for her share of attention. “Carried me, did he? How nice of him.”

“I’ll say. You and that dog.” Ouida wrinkled her nose. “And both of you smelling to high heaven. I’d thought you’d crashed into the Hendersons’ pigsty for a moment.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “At least now the dog smells nice. Good thing Daniel’s fiancé is looking to adopt a dog. She was thrilled to take care of her for you.” She shook her head. “You should’ve seen Mel out there in the side yard with those goat clippers, trying to find out what was under all that dirt and matting. Your little dog…”

“Bailey.”

“Bailey was just as meek as meek could be, sitting there patiently while she worked.” Ouida leaned over. “There were bugs setting up housekeeping on that dog. And here was Pooka, sniffing at everything Mel sheared off and wrinkling up his nose. I’m not sure he was happy about it when he realized there was a dog under there. And a girl at that.”

Thea held Bailey out to look her over. She was lovely. Her coat was short, but not shaved off completely, and so very white and soft now. But there were no sores or wounds or any sign she’d been eaten up with fleas or ticks. “She looks great.”

“Oh, she’s fine. They gave her a bath or two and Grace doctored her a bit. She says she’s in good shape, but needs some fattening up—like you.” Ouida put her hands on her hips. “I have a nice big supper ready for you downstairs, once you get yourself all spiffed up.”

“Supper? Is it that late already?”

“You’ve been asleep for a while, sweetie. I came up to get your sheets and that nightgown to wash.”

Thea realized that she did smell pretty bad. She touched her hair and wondered if she might need Mel’s services as well.

And Jake Moser had seen her like this? No, he had seen her so much worse than this. She closed her eyes, mortified. Smelling of spilled coffee, stale clothing and dog pee. Not to mention her raw, snot-filled—

She touched her nose. It was unstuffed and not the least bit sore. She could smell that glorious meal waiting downstairs. She felt great.

Ouida smiled. “Grace doctored on you a bit too. Now, we couldn’t find your clothes in that sports car of yours, so I put some of Grace’s in your closet there. She’s not wearing them at the moment—”

She’d forgotten about Grace’s baby. “The baby’s due any time now, isn’t she?”

“Two days ago. I won’t let her come upstairs these days. She’s so front-heavy, I’m afraid she’ll take a tumble. So if you want to see her, you need to get yourself cleaned up and come down!” She pointed to the bathroom. “There’s towels and everything you need in there.”

Thea set the dog down and stripped the gown off, handing it over to Ouida as she headed for the bathroom.

“What were you doing up there in that big city? Starving yourself?” Ouida said.

Thea was unfazed by Ouida’s assessment of her nude form. The woman had practically changed her diapers. “Too busy to eat.”

Ouida huffed. “Well we’ll fix that soon enough.”

Thea turned and stuck out her tongue, which earned a laugh, then ducked into the bathroom.

A while later she headed down the back stairs carrying Bailey, who had apparently never seen stairs before. She had a pair of Grace’s yoga pants on, an old pair of sandals she’d found hiding in the closet and a soft purple T-shirt that said “
Real Men Marry Doctors
”. Her hair was clean, but had always been inclined to frizz and was doing so now with gusto. The thought of digging through all the garbage in her car to find her hair products was daunting.

She set Bailey down at the bottom of the stairs, determined not to become the kind of woman who carried a little dog around in her handbag. She watched as Bailey made a beeline toward the smell of food.

She heard Grace laugh. “There’s the dog, but where’s the dog rescuer?”

Thea smiled as she entered the kitchen.

“And there she is!” Grace announced. She came to Thea with her arms open, her belly leading the way.

“You sure it’s safe to hug you?” Thea asked as Grace hugged her anyway. “I don’t want that baby to pop out on me.”

“Hey, we haven’t tried that yet. Maybe we could squeeze her out of you.” A handsome dark-haired man came over to Thea with his hand extended. She recognized him from the photos that Grace had posted online. “Nick McKenzie.”

“I am so glad to finally meet you in person,” Thea said. She squeaked as he used her hand to pull her into a hug.

“Same here.”

Maybe this journey home wasn’t going to be as awkward as she feared it might.

