Men Are Frogs (Fairy Godmothers, Inc. #2) - Saranna DeWylde Page 0,2

all awful. I have to get back to work and get the kitchen clean before the monsters get home and mess it up again. They want to try their hands at soufflé.”

Petty waved her wand and snapped it at Gwen. “There. It’s clean. Go home and take a nice long bath.”

Bluebonnet popped up out of her chair. “I almost forgot. I made this cherry masque for you.” She pulled a small jar out of her apron pocket and handed it to Gwen.

“Thanks! It’s kind of nice having fairy godmothers. Happy meddling!” she said on her way out the door.

Bluebonnet’s grin turned sly. “Don’t you just know that the mushroom cottages are going to have a plumbing problem today?”

“Roderick is going to have to play rescue. Delightful.” Jonquil nodded along.

“Ha!” Petty pointed her wand at each of her sisters. “I knew you couldn’t leave them alone any more than I could.”

Bluebonnet swatted her hand away. “Don’t point that thing at me.”

Petty pocketed her wand. “Sorry. But really.”

Bon-Bon shrugged. “I can’t help it.”

Jonquil grinned at them. “We’re awful. Absolutely wretched. If we didn’t use our powers for good, we’d be wicked witches.”

“Evil queens.” Petty giggled.

“Damn,” Jonquil swore. “I almost forgot. Those lemon bars were too delicious, and they made me forget. Our own evil queen, Ravenna, is going to be a problem.”

“On purpose?” Bluebonnet wrinkled her nose. “I mean, she’s always a problem, but is she going to try to thwart us, because we already lived that story, and I’m not about to tolerate any of her nonsense again. If she’s not careful, why . . . I’ll . . .”

“You’ll what? Make her more miserable than she already is? She’s not ready for love. It would be particularly unkind to give her what she’s always wanted before she’s ready for it,” Petty said.

Bluebonnet crossed her arms over her chest. “I am feeling unkind. She thwarts us at every turn.”

“Love is a gift, not a punishment, Bon-Bon.”

Bluebonnet harrumphed. “I know. She just irks me.”

“It seems she’ll be at the center of the tangle.” Jonquil gestured to the wall. “Of all of our threads.”

“This calls for more fortification,” Petty declared.

“Loose the dogs of war!” Bluebonnet cried, shaking her fist. “Um, no. I was going to suggest we eat the rest of the lemon bars,” Petty said.

“I seem to recall someone telling me I simply needed more sugar,” Jonquil offered soothingly. “And I did, and it all worked out just lovely for Ransom and Lucky.”

“I suppose. Perhaps an ice cream soda to wash it down?” Bluebonnet replied softly.

“That’s the spirit,” Jonquil said.

“Wait, so what about the Petrovsky-Markhoff wedding is so important for our new assistant?” Petty brought them back to the subject at hand.

“Closure, as far as the threads of fate seem to be concerned.”

Bluebonnet shook her head. “That doesn’t bode well. Weddings are about beginnings, not endings.”

“We’ll all find out soon enough,” Jonquil promised.

This definitely called for ice cream sodas all around. Perhaps the kind that could only be had at the pub.

“I say we take a break with a more adult kind of fortification at Pick ’n’ Axe,” Petty suggested.

“Why, Petty, it’s not even noon.” Bluebonnet pretended to be scandalized.

“It’s brunch somewhere, dearies!” Jonquil said. “They have those delightful shakes. The ones with the mango ice cream and the rum.”

“Sugar is always the answer.” Petunia nodded. “If it can’t be fixed with a brownie, try an ice cream soda. If that doesn’t work, well, we go to the sugarcane spirits.”

Bon-Bon giggled. “That’s what I’m going to call it from now on. We’re consulting the spirits.”

Jonquil cackled. “Let’s go consult the spirits.”

Petty linked arms with her sisters. “I wonder if they’ll have any answers for us.”

As they headed out the door to make the short walk to Pick ’n’ Axe, Petty saw a geyser of water shooting out from one of the mushroom-capped cottages beyond the square.

“Right on time,” Bluebonnet said. “Roderick should be running to her rescue in five, four, three, two . . .”

Petty squinted through her spectacles, and they enhanced her view just enough so that she could see the door to Roderick’s cottage as it opened and he sprinted to Gwen’s.

She grinned. “A decent round of meddling before brunch.”

“Quite.” Jonquil said, obviously pleased with their efforts.

Even if the shrieking from mushroom cottage number two said rather the opposite.

Chapter 1

The bride had lit her dress on fire.

When Zuri Davis, wedding planner extraordinaire, had realized the man who had been wooing her for the past three months was also the groom