Читать книгу Magic In A Jelly Jar - Sally Tyler Hayes - Страница 11

“He what?”

Leaning against the open door of his pickup, his cell phone cradled against his ear and noise from the construction site making it nearly impossible to hear, Joe Morgan was sure there had to be some mistake. Even though Luke was only in first grade, Joe had already gotten some strange phone calls from school. This, however, was the strangest.

“What was he doing with his hand in a girl’s mouth?”

“Trying to pull the tooth, I believe,” said Miss Reynolds, Luke’s twenty-something, ever-so-proper, first-grade teacher. “Maybe Luke will explain that to you. He certainly wouldn’t say anything more to me.”

Joe could just imagine the story Luke would tell about this particular antic. Luke was always up to something, always scheming and planning, always into some sort of trouble.

“He broke the girl’s tooth?”

“Apparently the tooth was already loose. When he tried to get it out of Jenny’s mouth, it hurt. So she bit him. When he pulled his hand out of her mouth, the tooth came with it. It was stuck in the side of his thumb.”

“Wonderful.” Joe could just imagine what this girl’s parents must think of him and his son.

“Neither one of them is hurt. Not really. They both just want the tooth. Luke claims he bought it from Jenny for fifty cents.”

“While it was still in her mouth?” Joe frowned. Other kids were content to play doctor. His son had to be original.

“Honestly, Mr. Morgan, that’s all I’ve managed to get out of them. The children know they’re in trouble and are refusing to talk. We also can’t find the tooth, something that’s causing them considerable anxiety.”

Joe sighed.

Ever since Luke had lost his first tooth—no, even before that—he’d been fascinated with the whole idea of losing teeth. He was definitely up to something. Joe had no idea what. Raising two little kids on his own, now that his wife was gone, was proving to be almost more than he could handle. But he never thought he’d get tripped up so thoroughly over something like teeth.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to come in again, Mr. Morgan. We need to talk about what’s going on with Luke.”

Joe groaned, but he was at the school at three-twenty, right on schedule. He parked his pickup amidst enough minivans and SUVs to stock a car lot, then dusted off his jeans as best he could, sending sawdust flying. His shirt was coated with dust, as well, his cowboy boots caked with dried mud, but there was nothing he could do about that. He worked hard for a living, and by this time of day, it showed.

The school Luke attended was old and steeped in tradition. For more than one hundred years, St. Mark’s Academy had educated the well-to-do children of the well-to-do St. Mark’s parish, and the family of Joe’s former wife had been founding members of the church and the school. His mother-in-law had put the kids’ names on the preenrollment list the day they were born, and she’d probably pulled some strings to get them admitted.

Joe felt as if he’d had no choice but to send Luke and Dani there, even if tuition was killing him and he never quite felt at ease inside this building or with the parents of the other students.

Keeping his eyes down, a tight smile on his face, he made his way across the broad sidewalk, where children were waiting to be picked up from school. In their school plaids and white shirts, the girls were neat and tidy, their hair done in sleek ponytails or intricate braids that Joe would never master. The boys, in dark slacks, white shirts and outrageously expensive sneakers, were louder and rougher as they huddled together laughing and talking about their day. His son was probably in Sister Mary Margaret’s office. Sister was the principal, and Joe had never met a woman so good at invoking guilt and remorse in his weary soul.

He went to Luke’s classroom, with its four neat rows of tiny desks and chairs, every inch of the walls covered with kids’ drawings and posters and signs. Order reigned here, where chaos was king at his home. No wonder Luke didn’t fit in, Joe thought.

“Mr. Morgan?”

Luke’s teacher, who might have been twenty-five years old, was waiting for him. He felt ancient beside her, though he was only thirty-one. Miss Reynolds, as he’d always called her, because that was what Luke called her and Joe didn’t even know her first name, wore a long flowery dress with lace at the collar and the sleeves. Her hair was smoothed back into a neat knot at the back of her head. She always gave him a smile that made him feel like a bowl of cream that had been placed in front of a happy hungry cat. She was husband-hunting, just as he’d feared the first time he came in for one of these little conferences. But Joe wasn’t interested in being anyone’s husband again.

