Read Online Her Mad Hatter by Marie Hall - Free Book Online

living room and hear the thud of Auntie Hamaka’s ten house cats running amok in the apartment next to hers. But each time she’d swing the door open, she’d simply seen door after door after door. Brightly colored throw rugs, frames with no pictures on the wall. Not her house.
    Her stomach rose with each breath. The fan turned. She didn’t blink.
    “Hello, dear.”
    Alice yelped. “Bloody freaking hell!” She grabbed her chest and then did a double take when she noticed who was in her room. Crazy cupcake lady, but smaller. Like ten times smaller. Fairy size and flitting through the air.
    “You’re that woman!” She stabbed her finger at her. “Who the hell are you? Where the hell am I? What’s going on?” The last almost came out a wail, her words warbling and she clamped her lips shut on the hysteria threatening to choke her.
    The fairy stared at her with sympathetic blue eyes, a soft smile on her round little face.
    “I know how you must feel, dear...”
    Alice snorted. “Oh, I seriously doubt that. What did you do to me? Who are you?”
    Crazy cupcake lady held up pudgy little fingers, shaking loose a blond curl of hair. “I’ll answer all your questions, but first,” she pointed to the bed, “let’s do sit.”
    Startled, Alice realized she’d stood to a defensive crouching position. How frightening she must look in her boy shirts and cami. She rolled her eyes at the absurd picture and plopped back down with a huff.
    She eyed the little woman evilly.
    “My name is Danika, fairy godmother extraordinaire, and this is very real.”
    Alice lifted a brow. “I’ve pretty much accepted I’m here. How that is even remotely possible, I can’t fathom. But why am I here? Why can’t I go home?”
    Crazy lady didn’t bat a lash. “I told you.”
    “Umm. No, you didn’t. You laid a card on my table and walked off. You told me nothing.”
    The lady rolled her eyes. “You really must listen. I told you, you had a man-”
    “I thought you were freaking kidding. Like yanno, loco.” She rolled her finger against her temple. “Am I here forever? What’s happened? I can’t stay here, you know that. I’ve got a family. They’re probably worried...”
    Danika held up her hands. “Three days, Alice. That’s all. If in three days you two do not fall madly in love, you’re free to go home.” She said it as if it wasn’t a huge commitment she asked for.
    Alice wanted to laugh. Was she nuts? “Oh, is that all? Well, thank you for this honor.”
    Danika frowned. “You’re... welcome?”
    Alice scoffed. “Sarcasm, fairy. Ever heard of it? No, I will not stay here three days. He’s a tyrant. Do you know what he made me do? Walk barefoot for miles.” Alice curled her toes. “My heels were bloody-”
    Danika nodded. “Yes. Yes, he came and saw me. Total misunderstanding— he’ll be much nicer now.”
    Alice pinched the bridge of her nose. “What? When? I was with him, we never saw you.”
    “Yes, dear. In the woods.”
    Alice’s eyes grew large. “You were the lightning bugs!” She chuckled, feeling stupid that she hadn’t put that together immediately. Lightning bugs couldn’t heal feet. Then again, it wasn’t everyday she discovered fairies really existed, either.
    Danika bristled. “Lightning bug, indeed!” Her full face flushed a rosy red as she inhaled long and slow several times through her nose. “I am a fairy.”
    Alice grinned. “Of course you are.” And suddenly she wasn’t mad, just tired. She wanted to go home, pretend none of this had happened. Pretend she hadn’t met the man of her dreams, the man she’d obsessed about as a child only to discover he wasn’t at all what she’d thought he’d be. “Why don’t we just cut the three days down to one? Chalk it up to a failed experiment and move on?” She laughed, a short humorless sound.
    Very small hands gripped the sides of Alice’s nose, forcing her to look back at worried blue eyes. “This is no joke. You must know,