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he was standing several inches off the floor. “You were in bad shape, kid. But you got out of it without even frostbite.”
    Gillian looked down at her own ten pink fingers. They were tinglingly oversensitive, but she didn’t have even one blood blister. “You saved me.”
    He gave a half grin and looked sheepish. “Well, it’s my job.”
    â€œTo help people.”
    â€œTo help
you
.”
    A barely acknowledged hope was forming in Gillian’s mind. He never really left her; it was his job to help her. That sounded like… Could he be…
    Oh, God, no, it was too corny. Not to mention presumptuous.
    He was looking sheepish again. “Yeah. I don’t know how to put it, either. But it
is
true, actually. Did you know that most people
think
they have one even when they don’t? Somebody did a poll, and ‘most people have an inner certainty that there is some particular, individual spirit watching over them.’ The New Agers call us spirit guides. The Hawaiians call us
aumakua
….”
    â€œYou’re a guardian angel,” Gillian whispered.
    â€œYeah.
Your
guardian angel. And I’m here to help you find your heart’s desire.”
    â€œI—” Gillian’s throat closed.
    It was too much to believe. She wasn’t worthy. She should have been a better person so that she would
deserve
some of the happiness that suddenly spread out in front of her.
    But then a cold feeling of reality set in. She
wasn’t
a better person, and although she was sure enlightenment and whatever else an angel thought your heart’s desire was, was terrific, well… in her case…
    She swallowed. “Look,” she said grimly. “The things I need help with—well, they’re not exactly the kinds of things angels are likely to know about.”
    â€œHeh.” He grinned. He leaned over in a position that would have unbalanced an ordinary person and waved an imaginary something over her head. “You
shall
go to the ball, Cinderella.”
    A wand. Gillian looked at him. “Now you’re my fairy godmother?”
    â€œYeah. But watch the sarcasm, kid.” He changed to a floating position, his arms clasping his knees, and looked her dead in the eye. “How about if I say I know your heart’s desire is for David Blackburn to fall madly in love with you and for everyone at school to think you’re totally hot?”
    Heat swept up Gillian’s face. Her heart was beating out the slow, hard thumps of embarrassment—and excitement. When he said it out loud like that, it sounded extremely shallow… and extremely, extremely desirable.
    â€œAnd you could
help
with that?” she choked out.
    â€œBelieve it or not, Ripley.”
    â€œBut you’re an
angel
.”
    He templed his fingers. “The paths to enlightenment are many, Grasshopper. Grasshopper? Maybe I should call you Dragonfly. You
are
sort of iridescent. There’re lots of other insects, but Dung Beetle sounds sort of insulting….”
    I’ve got a guardian angel who sounds like Robin Williams, Gillian thought. It was wonderful. She started to giggle uncontrollably, on the edge of tears.
    â€œOf course, there’s a condition,” the angel said, droppinghis fingers. He looked at her seriously. His eyes were like the violet-blue at the bottom of a flame.
    Gillian gulped, took a scared breath. “What?”
    â€œYou have to trust me.”
    â€œThat’s
it
?”
    â€œSometimes it won’t be so easy.”
    â€œLook.” Gillian laughed, gulped again, steadied herself. She looked away from his eyes, focusing on the graceful body that was floating in midair. “Look, after all I’ve seen… after you saved my life—and my
bits
… how could I not trust you?” She said it again quietly. “How could I ever not trust you?”
    He nodded. Winked. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s