Chrissy put her fingers to her temple and let out a small groan.
“Do you have any idea of the paperwork involved in permanently transferring a mortal to—”
I didn’t let her finish. “I got rid of an evil ex-fairy—one who didn’t like you or the Alliance. Just think what he might have done if—”
“Oh, all right.” She let out a begrudging huff. “But only because fairies don’t like being indebted to mortals. It’s unnatural. And embarrassing.” She held a hand out to me in a conciliatory gesture. “If Stetson wouldn’t exist in the future, he can stay with you in your present.
That’s the only consequence I’ll be able to adjust for you, though. If things are worse off because of your efforts—if Hudson doesn’t care about you anymore, you’ll have to live with it. The only thing I can guarantee that won’t have changed are your wishes and their consequences. Magic is beyond the grasp of time.” I hesitated then, doubts chipping away my resolve. Who was I to play with time?
Then I thought of the pain in Hudson’s eyes when he talked about that night, the guilt and responsibility that weighed on him. What was the point of having the enchantment, I had asked earlier, if I didn’t use it to help people? Hudson had told me some things were worth the risk. This was one of those things.
“I have to try to save her,” I said. It meant saving a part of Hudson. “I just need to do one more thing first.” I knelt down beside the diaper bag and used the enchantment for a last time to turn the things 327/356
inside to gold. Dad and Sandra would need it to buy new furniture, cars, and everything else my wish had ruined.
As I thought about how my wishes had gone, more doubts filled my mind. What if Chrissy somehow messed this up?
Then I pushed the worries away. This wasn’t a wish; it was a business deal. Rumpelstiltskin had told me mortals had recourse with the Alliance if a business deal with a fairy wasn’t performed correctly.
When I was done creating gold diapers, formula, and toys, I stood up. Chrissy held her palm out to me. In an official-sounding voice, she said, “Give me the enchantment and your request will be granted.” I took hold of the edges of the gold heart that pulsed over my own.
It was attached to my chest so tightly that I was afraid I would tear away a huge chunk of skin when I pulled it off. But it came off with only a little tug. My own heart immediately felt better, lighter. My lungs could finally expand fully.
I put the still-beating heart in Chrissy’s hand, and it transformed from a heart into a gold apple. She smiled at it, satisfied, and slipped it into her purse. “I’m totally going to gloat to Clover about having his enchantment. It serves him right for making deals behind my back.” Her voice faded, and a dizzying array of lights went off around me. It felt like soda bubbles were fizzing past me. When they cleared, I wasn’t in the forest any longer. I stood on a modern street back in Rock Canyon—I could tell by the stucco houses, the hot evening air, and the cacti and palm trees perched in the lawns.
Chrissy leaned over my shoulder, pointing far down the street.
“Hudson’s house is that one. His mother is about to come out.” And then Chrissy vanished.
The door opened. A tall woman with Hudson’s brown hair stepped out. Even from a distance, I could tell she slammed the door behind her. She strode across her lawn and went down the sidewalk 328/356
heading in my direction. Her gaze was down, her expression furious.
She didn’t see me. She wasn’t paying attention to anything around her.
I glanced back at Hudson’s house. It sat silently behind a manicured lawn. Hudson was inside right now, thinking he should go after his mother. But he wouldn’t.
She came closer, her pace fast, and I felt awkward standing in the middle of the sidewalk wearing an evening gown and baby sling. I took off the sling and shoved it into the diaper bag that sat at my feet.
Which only made me marginally more normal. I still had the evening gown and diaper bag.
Hudson’s mother glanced up long enough to see me. She was pretty in a motherly sort of way. Her hair and makeup were still done at this late hour, and she wore a crisp tailored blouse. She struck me as the type who would run the PTO, be on all sorts of committees, and make sure her family ate nutritious dinners.
“Mrs. Gardner?” I called to her.
She paused, looked at me more closely, and stopped altogether.
Surprise flitted across her large, brown eyes. Hudson’s eyes. Stetson’s eyes.
“Mrs. Gardner?” I asked again. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Her gaze ran over me. “Do we know each other?”