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summer before. "I spent hours watching that cat I mean, watching you before I painted that thing."
She paused. "You still move the same, you know. Only bigger, somehow."
Using the back of her hand, Maggie pushed her hair back off her face.
"See! That's exactly what I mean."
She stopped, her hand poised next to her face. "Urn . . . what?"
"Never mind. Just trust me. There's still a little bit of cat shining through."
Her brow furrowed. "But I don't want to be a cat anymore. I want to be a woman." She glanced up. "I
have to be a woman, because that's what Nicholas wants."
With a satisfying clink, all the pieces in her head fit together. "The story, right? The enchanted cat thing.
That's all true, isn't it?"
Maggie nodded. "But Nicholas hasn't said he loves me, and I'm running out of time. All Hallow's Eve.
That's Halloween, isn't it?" When Deena nodded, Maggie sighed. "I thought so." She nibbled on her
lower lip. "Are you . . . Ami... Do you still like me?"
"Like you? Don't be a total goon, Mags. Of course I like you. Why wouldn't I?"
"Well, because I'm ... I mean, I'm a cat."
Deena shrugged. "Yeah, well, everyone's got their quirks." Lord knows she wasn't the most normal of
individuals.
"What about Nicholas?"
"I'm pretty sure he's not a cat."
At Maggie's giggle, Deena winked. "If he was, you two wouldn't have any problems at all. Except that
I can't see my brother bathing himself with his tongue."
"It is rather hard to go back to. Especially once you've discovered showers."
"But that's not what you were asking, was it? You're wondering if he'll care about your forays into the
feline world?"
"Your fairies scare him." She bit her lip.
Deena blanched. "He told you about that?"
Maggie nodded.
"I made a wish. After the accident. I looked up at the stars and wished for everything to be okay." She
felt her eyes well with tears. "And it was. Everything was fine until some third cousin we'd never heard of
threatened to take me to Nebraska. So I wished again."
"On a star?"
She nodded. "Right. Both times my wishes came true, and both times I saw a fairy in the garden and
he told me that we'd be just fine."
"Did Nicholas see?"
"He said it was just a butterfly. That magic wasn't real, and I could pretend all I wanted, but I shouldn't
confuse fantasy and reality." She shrugged. "Maybe it was a butterfly. Maybe it was all my imagination
and coincidence. But I want to believe in magic."
"If Nicholas wouldn't even believe in your wish, how will he believe in me?"
"He loves you. He has to believe."
Unfortunately, it was in Nick's nature to make sure everything in his world fit in neat, tidy little boxes,
not believing in anything he couldn't see or touch. And considering how topsy-turvy his life had suddenly
become, his initial reaction might not be exactly what Maggie was hoping for.
At the same time, if Maggie's story was true, she only had a few days to get Nick to admit he loved
her. And he did love her. Hell, that was obvious. Now he just had to admit it. And it looked like Deena
was going to have to see to it that Nick didn't take his usual ponderous, lawyerly route to the truth.
"Deena?"
"Don't worry, Mags. Nick can be stupid at times, but he's no dummy. My same advice still holds: Be
yourself. Be yourself to the max."
"But you said I'm still like a cat. Nicholas needs a woman."
Deena made a face and pulled herself off the sofa, tugging Maggie up and off the couch, then leading
her into the bedroom. "You need to lay off the television, Mags. Nick needs someone who loves him.
That's all. And that's you."
With a hand on each shoulder, she made Maggie face the mirror. "Besides, you are all woman. Trust
me on that. So you've got a little cat in you, so what? All women have a bit of cat in them. And even as a
cat you were pretty darn human. Now you've just got some feline grace. Guys love it. Nick loves it."
As she turned sideways to face the mirror, Maggie's chin lifted, and Deena knew some of her con-
fidence was back.
"Don't worry. You attach yourself to Nick like a burr at night, and I'll work on him during the day.
We'll get my brother to admit he loves you "
"Out loud."
"Right. Out loud."
"And he can't know why. It's not allowed."
Deena nodded. "I know. I heard the story." She frowned, thinking. "Can you tell him?"
"That I love him, you mean?"
"Right."
She cocked her head. "I think so. Old Tom didn't say that was against the rules."
"Well, there's some heavy-duty ammo for you. What guy can withstand a heartfelt confession of love?"
Taking Maggie's hand, she met her eyes in the mirror. "It'll work, Mags. I promise it'll work." And it was
a promise she had no intention of breaking.
Hoop ran his hands over the stubble of his beard, hoping the friction would wake him up, at least
slightly. Only for Deena would he get up in the middle of the night when he had to be on a stakeout
practically by dawn. "You want to tell me again why I'm awake?"
"I told you. I need a favor," Deena said.
He grimaced. "Yeah, you mentioned that when
you pounded on the window over my bed. That's
a good way to get shot, by the way." jj
"Sorry," she said. "But you weren't answering the door."
At least she had the good sense to look sheepish. Women.
"It's two in the morning, Deenie." She shrugged, and he decided to drop the issue. "So what's the
favor?"
She sat on the edge of his table, then immediately hopped back up and began pacing. "Can I sleep
here?"
Now he was awake. Awake, and thinking about things he shouldn't be thinking about doing with his
best friend's sister. Get your mind out of the gutter, Hooper.
He coughed. "Wanna run that by me again?"
"I need a place to crash."
Well, hell, that wasn't any better. Did she mean "crash" the way he'd said it when he'd made the earlier
offer? Or "crash" the way he'd imagined it? As in, a little bit more than sleeping. Surely number one,
right? It was still dangerous turf, but definitely more manageable.
He took a breath. "Last time I checked, my buddy Nick had a nice little house nearby, too. And
from what he tells me, his fridge even has food instead of science experiments."
"Yeah, yeah. It's a great place. But Maggie only has a few days to make Nick fall in love with her, and
I figure I'm kind of a third wheel."
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