Chapter 13
For the second time in mere hours, Mattie realized this was not at all how she’d imagined her evening unfolding.
She stood by the front door again, turning the knob slowly, hoping the house had changed its mind or the wish had glitched or something.
But none of those things had happened. The latch clicked uselessly, like it was mocking her. She pulled, feeling for any give. Nothing. The wish had decided they were staying, and that was that.
Behind her, Gunnar paced the length of the living room, feet thudding softly on the hardwood. Every few steps he’d stop, rub the back of his neck, and mutter something under his breath that sounded a lot like “stupid imp.”
Blueberry had yet to reappear, but the faint hum of his presence lingered somewhere. She could sense his magic, which meant he was close. Was he trapped in here with them? She had no idea if the wish had contained him as well.
She glanced up. He was probably tucked in the rafters, listening and wishing he had popcorn. She didn’t really blame him for what had happened. Gunnar had clearly not been paying attention to her advice.
Gunnar stopped by the big window that looked out over the porch. She inched closer to see what he was looking at. Moonlight spilled across the floorboards in silver stripes. He stared out like he could will the glass to dissolve.
“I was going to check the crawl space under the back porch,” he said, probably more to himself than to her. “There’s an access panel that leads down there. Thought that might be a way to get out.”
Mattie hated to be the bearer of bad news. “Except you can’t get outside to reach it.”
He grunted. “Yeah. I realized that about two seconds after I had the thought.”
She bit back a smile. There was something almost endearing about how stubbornly practical he was being, even when magic had literally locked them in. He wasn’t panicking. He was problem-solving. Sure, he’d been muttering and grousing under his breath, but he was still focused on finding a solution.
Was that ranger smarts or bear shifter logic? Maybe a combo of the two.
Mattie sidestepped to get even closer to him. Their shoulders nearly touched or would have if she was taller. She took a breath. The cabin smelled like pine and woodsmoke and the faint honey-vanilla scent of the cake. The pine was probably his soap.
Either way, it was the kind of cozy that made her ache a little, because this wasn’t reality. This was magic at work. And it would eventually end.
“So,” she said, keeping her voice light. “Any thoughts about a Plan B?”
Gunnar glanced down at her. His eyes were darker in the low light, but there was a flicker of something softer there. “Plan B is we don’t panic. Won’t do any good. We just have to wait for Blueberry to get bored.”
“He never gets bored.”
“Then what do you think we should do?”
“Talk until we figure out what ‘figure it out’ means to him?”
“You really think that’s how we get out of here?”
“I don’t know what else to do.” She exhaled through her nose, frustration creeping in.
This wasn’t funny anymore. She had candles to deliver to Alice.
If Mattie was a no-show and couldn’t at least send a message as to what was going on, Alice might get cranky.
And a cranky Alice Bishop was not something Mattie wanted to deal with.
Gunnar had his ranger duties, too. Neither of them could afford to be stuck here for an undetermined amount of time.
She turned away from the window, headed to the couch, and sat, tucking her legs under her. Gunnar followed more slowly, dropping into the recliner like he was tired.
Understandable. She looked at him. “We need to break this wish. Now.”
“No kidding.” Gunnar stared at the TV for a moment, like it might hold the solution to their problem. Finally, he made eye contact. “But how?”
“You have to make another wish to undo it. That’s the only thing I can think of. Something precise. Like ‘I wish the cabin would release us immediately and let us leave without any further magical interference tonight.’”
He stared at her like she was crazy. “You really want me to make another wish? After what just happened?”
Mattie met his gaze, refusing to back down.
“I know. It’s a risk. Blueberry could twist it into something worse.
Trap us in the bathroom, turn the house into a gingerbread cabin, make us relive the same hour on loop.
Not that I think any of those things would come from making the wish I said.
But doing nothing isn’t an option. I’ve got an important delivery to make tomorrow, and you’ve got work.
We can’t just sit here hoping the wish magically goes away. That’s not how wishes work.”
Gunnar’s jaw tightened. “Every time I open my mouth around that little green menace, something goes sideways. I’m not in the mood to roll the dice again.”
“I get it,” she said. “I really do. But we’re out of moves.
Blueberry’s playing by jinn rules, not ours.
And honestly …” She hesitated, then lowered her voice.
“I think he’s trying a little bit to play matchmaker.
The way he lit up when you said ‘we’? That wasn’t just chaos. That was sheer impy happiness.”
Gunnar’s brows shot up. “Matchmaker? Why would he do that?”
Mattie knew why, but she was reluctant to say.
“Blueberry thinks I’m …” She stopped short of saying lonely.
She was not lonely. Not exactly. “I just had a relationship end. It wasn’t like a big thing, but …
” She shrugged. It had been sort of a big thing.
For her. Not for Aaron, obviously. “Bottom line, he probably thinks he’s helping by trapping me here with you. ”
Gunnar frowned. “Great. So now I’ve got an imp with a cupid complex.”
“Pretty much.”
He got up and started pacing again. The cabin felt smaller with every step.
He filled the space, but then, how could a man that size not take up a room?
Mattie watched the way his shoulders stayed tense, the way he kept glancing at the door like glaring at it might suddenly cause it to apologize and swing open.
Finally, he stopped in front of the coffee table. “What if I make this wish and it goes wrong?”
“Then we deal with whatever comes next.” Mattie didn’t love the thought of that, but she nodded all the same. It still felt like a step in the right direction. “Just … be careful. Remember, no negatives. No vague stuff. Say exactly what you want to happen. Be specific.”
Gunnar exhaled hard. He looked into the rafters, as if addressing the invisible imp directly.
“Blueberry,” he said, voice low and deliberate. “I wish the cabin would release Mattie and me right now, no tricks, no delays, no extra magic. Just open the doors and windows so we’re free and Mattie can leave and go home tonight.”
Silence.
Then a soft shimmer of magical energy rolled through the room, warm and vaporous, like a sigh. As it diminished, the crickets picked up where they’d left off.
Mattie got up and walked to the door. With metaphorical fingers crossed, she turned the knob.
It opened.
Cool night air slipped in, carrying the scent of trees and damp earth.
She looked back at Gunnar. He hadn’t moved, but his posture had relaxed, his shoulders no longer full of tension.
“You’re free to go,” he said.
Mattie gave a small nod. “Thank you.”
“Down to two wishes now.”
“That’s good. Means Blueberry will be out of your hair soon.”
“Can’t happen soon enough. I’m ready.” He walked over to her.
“I’m sure you are.” Her phone was in her pocket, and she hadn’t brought anything in with her but the cake, so there was nothing for her to get. She could just leave.
She was about to step onto the porch, but she paused and looked up at him. “Thanks for dinner. And for not making me sleep on your couch.”
His eyes narrowed like he was thinking where that might have led. “You’re welcome. And thanks for the cake. It was really good. Hopefully, next time your imp won’t get such big ideas.”
“Next time?”
Gunnar shrugged. “Figure of speech.”
Mattie couldn’t help but smile a little. “Night, Gunnar.”
“Night, Mattie.”
“Night, Blueberry.” She looked up. “Behave yourself.”
Gunnar mumbled something she didn’t catch.
She went out, closing the door behind her. She walked to her truck and climbed in, starting the engine. The headlights cut through the dark as she pulled away. Behind her, the cabin lights stayed on, a warm glow in the night. Was that Gunnar in the window?
Probably making sure she didn’t run into anything else that prevented her from getting home.
Tomorrow, she’d deliver the candles to Alice, and Gunnar would do whatever it was forest rangers did, and maybe he’d make another wish.
Before long, life would be back to normal.
So why did she feel like she’d just missed out on something?