“I am so sorry I didn’t make it to your wed—”

“Don’t start with the sorry stuff, Sissy,” Thea felt herself picked up from behind and practically twirled around the kitchen. Bailey started to bark frantically. “Or we’ll be standing here all day and I’m starved.”

“Oh! Daniel!”

Ouida laughed. “Danny, don’t! You’ll make her sick!”

The familiarity of it all brought tears to Thea’s eyes. She clasped her fingers behind Daniel’s neck. “Oh, I’ve missed you so,” she said as he sat her back on her feet and kissed her on the forehead.

“Ditto, Sissy.” Those dark eyes of his danced as he reached out to pull a short blond woman to his side.

The woman held out her hand, smiling brightly at Thea. “I’m Mel.”

Thea pulled her into a hug. “Run while you can.” It was a fake whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“She already tried that, but I tracked her down,” Daniel said, pulling Mel back under his arm.

Thea scooped up the dog hovering by her ankles. “Thank you so much for what you did for Bailey. I hardly recognized her.”

“Bailey! What a wonderful name,” said Mel. “She’s a good girl, aren’t you, Bailey-girl?” Her voice took on a cooing tone as she leaned in to rub Bailey’s head.

“For
you
, maybe,” Daniel complained. “It took a heck of a lot of persuasion to get her away from you, Sissy. Mel was the only one she’d let get close.”

Thea felt her face heat. “I guess my arrival was rather dramatic. I’m
really
sorry about that. I didn’t know how exhausted I was until the tire—”

“I told you the whole ‘sorry’ thing would waste valuable eating time,” Daniel complained. “What can I help with, Ouida my love?”

“Here, carry this in there.” Ouida handed Daniel a carrier containing a huge casserole dish of lasagna. “Now, everyone out of my kitchen! I need to get started on plumping this girl back up before she’s blown away in the next storm.”

The smell made Thea’s mouth water and her stomach complain as everyone trooped into the dining alcove on the other side of the great room. Daniel shepherded Thea along in front of him as Bailey trotting behind.

Thea looked around for any sign of the old handyman. “Where’s Eddie?”

“There’s a place set for him, but he’s out somewhere doing something.” Ouida waved her hand. “And we’re missing Jamie girl.”

“You remember Jamie?” Grace carefully settled at the head of the table with a soft exhale of air. She grinned and patted her stomach when she caught Thea staring. “I am
so
ready for this little girl to get out of here.”

Thea smiled. “It’s so amazing. I have to get used to you with… You’re…”

“Curvy in all the right places?” Nick supplied, his eyebrow suggesting it was the only correct answer.

Thea laughed. “Exactly.”

“Here you go.” Ouida sat a huge bowl of salad on one end of the table. “For those of you who actually eat your salad at the beginning of your meal.” She looked at Nick and Mel, who both smirked back at her. “And it’s already got Mr. Nick’s special dressing on it.”

Thea looked around the table. Her family had expanded by two while she wasn’t looking. And in the next few days was about to expand by one more.

“Do you remember Jamie?” Grace repeated.

“I do. Daniel’s assistant beekeeper, right?” She had tried so hard to keep up with what was going on back here without giving anything away to her father, but it hadn’t been easy. “I think I met her at the—” She remembered where and stopped.

“Funeral,” Grace finished. “Yes. She was my flower girl as well. I emailed you the pictures.”

“Yes!” Thea grabbed the lifeline and hung on. “I saw them. They were lovely. And she’s really growing up fast. Is she around?”

“She’s in Baltimore,” Daniel said, pouring Mel a glass of sweet tea and offering to pour for Thea, who nodded. “She’s in a summer program at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Our little math whiz.”

“Wow. Johns Hopkins,” Thea said. “But she’s only what, nine or ten?”

“Exactly.” Nick smiled as if Jamie were his own kid.

“That’s amazing, but is she up there all by herself?”

“It’s like a summer camp at college for really smart kids. There are RAs in the dorms and a really low student-to-staff ratio,” Daniel said. “So far she’s having a blast. She came home between the two sessions and couldn’t wait to go back.”

“Isn’t she coming for your wedding?” Thea asked.

“Absolutely,” Mel said. “Nick’s arranged to fly her down on Wednesday afternoon and back on Thursday morning in time for class. Friday is her last day up there, and she didn’t want to miss the closing ceremonies.”