Chapter 15
Once again, the emptiness of Gideon’s house seemed far more noticeable than usual. He set his takeout order—a burger and fries from the Five Bells Pub—on the kitchen counter and wondered what he’d do with himself tonight.
He briefly pondered going back to the shop and working on the music box some more, but he already had a full day of that ahead of him tomorrow.
Maybe he’d read, although he’d finished the biography during his lunch today. He had a few books on his To Be Read pile, but none of them were particularly calling to him.
He supposed television was his remaining option. He’d once tried to do puzzles, something he enjoyed very much, but inevitably he’d get near the end and find several key pieces missing.
His curse touched everything.
Frankly, he was astonished that something hadn’t gone wrong with selling the Elgin watch. He smiled, pleased with that. Very pleased. Not only had it felt good to do something good, but it had been especially nice to do something good for someone who needed it.
Getting to talk to Sabrina and give her that small surprise had reminded him what it was like to interact with other people. How positive life could be.
Now here he was, alone again. Back to his reality. His smile faded.
He changed into casual clothes and took his food into the living room. He turned on the TV, found a show about historical mysteries, and settled in.
As he ate, he wondered if he was boring. If that was how Sabrina saw him. She must. Out of necessity, he had no social life. He didn’t want to risk another person suffering from his curse. He went nowhere outside of his work and home and his morning run.
He briefly considered that his evening might be better spent trying to find the book in the enchanted forest that could supposedly remove a person’s curse if they wrote their name in it, but he’d tried that three times.
The first time, he’d gotten lost and ended up in the Dark Acres.
He’d been badly stung by a lightning bug.
The second time, he brushed up against some plant, which had caused his skin to welt up and itch like crazy.
The third time, he’d tripped over a fallen log and broken two ribs.
He thought it might be possible that the enchanted forest was the only place more dangerous than his home. Did he dare attempt a fourth visit?
Maybe when he was desperate enough to take on his curse again. But that wasn’t this moment.
He finished his food, cleaned up, took the trash out, making sure the lid was on snugly. He’d lost track of how many times raccoons had gotten into the can.
He came back in to find his phone ringing. That almost never happened. “Hello?”
“Gideon? It’s Sabrina.”
An odd feeling zipped through him. For a moment, he forgot his loneliness. “Hi.”
“Hi. Listen, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but two things. Thank you again for the money today. That was really something.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled, filled with the warm feeling he’d had earlier.
“The second thing is Korrin finally gave me the list, and there are a couple items on it we could do tonight. If you’re available.”
“I, uh …” Of course he was available. But if she were around him long enough, she’d eventually figure out his curse. He loathed the idea of her seeing him in that light. “Do you really think you need me?”
“He’s insisting. That’s why I’m calling.”
“What does he want to do?”
“A whole slew of things. Some of which I’ve already nixed.
” She huffed out a breath that implied the list was both long and hard to believe.
“But one of them is getting ice cream, and another is hearing live music. There’s that place on Fiddler that has music, not far from our shops. Club something.”
“Club 42,” he said. He’d always wanted to go there, but he’d been concerned that he’d cause the servers to drop drinks or the instruments to fail or the singers to go mute.
“Yeah, that’s it. So what do you think? We get some ice cream, then go listen to some music?”
He couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening, although he could have done without the sprite.
He just worried that his curse would be the reason things went terribly wrong.
He decided right then that at the first sign of trouble, he’d make an excuse and leave.
“All right. If it means knocking a few things off the list, then sure.”
“Great. My only concern is that people will wonder who the new sprite is in town and then word will spread, and Amelia will hear about it. Any ideas?”
He frowned. “No. Not really. Does the sprite have any way of changing his appearance?”
“No clue, but I’ll ask.”
“Listen, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. This town has its share of—” He’d been about to say weirdos. “Interesting characters.”
“I know. I just don’t want anything to sour this deal.”
“It wasn’t like you purposefully released him. If it comes to it, I’ll swear to that.”
“You will?” She sounded so surprised.
“Of course. It’s the truth.” And that’s what friends did. Because try as he might not to think of her that way, it had become impossible. Regardless of how she felt about him.
“Thank you.” Her voice was soft and breathy and full of appreciation, its own kind of music.
He closed his eyes, letting the sound wash over him. It was rare anyone spoke to him with that level of emotion.
“So … does that mean you’re up for tonight?”
“Yes. But I should warn you. I am … accident-prone.”
“It’s okay. I’m good at fixing broken things, you know.” She laughed.
If only she could fix him. No, no, no. He did not want her entangled in his curse.
“Great! I’ll come by and pick you up. Well, I will as soon as you tell me where you live. We’ll head to the Creamatorium, then to the Club.”
People did not come to his house. He would wait on the front porch. Then there’d be no need for her to come in. He gave her the address.
“You’re not too far from me. All right, see you in a few minutes. I just have to change into something more appropriate for the club.”
“Right. I’ll do that too.” What that meant he wasn’t sure, but he’d figure it out.
After they hung up, he stood in front of his closet and tried to decide what to wear for such a varied outing. Nothing in his wardrobe said ice cream and small intimate jazz club. Assuming Club 42 was small and intimate. That was how he imagined it.
He decided on something simple. Black trousers, black sweater. She’d liked him in the blue one, but wearing that again felt obvious. Like he was trying to appeal to her. He didn’t want that.
His comb inexplicably got stuck in his hair.
How a thing like that even happened, he had no idea.
He got it out, managed to make himself look decent, and went out to the front porch.
The sun was setting, leaving small slices of pale blue fall sky in its wake as the clouds disappeared.
Soon the gloom would be completely gone, and the stars would be visible.
Sabrina arrived shortly, her car a small SUV that had seen better days. She waved at him through the window.
He nodded and made his way to the vehicle and got in. She was wearing jeans and a sparkly black sweater that accentuated her curves. Her hair was up in a high ponytail that showed off her neck. Little tendrils drifted around her face. She looked beautiful. Perfect.
His breath caught in his throat. He felt unworthy beside her. He focused on putting on his seat belt. “Thank you for coming to get me. I don’t have a car.”
“You’re welcome. So you walk everywhere?”
“Yes. Or sometimes I hire a car service.”
Korrin flew forward from the back seats. “I bet you wish you had wings.”
Gideon snorted. “It’s never occurred to me.”
“Wings are great,” he said.
As Sabrina pulled out of the driveway, Gideon frowned at the sprite’s outfit of plaid pants and striped sweater. “What are you wearing?”
“New clothes,” Korrin said proudly. “Sabrina bought them for me.”
She nodded. “I still think new clothes should count as one of your list items.”
Korrin hovered between them as she drove, his attention on Gideon. “What kind of ice cream are you getting?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“What?” Korrin looked horrified. “Who doesn’t think about a thing like that? What’s wrong with you? You’re the strangest human I’ve ever met.”
Gideon just sighed. This was going to be a long evening. At least he had Sabrina to share it with.