Page 8 of A Jingle of Justice
I squeaked with joy. “About time. But why tell me without Meaghan in attendance?”
“We knew she’d be happy, but we weren’t so sure about you.” My father was a handsome man in a master gardener kind of way. Tan, fit, normal. He’d mellowed in the past year or so, which had added much needed smile lines around his eyes. “We wanted to convey the news one on one, in case you had questions.”
“Ha! Questions? None. I’m ecstatic.” I raised my glass of chardonnay and clinked it with his. “To the happy couple.”
My boyfriend Brady Cash crossed the restaurant patio. He owned the café and rarely sat down to dinner when he was serving a full crowd. “What’s the occasion?” he asked. “You’re all smiles.”
“They’re getting hitched.” I nearly shouted the words.
“Congrats.” Brady clapped my father on the shoulder.
“What about you and my daughter, son?” Kip asked.
Brady winked at me. “We’re talking.”
Were we? The last time he’d raised the conversation, I’d shut him down. I’d been married before. So had he. Did we think we could make a relationship last? I adored him down to his toes, but until and unless he saw a fairy, I wasn’t sure we were meant to be. He wanted to see one. He was open to the idea. But if hecouldn’t, would he resent me? Would he call my fanciful beliefs into question? I wasn’t a fretter by nature, but I couldn’t seem to shake the concern.
My father gazed at me. Waiting.
“We’re talking,” I confirmed.
He beamed.
“Hey, Horace,” Brady said to the man strolling behind the hostess. “Welcome. Long time no see.”
“I’ve been in Chicago.” Horace Elias was a weathered man with silver-gray wavy hair and trimmed goatee. He had taken possession of the space previously occupied by a clothing boutique in the Cypress and Ivy Courtyard. His shop, Time Tinker—he had two others; one in Monterey and another in Santa Cruz—became an instant success because he was an extraordinary clockmaker. One of Horace’s creations featuring a silver fairy hung in my living room. Brady had gifted it to me on my birthday. Without fail, Horace wore a suit. An elaborate chain attached to a heirloom timepiece swooped from the breast pocket to a button.
“For fun, I hope,” Brady said.
“Family business.” Horace tipped the brim of an imaginary cap and continued on to a table just beyond ours. He bent to kiss an elegant woman on the cheek. She resembled him in so many ways, I imagined she was a relative. His sister perhaps?
Brady returned his attention to our table. “How’s dinner?”
“Delicious,” I murmured. “I can never go wrong with the filet of sole meuniere.”
Brady and I had been friends in high school, but we had lost touch. We reconnected when I decided to launch Open Your Imagination and discovered he’d taken ownership of the café in the courtyard across the street from ours. I was so happy we had reignited the friendship. I enjoyed his sense of humor and the easy way he smiled and the warm way in which he greeted allhis customers. He was a man who enjoyed his career and had a passion for life. Plus we were both photography nuts.
“How about I walk you home when you’re done?” he asked. “I’ll need some fresh air.”
“You bet.”
He left, and Fiona zoomed into view with her friend Ulra, a delicate fairy whose pink-and-yellow hair and pink tutu sparkled in the light. A nurturer fairy, Ulra resided in the plants on the café’s patio. She was shy but growing more confident with each human encounter.
“When is the ceremony, Dad?” I asked, resuming our earlier conversation while idly wondering what I’d wear.
“No ceremony,” he said.
“What?” I glanced at Wanda.
“A quick justice of the peace will do the trick, and then we’ll take our honeymoon,” she said. “We’re going to Hawaii.”
“Hawaii?” I regarded my father. It had been my parents’ ideal place to relax. He hadn’t gone since my mother died.
“New beginnings,” he said softly.
“Courtney, Meaghan told me you had a unique visitor today as well as last night,” Wanda said. “Two women believe there’s a treasure buried beneath your shop.”
When my pal stopped in for an afternoon cup of tea, I’d filled her in on the encounters with Tianna as well as Shara.
