She simply shook her head, still holding her child carefully and rocking the toddler back and forth.
“I just want Jim.” Her voice was broken and Fazire was at a loss. He’d not come across this form of human before. Usually he just saw the greedy ones or ones who turned greedy and grasping and hateful the minute they realized they could have anything they desired.
This was an entirely new experience for Fazire.
He didn’t know what to do. He thought about going back to his bottle and channeling the Great Grand Genie Number One to ask, but instead Fazire followed his instincts.
And, as the years slid by, there would be many a time when he thought he regretted this, but in reality it was the best thing he ever did in his very long genie life.
He reached out and stroked her pretty white-gold hair.
He’d never touched a human in his hundreds and hundreds of years.
To his utter shock, she turned her face into his hand and rubbed her cheek against his palm.
“I miss him,” she whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back even though he didn’t know as he’d never missed anyone but he could tell by the awful tone of her voice.
“I’ll give my wishes to Rebecca,” she said softly.
Fazire reared back an inch and stared at the small child.
“But she can barely talk!” Fazire objected.
Sarah stood up, let the child down to toddle off in some child direction with some unknown child intent in mind as, in horror, Fazire watched her go.
Then Sarah straightened, squared her shoulders and looked at Fazire.
“Well, I guess you’re going to be around for a while,” she said quietly.
July, many years later
Fazire was sunning himself in the front yard holding under his chin the tri-paneled, cardboard-backed mirror Sarah got for him in order to get double sun access on his face. The golden rays were glinting happily off the pond and it was hotter than the hinges of hell and Fazire knew this to be true. He’d had a friend who visited one of his masters in hell and he’d described the excessive heat to Fazire during a channeling, and humid Indiana heat in July sounded exactly like what his friend described.
He’d been there years and neither Sarah nor Becky had used a single wish nor had they shown any signs of doing this.
At first most of his genie friends thought this was hilarious, Fazire being stuck with a family in a small farm town in Indiana, of all places, and they poked great fun at him.
Fazire, walking on the ground like mere mortals.
Fazire, wearing real clothes like humans did.
Fazire, eating blueberry muffins and strawberry shortcake just like people.
Fazire, getting a stocking filled with goodies at Christmas time.
Fazire, taking his young Rebecca on the bus to baseball games (Fazire liked . . . no, loved baseball and Becky absolutely lived for it).
Then Fazire would explain to them what homemade blueberry muffins, fresh from the oven and slathered in real butter, tasted like. He also went into great detail about what he received in his stocking. And he could wax poetic about a grand slam home run for more than fifteen minutes.
When he told them these stories, his genie friends got a little quieter when they were making fun. Then they got jealous. In the end they settled in and couldn’t wait for Fazire to channel to tell them what he was up to next.
And Fazire was always up to something, usually with Becky.
Fazire leaned to his left and picked up the dripping wet, sweating glass of sweet, grape-flavored Kool-Aid, his most favorite human drink. That was to say, in the summer. He loved Becky’s hot chocolate with marshmallow fluff melting on top in the winter.
He slurped a big swallow out of the cool glass and spied Becky walking down to him.
She was round and jolly, just like him, and very tall. She was also very lovely with pretty green eyes and her mother’s white-gold hair. Fazire, although he would not admit this out loud to anyone, genie or human, thought of her a little bit like his child. He had helped to raise her in a way, if getting her into trouble and coaxing her to do naughty things was raising her, which Fazire preferred to think it was.
Now she was a part-time photographer. She’d won a few awards and she’d even taught Fazire how to take photos. And she was married to Will Jacobs who thought the sun rose and set in her.
Fazire liked Will. Will had moved in with them rather than taking Becky away and Fazire approved of this. He found he very much liked having lots of people around the house and lots of conversation and more food on the table. Will was a bit intense but only in the best ways. He loved deeper, thought harder and cared more for people than, well, almost than Sarah and Becky did.