Luke, he thought, you’re going to pay for this.

“Ma’am,” he said, trying to hide all that he was feeling. If he hadn’t left Texas nearly a decade ago, he would have tipped his hat, in that respectful way he’d been taught to greet a lady. Instead, he settled for nodding his head and lowering his eyes.

“Mr. Morgan.” She pointed to one of the kiddie chairs. “Please sit.”

Joe sank into it and tried not to grimace as his knees rose in front of him. He just loved these chairs.

“I sent Luke to the after-school program so we can have our little talk in private,” she said. “Mr. Morgan, I don’t mean to pry, but I was wondering if there was anything going on at home that I should know about.”

Joe groaned. The teacher smiled sweetly, as if she hadn’t asked him to bare his soul to her.

“Sometimes parents aren’t aware of it,” she said, “but problems at home almost always show up in a child’s behavior at school. And if there is a problem, it’s best to tell us so we can be prepared and try to offer some extra help and understanding.”

Everyone at his house could use some extra help and understanding, Joe thought. But still, he hated what it would take to get it for them.

“I know that you and Luke’s mother are divorced,” she began, “and that you have full custody.”

“That’s right,” he said. He’d given the school the bare bones of it on the forms he’d filled out. Who was the custodial parent? Who was authorized to pick up the child from school and who wasn’t? Were there any custody issues the school should be aware of? He’d hated that form.

“And the two of you have been separated for…?”

“Thirteen months.” He could tell her the day, even the hour, if she thought that was necessary.

“And when Luke does see his mother—”

“He doesn’t,” Joe cut in.

“Oh.” Miss Reynolds looked taken aback. “Not ever?”

“No.” Joe’s face burned.

“Well…I wish we had known sooner.”

“Sorry,” he said tightly. It was the first time his wife ever walked out, and he wasn’t up on all the proper procedures to follow.

“Look, I don’t mean to pry. I was just worried about Luke and trying to understand what was going on. I noticed when we returned after Christmas break a few weeks ago that Luke seemed particularly upset. I thought perhaps something happened at Christmas.”

Joe suspected that Luke asked Santa to bring his mother home for Christmas, and Santa hadn’t. Not that Joe was going to share that particular tidbit with Miss Reynolds.

“Luke is rather quick-tempered lately,” she tried. “And irritable.”

She could have easily been describing Joe, but again, he didn’t say anything about that. Still, she looked like she expected a response.

“It’s been a difficult adjustment,” he said, which had to be the understatement of the year.

“Well…I’ll try to be understanding with Luke in class. And if anything happens, anything you think I should know, please feel free to call me. I’ll do anything I can to help Luke.”

She smiled and let her hand rest on his knee for a moment. When did women get so forward? Joe wondered. He and Elena had been together for eight years, and he didn’t remember women coming on to men this way before. Maybe there was just something about a man alone trying to raise two little kids that brought out that protective streak in some women. They just didn’t understand. The last thing Joe wanted was to give another woman a chance to trample all over his heart and his kids’ hearts. He rose to go, the movement freeing him from her touch.

“One more thing,” Miss Reynolds said, getting to her feet, as well. “Luke seems…obsessed—that’s the best word I can think of to describe it—with teeth. All kids this age are excited by the idea, but Luke…”

“I know. I’m not sure why. He won’t tell me.”

“You’re going to have to talk to him,” Miss Reynolds said. “We really can’t have him trying to pull the other children’s teeth here at school.”

“Of course.” Joe gritted his teeth and promised to have the talk.

“I did have an idea about that. We have a wonderful new children’s dentist in town. She came and spoke to the class about taking proper care of their teeth when we did our unit on dental hygiene, and the kids just loved it. Luke was especially attentive that day. He was quite taken with her costume.”

“Costume?”

“Yes. She dressed up as the tooth fairy. The kids talked about her visit for weeks.”

