Chapter One
Claire Johnson's fingers cramped for the umpteenth time. She let go of her little garden digger and flexed her gloved hand a few times, then went back to work. The birds' early morning chirping from where they'd gathered on the telephone line overhead grated on her nerves like most everything else these days. The only reason she was on her knees seeding her flower garden was out of habit. She knew she wouldn't enjoy the scents or blossoms when they bloomed like so many summers before.
"Damn tree root," she cursed, using her digger to stab the ground below the solid mass she hadn't been able to budge. Another hard jab and the dirt cracked on both sides of the packed earth.
She rammed the pointed tip of the digger into one of the cracks and a solid clump of soil popped out. Claire let go of her tool and picked up the hard dirt. Her tired old eyes widened as chunks of ground fell away, exposing a dollhouse-sized teapot. She used her gloved fingertips to rub off the last layer of caked-on-dirt.
"What the …." Claire dropped the tarnished tin and jumped up when a puff of white smoke shot from the spout. She took backward steps as the tiny cloud became a tornado spinning right for her and crashed into her forehead with a thud.
Claire blinked to clear her vision. To make the miniature-sized woman with wings and waving a wand disappear from the tip of her nose. But flipping her eyelids shut and opening them didn't make her go away.
Now Claire could add hallucinating to her recent state of mind. She squeezed her eyelids shut and shook her head. Determined the little woman would be gone when she opened her eyes. She disappeared from Claire's nose, but flapped her tiny wings as she buzzed in front of her face.
"What do you want?" Claire asked.
"That's my question to you," the fluttering woman said.
Now Claire knew she was losing it. No way could someone so little have a voice as loud as her own.
"What are your three wishes?"
Claire glanced at the teapot she'd dropped, then chuckled for the first time in longer than she could remember as she peeled off her work gloves.
The woman made another landing on the tip of Claire's nose. Only this time she propped her hands on her hips. "I'm waiting."
Claire's hand swung up to swat her away, but instead caught the rim of her straw hat and knocked it off her head. Thick gray curls tumbled over her shoulders and down her back.
The woman sprung off Claire's nose and went back to buzzing in front of her face more than an arm-length away. "There's no getting rid of me until your wishes are granted."
Claire hissed, then wheeled around and headed for the house. She made it to the back porch before the woman flew in front of her face again. Claire began swatting at her, connecting only with thin air as they danced round and round across the large porch.
"Give up yet?" the woman asked on a fly-by past Claire's ear.
Claire lowered her arm to her chest and stood still, trying to catch her breath. "If I weren't … an old woman … I'd have nailed you … on the first swing."
"I can make you young again to see if you're right."
Claire's eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted into a devilish grin. "To be twenty-five again."
The woman waved her wand and tapped the tip of Claire's nose. "Done. Two to go."
It began in Claire's head, a wobbly sensation. The movement rolled down her throat, frame, and limbs. Once she was on steady footing again, she glanced down her front. Just in the nick of time to catch her overhauls and pull them up as they slid down her slender hips. Stunned, she glared at the little woman.
"Guess you were a lot thinner at that age."
Claire finally blinked, then closed her mouth and swallowed before sputtering, "You made me twenty-five again?"
"You asked me to. You have two wishes left."
Claire collapsed on the porch swing. After a few moments of staring into space, she raised her palms in front of her face. She studied them briefly, then flipped them over and stared at the other side. "The wrinkles are gone." She reached up and let her fingers caress her cheeks. "They're as soft as a baby's bottom."
"You're an attractive young woman."
Claire started to stand, remembered her oversized pants and remained in her seat. "Who are you?"
The itsy-bitsy flying woman made a downward swoop and landed on the swing's armrest. "The name's Pinky," she stated proudly. "In case you haven't noticed, my hair, eyes, and attire are pink."
Claire licked her dry lips. "Pinky."
"That's right. Pinky, the wish fairy."
Claire looked over the porch railing to her flower garden, half expecting to see her old body face down in the dirt, thinking she'd died and gone to some magical place between heaven and hell. But the only thing in the dirt was her straw hat and the little teapot.
She focused on Pinky who now sat on the porch railing, swinging her tiny legs back and forth. "I don't believe in fairies."
"Most don't until they meet one."
Claire studied her hands again. "Have I lost my mind?"
"Don't think so. But if that's what you want ...."
"No," Claire screeched.
"Then what do you want?"
Claire sat back in her seat. All kinds of thoughts whirled inside her head. She still wasn't convinced she hadn't gone insane or died and was caught or lost somewhere in the stratosphere. But what if Pinky was real? After all, the wish fairy had made her a young woman again.
She had the body of her twenties again. Could she have the man she fell head-over-heels in love with back then too? Could she have her husband back? Could she have her son home again?
