Mistress of Magic Read online

  Again, the audience filled with laughter. It was probably one of the best shows they had ever done. It was killing her.

  “Martin. Martin Van der Crime. Ah, excuse me, sir, she does have to marry me, sir.”

  “I do?”

  “She does?”

  “Yep. You can’t have her, sir!”

  “I can’t?” Wes said. Another smile flickered across his features. “Why not?”

  “’Cause I’m in this show, sir, and you’re not!” Bob told him.

  She liked the way Wesley laughed then. Good-naturedly. Willing to be part of the fun. Willing to believe in the magic.

  But he shook his head firmly to Bob now. “Sorry, Bob. I can’t let her marry you. Not this time around.” Reggie’s eyes widened with surprise. It was a show.

  But Wes was rising, lifting her, then sitting her in his chair. And to her absolute amazement, he was on his knees before her.

  “Reggie, you have to marry me. For real. Because I love you, and I need you. And because life is real itself, but so is that wonderful magic that you create. Will you marry me, Reggie?”

  “But—”

  “Joseph has said that he’ll be delighted to be our son.”

  Her mouth fell open.

  So that’s who Joseph was!

  And Joseph was there, next to Wes. She hadn’t seen him at first because she had only been able to see Wes.

  He was standing beside her then, too, that blond hair of his a wild mess in his eyes.

  That was the first thing she was going to have to do. Get that boy—

  No, her son. Her son!

  She didn’t know anything about him! But Wes wanted to marry her, and Wes had found him. And one look in his blue eyes and she knew—

  Yes, first thing. She had to get her son a haircut.

  “If you’ll have me,” Joseph said, clearing his throat. “I’ll get good grades, I’ll take out the trash, I’ll do anything, honest, I promise.”

  Reggie started laughing. She hugged the little boy, pulling him close. “The trash doesn’t matter!” she said. And she looked at Wes. “Love matters.”

  “Is that a yes?” he asked.

  “Yes!”

  There was a roar all around her. She had forgotten she was in the middle of a show until she heard that roar of approval.

  Wes stood, sweeping her off her feet. He kissed her. Just like a prince kissing his Sleeping Beauty.

  Again, the applause was thunderous.

  Max was there, and Diana was with him. Bob and Stevie and Alise were rushing down the steps, then hugging her. Sweet little Alise. There were tears in her eyes.

  Then someone spoke from the rear of the theater. “Now, this is an exclusive, Reggie Delaney! I just can’t wait for it to hit the paper!”

  She smiled beneath Wes’s lips. Fran Rainier. Yes, the woman was getting her fill of stories!

  Wes’s lips rose from hers. “It’s going to be front page news!” she warned him.

  He nodded.

  “Thank you!” she whispered.

  “For the love?”

  She grinned. “And the magic.”

  Holding her still, captured in the emerald of her eyes, he carried her out through the crowd and into the sunshine.

  The day was clear and beautiful. Free from all evil.

  Goodness had prevailed.

  And they had their lives to plan.

  Epilogue

  Wes came tearing around the corner of the entranceway to Dierdre’s DinoLand.

  Reggie wasn’t in her office—Max had already told him she wasn’t. But she was in the park somewhere. And, Max assured him, she was tremendously anxious to see him. She could barely wait to see him.

  Had she sensed that things would come to their conclusion today?

  Knowing Reggie and the time, she was probably in costume as Dierdre, out playing with the children.

  She might have gone to the lawyers with him, but he had dissuaded her from doing so. He hadn’t been sure the paperwork would have all been completed.

  And besides, Reggie had suddenly come up with a mysterious appointment of her own this morning. They had agreed to meet at the park.

  He couldn’t wait to see her.

  His news was good. He couldn’t wait to see her. He didn’t care what she was doing—he just had to see her and let her know right away.

  He burst into the courtyard where the big, human-sized dinosaurs were busy playing with the children.

  Jeez. It was hard to tell one big stuffed pseudo-dino from another!

  Ah … there was Dierdre, fluffing a little girl’s hair, tickling a crying toddler and getting the little fellow to laugh.

  It had to be Reggie. Only Reggie had that much patience.

  He started toward her, then paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another dinosaur appearing. Dolly Duckbill. He started quickly toward the creature, a smile suddenly curling his lip.