“A grown woman actually dressed up as the tooth fairy to come talk to schoolkids?”

“Yes. We had a terrific time that day. They’re convinced she is the tooth fairy.”

“Luke talked about her at home, too. I thought he was making it up.” Joe hadn’t seen his son so animated since his mother had walked out on them.

“I thought you might take him to see her. Maybe she could explain what’s proper and what’s not when it comes to teeth, and Luke would listen to her.”

Miss Reynolds held out a slip of paper. Joe took it and fled from the classroom, clutching the tooth fairy’s phone number in his hand.

He wasn’t going to call her. He was convinced he could handle this himself without the aid of a woman who dressed up like a fairy. But the next day he got another call from school. Something about an incident in the cafeteria, Luke’s hand in someone else’s mouth, and a flashlight and more kids who weren’t talking. Joe was at a loss. A grown woman in a fairy costume didn’t sound so bad anymore.

He got Luke from school and tried not to think about what it would be like to tell his strange tale to the lady dentist. He just hoped she could help.

When Joe pushed open the front door of the dentist’s office, music flowed out. It was some silly jingle that Dani loved, one the purple dinosaur sang.

“Is this place for babies?” Luke asked, insulted to the core.

“No, it’s for big kids, too,” Joe replied, smiling at the notion that at seven, Luke was big. To Luke, a person was either big or little. There was no in between. Dani, at four, was little. Luke was convinced he was big.

A few moments later the receptionist led them down a hallway colored with a rainbow, one shade dropping out as it made its way into each brightly colored treatment room. Luke drew the blue room, which featured a blue ceiling complete with stars. Luke and Joe stared up at those thousands of glittering stars. Was it a trick of the light or were they truly glittering?

Special paint, he decided. Manufacturers were doing amazing things with paint these days. He’d have to inquire about exactly what brand it was. Some of his clients might be interested.

“Dad!” Luke was tugging on his pant legs. “Look! It glitters! Isn’t it cool? And it’s a sign. I know it is. This place is magic!”

Joe scoffed. Magic was for seven-year-olds.

Then, just as he turned away, he caught a rush of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning back, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It was crazy, but he could have sworn he’d just seen a star streak across the ceiling. A shooting star.

Joe blinked to clear his vision. It was the middle of the afternoon, he reminded himself, and he was inside staring at a ceiling painted blue and sprayed with fake stars. Nothing moved in the would-be sky, but the stars still glittered. He almost reached up to touch them, to see if it truly was glitter and would rub off on his fingertips.

He was still trying to figure it out when he heard footsteps behind him, then a rich full voice that said, “Hello, you must be Luke.”

Joe’s son seemed struck dumb, and a moment later Joe supposed they must look like a real pair.

This had to be the fairy.

He took his time looking her over from the bottom up. She had dainty feet, encased in fancy sandals with tiny straps in a sparkling silver color. Smooth trim calves—very nice. Cute little knees, too, peeking out from under a pale skirt that stopped an obliging two inches above her knees. A long loose jacket covered almost all of the rest of her; he could have done without that.

All he could see outside of the jacket was a pair of delicate hands—no rings, he noted—and the enticing curve of her throat and neck. She had pale peach-colored lips, eyes as blue as that fake sky. Her hair was honey-colored and pulled back from her face into an intricate braid Dani would have loved and seriously envied, and it hung to a point halfway down her back. She had dainty moon-shaped earrings, and an absolutely dazzling smile that was directed, full force, at his son, who was positively glowing.

Joe told himself he was being rude, staring at her this way. He simply couldn’t help it.

“Dad!” Luke was tugging furiously on Joe’s jeans. Bending down, Joe let Luke whisper in his ear, “It’s her!”

“Who?” Joe was still staring at her and thinking that he hadn’t been so blown away by the sight of a woman in years. He thought he was over that—that having his and his children’s hearts ripped out by a woman who had pledged to love them forever would have cured him.

