Heartwishes Read online

  “Nell figured out the code to open that?”

  “All by herself,” Tris said.

  “I am proud to know her.” Gemma leaned forward to look inside the hole. “It looks as though it was made especially to hold the necklace in its box.”

  “That’s what I think too.” He pushed it closed, then stepped back and motioned for Gemma to try it.

  She got it on the second try. “Truly amazing that the child figured that out.”

  “And told no one!” Tris added. “She knew that if she did, someone would take the box away from her.”

  “Then she lied her way into getting her mother to help her open it,” Gemma said in admiration. “And it was very clever of her to hide it in plain sight around the neck of her teddy bear. It was as though she was daring any adult to see what she’d done.”

  “That’s my dear little niece,” Tris said. He went back to the dining area and they began to clear the table. “So, anyway, Nell was on the phone to me and practically hysterical because her father was going to take the necklace away from her. Of course all the problems were caused by the lie she’d told, but she didn’t want to own up to that little detail.”

  “Interesting that she was telling you the truth of what she’d done and not her parents.”

  Tris gave a little laugh. “Why do you think she loves to stay with me? I let her get away with murder. You should have heard Addy when she found out that I let Nell ride in Mr. Lang’s truck with him.”

  “He’s not—?”

  “No, no,” Tris said. “No deviant sexual behavior, but the man is eighty-five years old and he’s still driving.”

  “In that case, I agree with Nell’s mother,” Gemma said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Tris said. “It won’t happen again, but the problem is that I let Nell wrap me around her fingers, and she knows it. She knew that I’d be more interested in her story than in trying to teach her not to steal. I leave that up to her parents.”

  He paused as he put the bowls Gemma had covered in the refrigerator. “When Nell told me where she’d found the box and what was inside it, I remembered that it was blinking the day I met you, then later . . .”

  Gemma nodded. “Right after that, Nell got her wish for her father to come home and live in Edilean.”

  “Exactly,” Tris said. “So if it was blinking again on the day of the barbecue, then—”

  “Someone was making a wish. I guess you found out about our little game that afternoon.”

  “I called Sara, and she went over everybody’s wishes.”

  “And since then, Sara unexpectedly had twins,” Gemma said softly as she thought about what had been said that afternoon. “At least no one wished for something bad.”

  “I think your mind works like mine,” Tris said. “If the world found out that there’s a possibility that something like this existed . . .”

  “No Frazier would be safe,” Gemma said. “I could see Shamus being kidnapped on his way home from school and some crooks demanding that he wish so and so would win the lottery.”

  “Or they’d demand weird things like being able to stop time.”

  “Good one,” Gemma said. “How about spirit transfer? Or wish for the power to be able to take over the world.”

  “When I heard of Sara’s babies, all I could think of is the bad that could come from this. I wish it weren’t already all over town.”

  “Me too,” Gemma said. “Colin says . . .” She broke off.

  Tris gave her a little smile. “Got it bad for him, don’t you?”

  Gemma smiled modestly. “We get along well, and he’s easy to be around.”

  “That’s not what other women have said.”

  “You mean Jean?”

  “No,” Tris said. “The other women Colin dated when the two of them weren’t together. They wanted his full attention, and when they didn’t get it, they weren’t, shall we say, pleasant.”

  “But Colin does give a woman his attention,” Gemma said. “We talk about everything.”

  “That you get Colin to talk at all is something no other woman has achieved.”

  Gemma was smiling as Tris went to the picture on the wall and opened the safe, ready to put the silver box back in it.

  “Wait!” Gemma said. “I think there’s something you should know about wall safes. Is it okay if I tell you the truth about the robberies?”

  “Sure. Colin and I talk about his cases all the time.”

  She told him how the robber had opened the safe in one house. When she finished, Tris said, “It sounds like someone is looking for something small that’s well hidden.” He nodded at the necklace.

  “But who could know what the Heartwishes Stone is? Know that it’s small enough to fit into a little safe? I’ve done a lot of research and I didn’t find out what it looks like. I mean, until now, that is. If that’s the Stone, which we’re not sure of.”

  “So where do I hide this thing if not inside a safe?” Tris asked. “Maybe I should put it back where Nell found it.”

  “The thief found a brooch inside a bedpost, so I doubt if that picture will hinder him. Why don’t you give it to me? I’ll have Shamus sketch it and I’ll photograph it. At least that way, whatever happens, we’ll have a record of it.”

  “Where will you keep it?”

  “In its lead case, and I think I’ll put the compact in with my other makeup so it won’t look like anything special.”

  “Gemma, that’s quite clever,” Tris said and smiled at her warmly. “Are you sure you’re set on Colin? No other man has a chance?”

  He was a truly beautiful man, but she wasn’t interested. “I think perhaps I’m absolutely sure.” She looked at her watch. “It’s after nine. I better go. The gym comes early tomorrow.”

  He walked with her out to her car. It was a beautiful night. “I’m glad you’ve come to Edilean. You’re a good addition,” he said as he kissed her cheek. His eyes sparkled. “And if you ever find out what a lowlife Colin Frazier actually is, you know where I live.” He opened the car door for her.

  “I’ll be sure and tell him that you said—” Gemma broke off because she was suddenly overcome with a wave of nausea that she couldn’t suppress. She bent over and threw up her dinner on the ground.

  Instantly, Tristan changed from being a teasing friend into a doctor. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her back into the house.

  “Stomach flu,” Gemma said, her voice rather loud as she tried to drown out her thoughts of what could be the cause of her being sick. “Or maybe I ate something bad. It’s probably food poisoning or a twenty-four-hour bug. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I bet you have a lot of patients right now with whatever I’ve caught. It rained on Thursday and I got wet. I bet that’s what this is.”

  Tris didn’t say anything as he led her to a powder room just off the hallway. He disappeared for a moment and returned with a little plastic cup. “Urine sample,” he said.

  “Sure. To check for food poisoning, right?”

  “To find out what caused you to throw up. See that room?” He pointed to a door she’d not noticed before. “I’ll be in there.” He closed the bathroom door.

  As Gemma did what he’d told her to, she tried hard not to think. Of course it was some stomach virus. They were always going around, weren’t they?

  By the time she finished and left the powder room, she was shaking. Tris, wearing his white coat, was standing in the doorway of the room he’d pointed out to her. It had been set up as an exam room.

  “It’s smart to have this in your house,” she said, and she knew her voice sounded nervous. “Do you get many patients out here?”

  “Some. Gemma, I want you to sit down there and take some deep breaths. Use what you learned in training and calm yourself down.”

  “Sure,” she said as she watched him pick up the cup and leave the room.

  She knew he was gone only minutes, but it seemed like hours. She looked about the little room and tried to use h