He also could hold a pretty mean grudge so Fazire tried to stay on his good side.
And he knew what Fazire was and he didn’t mind a bit.
And, lastly, he liked baseball.
Yes, Will was okay in Fazire’s Book and Fazire did, indeed, have a book.
Becky waved at Fazire before she collapsed into the grass beside him. She was barefoot and wore a pretty dress. She smiled such a quirky, sweet smile it almost took your breath away. She also liked the sun, just like Fazire, and they used to spend hours outside in the summers baking away.
“Good day, Mistress Becky,” Fazire greeted cheekily.
“Quit calling me that,” she replied but it wasn’t in a nasty way. In fact, she had a smile in her voice. He only called her that because it annoyed her and she was very easy to annoy. And sometimes when she was done being annoyed, it made her smile or giggle and even Fazire’s best wish granted was nothing to one of Becky’s smiles or giggles.
She was his mistress though and he tried to explain this to her so often, he lost count.
“You’re getting brown,” she observed, looking down at Fazire’s nicely tanned, suntan-oil-slicked, very-rounded body exposed by the swimming trunks.
“Do you want to go swimming?” he asked hopefully. He and Becky had gone swimming in the pond more times than he could remember. And today, such a hot day, he felt it was the perfect idea.
She turned on her side and shook her head. He noticed for the first time something was on her mind.
He threw aside his sun-reflecting mirror and turned on his side too.
When Becky had something on her mind, Fazire was always there to listen.
He didn’t say a word. He just waited.
“Fazire . . .” she began and then looked away. “I’m scared even to ask,” she whispered.
“You can ask me anything, Becky.” And it was true. He didn’t know much and she’d figured that out years ago, considering she was very clever and she realized he spent most of his existence living in a double-decker bottle, but he would do his best.
She nodded and looked back at him, her green eyes warm but, indeed, frightened.
“Will and I have been trying to have a baby for years.”
“I know,” Fazire nodded sagely. She’d talked to him about this before. She talked to Sarah about it too. She’d tried and tried to have a baby but each time she tried, she lost it. Sometimes this was painful, sometimes she would bleed. A lot. Sometimes, no, actually every time, this was very scary for Will and Sarah and Fazire.
Losing a baby always made her sad and it was worse and worse every time.
“I want to have a baby,” she said in a rush, almost as if she was afraid of the words, afraid to hope, to wish. “I won’t be greedy, just one. I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. It doesn’t even have to be perfect, just someone to love. Someone that Will and I made. Someone—”
Fazire went quite still.
All these years.
“Are you asking for a wish, Becky?”
She looked at him carefully, silently, before she nodded.
He couldn’t believe it, after all these many, many years. She was older than most women who had babies these days but this, this was a wish he could grant.
He smiled at her and he reached out and touched her belly.
He looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Your wish is my command.”
He did make her perfect.
He made her bright and funny and very, very talented.
He made her sweet and thoughtful and very, very caring.
He made her generous and kind and very, very loving.
He decided not to make her beautiful, at least not at first, because she should know humility and not grow up with conceit.
Though, she would become a beauty, a splendid beauty beyond compare.
Just . . . later.
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KRISTEN ASHLEY IS the New York Times bestselling author of over sixty romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Heroes, The 'Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation and Honey series along with several standalone novels. She's a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in thirteen languages and she's sold nearly three million books.
Kristen's novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense, her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen's titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, and Ride Steady (which won the Reader's Choice award from Romance Reviews) all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.
Kristen, born in Gary and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana, was a fourth generation graduate of Purdue University. Since, she has lived in Denver, the West Country of England, and she now resides in Phoenix. She worked as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent publishing career. She now writes full-time.
Although romance is her genre, the prevailing themes running through all of Kristen's novels are friendship, family and a strong sisterhood. To this end, and as a way to thank her readers for their support, Kristen has created the Rock Chick Nation, a series of programs that are designed to give back to her readers and promote a strong female community.
