Operation Cinderella (21 page)

Epilogue

Eternity—AKA The Great Beyond

“Brava, well played, Macie!” Silver-screen legend Maddie Mulligan pulled her gaze from the portal to Earth and clapped her satin-gloved hands. “Carlos, my love, we must celebrate! Bring the bubbly.”

“Champers it is,” he called, pouring from the perennial bottle of pink champagne on ice. Attired in an ascot and velvet smoking jacket, his dark hair combed back with Brylcreem, he crossed the dressing room carrying two champagne flutes. Handing one to Maddie, he lifted his in a toast. “You were splendid, my darling. Cecil B. DeMille could not have done a better job of directing.”

They touched glasses, setting off a soft tinkling. Or perhaps the tinkling was a bell signaling yet another angel had received his or her wings. It was hard to tell. The Great Beyond was a bustling place; acoustics could be a problem. So could the frequent fallout of feathers. Angels were perfectly lovely beings, but they had an unfortunate tendency to molt.

“It was the shoes, darling,” Maddie said, glancing downward to her slipper-shod feet. Like the other features of her studio dressing room, the red velvet heels were an exact divine replica of the ones she’d had on earth. “I just helped get them into the proper hands—and onto the proper feet.” She took another sip of champagne. “But we mustn’t be smug, my darling. Our work is but beginning.”

They exchanged looks. In unison, they said, “The friends!”

Reaching up to adjust her stole, she said, “There’s Francesca, so chic and lovely on the outside and yet so sad and lonely on the inside.”

“And we mustn’t forget Stefanie,” Carlos put in.

Maddie nodded. “The poor child’s been living as a Cinderella indeed, and now that horrible stepmother and those stick thin stepsisters have her believing she’s fat rather than voluptuous. Convincing her to see herself as desirable will take some doing, but I’ve no doubt the shoes will once again prove equal to the task.”

“What of poor little Cynthia?” Carlos asked.

Maddie paused. “Poor little…
Cynthia
?”

“Cynthia Starling, Starr. The managing editor of that dreadful periodical,” he clarified.

With her red curls, light blue eyes, and pale freckle-dusted skin, Starr looked to be at least partly Irish. Given her blocked-off heart and curmudgeon ways, she also promised to be the most difficult of the remaining three. A daughter of Erin herself, even if she had long ago lost her lilt, Maddie had a soft spot for a fellow countrywoman.

She smiled. “Christmas is coming up. If there was ever a time to bring a fairy tale to fruition, it’s the winter holidays.”

Carlos toasted again. “To Starr, Francesca, and Stefanie, I can hardly wait to see how their stories will unfold.”

Maddie sent him a warm smile. “It won’t always be easy,” she admitted, reaching out to flick a feather from his lapel. “Each has her unique gifts and strengths, but also faces her unique challenges. Still, I feel hopeful their stories will end, or rather begin, as ours has.”

On cue, the strains of a waltz sounded. Their champagne glasses disappeared. Carlos bowed and, straightening, offered his arm to his wife. Dimpling, she took it. Spinning them out onto the studio soundstage, he whispered, “Happily Ever After doesn’t get any better than this, does it?”

Smiling, Maddie lifted her lips to his. “No, my darling, it most assuredly does not.”

Acknowledgments

To my family and friends for their unflappable love, humor, and support, notably my partner, Raj Moorjani, and my friend and fellow author, Mary Rodgers; to my wonderful literary agent, Louise Fury, for her steadfast advocacy, positivity, and friendship; and to my editor, Stacy Cantor Abrams, and the talented Entangled team for being such a delight to work with throughout the publication process.

About the Author

Award-winning author Hope Tarr earned a Master’s Degree in Psychology and a PhD in Education before facing the hard truth: she wasn’t interested in analyzing people or teaching them. What she really wanted was to write about them! To date, Hope has written twenty historical and contemporary romance novels for multiple publishers including
Operation Cinderella
, the launch of her Suddenly Cinderella contemporary series for Entangled Publishing. Hope is also a co-founder and current principal of Lady Jane’s
Salon™, New York City’s first and only monthly romance reading series, now in its fourth year with satellite salons nationwide. Look for additional Suddenly Cinderella books starting with Starr’s story in
A Cinderella Christmas Carol
(November 2012) and find Hope online at her websites at
www.HopeTarr.com
and
www.LadyJaneSalonNYC.com
as well as on Twitter (@HopeTarr) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/HopeC.Tarr).