I nodded. “She’ll be perfect.”
“As any of us can be.”
That was very true. Unless she was counting me.
“You know, in case you needed a reminder of that none of us who stepped inside this house have ever been close to perfect,” said Gertie.
I rolled my eyes. “I got it.”
“Making sure.” Gertie’s restrained smile curled on both sides and held strong.
How could she possibly still be smiling and seemingly happy with me? It made no sense. I’d broken the cardinal rule of most humans, if not most witches, who ran from bad situations.Do no harm to others.
I had done more than just a little harm.
Reaching over, Gertie patted my leg. “Don’t do that to yourself. You had a moment of weakness. You don’t think that you’re the first of us to throw bad intentions out into the world toward others, are you?”
Out of us?
I raised my eyebrows. “Seems like a pretty me thing to do.”
Gertie hummed. “I once toyed with sending nightmares to an enemy. Not sure if it worked, but I was woken up by some awful ones in the month that followed. Celeste, well, it’s her story to tell, but she once toyed with hexing a prominent lover who had stood her up.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.” She shook her head, remembering. “She was pretty heartbroken about it.”
“Was she also almost thirty and should have had her life together?”
Gertie slapped a hand against my thigh. “No, but don’t you dare go backward because of this. And if it is because you’re here in the house, I want you to get out.”
I stared at her with wide eyes.
“I’m serious, Ana. If the house brings more self-pity than good, leave. Go back to your apartment with your ex-lover … or is it notexanymore?”
“It’s ex,” I said immediately.
“Making sure.” Gertie raised her hands in light defense. “Magic works in strange ways.”
I waved her off, though neither of us moved from where we were cocooned on the daybed. I tucked my legs up toward my middle, crossing my arms over my knees.
“I really didn’t mean to do this, you know.”
Gertie let her head fall to the one side, cheek pressing into one of her many layers of necklaces that fell toward her shoulder.
“Fine,” I admitted. “I meant to do it. But only a little, and I didn’t think all this would happen. I was upset after a stupid baby shower and a little drunk.”
“That’ll do it.”
“Won’t it?” I shook my head with a laugh.
How was it that Gertie could make this whole thing feel light?
“I never knew you had such dark feelings for baby showers though,” said Gertie. “Or maybe it’s that I never knew you wanted to be a mother.”
“I’m thirty,” I said, as if that was as much of an explanation as anything.
“And I’m closer to triple that at this point,” said Gertie. “It doesn’t mean you can’t want things even if they don’t happen when you expect them to. Sincerely though, unlike the rest of the girls—except for Faith who doesn’t talk to any of us much, aside from you—I never knew that about you.”
