If The Shoe Fits (19 page)

“
You did a lot more than that. Are
you sure you didn’t smoke something funny?”

Staci stopped mid-schlep. “What are you
talking about?”

Drew’s head twitched as if she’d stuck her
finger in a light socket, waving her hands all over the place.
“This. You. Those clothes. The hair. What’d you do?”

“
Oh. You like?” Staci did a little
twirl. Even with the oil, she was looking fine—though she did wish
Mother hadn’t forbidden the ruby red lipstick. She’d made her buy
coral, a “more subtle color.” Staci smacked her lips. Subtle? Try
colorless. But Mother said it’d get Reese in her clutches, so it
was worth it, right?

“
Like it? I guess. But why?” Drew
cocked her head, her eyes narrowing. Unlike the brown eyes Staci
and Mother had, Drew’s were green, a recessive gene that explained
so much.

“
Mother thought I needed a new
look.”

“
And you listened?” Drew snorted.
“Since when did you turn into Bella and start jumping through
Mother’s hoops?”

Staci slammed her hands to her hips. Damn, she
missed how her old long nails pinched into her skin when she was
mad. These functional, so-called “classy” ones were so bland. “Of
course not, Drew. But if I’m going to interest Reese, this is what
he likes, apparently.”

Drew snorted again. “Yeah, the old you didn’t
have much of an impact on him. But that Luke guy… I thought you
were interested in him?”

“
I am. Was. But Mother says that
Reese could cause trouble for her, so I have to get him interested
in me. She thinks dressing like this will do it. And since I’m
going to be helping Bella with the party business any way, I ought
to look the part.”

Drew’s mouth dropped open.

“
It’s not all that bad, is it? I
can get oil out, can’t I?”

Drew shook her head, her ginger ponytail
bouncing over her shoulder. “Whoa. You’re getting a job? A real
job? With Bella? Are you
kidding
me?”

Oh, God. She
was
doing exactly what
Mother wanted. Drew actually had a point.

Staci bit one of the acrylic nails—and ruined
the French manicure. She exhaled and tapped her teeth instead. “It
made sense at the time.”

“
To who?”

Staci winced. “Mother.”

“
Exactly.”

“
Well, me, too.” She guessed. “I
mean, you have to admit I look different.” She didn’t really want
to think she looked better because that would mean she’d been
exactly what her mother had called her.

“
Yeah, it’s definitely different,
but you’re giving up the guy you want for Mother’s plans. Just like
Bella.”

Staci gripped her hips harder. Hmm, the
acrylic did have some pinch to it after all. “Hey, I’m my own
person. Perfectly capable of deciding what I want to do with my
life and how I want to live it. And if I want to follow Mother’s
suggestion to restyle my hair and choose more sedate, classy
clothing, then I will, and it’s none of your damn business.” Staci
spun around to leave, then turned back. “And if you thought about
it, Drew, you’d realize that Bella doesn’t really have a choice
about listening to Mother. I do. See the difference?”

The words sounded good, but Staci couldn’t
squelch the niggling little pointy finger hitting her in the middle
of her brain just as sharply as the one Bella had jabbed into her
shirt.
Did
she have that choice or was she as tied to
Mother’s apron strings as Bella was?

Staci swiped her hand over the skirt one more
time. She
did
have control of her own life. And she was
going to prove it. She’d start by keeping Friday night a secret.
She did, after all, want to go with Luke. What Mother didn’t know
wouldn’t hurt her. Or, at the very least, it wouldn’t hurt
Staci.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she
was missing something. Something big. And that maybe, just maybe,
Drew was right.

***

Jonathan leaned back on the window ledge and
wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. Saints alive, (and
many of them were, walking the earth among mortals who had no
clue), but that had been close.

And not just for Bella. The Archangel had told
him to use whatever means possible, but manipulating another
Guardian’s charge without permission was always a little tricky.
Far more advanced than Jonathan’s meager skill set, but he’d been
desperate to stop Staci from doing something rash like telling
Madeleine, so he’d had to improvise.

The oil had been a last second stroke of
brilliance.
Not
that Jonathan was laying claim to
brilliance, but he was encouraged that he’d come up with it so
quickly and had put it into play without a snippet of suspicion on
anyone’s part.

But, still, his job was far from
over.

Chapter
Eighteen

Bella rolled another gold coin through her
fingers and stared at the fountain in the park, feeling more than a
little foolish that she was even thinking about making a wish. But
given the disaster that was sure to be facing her at home, she was
willing to try anything to mitigate it.

She should have kept her mouth shut. But once
the dam had burst, she’d been as powerless to stop it as stopping
the water from rushing out of the statue’s jug in the center of the
fountain.

She’d be just as powerless facing
Madeleine.

Bella looked at the coin. This was ridiculous.
She didn’t believe in fairy tales or magic amulets or whatever
mumbo-jumbo people used to get themselves through the tough spots
in life. She’d been in those tough spots before and all her prayers
and wishes hadn’t made any difference. They wouldn’t now either,
but she was here and had nothing to lose except a gold
dollar.

Well, that and hope.

No. She wouldn’t lose hope. Hope was what kept
her going. As long as she had the ability to stash cash away for
the custody battle, she had a chance of winning.

Bella closed her fist and her eyes. There were
so many things to wish for: for her parents to be alive, for
Madeleine to never have come into their lives, for Sophia to grow
up well-adjusted, for the strength and money necessary to fight for
her...

She couldn’t decide, so, in the end, she left
it up to the universe, closed her eyes, and took a deep
breath.

“
Whatever will make it all work
out right,” she whispered as she threw the coin into the
water.

She opened her eyes.