“The tooth fairy!” Luke whispered loudly enough for the mischievous-looking woman to hear. He looked as if he was ready to explode with excitement. “She came to my school, ’cept she was all dressed up then in the blue dress with the stars. She even had her magic wand with her. I know it’s her. And she’s real. She’s the tooth fairy.”

“Luke, there’s no such thing as—”

“Uh-hmm.” The woman cleared her throat loudly.

Joe stopped just in time. “Sorry.”

She gave him a conspiratorial wink, then turned to Luke and stuck out her hand. “I’m Dr. Carter. And you are Luke, aren’t you? Please tell me I’m in the right room.”

Luke took the hand she offered and whispered, “You’re her, aren’t you?”

“Who?” she said with a smile.

“The tooth fairy.” Luke was still whispering, as if he couldn’t say it out loud.

She laughed, a sound that invited everyone around to laugh with her. Joe would have, if he’d been able to make a sound.

“But tooth fairies are magic,” she said quite seriously. “I’m just a dentist.”

Then she pulled a quarter from behind Luke’s right ear and handed it to him.

“Wow! Did you see that, Dad? She is magic.”

Dr. Carter was still grinning down at his son. Her hand headed for Luke’s other ear, and before Joe could say anything, she pulled a plastic spider ring from behind Luke’s ear.

“Wow!” Luke just stared up at her and grinned.

“So, what seems to be the problem here, Luke? Or are you just here for a checkup?”

“I dunno,” Luke said, Mr. Innocent now.

“I need to talk to you,” Joe said, not wanting to explain the problem in front of Luke.

“All right.” Dr. Carter turned back to his son. “Luke, I have a very special chair that goes up and down when you press this little button. How ’bout I let you sit in it and take it up and down?”

“Can I really?”

“Sure.” She helped Luke into the chair and showed him the button. “But you have to promise that when Mary comes in to count your teeth and when I check them, you’ll leave the chair alone. Deal?”

She held out her palm. Luke slapped it with enthusiasm. “Deal!”

The chair was revving up and down when the dentist led Joe from the room.

“Don’t the kids wear out the chairs?” he said.

“Eventually, but it makes them happy to take them up and down.” She said it as if that was the only thing that mattered—making the children happy. “Besides, it’s impossible to keep them from playing with the chairs, kind of like telling them to be still or to stay out of the mud on a rainy day. So I cut a deal with them—they can play for a minute, get it out of their system, then they have to leave the chairs alone while we work.”

She led him down the hall and to the right. Joe found himself watching the muscles flex in those trim calves of hers as she walked, and he wished she’d take off that white coat so he could see what was beneath it. She opened a heavy wooden door to the right, then offered him a seat in front of her desk. The desk was old and solid, made of polished cherry, and he guessed it weighed a ton. Joe couldn’t help but admire it.

“They don’t make pieces like this these days,” he said, running a finger around the intricate trim work.

“I know. This was my father’s. In fact, almost all the furniture in here was his.” She stood beside a big leather swivel chair that seemed as if it would swallow her.

Joe glanced around the room, saw bookshelves overflowing with thick heavy texts, a dozen or so plants of all sizes and shapes that almost took over the room, and another glass cabinet with dozens of fairy figurines inside it.

“You’re really into this tooth-fairy thing, aren’t you?”

“My father was. He was a dentist, too, and he’s been collecting fairies since before I was born. He died last year.”

“Sorry,” Joe said. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter. But Joe knew it did. The woman who’d been so animated in the other room with his son was quite different now. No mischievous smile waited on her lips, no twinkle in those amazing blue eyes. Joe wished he hadn’t taken her smile away.

“So.” She moved to the front of the desk, then leaned against it. “What’s wrong with Luke?”

Joe ran through the list in his head. Luke wouldn’t give up his teeth. In fact, the ones he had given up to the tooth fairy, he’d cried and begged to buy back within days of giving them up. He played dentist at school, tearing out Jenny’s tooth, and was in some kid’s mouth with a flashlight in the lunchroom earlier that day. He had a mother who’d left and probably wasn’t ever coming back. How much of that could Joe share with this woman who pulled quarters from behind little boys’ ears to make them smile?

