THE MOMMY PLAN

by Susan Gable

Harlequin Superromance® #1150

ISBN 0-373-71150-6

 - August 2003

"I have something for you."

"You do?" 

"Yeah.  Actually, it's from Molly.  Come outside with me and I'll give it to you."  He retrieved the plastic cup from the night-table and cradled it in his hands, hiding it from her view.  He left the bedroom and headed for the front of the cabin.

"What is it?" she asked from behind him.  "Hey, at least give me a hint."

"No hints."  He flipped on the porch light as he passed the switch, then led her out the screened door and down the steps.  "Okay, close your eyes."  He waited a moment.  "Are they closed?"

"I don't think I know you well enough to close my eyes."

"For crying out loud, Rachel, just do it."

"Okay, okay.  They're closed."

He turned to her.  Moonlight flickered softly over the gentle features of her up-turned face.  Her delicately-shaped lips were slightly parted.  Moonlight, closed eyes, parted lips... God help him, she looked for all the world like a woman waiting to be kissed.

Suddenly the need to kiss her ignited and burned like a wildfire in a drought-scorched forest.  He struggled to subdue the impulse -- a kiss was the last thing either of them needed.

"Well?" she prompted.

He cleared his throat.  "Uh, here."  He closed her hands around the cup.  "You can open your eyes now."

As if on cue, two of the tiny creatures flashed in unison.  "Oh, fireflies."  Her voice caught.  "Daniel always loved catching fireflies in the summer."

"Trudy told the girls that if you make a wish and the fireflies flash when you release them, your wish will come true."

She bit down on her lower lip as she stared at the lightning bugs.  "If only it were that easy."

"It is to kids."

"Yes.  Be good and Santa will bring you what you want, the tooth fairy will swap your lost teeth for cash, and Mommy will kiss it and make it better." 

She glanced back up at him and once more a solitary tear tracked down her check.  His final shred of professionalism slipped away, and suddenly, he was just a man.  He longed to gather her in his arms and soothe away all her pain. 

"But Daniel didn't live long enough to lose a tooth, and Mommy wasn't able to kiss it and make it better."

"I know."  And his kiss wouldn't make it better for her, but damn it, he was tempted to try.  "And so you've stopped believing in magic."

"Haven't you?  After all that Molly's been through, do you still believe in magic, James?"

"I still believe in miracles.  That there's healing in laughter, and in the kindness of strangers.  I believe in angels like you...and like Daniel."

"And what about firefly wishes?  Do you believe in them?"  She held the cup up closer to his face.

Damn it, Rachel.  Between the flickering insects and the dappled moonlight breaking through the swaying trees, he could see it clearly in her eyes.  A tiny spark of hope, and he just couldn't crush it, any more than he could crush Molly's faith in magic.  He reached for that unwavering faith of childhood, the knowledge that all things were possible.  The Unsinkable Molly McClain.  She'd survived against the odds.  "Yes," he whispered.  "I believe in firefly wishes."

And in that moment, he did.

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From the book THE MOMMY PLAN by Susan Gable
Harlequin Superromance® August 2003, ISBN 0-373-71150-6, ©2003 Susan Guadagno.

Cover Copyright (C) 2003 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher.
The excerpt published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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