Claire's thoughts centered on how happy she was at twenty-five. In love for the first time. Nothing comes close to that blissful feeling of "Falling in love."
"That is your wish?"
Claire shot Pinky a look. Her last three words had slipped out accidentally, making it too late to take them back. She had a decision to make. Tell the truth or say what Lucas would've expected her to say. "I want to fall in love with my husband all over again. I miss him and would give anything to have him here again."
Pinky frowned. "I can grant much. But Pinky can't bring back the dead."
"How do you know he's dead?"
Pinky shrugged. "I just do." She swung her legs up and stood on the railing snickering. "You want a lover? Cause I can give you that." She arched a pink eyebrow. "A man who will pleasure you in ways you haven't known in a very long time."
Claire snickered. "My husband was quite the lover in our younger days."
Pinky closed her eyes, then flipped up her lids. "If truth be told, you missed out on a lot in the pleasure department. From my vision, Lucas never brought you to a climax."
Claire's smooth cheeks flushed with a combination of embarrassment and anger. "How dare you?"
"Oh don't be such an old prude, Claire. Men like Lucas think crawling on top of a woman and pumping until they ejaculate is the only thing that matters."
As much as she would've liked to dispute what Pinky said, she couldn't.
"Claire, do you know how long I've been locked away in that prison?" Pinky asked and hopped over to the armrest of the swing.
"The teapot?"
"Call it what you like. To me it was prison a mean little boy put me in a hundred years ago and buried in the backyard to spite his older sister. Kind of like the prison Lucas kept you in on this secluded Pennsylvania farm." Pinky smiled and winked. "I'm free now and so are you."
Claire shook her head. "I don't understand any of this."
"You don't have to. All that's necessary is making two more wishes I can grant." She threw up her arms. "It's the least I can do after you set me free."
"How long will I remain in this young body?"
"If you like, until you grow old again. If not, you say the magic words. I want to be my old self again, then snap your fingers."
"Sounds simple enough."
"Claire, you look like you did when you were twenty-five. But, we both know you were a newly wed long before that. Your memory is correct though about falling head-over-heels in love at age twenty-five. The young man wasn't that evil husband of yours Lucas. You fell in love with Henry." Pinky drew a long breath and exhaled slowly with a heavy sigh. "Now that man knew how to satisfy a woman. Henry truly loved you. That's why when you asked him to leave he did."
Something was happening inside Claire again. Picturing Henry sent a carnal heat through her. The same pleasurable sensation she felt every time she saw him all those years ago. She trembled remembering the way his lips, tongue, and fingers had caressed her.
"I'd forgotten," Claire said.
"About Henry or the way he made you feel?"
Claire stopped staring off into space and focused on Pinky. "I've never forgotten Henry. Never knew what became of him after he left here."
"He headed as far west as he could go. Married a sweet girl he grew to love over the years. The poor soul never could forget about you though. He still thinks about you more than he does his deceased wife."
Claire's blue eyes lit up. "Henry's still alive?"
"Alive and well for a man of seventy. He lives for visits from his daughter's kids."
"Henry has grandkids?"
"Two. A boy and a girl just like you."
Claire's heart shot to her throat. It took a long time before she could speak. "I have grandchildren?"
Pinky nodded. "Thanks to Lucas, you've missed out on quite a bit of living, Claire."
Claire went back to staring into space. "I have grandkids."
"Would you like to see them? Because that's something I can grant. Have to warn you though. They're almost your age."
Claire glanced down her front, then at her young hands before focusing on Pinky.
"Or I can give you what most people would ask for."
"And what's that?"
"More money than they could ever spend."
"Say what you want about Lucas, but the man made sure I'd have enough money to live out my life."
Pinky peered at the sun faded and paint blistered old farmhouse. "Provided you don't spend on anything but the bare essentials."
Claire hated being reminded of Lucas's faults, which made her painfully aware of her own. By the time she saw how evil the man she married could be, she didn't have the courage to change the course of her life.
She knew if Lucas found out about her love affair with Henry he'd kill them both. Henry wanted to confront him. To tell him they were in love. But Claire pleaded with him not to and he reluctantly agreed. Henry would've pulverized Lucas in a fist fight. But Lucas didn't fight fair. He'd shoot Henry in the back before he'd let him walk off with his wife, his property. When Henry suggested they run away together she would've done it in a heartbeat. But Claire refused to leave her young son behind and taking him with them wasn't an option. Lucas would hunt them down, kill her and Henry, and spend the rest of his life reminding their son his mother was a cheating whore who deserved to die.
Claire made a decision she'd regretted with each waking breath for the last fifty years. Lucas's deathbed confession made the horrible mistake she'd made grow more painful to bare everyday since.
