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“Yeah. I was there.”
That has never happened before.
Her expression grows serious. “Never?”
Not once.
She looks at her hands. Then back at me. “So...what does that mean?”
It means everything. It means that after one hundred and forty-three years of nothing, something has finally changed.
It means that the woman who has spent the last week calling me Rocky and complaining about her ex-boyfriend may be the key to my freedom.
It means I have a chance. A real chance.
For the first time in longer than I can bear to contemplate, I feel a tiny sliver of hope.
I believe you may be able to break my curse.
April stares at me. Then she laughs. It’s not an unkind laugh. More startled than anything.
“Me?” she points at herself.
Yes.
“Gabriel, I can’t even fix a leaky faucet. Not to mention my life is in shambles.”
I fail to see the relevance.
“I spent three hours today trying to assemble a bookshelf and somehow ended up with two extra screws and a shelf that’s upside down.”
I’m aware.
She blows out a breath. “Of course you are. Because why shouldn’t I have an audience while I’m making a fool of myself.” She gestures toward me. “And now you’re telling me I’m supposed to break a hundred-and-forty-three-year-old curse?”
I’m telling you that your touch accomplished something no one else’s has.
She grows quiet. “Do people normally touch you? I mean, not the genie rubbing; that might have been the product of the wine. But just touching in general? Or am I the first human to touch you since the curse?”
People have, on occasion over the years, put their hand on me. Your aunt Eleanor used to clean the bird shit off my head. I always appreciated that.
Her gaze drops to her own hands. “Maybe we should try it again.”
My entire existence seems to narrow to those words. Yes. I hadn’t intended the response to be quite so immediate.
April notices. Her expression softens. “Okay.” She stands. For a moment, she sways slightly.
I experience an unpleasant surge of alarm.
Careful.
“I’m fine.”
You’ve had too much wine.
“I’ve had exactly the right amount of wine for discovering my gargoyle is a naked man.”
I cannot argue with that logic.