  “Dolly!” He hoped it was someone he knew. “I’m Wes Blake. Do you know me?”

  He heard soft laughter. “I most certainly do! And is your wife anxious to see you! She waited and waited in the costume shop, until just about two minutes ago.”

  It was Diana.

  “Diana. I’ve just had great news. And I’d like a chance to tell Reggie in a special way. Can I have the costume?”

  “This one won’t fit you, but come on in and I’ll get you a larger one. Quickly—before she sees us.”

  Diana took the duckbill mask and headpiece off as they entered the costume cave. She glanced at Wes, her eyes curiously alight. “You’ve got a surprise, huh?”

  “A big one.”

  “About Joseph?”

  He nodded. “The paperwork is through. He’s ours. Free, clear, legally. His name is now Blake, and no one can ever take him away from us.”

  “That’s wonderful!” Diana told him. She took a giant dinosaur head and the body to go with it from the rack in the shop and handed it to him. She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. Her eyes were sparkling. “And how very interesting that it should be today …”

  “What? Why’s that?” Wes asked, grappling with the costume.

  Diana shook her head. Wes realized that her eyes were sparkling. If he hadn’t been quite so excited about Joe, he might have noticed earlier that she seemed to be amused and bemused, and that her eyes had been sparkling all along, as if she was a woman with some surprises of her own.

  “Reggie will tell you, I’m sure,” Diana said lightly. She patted his dinosaur head. “Enjoy! Oh, wait one minute!” She hurried across the shop and found a stuffed baby duckbill. The button eyes were huge, the lashes a mile long. “Think this might help?”

  “I think it’s great. But what—”

  “Ciao! If you’re here, I’ve got to run!”

  Before he could question her again, Diana was gone.

  Wes hurried into the Dino-Guys room and changed into the costume. With his stuffed toy held gingerly in his felt fingers, he lumbered out of the cave.

  Children began descending on him. He patted heads, he awkwardly signed autographs.

  He edged his way bit by bit closer to Reggie.

  Bump!

  He knocked her about a foot or so. Dierdre Dinosaur took a spin and stared at him. A little boy tugged on his arm. Wes turned and signed an autograph.

  Bump!

  Dierdre had given him a smack back. He spun, landing on his floppy green feet.

  The children started to laugh delightedly.

  He thought of Reggie behind that green mask, thought of the beautiful, giving woman. He thought of the love that she had given him, and he thought of how very much she had to share with children, and how she had ached for her own.

  He lifted his hand, offering her the stuffed baby.

  Slowly, slowly she reached out for it.

  Dierdre wasn’t supposed to talk.

  Today, she did.

  “Wes?”

  He nodded. “Reggie, it’s legal, it’
s all done. He’s ours. Joe is ours. His name is Joseph Michael Blake, and he’s—he’s ours!”

  “Wow! I never, never heard them talk out here before!” a little girl murmured.

  Reggie was doing more than talking. She pulled off her Dierdre head, staring at him and then at the crowd. “Oh, Wes!” she exclaimed. Then she talked to the grown-ups and the children surrounding them. “Oh, I’m so sorry, excuse us, please! This is my husband, and we’ve just found out that we’ve legally adopted our little boy!”

  A spatter of applause greeted her words. The crowd was in a good mood.

  “It’s Reggie Delaney!” someone said excitedly.

  “Reggie Blake,” Wes corrected. He winced, but Reggie hadn’t minded. She was just giving him a crooked smile. Her eyes were alive and sparkling.

  “Oh, Wes!”

  He thought she was going to throw her arms around him, but she paused. “Oh, Wes!” Then, to his amazement, she reached behind her back.

  She, too, was holding one of the baby duckbills.

  “You knew?” he said, trying to understand why she had been carrying around a stuffed toy identical to his.

  She shook her head. “No, no, I …” She hesitated. “I couldn’t think of a good way to tell you. Wes, we’re having our own, too. I didn’t think that it was possible, but it is. I didn’t want to say anything until I was really, truly sure, and the doctor had a cancellation this morning and I was able to see him. And you didn’t act as if you wanted me to go to the attorneys with you—”

  “I didn’t want you to be disappointed if things weren’t finalized and legal. Oh, Reggie, one of our own, too. Too, I mean two!” It was Wes’s turn to look at the crowd. “I’m having two!” he announced with amazement.

