Wishes (Montgomery/Taggert 14)

“Nellie, if you could have one wish in the world, what would it be?”

Jace, Nellie instantly thought, but she stamped down the idea. “I guess I’d want my family to be happy.”

“You mean, to get what they deserve in life?”

“Oh, no!” Nellie said, then she realized how that must sound. “I mean, yes, I want them to get what they deserve because they deserve only good things, but I wouldn’t want them to be unhappy.”

“All right,” Berni said, “it’s a deal. They’ll get what they deserve, and they’ll be happy with it.”

For the first time in a long while Nellie gave a genuine smile. “You’re very kindhearted, aren’t you?”

Berni looked away. No one had ever called her kind before. She turned back to Nellie. “I have a favor to ask of you. I have some friends whose son is visiting Chandler. Perhaps you’ve heard of my friend, LaReina, the opera star.”

“Yes, certainly I have, though I haven’t heard her sing.”

“Divine, utterly divine. Anyway, her son is visiting Chandler, and I’d like to ask him to dinner tonight, if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course you may invite him.”

“But I was wondering if perhaps you would ask him. I think he may be a little shy.”

“I would be glad to ask him. Where’s he staying?”

“At the Chandler House. Just ask for Jace Montgomery. He—Nellie! Are you all right?” Berni hurried to the other side of the table and helped Nellie to a chair. “Did I say something wrong? Would you rather not have anyone here for dinner?”

“It’s not that, it’s…it’s that Mr. Montgomery and I…”

“Oh, so you know each other, do you? That’s wonderful.” She helped Nellie to stand, then took her heavy wool shawl and her wool felt hat from a peg by the door. Berni jammed the hat on Nellie’s head, wrapped the shawl about her, and shoved her toward the door. “Go and ask him to dinner. Terel is sleeping, so she’s comfortable, and your father isn’t here. Everyone is taken care of, so you’re free to go.”

“I can’t ask him,” Nellie whispered.

“For me? For your dear old aunt?” Berni said pleadingly.

Nellie took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding. “All right. For you.” She stepped out the door into the cold, snowy air and started walking toward the hotel.

Berni shut the door and smiled. Easy, she thought. Almost too easy. Jace probably hadn’t come to lunch because he hadn’t received the note, but Berni knew Nellie was a person who took her responsibilities seriously and would no doubt sit down and wait for Jace to give him the message personally.

She sat down at the table, started munching Nellie’s cookies, then snapped her fingers and the 1989 Christmas issue of Vogue appeared in her hands. This fairy godmother stuff is a cinch, she thought. She’d probably have Jace and Nellie together by ten o’clock tonight. Maybe they’ll name their first kid after me, she thought, smiling.

On the other side of the kitchen door Terel tightened her mouth into a firm line. So that’s it, she thought. Their aunt was a friend of the Montgomery man’s mother. That’s why Aunt Berni had so suddenly and unexpectedly come to Chandler. It had nothing to do with choosing one of the Grayson girls to inherit. Aunt Berni wanted her friend’s son to marry Nellie.

And leave me behind, Terel thought. Nellie gets to marry a rich man and get out of this dreadful town while I have to stay behind.

Tiptoeing, Terel made her way across the room and out the front door without making a sound. “Nellie!” she called, once outside.

Slowly, Nellie turned to her sister. “I thought you were taking a nap.”

“I was, but I was afraid to leave you alone with her.”

“With Aunt Berni?”

“Yes, with her. I tell you, Nellie, my every instinct cries out to beware of her.”

“But she seems so nice. I don’t think—”

“You didn’t think there was anything wrong with that awful man who said he loved you, either.”

Nellie looked down at her hands.