Page 91 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“I guess not. Mom left. And it was so weird. She was suddenly all alive and happy and being a mom.”

“That’s good then?”

“To Brynnie, my stepsister.” Her voice was low and I couldn’t quite pinpoint the emotion she was trying to hide. Hurt? Resentment? Anger? Rejection? So many emotions to choose from.

“How old was she—is she?”

“My age.”

Ouch.

“You didn’t live with them?”

“No. You know what’s dumb? When my mom was in that funk before she left, sometimes I’d tell her about my school adventures. Gym class shenanigans or fights or field trip stuff and she’d half perk up.”

I waited quietly for her to say more. I could almost hear the unasked question in Char’s words. Was she still doing that? Looking for adventures and excitement to show others so they would take an interest in her? If so, was she stuck on a never-ending treadmill, hoping to find self-worth?

She was quiet for a moment, and when she resumed, she was upbeat. “I don’t really like sitting around a ton. I need to move and do something. But at the same time, I love cozying up in the living room with my friends. Why is that? Samantha said temping isn’t me, and since then it hasn’t felt as much fun. I don’t know if I let her words become a self-fulfilling prophecy, or if she just gave me permission to see how exhausting it actually can be.” She released a self-depreciating laugh. “Maybe it’s me who doesn’t know who they are.”

“Do any of us truly know? We’re always changing. Even our cells. They get replaced at such a rate that we’re physically someone new within a few months. It’s hard to keep up with that.”

“I like that image,” she said softly.

“And I like talking to you on the phone. And in person, too.” I worried my intention wasn’t coming across right. “I’m glad we’re talking. I don’t talk on the phone much.”

“Same. It’s nice.”

“So you’re an adventure addict?” I teased, getting the feeling that she was done her mini confessional.

“Apparently,” she said dryly.

“If money were no object, and you’d already been to Greece, where would you go?” I knew her more lucrative jobs had been dialled back by her boss, thanks to the museum theft business, and what money she did have would be flowing into the park once the warehouse was released.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to visit more museums?” I asked. “Fly to a remote island in the Pacific? Soak up the ambiance of a famous old hotel that costs thousands of dollars a night? You don’t want to find a private waterfall in the mountains? Skydive? Learn to sail on Glenmore?”

She laughed, the sound light. “Okay, okay. There’s so much to do!”

I was smiling. Grinning like a fool, actually. “You going to do it? Go on a mini adventure?”

“Every day is an adventure, James,” she intoned seriously.

“Wanna go on an adventure with me?”

“Always,” she said quickly, without hesitation. And for a moment, I thought maybe her heart, along with mine, was wishing, wishing—wishing that we could be each other’s wingman, friend, lover, everything. We just needed to have the courage to keep trying.

CHAPTER32

~ Char ~

Clearly the wish to undo my earlier wishes hadn’t worked. James was still interested in me, and hadn’t wandered back into his own timeline or destiny or whatever it was.

Surely, it was simply a matter of time before he did, though. Estelle probably just needed a few more days to make the magic work because she was new at all of this.

I trusted the wish. And I trusted James to drift away from me.

In the meantime, was there any good reason not to hang out with him? To enjoy the sweet, tender shoots of a relationship before James forgot his interest in me, and we veered back into our separate lives again? I might only have one more day before the wish took effect. Why not make the most of it, and allow myself the distraction from reality by sinking into the adventure of such a healthy relationship?

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