Because of Baby. Donna Clayton

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ spot.

      However, she’d then found herself at the back of the cabin and smack-dab in the center of another tense moment when she discovered her power to convert didn’t seem to be working. That was the moment she was struck with the realization that the mystical ability of metamorphosis had rules of use. And one of them was that no human eye could witness her gift of transformation.

      Fern had slipped into the restroom cubicle. With all the people coming and going, she hadn’t worried about propping open the door. Swiftly she found herself winging through the air, light as a feather and fancy-free. Being human, she’d learned, had taken its toll on a body. All that skin and bones and sinew came with a heaviness that had weighed Fern down to the point of exhaustion.

      She slipped into the toy sack, snuggled up to Katy’s cuddly teddy bear and fell fast asleep. When she awakened, she yawned through a smile, thinking her dream of being human, of spending time holding the baby and chatting with Paul, had been just lovely. But then she became cognizant of the fleecy softness against her cheek, and she looked up to see the brown fuzzy bear staring at her with its button eyes. Fern’s gaze widened as she zipped out of the sack and into the air to see where she was and what was happening.

      Seeing Paul standing in a wide area waiting with Katy, she searched frantically for a place that would lend her enough privacy to transfigure into a human. A nearby supply closet worked just fine; however, the moment she stepped out into the hallway among all the passersby, she was acutely aware that there was something very different about her attire compared to everyone else’s.

      While she’d been seated on the plane, she hadn’t noticed, but here in the hustle and bustle of the crowd, it was obvious that there was not another soul that she could see who was wearing satin slippers. And not one person’s shoes had upturned toes as hers did. The footwear did come in a vast array of styles and colors, though, she saw.

      One particular pair worn by a smartly dressed woman caught Fern’s eye, and she wished she had shoes like that. Suddenly her feet felt a wee bit cramped. Fern looked down and gasped when she saw an identical pair had taken the place of her booties.

      What fun! It seemed her magical powers of changing extended beyond what she’d first imagined.

      She waited until Paul was busy with Katy before she approached him, so he wouldn’t realize she hadn’t come from the direction from which he was expecting her to.

      “There y’ are!” she greeted.

      Katy squealed with glee and clapped her hands. Paul’s handsome face lifted, his frown easing.

      “I was beginning to worry…” His sentence faded as he looked down at her empty hands. “Where’s your luggage?”

      Instantly Fern grasped the idea of what the baggage claim area he spoke of was for. But she was caught now, and hadn’t a clue how she could go about explaining herself. No way would he believe the truth, not when she scarcely believed it herself.

      “They lost your bags.” The irate retort had the crease in his brow deepening. “What a lousy thing to happen.” He shifted Katy to his other hip. “So that’s where you’ve been. Filing a report. And here I thought you’d changed your mind about coming to work as Katy’s nanny. When do they expect to contact you about your luggage?” He paused. “Fern, how will they know where to send your things?”

      The man surely was full of questions. All she could do was lift her hands, palms up. “I’m staying with you, aren’t I?” The question was all she had for an answer. Beyond that, she was lost.

      “Ah—” he nodded “—smart woman. You gave them my name and they looked me up in the computer. Good thinking.”

      Clouds of uncertainty threatened to shadow his gaze again, but in the end he evidently let go of whatever thought was niggling at him.

      “Well, no sense standing around here all evening,” he told her. “If you’ll take Katy, I’ll get our bags. Thank goodness those made it safely.” He handed the gleeful toddler to her. “We’re off to find a bus that will take us to long-term parking.”

      This traveling experience put Fern’s senses on overload. She pointed out every interesting thing to Katy, and the child’s eyes just gleamed as if she, too, was encountering all these things for the first time.

      “I just can’t get over how she’s taken to you,” Paul murmured as they got off the bus and started across the parking lot.

      Fern watched as he loaded the suitcases into the boot of the car, the muscles of his back playing against the cotton fabric of his shirt when he bent over to arrange the bags. A tingling heat permeated her being, and she had to make a conscious effort to inhale and exhale slowly so she wouldn’t succumb to the peculiar turmoil racing in her head, in her body. What in the world was this warm and wonderful feeling that pulsed through her like golden, sun-heated nectar?

      He buckled Katy into a special seat and they drove out of the garage. Once they were on the road, Fern couldn’t believe how the automobiles seemed to fly in all directions.

      The city skyline had her sighing in awe.

      “There must be a frightful number of people living here if they fill up all of those buildings.”

      Paul chuckled. “There are an appalling number of people in the city,” he agreed. “It must be very different where you’re from. Where are you from, by the way?”

      “Sidhe.” The name for her world tumbled from her lips before she could stop it.

      “I’ve never heard of that town,” he said.

      “Well, it’s…very small.”

      He smiled. “I love those little Irish hamlets. I’m sure Sidhe is just magical.”

      Fern gazed out at the urban horizon, surprised by his accurate description. She whispered, “Sidhe truly is a magical place.”

      “Very different from New York, I’m sure.”

      She only nodded, unable to find the words to describe just how different their worlds really were. Until today her only goal had been to laugh and enjoy life with her friends in Sidhe. But now she was discovering she had a…

      She contemplated how to describe this revelation.

      A purpose. That’s what it was. A reason for being and doing. Helping Paul with Katy so he could get back to writing. And she liked this brand-new sense of satisfaction filling her. Knowing she had already helped Paul—knowing that she was on her way to continue to do so—saturated her with a contentment of awesome proportion.

      Soon the city faded into open spaces, meadows and fields, more reminiscent of what Fern was used to in her homeland. Paul turned onto a tree-lined gravel drive that wound its way to an end in front of a large, white clapboard farmhouse.

      Getting out of the car, Fern gazed out at the barns and paddocks, at the wide-open spaces. “This looks like a wonderful place for a boy to grow up.”

      The rope hanging from the ancient elm in the side yard made her smile. She liked the mental picture that popped into her head of Paul swinging high, the wind blowing through his sandy locks.

      “It was.” He opened the back door, and after unlatching his daughter СКАЧАТЬ