“You’ve only got this one life,” he continued, glancing over at the machines beeping and keeping track of his vitals. “Go live it, and I suggest you love the hell out of it.”
“Are you planning to take your own advice with Dana?”
Arnie grinned and rubbed his belly. “If those cookies are any indication of our future, it’s going to be a sweet, fulfilling ride.”
Stella released Arnie’s hand. “Arnie, there’s something I want to talk to you about. It’s about Jack.”
His expression sobered to match hers. “I’m listening.”
“The ink only allows characters to visit for two weeks,” Stella said.
Arnie nodded and shifted on the bed. “That’s correct.”
Stella inhaled a deep breath and then spoke in a rush of words on the exhale. “Have you ever, what I mean is, did you ever try or want to try to keep someone around longer? Is that a possibility?When the Irishwoman gave you the ink, did she say there were exceptions?”
For an excruciatingly long pause, he didn’t respond.
“Arnie, he’s leaving tomorrow. You want me to take a leap? Not that I can stop myself at this point, but what about the fall? I’m picturing Icarus with wax wings. Why does Jack have to go? Why can’t there be a way to help him stay?”
“There are rules,” Arnie said.
Stella gripped the bedsheets in her fists. “Let’s break them! There has to be a way. All of this is magical, so can’t there be a magical solution?”
Arnie rubbed the back of his neck and looked toward the window. “If there is, I don’t know it. I’m sorry, Stella.”
A niggling started in Stella’s gut. “What about Ruby Lou and Pearl?”
Arnie shot his gaze toward her. “What about them?”
“You brought them out, but they ran off and weren’t in the library at the end of two weeks, right? Is that why their book disappeared? Because they weren’t near the magic at the time they should have returned to their book? Or...” Stella’s mind whirred. “Could they still be somewhere in the world, alive and well? Maybe the book disappeared not because something bad happened to them but because they weren’t inside the library on time.”
“No,” Arnie said. “Iknowsomething happened.”
“How could you possibly know? You’ve never seen them again. You don’t know without a doubt that they”—she lowered her voice—“died.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Buthow? What if Jack isn’t in the library when his due date comes? Could we keep him away and see what happens? Maybe keep him from the source of magic forever so he can stay here with me?”
“No,” Arnie said, shaking his head. “I’m not doing that again—” He abruptly stopped.
“What do you meanagain?”
“Drop it, Stella,” Arnie said. “I’ve been using this magic longer than you’ve been alive. There are rules, and we will abide by them. Jack must return.”
“Then why do this at all?” Stella asked. Her whole body began to tremble. An emotion akin to grief sprang up inside her. “Did I really need to experience someone else leaving me?”
Arnie reached for her hand, but she didn’t take it. “Stella, I thought you’d like to connect with him in person, so to speak, since you have always been so fond of him. I thought it might give you courage to open up to the idea of dating again, but I didn’t expect you to want to literally date Jack. I didn’t know you’d fall in love with him.”
“Well, I did!” she said, standing to her feet in a swell of emotion. She walked to the window and stared at the parking lot, blinking away tears.
“I’m so sorry, kiddo,” Arnie said sincerely. “If I had known... I would have done this differently. I would have done a lot of things differently, but sometimes life is a learn-as-you-go experience.”
“So that’s it, then?” Stella said, fighting to control the tremble in her voice. “Jack has to leave.”
Arnie nodded.
If Jack’s leaving was unavoidable, she wouldn’t spend her last hours with him crying and feeling sorry for herself. She wanted to enjoy his company so she could carry it in her heart for as long as possible. Jack had been supporting her and helping her since the moment she met him. He’d made her feel stable and more confident in herself. She had opened herself up to him, something she’d sworn to never do again with a man. She wouldn’t ruin their final moments together being a weepy mess.
