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Bradley made a little X across his heart. “I get it.”
“I imagine you do.”
A strange sensation twitched inside him. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Just a feeling.” Frederick shrugged. “What else?”
“I guess, well, if she did change her name, any idea what she might have changed it to?”
“She was always fond of the name Madeline. Wanted to name Devra as much, but I wouldn’t hear of it. Maybe search for a Madeline Harriot, or a Madeline Harry. Or maybe some play on her maiden name. Maddy Wilson. That sort of thing.” He waved a frustrated hand.
Bradley jotted down the names. “I know this probably hasn’t been the easiest trip down memory lane, but you’ve been very helpful. Thank you.”
Frederick said nothing. When Bradley could no longer stand the silence, he tapped his notebook and said, “I really appreciate this. Might be in touch again if I have other questions down the road. And please reach out if you think of anything else that might help, anything out of the ordinary from when the curse first began. No matter how small. You never know what the key might be to solving this thing.”
“All right. All right,” Frederick said, not in an unfriendly way. “Now out with you. Go be young and stupid.”
Bradley stood up. “One more quick question,” he said with trepidation. “You…um…you’ve never killed anyone, have you?”
Frederick gave a full-on guffaw. “My word. What a question. Let’s say I had, do you really think I would tell you?”
“If you care about your children the way I think you do, then yes, I think you would tell me.”
Another long palpable silence. Bradley was beginning to see where Devra got some of her most stress-inducing traits.
“I’m just looking for information. Anything that might help your daughter.”
“Then, for Devra’s sake, I wish I had a more malevolent backstory to share with you today. But alas.” He held up empty hands.
“It was a long shot, I know.”
Bradley was nearing the exit when Frederick asked him, “Do you really think the curse can be broken?”
“I thought you didn’t believe in the curse?”
The man smiled. “And I told you my children do. That’s all that matters.”
And Bradley was thinking he might love this man just a teeny-tiny bit, for reasons he couldn’t exactly articulate, when Frederick added, “You understand that, don’t you, son? All that matters is what Devra believes. If she thinks the curse can be broken…Well, then.”
Bradley took in the man’s meaning.
“Well, then,” he echoed.
DEVRA
Bradley was meeting her father. The thought made her giggle. It was like they were making things official, except she wasn’t going to be with him to make the introductions. How strange this was. How bizarre and wonderful and magical, like forgotten dreams resurfacing.
At two o’clock, when the doorbell rang, she was giddy with anticipation and opened the door expecting it to be Bradley.
It wasn’t.
Two identical elven faces beamed up at her. They lifted armfuls of grocery store bags and said at the exact same time, “We’re here to make cookies!”
Devra blinked, temporarily too stunned to be afraid. The two petite women barged past her like invited guests and began infiltrating her home.
Devra instinctively closed the door and followed them into her kitchen. “What are you d—”
“Bradley wasn’t home,” one of them said, as she began plopping ingredients onto the island. “Figured we’d just hang out here and wait for him.”
