He waited for her to say whatever she was going to say. She thought of how much it had hurt when he’d betrayed her, how it had felt like her future had popped like a bubble, how she’d had to redefine who she was and what she wanted. She’d fled Brooklyn because of him. Changed her whole summer because of him—her whole life. She should have feelings about all of that. And she did.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“For what?”
She didn’t elaborate. He’d shaped her life. Broken her heart. And when it had healed, it had become like those Japanese vases glued together with gold, more beautiful because of their breaks. Not that she wanted to go through that again. But she wasn’t going to regret it either. She liked who Future Calisa was. “Goodbye, Ethan.”
She walked toward her apartment lobby.
He followed her.
Glancing back, she saw the moment he was distracted by a siren on the street. She concentrated as Auntie Zee had taught her, tapping into what was inside her….
When Ethan turned back, all he saw was a gray cat strollingaway.
—
Calisa whispered “Open” to the apartment bathroom door, and then she stepped through to Vermont. Outside her window, the mountains were already painted with golds and reds and oranges, in between the deep green of the pine trees. Yellow birch leaves stood out like candle flames between them. The apple tree in the yard sagged with fruit, nearly ripe.
She closed the door and the portal, restoring both the closet on her side and the bathroom on her parents’ side before she ventured out to the lobby. “Hey, mirror.”
Ugh, you’re back.
“Love you too.” She passed by the mirror and headed for the kitchen. “What kind of cake should I make today?” she asked Jack. She had a stack of recipes that she wanted to try out. “Apple cake? Are the apples ripe?”
He grinned at her. “Guess who booked a room for the weekend?”
She had no idea. “A unicorn?”
“No.”
Pity. She would’ve liked to meet a unicorn, if they existed. Her eight-year-old self with a collection of unicorn stickers would have been thrilled. “Are they real? If they are, we should definitely visit a realm with unicorns and invite them to the B&B.” So far, she had notes on twenty-five realms, but as she understood it, there were an infinite number.Not all of them reachable with her level of magic, but still, it wasn’t impossible. Ooh, she’d have so many questions for them!
“We’d have to build a stable,” Jack said, “or at least a unicorn-accessible room.”
That could be done, probably. She’d watched a centaur clomp down the stairs, so a unicorn wouldn’t be that much of a reach to make it equine-ready. “Who? Give me a hint.”
“Melidor,” Jack said.
That wasn’t a hint. It was an answer. But it didn’t matter, since she was happy to hear it. She hadn’t seen her dryad nieces and nephews in weeks, and she couldn’t wait to see how much they’d grown. Could they talk yet? Did they have leaves? Flowers? “With her babies?”
“She said they want to see their favorite aunt,” Jack said.
“All right, then, apple cake it is!” She grinned back at him but didn’t move toward the bowls or the ingredients. Instead she crossed to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “First, though…” She kissed him.
He kissed her back with just as much enthusiasm. She felt as if she were bathed in sunlight, the warmth of summer spreading into autumn. Her hands ran up his back and into his hair. He cradled her close, and she thought of nothing and everything all at once.
When the kiss ended, he answered her earlier question, “The apples aren’t ripe yet.”
“Then we’ll have to go somewhere they are,” Calisa said with a smile.
Jack smiled back, and she felt her insides melt like chocolate in the oven. “Night Market?”
“Night Market,” she agreed.
“While we’re there, we can bring back some more of Rin’s pastries—those were a hit with the new guests in room nine. Plus Steve will want more sliced meat…. Wait, I’ll make a list.” He fetched a piece of paper. “Okay, what else do we need?”
She rattled off the ingredients for apple cake, as well as for tomorrow’s breakfast. “Do you think there will be dancing at the Night Market today?”