“It can’t be that bad,” she offered, then reached a hand out to him.

Joe sat back in the chair. He felt her fingertips brush his chest above the pocket of the clean shirt he’d donned in the truck before he picked Luke up from school, and then she pulled a long yellow scarf from his shirt pocket. It seemed to take forever, and Joe was baffled by the whole procedure.

Being this close to the woman, having her touch him in such an inconsequential way, having her smile at him, then blush as if she’d embarrassed herself—it all baffled him.

Because it felt so good.

Time to go out on a date, he supposed, dismissing the idea just as quickly as he considered allowing another woman into his life. One had been more than enough.

And then he looked up at the woman with the yellow scarf in her small elegant hands, a flush of color in her cheeks.

Here, he thought with flashes of unease shooting through him, was a woman who just might be able to change his mind about that. Not that he wanted it to change. He certainly didn’t intend to let another woman get anywhere near his kids.

Samantha froze, like a mischievous kid caught red-handed, as Joe Morgan stood there, staring at her. He didn’t so much as blink, didn’t say anything. He looked bewildered at first, then impossibly stern.

“I…I’m so sorry,” she stammered, as heat flooded her cheeks. She explained as best she could. “Force of habit.”

“Habit?” the striking dark-haired man said.

She nodded and tried not to stumble over her words. “I do little tricks. To make the children smile. And…”

It had been sheer impulse. She’d seen him sitting there looking sad, so she’d done the first thing that popped into her head—pull a silk scarf from his shirt pocket. Except he was no scared little boy. He was a man. A very attractive man. And she’d just made a fool of herself.

“You looked…troubled,” she said, wondering if he’d felt anything at all when she touched him. She certainly had. Something like a little jolt of static electricity, only better. Something like magic, except Samantha wasn’t sure she believed in magic anymore. She suddenly felt foolish for all the years she had believed. It seemed so naive now.

“It’s been a difficult day,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, thinking she’d like to know about his day, like to know if his had truly been nearly as bad as hers and whether he had any idea how to fix it. Maybe he could tell her how to fix hers, how to fix everything. He looked like a man who fixed things.

Samantha stared at him, at long legs encased in well-worn jeans, snug in all the right places, cowboy boots splattered with dried mud, but a clean shirt, the sleeves rolled up nearly to his elbows. He had the kind of all-over tan worn by a man who worked outside year-round, and the lean corded muscles in his arms indicated he did something physical and likely did it well.

He dusted off his jeans—maybe because he’d caught her staring—and sawdust went flying.

“Sorry. I came straight from work,” he said. “I’m a mess by this time of day.”

“No problem,” she assured him, fingering the shapeless white coat she wore. “I get messy, too. Which is why I live in these.”

She thought about taking off the ugly white coat, but decided that might be too obvious, and she’d never been obvious with a man.

“You must work outside,” she guessed. To her, that was a bold move.

“Yes. I’m a builder.”

He said it as if she might find something objectionable in that. She didn’t. He was obviously a strong man who was good with his hands, and he was gorgeous, in a rough-and-tumble sort of way. What was there for any woman to object to?

Samantha’s only problem was that she’d lost all track of the conversation and forgotten the reason he was here. His son. That was it. Did that mean he had a wife, too?

She checked as discreetly as possible and saw no ring on his left hand. Women did that these days, she’d found. Regularly. For some women it was an automatic action. Check the hand. No ring? No telltale pale band of skin on the ring finger? He wasn’t shy about giving out his home phone number? Didn’t find excuses why you shouldn’t call him at home? He was likely single.

Samantha hadn’t put any of those tactics into practice—until now—but she’d learned all the signs that indicated a married man. Just in case she was ever interested enough to check out a man.

So far, she hadn’t been. She’d hardly met any men at all since she’d been here. At the dentist’s office it was almost all mothers and children, which made this man even more intriguing.