She'd sent Henry away, believing it was the only choice she could make. The man she loved would live and she'd get to see her son grow up. Had she known Lucas had gotten wind of their affair and was making plans of his own, her decision would've been different. And she wouldn't be spending the remainder of her life consumed with self pity and guilt for not standing up to Lucas the day he came home without their son.
"So, you ready to tell me what your two wishes are?"
Pinky's voice cut into Claire's painful memories. She shoved back her shoulders and gave the little fairy her full attention. "I'm ready."
Pinky hopped onto Claire's lap. "Fire away."
"I want my young lover back, and my son."
"Your adult son?"
Claire wrinkled her brow. She needed to give her decision more thought. "If I bring back the little boy Lucas took from me, what happens to his children?"
Pinky twisted her lips to one side. "Hmm, that's the thing. His children are gonna have to disappear from his life for good."
"Is he a good father, Pinky?"
Pinky's mouth spread into a smile. "You'd be real proud of him."
Tears came into Claire's eyes. "I can't take him from his family."
Pinky hopped back over onto the swing's armrest, her back to Claire for a few minutes before she jarred around to face her. "Here's a thought. I give you back Henry as a young man. Then, when or if the two of you decide the time has come to see your children again, you say the words and snap your fingers."
"But we'll be younger than them."
"If that's what you want. If you remember, I did offer you a way of returning to your former grandmother age."
Claire looked past Pinky to open space, then focused on her.
"I know what you're thinking, Claire. The answer is yes. You can have a delicious love affair with Henry, then reunite with your adult son. The topper is ...." Pinky stopped mid-sentence and twisted her tiny lips to one side. "Nah, I think I'll leave that as a surprise. So do we do this or not?"
Claire took a deep breath releasing it slowly. "We do it."
Pinky tossed her a satisfied smile. "You need to close your eyes for this one. When you open them I'll be gone."
"Where will you go?"
"Anywhere these little wings want to carry me," Pinky said, flapping her wings as she buzzed in front of Claire's face. "Now close your eyes."
Chapter Two
Claire did as she was told. She opened her eyes seconds later standing in front of the antique bureau mirror in her bedroom. She couldn't stop staring at the young woman looking back at her. Her flawless features were wrinkle free. Dark thick curls tumbled over her slender shoulders and down her back. The work shirt and overhauls were gone. A silky white nightgown now clung to her curved body and long legs.
She sensed his presence a moment before she saw his reflection in the mirror as he stepped into the bedroom doorway stopping on the spot.
His intoxicating blue eyes fixed on her. "Claire."
Her hand pressed against the center of her voluptuous breasts where her heart had swelled and pounded so hard it took her breath away. She slowly turned to face him. "Henry."
His mouth widened into the enticing smile she recognized from all those years ago, sending a warm tingling sensation gushing through her veins.
"You're as beautiful as the day I left you here, Claire."
Her heart stopped. She attempted a smile, but the sadness that swept through her made it impossible. "You didn't desert me, Henry. I begged you to leave."
He arched a dark eyebrow, then nodded. "I loved you too much to refuse you anything you wanted. Still do."
She swallowed hard. "I know."
He glanced down his rippling bare chest and jeans to his scuffed boots, then steadied his gaze on her. "Did you have a good life, Claire?"
She smiled to keep from bursting into tears. "Oh Henry, my life isn't over. It's about to begin." Instant relief in his expression sent a breathtaking erotic sensation torpedoing through her. Releasing the hold on her breath, she tossed him a devilish grin and winked. "That is if you get over here and kiss me the way you used to."
He chuckled. "I can do that."
Claire didn't wait for him to come to her. She met him halfway, stretched on tiptoes to reach his soft, wet, and delicious tasting lips as they molded over hers. A fierce heat of desire swirled from her lips to the tips of her toes when his powerful arms circled her and drew her against his perfectly chiseled, steaming-hot body.
His lips traveled south, kissing along her throat, then upward to nibble on an earlobe. "I've missed your arousing scent," he murmured, sniffing along her neck.
"It's the lavender soap I use."
Breathing heavily, he cupped her chin in his fingertips and stared down into her pale blue eyes. "No. It's your woman scent."
His lips collided with hers again. Sucking and licking, then he used his tongue to caress hers. Pleasurable moans filled the bedroom until Henry eased his lips from hers. His sky blue eyes held hers captive. "You taste as sweet as I remember."
Claire's tongue slowly licked across her lower lip. "Ditto."
Copyright(c)2009 Lacey Diamond
Available March 18, 2009 from New Concepts Publishing.
Until Next Time...Heat Up The Bedroom...Read A Lacey Diamond Book...Lacey
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