The mission of the Rock Chick Nation is to live your best life, be true to your true self, recognize your beauty, and last but definitely not least, take your sister's back whether they're at your side as friends and family or if they're thousands of miles away and you don't even know who they are. The programs of the RC Nation include Rock Chick Rendezvous, weekends Kristen organizes full of parties and get-togethers to bring the sisterhood together, Rock Chick Recharges, evenings Kristen arranges for women who have been nominated to receive a special night, and Rock Chick Rewards, an ongoing program that raises funds for nonprofit women's organizations Kristen's readers nominate. Kristen's Rock Chick Rewards have donated over $125,000 to charity and this number continues to rise.
You can read more about Kristen, her titles and the Rock Chick Nation at www.KristenAshley.net.
Rock Chick Series:
Rock Chick
Rock Chick Rescue
Rock Chick Redemption
Rock Chick Renegade
Rock Chick Revenge
Rock Chick Reckoning
Rock Chick Regret
Rock Chick Revolution
Rock Chick Reawakening
Rock Chick Reborn
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Rock Chick
Rock Chick Rescue
Rock Chick Redemption
Rock Chick Renegade
Rock Chick Revenge
Rock Chick Reckoning
Rock Chick Regret
Rock Chick Revolution
Rock Chick Reawakening
Rock Chick Reborn
The ‘Burg Series:
For You
At Peace
Golden Trail
Games of the Heart
The Promise
Hold On
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
For You
At Peace
Golden Trail
Games of the Heart
The Promise
Hold On
The Chaos Series:
Own the Wind
Fire Inside
Ride Steady
Walk Through Fire
A Christmas to Remember
Rough Ride
Wild Like the Wind
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Own the Wind
Fire Inside
Ride Steady
Walk Through Fire
Wild Like the Wind
The Colorado Mountain Series:
The Gamble
Sweet Dreams
Lady Luck
Breathe
Jagged
Kaleidoscope
Bounty
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
The Gamble
Sweet Dreams
Lady Luck
Breathe
Jagged
Kaleidoscope
Bounty
Dream Man Series:
Mystery Man
Wild Man
Law Man
Motorcycle Man
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Mystery Man
Wild Man
Law Man
Motorcycle Man
The Fantasyland Series:
Wildest Dreams
The Golden Dynasty
Fantastical
Broken Dove
Midnight Soul
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Wildest Dreams
The Golden Dynasty
Fantastical
Broken Dove
Midnight Soul
The Honey Series:
The Deep End
The Farthest Edge
The Greatest Risk
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
The Deep End
The Farthest Edge
The Greatest Risk
The Magdalene Series:
The Will
Soaring
The Time in Between
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
The Will
Soaring
The Time in Between
Moonlight and Motor Oil Series:
The Hookup
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
The Hookup
Until the Sun Falls from the Sky
With Everything I Am
Wild and Free
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Until the Sun Falls from the Sky
With Everything I Am
Wild and Free
The Unfinished Hero Series:
Knight
Creed
Raid
Deacon
Sebring
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Knight
Creed
Raid
Deacon
Sebring
Ghosts and Reincarnation Series:
Sommersgate House
Lacybourne Manor
Penmort Castle
Fairytale Come Alive
Lucky Stars
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Sommersgate House
Lacybourne Manor
Penmort Castle
Fairytale Come Alive
Lucky Stars
Other Titles by Kristen Ashley:
Heaven and Hell
Mathilda, SuperWitch (Mathilda’s Book of Shadows)
Play It Safe
Three Wishes
Complicated
ALSO AVAILABLE ON AUDIO
Heaven and Hell
Play It Safe
Three Wishes
Complicated
CLICK HERE TO ORDER TITLES by KRISTEN ASHLEY
Official Website:
www.kristenashley.net
Kristen’s Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/kristenashley
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Follow Kristen on Twitter:
@KristenAshley68
Discover Kristen’s Pins on Pinterest:
www.pinterest.com/kashley0155
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