Even though she told herself it was wrong, she clasped it in the palm of her hand and said, “I wish that my baby lives a long and happy life.” She opened her hand to see if the Stone was changing color as it had when Nell had it around the neck of her teddy bear, but the necklace was the same.
“This is ridiculous,” she said as she put it back in its lead case, and closed the top of the compact. As she’d told Tris, she put it in the little basket that was near the bathroom sink and held her other cosmetics. It was hidden in plain sight.
That afternoon young Shamus showed up at her door. She didn’t get up to open it, just motioned for him to come in. He went directly to the kitchen and made a c
ouple of sandwiches for them, then sat down to draw.
They had developed a routine where they said little to each other, and she knew that Shamus liked the silence that usually surrounded her. She’d seen that the inside of the Frazier house was more turbulent, more active, than she liked, so maybe it was the same for him.
“I’m going to have a quiet child,” she said, then glanced up at Shamus. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he didn’t seem to have heard. He just kept sketching on his big pad.
Later, she nodded toward his wooden art box on the table. Gray duct tape was all along the bottom, and it was very ugly. “Why don’t you leave that here and I’ll see if I can fix it?”
He nodded once but didn’t look up. Whatever he was drawing today was certainly absorbing.
She went back to trying to put her copious notes into a readable form. Twice she found herself looking at the names of the family she was writing about. The Fraziers seemed to love to stick to the old names, but she couldn’t bear to saddle her child with “Peregrine.” And what about the girls? Would Alea want her to name the child Prudence? Gemma reassured herself by remembering that Mrs. Frazier had named her daughter Ariel.
As Gemma was musing over this, Shamus left, raising his hand in farewell, and closing the door after him. She saw that he’d left his art case behind, and peeping out from under it was a piece of paper. Since Shamus rarely let anyone see his drawings, Gemma was overcome with curiosity. Getting up, she went to the coffee table. When she picked the drawing up, what she saw so jolted her that she sat down heavily on the couch.
Shamus had drawn Gemma sitting under a big tree like the one at Merlin’s Farm, and she was reading. She looked absolutely absorbed in her book, oblivious to her surroundings. It would have been a completely accurate portrait except that there were three little boys, each one the spitting image of Colin, near her. One was swinging by his hands from a low tree branch. The second one was wearing a sheriff’s badge and cowboy boots, and looking like he was about to arrest the boy in the tree. The third one, wearing a diaper that looked decidedly soggy, had constructed an obstacle course of rocks and twigs, and was running four tiny cars over it.
Gemma could only stare at the picture in open-mouthed astonishment. But then, she leaned back on the couch and couldn’t help laughing, as the drawing looked very true to life. She could envision herself in just such a position, absorbed in her reading as her children occupied themselves.
“Whatever made him draw this?” she whispered, and remembered her comment about having a “quiet child.” It seemed that he had combined that with Mrs. Frazier’s very vocal desires for grandchildren, and Mr. Frazier’s frequent statements about wanting a child to inherit the ancestors’ passion for wheels. Add to it that Gemma kept her hand protectively on her stomach most of the time and that she went to the bathroom every few minutes, and it looked like Shamus had figured out her secret. In a single picture, he had put his parents’ Heartwishes with what Gemma had accidently told.
Gemma carefully stored the drawing in a portfolio and went back to work, but every half hour or so, she’d look up, smile, and shake her head in wonder.
At six, she received a text message from Colin and her heart leaped. So this is what it’s like to be in love, she thought, then told herself she was being silly. It was too soon for that. But then, wouldn’t it be better if she were in love with the father of her child?
Could you meet me asap at Merlin’s Farm by the summerhouse? Mike and Sara aren’t here. It’s just us.
Gemma could feel her heart beginning to race and her mind filled with all sorts of possibilities. Did “just us” mean that he wanted a tryst, a secret assignation? Merlin’s Farm, with its atmosphere of spirits long gone, was about as romantic as it could get. There they’d have privacy. They’d be away from his family, and the people who would talk about them.
She hurriedly put on some makeup and ran to her car. On the short drive there she imagined lying in his arms and telling him about finding the Heartwishes Stone. And later, as they lay under the stars, she’d tell him about the baby. And then what? she wondered. She hoped he’d be overcome with joy, that he’d lift her in his arms, twirl her around, and they’d talk about their future life together. Happiness is what she wanted and needed.
As Gemma pulled into Merlin’s Farm and drove toward the barn, she laughed at herself. For all her protestations of wanting a career and independence, when it came down to it, she wanted to be Cinderella and have a big, strong man rescue her.
She saw Colin’s Jeep parked near the secluded area that held the little lattice summerhouse, and she pulled in beside it. The moment she saw Colin she knew he hadn’t invited her there for a tryst. He looked worried, as though he had something truly awful to tell her.
“Hi,” he said as soon as she got out of the car. He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a perfunctory kiss.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Jean,” he answered.
Gemma had to work to keep from rolling her eyes. He had invited her to this beautiful, romantic place, but it looked like she was going to have to discuss his ex-girlfriend.
“What about her?” Gemma asked, trying her best to be an adult. She congratulated herself on not shouting, “What does Dragon Lady want now?” She sat down on the grass and looked up at him; Colin stayed standing, looking too nervous to sit down.
Colin told her about searching old files and finding out that many years ago a young thief had left behind a willow branch tied with a pink silk ribbon.
“So he’s restarted his career?” she asked. “Do you have photos of this man?”
“Yes, but there’s more. He went on to commit some major robberies all over the world. Banks, the Romanian consulate, a couple of penthouses in Hong Kong. He’s scaled buildings using suction cups. He can open any safe made.”
“I guess a screwed-on bedpost was easy for him.”
“Very easy.” Colin was looking at her as though he had something important to tell her, but he didn’t seem to want to say it outright.