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‘Oh, I have an idea.’ Beth reached for a covered crystal bowl and a bundle of fabric. ‘This is star satin.’ She dipped her fingers into it while murmuring some soft words. ‘And these are moonlight dewdrops.’

Mia watched as Beth sprinkled the dew onto the satin, where the droplets landed and sparkled, glowing with an internal light. ‘Oh, wow. That’s stunning.’

‘Thank you. And this is fairy gossamer.’ She offered Mia some pale fabric that was so light it floated and billowed when she touched it. Beth whispered another word, and the fabric changed under her fingers, subtly shimmering and glowing.

‘It’s beautiful.’ Mia was almost scared to breathe in case she blew the fabric away.

‘What about combining them?’ Katie asked. ‘The dew with the gossamer and star satin?’

‘I’ve never tried that before…’

‘But you could, right?’

‘Maybe…’ Beth nodded slowly. ‘But it depends on the style of the dress as to how I could make it work. Can I ask where the wedding is? So I can make sure my designs match the feel of your venue.’

‘You can ask.’ Katie rolled her eyes.

‘We’re still working on that,’ Mia admitted.

‘Didn’t you say the wedding is in a couple of months?’

‘Well, nearer seven weeks now.’ Mia took a deep breath, starting to feel a bit worried. ‘But we’ll get there.’

* * *

Sparrows woke Amrita the next morning, chirping and dancing along her windowsill. They didn’t shift when she flung open the curtains – just peered in and continued to chatter happily. She watched as one – she thought a female from her lighter colouring – bowed her head to a darker male, dressed in his smart brown tuxedo of feathers, letting him preen her and straighten hers. Amrita watched them for long moments, thinking how nice it would be to let someone – like Jamie – do the same for her.

The thought shocked her, making her back away. She liked Jamie, and the kiss had been nice… something quite special. But she didn’t think she was ready for that. Not after last time. It was probably for the best that they were struggling to get together. She wasn’t totally sure she would ever be ready to let herself be vulnerable to being hurt so badly again.

She didn’t notice the shimmer of gold and pink around the birds, or the tiny shadows of figures around them. She didn’t hear the tiny spell – and wouldn’t have understood it even if she had been allowed to know the words – but she felt it hit. A moment of slightly dazed confusion in which the mirror blurred, and then… normality resumed.

Only slightly differently.

* * *

Jamie blinked a few times at the screen where he was supposed to be reviewing the digitised versions of Sylvie’s plans and concept drawings. He could have sworn that the colours were off compared to the ones that he’d saved just before stopping for coffee. They looked a bit too bright, and seemed to be vibrating on the screen. They were so vivid that he went into the metadata of the image and checked the colour balance – still fine.

It wasn’t until nearly an hour later that he realised the flickering shimmer of the colours was roughly in time to the happy tweets of the sparrows hopping around the tree just outside his window.

He drummed his fingers against the mousepad, making the cursor jump up and down. What new mischief was heading his way?

* * *

I wish I could, but I’ve got a family thing that weekend. How about Thursday?

Jamie scowled at his phone. That wasn’t the reply he’d hoped for from Amrita. They’d been missing each other, with diaries clashing, ever since their movie non-date that had become more than that, and he was hating every missed moment.

Wish I could. But I’m away working on a lakeside property Weds and Thurs. Probably won’t be back until Friday. Any chance then?

I’m leaving for my cousin’s Friday afternoon *sad face*

And we’ve already ruled out this weekend.

Yeah. And I’m back-to-back with patients Mon/Tues. Maybe next week will be better?

Here’s hoping! I should get back to the site.

Have a good day, Jamie x