When You Wish (Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free

was a sister thing Grace had never understood, since she’d never had a sister. The continuous arguing over nothing had bothered her at first until she realized they liked to argue. It was the way they showed their affection.
    “Grace!” The sun through the windows sparkled across Em’s recently retouched black roots. “All done for the day?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Em’s green gaze wandered all the way up Dan’s long body, then al l the way down. Female appreciation filled her eyes. “And you saved one for me? Thoughtful girl.”
    Grace glanced at Dan to see if he was blushing again. He was. His mouth opened, then shut. He shuffled his big feet, then held out a huge hand, enveloping Em’s fingers with his own. “Ma’am, it’s a pleasure.”
    Amazingly, Em blushed, too. She’d buried five husbands and was on the lookout for number six. The spark in her eye made Grace think her aunt toyed with the idea of a younger man this time around.
    “Aunt Em, Dr. Chadwick is here about Project Hope.”
    “Doctor? How interesting.” She pulled her hand from his, then flicked her wrist up and down.
    Dan glanced at Grace, a polite half-smile at war with the confusion filling his eyes. He looked back at Em, who was still flapping her wrist like an out raged puppeteer. “It hurts when I do this,” she said.
    “Then don’t do that?” The punch line came out with the lilt of a question, as if he didn’t know that Em was asking him for advice. What kind of doctor wasn’t used to being quizzed on aches and pains at every opportunity?
    “Never mind,” Grace told Em. “I stopped by to see how far you’ve gotten today.”
    After sending a curious glance in Dan’s direction, Em dropped her hand. “We finished the crazy quilt, packed it up, and sent the box to FedEx with Olaf.”
    “Good. What are you starting now?”
    “Wedding Ring, for the Macieweski wedding.”
    “I’ll be back soon to help cut the pieces.”
    Em nodded, then patted Dan on the arm as if he were a lost little boy. “It’s all right, sweetie. Sometimes I pretend to be Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. No one minds.”
    She bustled off in a swish of multicolored skirts, and Dan stared after her, dumbstruck. “She thinks I’m pretending to be a doctor?”
    “You have to admit, you don’t act like one.”
    “I don’t?” Now he not only looked like a lost boy, he sounded like one.
    Grace shook her head. “And you definitely don’t look like one.”
    He grunted, as if he’d heard that before, and no doubt he had. Grace berated herself for mentioning it. She of all people should know that it was best not to judge by appearance.
    “What do I look like?” he asked.
    Viking marauder , her mind whispered. Romance novel cover model. All-Star wrestler.
    “Lumberjack,” she blurted.
    That made him smile again, and for a moment Grace just enjoyed the view. She really did like how he looked. For a woman who got looked at a lot, she should know better than to stare, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
    The longer they gazed into each other’s eyes, the harder it became to look away. His gaze dropped to her mouth and Grace caught her breath. For some insane reason, she thought he meant to kiss her. And for a lunatic second, she wanted him to.
    Then Ruby’s voice shattered the thick, charged silence. “He’s a doctor! Maybe I can show him my corns.”
    Dan started and looked over his shoulder, his face exhibiting an odd combination of alarm and morbid fascination.
    “Come on!” Grace turned around and headed down the hall. Dan followed right on her heels.
    The offices of Project Hope and Quilts to Order, the mail-order business of the Jewels, were housed in the only bedroom not ceded to the great room. Not much of an office—scratched-up desk, rotary phone, new answering machine, old kitchen chairs and a battered filing cabinet—but Project Hope was still a baby. If the grant came through, Grace would have to use some of the money to assemble a