Heartwishes Read online

  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.

  “Why would a professional thief come to Edilean?”

  “He’s Jean’s uncle.”

  Gemma refrained from saying curse words and tried to keep her face calm. She wasn’t going to give in to her anger at her baby news being overridden by Jean’s criminal relative. “I take it you weren’t told about the uncle.”

  “Not a word. Jean said she was an only child of only children.”

  “I can see why she didn’t tell a man who loved law enforcement that she had a notorious thief for an uncle. Maybe she didn’t know him.”

  “Ha! He was under surveillance while she was in law school, and he spent a lot of time with her. According to the files I read and the pictures I saw of the two of them, they were inseparable for years. She traveled with him. I knew she’d been places all over the world, but I just found out that she went with her uncle, a man who—” He couldn’t seem to find the right words to describe Jean’s concealment of this part of her life.

  Gemma knew she should offer him sympathy because his former girlfriend had lied to him, but she couldn’t do it. If he was really over her—as he said he was—would it still make him this angry to find out that she’d hidden things from him? But she kept her thoughts to herself. “So now you need to find her uncle.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “What does Jean say about all his?” She held her breath, hoping that he’d say he hadn’t spoken to her, that he was letting his deputy, Roy, ask the questions.

  “Jean says she hasn’t seen him in years, but I think she’s lying.” Colin stopped pacing to look down at Gemma. “That’s what I want to talk to you about. I don’t believe all of this is a coincidence.”

  “All of what?”

  Colin waved his hand. “You, me, Jean, her uncle, the robberies. I think there’s a reason it’s all happening at once.”

  “What’s your theory?” she asked, genuinely interested.

  “I think Jean told her uncle that she and I broke up. Knowing her as I do, she probably told him it was all my fault. I’m beginning to think the robberies in our little town are an attempt at revenge.”

  “But if he knows Jean, maybe he can figure out the truth about you two. And there might be another reason he’s here.” She told him of how Tristan had found what he believed to be the Heartwishes Stone. “I still don’t know how everyone in town found out about it. Did you tell anyone?”

  “I didn’t have to. That legend is known by a lot of people. It wouldn’t be a leap for anyone to go from you looking at the old papers to wishes being fulfilled. I guess Tris told you about his brother-in-law.”

  “Yes,” Gemma said, “but I didn’t know he told others.”

  “Jake was suddenly brought home from a war and got a job here in Edilean, all in a couple of weeks. People notice that sort of thing.”

  “And Sara’s twins,” Gemma said. “It seems to me that a Stone that grants wishes would be enough to attract an international thief.”

  “I’m afraid so,” he said. “All this makes what I have to say even more difficult.”

  His tone made the hairs on Gemma’s neck stand up. “What do you want to tell me?”

  “If Jean’s uncle is committing these crimes in retaliation for my having broken up with his niece, or he wants what you’re researching, I’m concerned about you. If he’s anything like Jean, I think he’ll go after whatever he wants without worrying about the repercussions.”

  She was trying to conceal her disappointment about how far away from what she’d thought this meeting was going to be to the reality of it. “Since you’re the one who caused Jean pain, maybe her uncle wants to show you up to the whole town. Possibly make you an object of ridicule.”

  “To humiliate me?” Colin said. “That’s possible. But now I’m concerned that he wants this Stone and may think that you have it.”

  She could tell where he was headed. He wanted the two of them to stay apart for a while. But Gemma didn’t want to do that. “Do you think Jean could have instigated the robberies?” Gemma asked. “Maybe Jean asked her uncle to do something that would embarra