Oh, jeez, Samantha admitted, he’d be intriguing under any circumstances, and she was staring quite rudely, probably making a fool of herself. Not that she’d ever take this any farther than a mild flirtation—just for practice. She was sadly out of practice, after all. It showed in everything she’d said and done to him. She could relate to seven-year-olds better than grown men. And he had a seven-year-old. An adorable one, which made him strictly off-limits, him and his kid.

“Mr. Morgan—”

“Joe,” he cut in.

“Joe.” She liked the sound of his name on her lips. “About Luke—what can I do for him? And for you?”

Looking wary again, Joe just stared at her, then finally started to talk. “Luke has been behaving strangely lately.”

“You can tell me,” she encouraged because this seemed to be so difficult for him.

“It’s…I don’t understand it. He’s obsessed with teeth. Yesterday, on the playground at school, he tried to pull out a little girl’s tooth. Today in the cafeteria, he had a flashlight and his hand inside a little boy’s mouth…”

“Oh.” Samantha considered for a minute. “Does he by any chance go to St. Mark’s?”

“Yes. Why?”

She’d definitely embarrassed him now, and she felt bad.

“I’ve been getting some calls from St. Mark’s. I think I saw his patient, Jenny, yesterday. I’ve been wondering about my competitor, actually.”

“The little girl’s all right, isn’t she? Please tell me Luke didn’t do any damage.”

Samantha wanted to reassure him, felt an almost overwhelming urge to touch him. With the kids, she was generous with her smiles, her laughter, the touch of her hand on a shoulder or a big hug. But this was a man, she reminded herself again. And she’d already made a fool of herself with her little bag of tricks.

“Jenny’s fine.” She managed to keep her hands to herself and rushed on, “She would have lost the tooth in a few days, anyway.”

“Thank goodness for that,” he said.

“So, what else is Luke doing?”

“He’s so caught up in this whole tooth thing. At first I thought it was money. Luke loves money. But after he lost his first tooth and put it under his pillow, the…uh…”

“The tooth fairy came to visit?” she suggested.

“Yes, and he got his money. Then he decided he’d rather have the tooth back. He came and asked if he could buy it back.”

Samantha laughed. “I hope you agreed.”

“Yes. He put his two dollars under his pillow without complaining at all about the loss of the money, and the next morning, there was his tooth.”

“Good,” Samantha said. He was willing to play along, for the sake of his son. “So what did he do with the tooth?”

“He put it in a jelly jar on the shelf in the top of his closet, along with the other three teeth he’s lost. He’s saving them.”

“For what?”

Joe shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t said. Do you think you could explain to my son that dentists are the only people allowed to pull teeth?”

“Of course.”

“He’s up to something. I don’t know what.”

“Something to do with baby teeth? And magic? And wishes?”

Joe nodded.

Once again she wanted to touch him, to soothe him just a bit, maybe make him smile again. She had a feeling he wasn’t normally such a stern-looking man.

“What does Luke want?”

Joe swore so softly she could barely hear it, then added quietly, “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Something that’s not within your power to give?” she guessed.

Joe nodded again.

Samantha couldn’t help but wonder where Mrs. Morgan was right now, and she sensed that was the answer to Luke’s wishes and to his father’s obvious discomfort. She wouldn’t pry any further, because she suspected this man’s pride had taken a beating somewhere along the way. But taking a closer look at his left hand, she now found that strip of paler skin that told her, until recently, he’d worn what she suspected was a wedding ring.

Poor Luke, she thought. What happened to his mother?

“I’ll give Luke my standard speech on the importance of taking care of teeth, letting them come out when they’re ready—all that good stuff,” she said. And she’d throw in a few more magic tricks to make Luke smile.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

And then, because there was nothing left to do, she excused herself to go talk to Luke and left Joe in the peace and quiet of her office.

She was back fifteen minutes later, having left Luke in the waiting room admiring one of her displays of fairy figurines and not sure she’d been any help at all. Joe Morgan stood with his back to her, his impossibly broad shoulders seeped in tension. She wished there was something she could do to soothe him, too.