  Wes’s announcement was greeted with another round of wild applause.

  He pulled off his dinosaur head. He reached for her. He paused and spoke to the crowd. “Excuse me. I’ve just got to do this!”

  Their costumes caused them to bump apart. He managed to pull her close anyway. He took her into his arms and soundly kissed her lips.

  “Woah!” the little girl cried. “I’ve never, never seen them do this before!”

  “It’s all right,” the girl’s mother assured her. “They’re just very excited. They’re going to have babies.”

  “He’s going to have a baby?” the girl inquired incredulously.

  “No, no dear! Oh, never mind. I do think that the show is over.”

  “Heck, no!” a man called out. “Looks to me like the show’s just beginning!”

  “Harold!” his wife said sharply.

  “Are they really going to have little dinosaurs?”

  “No,” the girl’s mother said softly. “They’ll have children—who maybe will grow up to create special dinosaurs and other characters.”

  Reggie broke from Wes, smiling at the woman’s words. “Is that what we’re going to have?”

  “Who knows? But we’ll definitely have a family. And I can guarantee that there’s one thing we’ll all create.”

  Her eyes were enchanting. Just a little moist. “Lots and lots of love!” she said.

  He nodded. Once again he took her into his arms, to a clap of approval from the crowd. He held her chin with felt fingers and just brushed her lips with his kiss again.

  “And magic,” he told her. “Lots and lots—of magic!”

  A Biography of Heather Graham

  Heather Graham (b. 1953) is one of the country’s most prominent authors of romance, suspense, and historical fiction. She has been writing bestselling books for nearly three decades, publishing more than 150 novels and selling more than seventy-five million copies worldwide.

  Born in Florida to an Irish mother and a Scottish father, Graham attended college at the University of South Florida, where she majored in theater arts. She spent a few years making a living onstage as a back-up vocalist and dinner theater actor, but after the birth of her third child decided to seek work that would allow her to spend more time with her family.

  After early efforts writing romance and horror stories, Graham sold her first novel, When Next We Love (1982). She went on to write nearly two dozen contemporary romance novels.

  In 1989 Graham published Sweet Savage Eden, which initiated the Cameron family saga, an epic six-book series that sets romantic drama amid turbulent periods of American history, such as the Civil War. She revisited the nineteenth century in Runaway (1994), a story of passion, deception, and murder in Florida, which spawned five sequels of its own.

  In the past decade, Graham has written romantic suspense novels such as Tall, Dark, and Deadly (1999), Long, Lean, and Lethal (2000), and Dying to Have Her (2001), as well as supernatural fiction. In 2003’s Haunted she created the Harrison Investigation service, a paranormal detective organization that she spun off into four Krewe of Hunters novels in 2011.

  Graham lives in Florida, where she writes, scuba dives, and spends time with her husband and five children.

  Graham (left) with her sister.

  Graham with her family in New Orleans. Pictured left to right: Dennis Pozzessere; Zhenia Yeretskaya Pozzessere; Derek, Shayne, and Chynna Pozzessere; Heather Graham; Jason and Bryee-Annon Pozzessere; and Jeremy Gonzalez.

  Graham at a photo shoot in Key West for the promotion of the Flynn Brothers trilogy.

  Graham at the haunted Myrtles plantation, Francisville, Louisiana.

  Graham and the Slushpile Band playing the Memnoch the Devil Ball at the Undead Con in New Orleans, 2010.

  Graham with dear friend, actor Doug Jones.

  Graham (third from left) with F. Paul Wilson, R. L. Stine, Jon Land, and other friends at the seventh annual ThrillerFest, held in New York City, 2011. The authors participated in the “Be Book Smart” campaign organized by Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s oldest and largest children’s literacy organization.

  Graham (seated center) with her local Romance Writers of America group in Broward County, Florida, 2011.

  Graham (second from left) with fellow authors Stephen Jay Schwartz, F. Paul Wilson, and Barry Eisler participating in a panel at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, Los Angeles, 2011.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1992 by Heather Graham Pozzessere

  Cover design by Michael Slavin

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-7402-8

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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  New York, NY 10014

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