a sparkle there. Almost as if each individual sparkle had been artfully placed.
Too bad it wouldn’t last. Perhaps working for a place called Fairy Godmothers, Inc., warranted a little sparkle.
Zuri met her own eyes in the mirror, and while she didn’t completely recognize herself, she didn’t dislike what she saw.
New adventure, she mouthed to herself.
Her stomach rumbled again, almost as if it were answering her.
She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast, and she was definitely paying for it now.
Zuri squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and dusted some glitter off her shoulders and went back out to meet with, hopefully, her new employers.
The women gathered around her and led her back to the couch, making a general fuss.
“I’m okay. I promise,” she reassured them.
“But are you?” Bluebonnet asked.
There was something about her, just the way there’d been something about Hansel. Zuri found herself wanting to spill her guts all over the place, much like the glitter bomb. She wanted to tell Bluebonnet everything. Her hopes, her fears, and she just had the sense that somehow, Bluebonnet could make it all better.
Only, she knew well enough that no one could make it all better. Zuri had to give herself time and the space to heal.
Suddenly, Bluebonnet took her hand. “You can tell us.”
For a moment, Zuri panicked. She didn’t know how she could be so wrong. They wanted the nitty-gritty details on the wedding that wasn’t. Except as soon as she had the thought, it rang false.
Petunia took her other hand. “Go on, dear. Unburden yourself.”
“We’re your godmothers now,” Jonquil reassured her.
This was insane, but somehow just what she needed. Only, she didn’t know where to start.
Petunia seemed to understand. She nodded knowingly. “Dearie, you’ll soon find that while my name is Petunia, people in Ever After call me Petty. It’s not just a nickname. A man once tried to court Bluebonnet and me at the same time. His perfidy did not go unpunished.”
“We’ve all been there,” Bluebonnet reassured her.
“It’s like Lizzo says. Why are men great until they gotta be great?” Jonquil added.
This made Zuri snort-cackle. Her imagination was pleased to present her with images of the three older ladies bopping around their kitchen, shaking it out to current music and singing along. She’d bet her last dollar that whatever she imagined wasn’t as great as the real thing.
Suddenly, it took the wind out of her sails. She deflated.
If even in this magical place, with these magical women, and they still got done dirty by a man . . . nowhere was safe.
Was she really doing anyone any favors by being a wedding planner? Wouldn’t it be better if she got out of the love business completely?
Bluebonnet squeezed her hand as if she knew the exact direction of Zuri’s thoughts. “Come now.”
Zuri found herself talking. Her mouth moving when she hadn’t given it permission to do so, but that wasn’t really anything new. “I don’t know why I still want to be a wedding planner.”
Well, now she’d done it. She’d shat in her own cornflakes and just cost herself the one job with the one company that was even willing to interview her.
Petunia took Zuri’s bag from her and with gentle hands, pulled out Zuri’s portfolio. She opened it to a page in the middle. “Because I bet you can tell me whose wedding this is. What the meal was, and the song that was played. I bet you sent them an anniversary card this year. And I bet that their wedding wouldn’t have been what it was without you.”
“The Mellenchamp wedding. The flowers she wanted were crocuses. They had a vegan menu. Their song was ‘Take My Breath Away,’ and this year was their fifth anniversary,” she recited.
Zuri remembered how beautiful the bride looked, how radiant. How when she walked down the aisle to meet the groom, he had tears in his eyes. They were a wonderful, happy couple who had just had their first child. They were perhaps the best example of the work she’d done.
“See? Look at the groom’s face in this picture. He would never treat her the way Alec treated you and Jenn. She would never do that to him. They’re still so in love. You got to be part of that, Zuri. How beautiful is that?” Petunia said.
Even Jonquil, the supposed grumpy one, was nodding along. “Beautiful.”
“We know your little heart is broken, and your faith is wavering,” Bluebonnet said.
“How could it not?” Petunia asked kindly.
Zuri swallowed. “I don’t understand why you wanted to