“Hi,” she said, walking in and closing the door behind her.

He turned around and looked at her, waiting, obviously hoping. She hated disappointing him.

“I’m sorry. Luke has a mouthful of beautiful absolutely healthy teeth and a whole lot of secrets. I tried my best, but I couldn’t get him to crack.”

Joe smiled. “Really put on the pressure, did you, Doc?”

“I tried,” she reassured him. “He’s very bright. He asked me all sorts of questions about baby teeth. How many kids have and when they start to lose them, how long it takes before they’re all gone. He says he has a friend who’s good with numbers who’s going to help him figure everything out. He mentioned something about a formula. I hope we’re talking mathematical and not chemical.”

Joe laughed. “I’ll lock up his chemistry set.”

“That would probably be a good idea.”

“Luke is a schemer. Always has been. He gets an idea in his head, and he doesn’t let go of it. Not for anything.”

“Which is not necessarily a bad trait.”

“In an adult. It’s hell in a kid, especially when you’re the one trying to raise him.”

Samantha shrugged, telling herself not to get drawn in too deeply. She was just here to take care of kids’ teeth. She always got in too deep, always cared too much. Surely she’d learned her lesson by now.

“I’m sure you’ll figure out what he’s up to. Or he’ll tell you,” she said. “I showed Luke all my instruments and explained to him all the things I use to pull out a tooth safely, and I thought that would do it. But I didn’t like the gleam in his eye. I was afraid he’d be off stealing a pair of pliers or an adjustable wrench from your toolbox and using what I told him to be even more efficient at dentistry than he already is. I hope that wasn’t a mistake.”

“I’ll lock up my tools, too,” Joe said. “Just in case.”

“Good. My next idea was to tell him he could be a dentist, but he had to suffer through a ton of schooling and pass all sorts of tests first to be licensed. That may have made some headway with him—the idea that he could be in trouble for practicing dentistry without a license.”

Joe laughed out loud then. She saw little crinkles at the corners of his dark eyes and his mouth. His shoulders shook and he relaxed, at least for a second. How about that? she mused. She’d made him laugh, really laugh. She felt as good as she did when one of her little tricks won her a genuine smile from a kid.

“You’re very good, Doc. I’m impressed.”

She blushed at the praise, thinking she’d thoroughly enjoyed her time with the Morgan men.

“He seemed to like me. Quite a bit,” she admitted. “So my third and final strategy was to tell Luke that if he insisted on taking care of all his classmates’ teeth, pretty soon I wouldn’t have anything to do, that he’d ruin my job.”

“That’s perfect,” Joe said. “I appreciate it. More than I can say.”

“He’s a delightful little boy.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Take good care of him. And call me if there’s anything else I can do,” she offered, wondering if he’d take her up on that, if she’d ever see either one of them again.

Joe Morgan took her hand in both of his. Her entire arm started to tingle in an unsettling way. They stood there, staring at each other. She felt a strange sense of connection with him, something she didn’t want to lose. Which was crazy. She didn’t even know him. She didn’t know anything about him, except that he was too handsome for her own good, she felt a little charge of electricity when he touched her, and he had a great little boy.

Samantha pulled away, because that was how it had to be. She had to look out for herself this time. She had to be smart, safe.

“Thanks, Doc,” he said softly.

“You’re welcome,” she said, fighting this odd urge to beg him to stay.

He turned and walked to the door, was almost gone when she thought of something.

“Joe?”

He turned to face her again. “Yes?”

“I may have convinced Luke to stop practicing dentistry, but he’s absolutely convinced I have magical powers. I’m afraid my little tricks with the coins and things just made it worse. He thinks I’m the tooth fairy.”

Joe considered, then replied, “I’ll take care of it.”

Samantha nodded, wondering what he’d say. That there was no such thing as magic? No wishes coming true? No miracles left in this world?

She hoped not, even though she supposed it was true. But Samantha had seen children who’d stopped believing in magic, who’d been robbed of their illusions, and she didn’t want Luke to be one of them.