Wishful Thinking Read online

  “That is so romantic,” Rory sighed, cupping her chin in one hand. “To think that Josh punched him to save you. I wish I could find a knight in shining armor like that.”

  “Watch your mouth, Rory—you know better than to throw around the ‘w’ word like that,” Cass admonished.

  “I don’t know what you’re so upset about.” Rory looked sulky. “After all, you’re the one whose birthday is coming up next. Have you even thought of a wish? Do you want to have a strategy session?”

  “Not right now, Rory. I’ve been so busy trying to get this show together down at the ICU gallery that I haven’t had time to think about what to wear, let alone what to wish for.” Cass looked at Phil. “Speaking of dreams come true and wishes granted, where is Mister ‘Knight in Shining Armor’, anyway?”

  “In the kitchen helping Nana. Everything has to be perfect for Arturo and she asked him to make his specialty—balsamic glazed chicken. ”

  Cass frowned. “Who is this ‘Arturo’ and how did she meet him? Are we sure there’s no witchcraft involved here?”

  “She said she found him on an online dating service.” Rory shrugged. “According to Nana, he’s hot.”

  “Hot?” Cass snorted. “Are you serious? Between the boy scouts and the senior citizens Nana wouldn’t know hot if it bit her on the ass.”

  Rory shrugged. “That’s what she said.”

  “You know,” Phil said thoughtfully. “I kind of thought maybe she and Mister Clausen might get together after all that mess with the potion and the poodles. I mean they are about the same age.”

  “Nothing doing.” Cass shook her head. “She told me he was a dirty old man and she didn’t want to have anything to do with him or his nasty dogs. I just didn’t know she was looking for a man online. Now I don’t know what to expect.”

  Phil smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much—Nana has pretty good taste in men. She loves Josh to death and he thinks she’s great. Even after she accidentally conjured his favorite pair of jeans full of fish.”

  “She what?” Rory asked.

  Phil smiled. “Well, he had broken the zipper and he was asking her if she knew how to fix it. But when he said zipper for some reason Nana thought he asked for a kipper—you know those weird smoked fish they eat for breakfast in England?” Cass and Rory nodded. “Only in typical Nana fashion, she didn’t just get one—she got like, I don’t know, a whole bathtub full. But all in Josh’s jeans. And they were still alive.” Phil laughed. “You should have seen the look on his face! Luckily he wasn’t wearing them at the time.”

  “But wasn’t he mad?” Cass was so used to Phil’s dour ex-fiancé’s temper that it was hard to get used to her current flame’s easygoing ways.

  “Nope.” Phil grinned. “He just laughed after he got over the shock. We were cleaning up fish for hours, though—those suckers are slippery!”

  “Wow,” Rory murmured. “I can’t believe he didn’t even get a little bit upset. That’s wonderful, Phil.”

  “Well it’s certainly an improvement over Mister ‘Stick up his Ass’ Christian,” Cass acknowledged. “Speaking of which, has he accepted that you two are broken up yet?”

  Phil sighed. “I think so but it took a while. At first he kept calling me and demanding that I forget all this ‘breaking up foolishness’ and come back to him. But I think I made myself pretty clear when Josh and I went to pick up my things yesterday.”

  “Ooo, what happened?” Rory asked excitedly.

  “Well, I went during business hours hoping to find him out of the apartment so I could get my stuff in peace but he was there anyway—almost like he’d been waiting for me.” Phil frowned. “He started in right away with the same old song and dance, ‘Oh, Philly-babe, how can you want to leave after all we’ve been through together?’” Phil did a surprisingly good imitation of her ex that made them all snort with laughter.

  “Did Josh punch him?” Rory wanted to know, still giggling.

  “Of course not—did he?” Cass couldn’t imagine Phil’s even-tempered boyfriend punching anyone but he’d done once it before and if anyone deserved a knuckle sandwich, in her opinion, it was Christian.

  “Well, he tried to stay out of it as much as he could. Besides, I can stand up for myself, you know.” Phil lifted her chin. “I told Christian that I deserved to be with someone who really loved and valued me, someone who believed in my abilities and cared enough to be faithful to me. And then I asked him if he knew what color my eyes were.”

  “Oh, that’s good. What did he say?” Cass was getting as excited as Rory now. She couldn’t help it—she had never been able to stand Phil’s ex and it was great to hear that he had gotten what was coming to him.

  Phil shrugged. “He stuttered and stumbled around and but in the end he really didn’t know. So then I asked Josh, ‘honey, what color are my eyes?’ and he said, ‘what color is the sky?’” She grinned. “Then Christian looked at us like we were both insane and said he was washing his hands of me and he hoped I’d be happy going to law school where I clearly didn’t belong. Then Josh punched him.”

  “Oh my God! Did he bleed?” Rory was on the edge of her seat.

  “Don’t be so bloodthirsty, Rory,” Cass scolded. She looked at Phil. “Well—did he?”

  Phil smiled. “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll hear anymore about how we have to get back together. I think Josh’s punch finally got it through his thick head that we’re finished.”

  “I’m glad to hear that but damn—he had a lot of nerve.” Cass frowned. “You should have told him you and Josh are already making plans for the wedding—really rubbed it in.”

  Phil blushed prettily. “Well, it’s not like we’re getting married tomorrow. We haven’t even set a date or gotten the ring yet.”

  “Where are you going to live?” Rory asked. “You’re not leaving us, are you?”

  Phil shrugged. “Even if I do, it won’t be for good. I’m looking into different law schools right now so wherever I get accepted, that’s where we’ll go, at least until I finish school. Josh can get a job anywhere and he said he’ll come with me wherever it is.”

  “That is so—” Rory started.

  “We know—romantic,” Cass finished for her, shaking her head. She was glad that Phil’s situation had worked out so well but she thought that Rory needed to take off her rose-colored glasses. “Honestly, Rory,” she told her younger sister. “You need to get your head out of the clouds and realize that life isn’t all peaches and cream and trouser trout.”

  “Hey—it was kippers Nana put in Josh’s pants, not trout!” Phil protested. She winked. “Not to say that his trouser trout isn’t pretty spectacular because it definitely is.”

  “Whatever.” Cass rolled her eyes. “The point is—we’re not living in a fairy tale here.”

  Rory grinned at her. “That doesn’t mean we can’t live happily ever after. Look at Phil.”

  “Phil is the exception and not the rule,” Cass grumped. “At least in this family.” She knew she sounded like a world class grouch but she couldn’t help it. Her own life was tied up in knots. Brandon still refused to pose for her and she was supposed to be getting a show together in one of the most prestigious galleries in town but she was in a real slump with her art. Not that she would make a wish about that—her art was about the only part of her life the fairy godmother hadn’t screwed up and she didn’t intend to let her start now. But then, what was she going to make a wish about? Her birthday was in less than a month and Cass just knew the FG was going to hold a grudge. How could she make a request the malicious fairy couldn’t screw up on purpose to get revenge? Just thinking about it made her head hurt.

  “Well I just…” Phil began and then the front doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it.” Rory hopped up and ran to the door. She opened it to reveal a tall man who looked to be somewhere in his forties with blue-black hair and piercing gray eyes.

  “Excuse me, ladies,” he said in delightfully acce