Nothing. Just as she’d expected. No Prince
Charming, no glass coach, and definitely no fairy godmother waving
a magic wand.

So much for her nickname.

Bella made it to the front stoop of her home
just as the grandfather clock in the living room chimed the hour.
Fifteen minutes left before Sophia’s bus arrived.

Fifteen minutes left to undo whatever
Madeleine was planning to do. Or, at least come up with
countermeasures.

Except there were no countermeasures to be
made. Madeleine would make whatever decision she wanted about
Sophia’s education and there was nothing Bella could do about
it.

Fourteen minutes.

Bella straightened her shoulders. She was
wasting precious time. Best get this over with before Sophia
arrived home to witness it. Bella would keep her little sister in
the dark about their living arrangements for as long as she
could.

She opened the door. “Hello? Anyone here?” She
looked in the living room, but the only thing that moved was the
clock’s pendulum, softly marking time in its etched glass-fronted
case.

The
Jaws
theme would be more
appropriate.

No one was in the dining room. Nor the family
room. A glance into the kitchen showed someone had poured a drink
and left the empty glass on the island. Typical.

Where were they? She knew they were here; the
Fontaine vibe was insidious, crawling through the house like the
ribbon of dread that wound around her heart at the thought of what
was going to happen with the confrontation. She should never have
let her temper get the best of her.

She opened the French doors and Staci looked
up from a magazine. “Hello, Bella.”

What? No screaming? No sarcasm? No fingernails
clawing at her eyeballs?

Bella stepped purposefully onto the faded
uneven bricks. “About earlier...”

Staci stood and—

Smiled? Again? What in heaven’s name was going
on?

“
Before you say anything,” Staci
said calmly, “I’d like to say that I’m sorry for the way I’ve
threatened you with Sophia over the years. You’re right. I did
forget that your sister was the one really affected by all of
this.” Surprisingly, she held out her hand. “Can we go forward from
here?”

Bella felt as if someone had knocked her into
the Twilight Zone. First Staci had wanted a job, then she’d gone
for an extreme makeover, and now… this? “What’s going on,
Staci?”

Staci bristled for a moment.

Aha! A normal reaction. To be followed, Bella
was sure, by a tirade.

But Staci surprised her yet again.

Releasing a taught breath, Staci’s eyes
actually filled with tears.

Bella didn’t think her stepsister was that
good an actress. “What’s happened? Is it Sophia? Is she
okay?”

Staci shook her head. “Sophia’s fine.” She
pulled a chair out from the table and motioned for Bella to
sit.

Bella slid into it, never once taking her eyes
from her stepsister.

Staci looked up, nibbled on her upper lip, and
grimaced. “It finally hit home with me today, all you’ve gone
through, and all we’ve put you through. I mean, I’ve always known
my mother was manipulative, but I never considered the effects of
what she did.” She clasped her hands together on the tabletop and
Bella saw the knuckles go white.

Another deep breath. “Now, my mother is trying
to manipulate me, and, well, I’ve found out it stinks. She’s making
me go after Reese and I don’t want to. I like Luke.” She unclasped
her hands and smiled a genuine smile this time. Small, but genuine.
“Your little tantrum thingy actually opened my eyes to what she’s
doing and I just want to tell you that I won’t use Sophia as a
threat anymore. And I’ve talked to Drew. I don’t think she will
either. I’m not going to mention this conversation to Mother, so
you don’t have to worry about that either.” And now she actually
reached out and grasped Bella’s hand—and not to dig her nails into
her flesh. “I’ll stay away from Reese, too, Bella. Mother never has
to know. But I would like to continue working with you. I know I
have a lot to learn, but I will. I promise.”

Bella felt as if the wind had been knocked out
of her. All the anxiety, all the sick feelings, the wish-making,
and now this? She glanced skyward and sent a silent “thank you” to
whoever was looking out for her Up There.

Jonathan Griff, stacking shoe boxes in the
back of his store, did a little jig.

***

Forty-five minutes later, Bella’s good mood
disappeared.

Madeleine had arrived home.

“
I want an invitation to the
auction.” The witch swept into the kitchen as if she were a
debutante at her first ball. Madeleine always made an entrance.
Bella could only imagine the kind she’d make at the
auction.

Actually, she didn’t want to imagine it. She
didn’t want the woman to even
be
there.

Bella looked up from the dinner preparations
and glanced at Sophia who was sitting at the table absorbed in her
homework. She considered her next words carefully. Telling
Madeleine
no
was always risky, but after Staci’s
capitulation, Bella was starting to feel empowered.

“
Tickets to the event aren’t part
of the contract, Madeleine.”

The woman patted her never-out-of-place ebony
hair, brushing some imaginary strands to the back. “Did I mention
that I’m meeting with a gentleman next week who has offered to buy
the restaurant? It might be in your best interests to ensure
accepting his offer would be less favorable than what being the
owner of Casteleoni’s can do for me.”

Bella dropped the asparagus into the steamer,
clipping off more than a few tips. So much for being
empowered.

Buy the restaurant
? Sure, Madeleine had
threatened it before, but this was the first time she’d mentioned
an actual buyer. Bella was
not
going to lose Sophia
and
her family’s legacy.

“
I’ll see what I can
do.”

“
I thought you’d see things my
way.” Madeleine slid her bony talons to Sophia’s shoulders. “Hello,
Sophia. Did you have a nice day at school?”

Her sister, oblivious to the undercurrent—for
which Bella was profoundly grateful—smiled up at their wicked
stepmother and began telling her all about her day as if the woman
gave a damn.

But that was Bella’s cross to bear, not
Sophia’s. Which was why she’d ask Reese for those extra tickets
Friday night.