“I shouldn’t have said anything.” Lox crossed her arms, looking embarrassed.
“And on a happier note,” Chandi interrupted, her voice overly bright, “it’s great he’s a man of the cloth because he can marry the two of you.” Despite everything, Ana could tell she was sincere.
Ana glanced at Nate. “What do you think?”
Nate was grinning from ear to ear. “I’m one hundred percent in.”
“Sheriff Buck, will you marry us?”
“It would be my pleasure. Let me make a call.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sheriff Buck held to his word and brought the license so Ana and Nate could marry. While they waited for him, Ana showered. Chandi went home and grabbed some things to make Ana presentable, then did her make-up and hair. Lox went to the bakery to whip up a cake “worthy of them.” And her mom and dad went home to get the dress Ana wore to the masquerade ball.
Nate left too, but only briefly. He returned wearing the suit he had on for the ball, too. The man was stylish and so exceedingly handsome. She thought she might pass out at the sight of him.
Sheriff Buck performed the ceremony.
“Do you, Nathan Decker take Ana Marie Oldenberg to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do,” Nate uttered. “And I’d like to say a few words, if I may.”
“Of course.”
“Ana, I promise to love you, to support you, to do my best to fill you with happiness. I promise to be honest and share my feelings with you. I promise to be the man you need, the husband you need, as well as friend, lover, and companion. Together, we can do anything.”
Ana stood with her back to her hospital bed with Nate facing her. His back touched the wall. The Fable Town hospital rooms weren’t meant for a man the size of Nate, but he was making it work. Tears filled her eyes when he spoke, and she smiled up at him.
“That was beautiful,” Sheriff Buck said. “Now, Ana Marie Oldenberg, do you take Nathan Decker to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I most definitely do.”
Chuckles went around the room. Nate smiled.
“I’d like to say something too, if I may.” Magic. Tell him about the magic, she thought. But that was crazy talk. She didn’t want to be sent away.
“Please.” Sheriff Buck gave them a lazy smile.
“Nate. Nate the Great. Captain Handsome…” She paused and waited for the laughs to die down. “You mean everything to me. I know that now. And I promise you I will always be with you, I will always love you, and I will always treat you as the man, husband, and superhero you are.”
Nate winked or maybe he was blinking back tears. Either way, she knew she was the luckiest woman in the world.
“Very nice, Ana,” Sheriff Buck said. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Nate, you may kiss your bride.”
“’Bout time,” Nate said, pulling Ana to him and crushing her mouth with a passionate kiss.
When they released each other, the sheriff and their family congratulated them. Afterward, they ate a delicious vanilla cake filled with strawberries and topped with vanilla buttercream. Per usual, Lox’s cake was divine. While they ate, they chatted until Ana started to feel tired and Doctor Naveen told them it was time to leave.
The sheriff said good-bye. Ana and Nate thanked him.
Chandi and Lox assisted Ana out of her dress and back into her hospital gown. Nate went and changed as well. Then Chandi and Lox hugged their goodbyes.
Nate went out to get a cup of coffee. Her mom kissed her on the forehead and said she’d be back the next day. Once she was gone, it was just Ana and her dad. He smiled and kissed her cheek. “I love you Ana Banana. Your happiness means everything to me. I didn’t think it was right when you decided to divorce Nate, but I knew things would work out and they did.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re happy. Nate is a keeper and he’s lucky to have you as his partner and wife. Get feeling better.” He squeezed her hand. “I love you.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Ana’s eyes filled with happy tears. Her dad didn’t talk much, but when he did, she listened because she knew he meant every word out of his mouth. “I love you, too.” As he stood there, smiling, one of Elsa’s memories came to mind. “What do you know about magic?” she asked.
Her dad froze, his eyes narrowed a moment before he relaxed his face and smiled. “Only what I’ve read in fairytales. Why?”
At that moment, Nate returned and the moment was over. Her dad clapped Nate on the back and congratulated him with a firm handshake and left the room.
“Finally,” Nate said, setting his coffee on the bedside table and sitting on her bed. “How you feeling?”
“Fine. Good.” She was suddenly distracted by “Happier than I’ve been in a very long time. You?”
“Same. But… there is something I need to discuss with you.” His voice was serious, and Ana’s heart dropped into her stomach.
“What?”
“It’s a matter of money.” He gave her a mischievous grin.
“Money?” She had no idea what he was talking about, but took his hand. “What about money?” She couldn’t imagine he needed any, but she’d give him whatever she had.
“You bet me a thousand dollars Lacey was involved. Turns out she’s just a jerk, but that’s it.” He winked, chuckling lightly.
She returned his smile as understanding filled her soul. “Can I pay you in kisses?”
He shrugged, running a hand over his hair. “A thousand kisses, huh? Hmmmm.” He glanced up at the ceiling as though he were considering her offer. Then he found her gaze and held it. “Your terms have been accepted,” he said, caressing her face. “Starting now.” He kissed her. “That’s one.”
She kissed him, speaking against his lips. “Two.” Then she remembered something else she didn’t know. “Is Lacey okay?”
“She’s stable, and she’ll live to be a thorn in Lox’s side for years to come.”
Ana sighed with relief. “Good.”
“Now about those kisses, Mrs. Decker.”
“Right. Where were we?” She took his face in her hands, kissing him soundly. It lasted a long time and was filled with promises of much more to come. She could hardly wait. When they pulled apart, she studied his face, unable to believe how blessed she was. “Three,” she finally said, teasing him. They would make it this time. They would get their happily ever after because they’d been together and apart, and they were much better together.
Chapter Twenty
Ana sat on the bed in the room that was hers growing up. She and Nate would be leaving Fable Town as Mr. and Mrs. Decker. That part made her happy. She glanced down at the ring he bought her—a placeholder is what he called it, but she loved the fuchsia agate gemstone and the silver band. She didn’t need more than this, but she also didn’t want to leave Fable Town.
This was her home.
She knew Nate would have to start football in a few months, but would he consider living here during the off season?
“Wipe the whine off your face, Ana. It isn’t like you can leave anyway.” The opossum appeared. She sat on the bed beside Ana and snuffled around the comforter.
“What do you mean?” Ana asked after her heart stopped pounding in her throat. She had a hundred other questions too, but not being able to leave with her husband seemed the most pertinent.
The opossum sat on her hind legs almost like a prairie dog. “Our magic. It’s inside you, but it belongs to Fable Town. The only way you can leave is to free the magic back into the town.”
“I see.” Ana faced the opossum and tilted her head to one side. “You’re Elsa, right?”
“Yes,” the opossum said. “But never use my real name again. If it’s discovered who I am, there are those who might curse me back into the mirror realm.”
“And why would they do that?” Ana crossed her arms, waiting for a response. “What did you do?”
The opossum didn’t speak for a long time. So long, in fact, that Ana almost wondered if s
he were imagining the opossum speaking in the first place.
“I may or may not have stolen magic from a bunch of witches when Fable Town was still magical and not filled with Narries.”
Ana scrunched her brows together. “What are Narries?”
The opossum tried to roll her eyes. “Ordi-nary people. Narries.”
“Okay and why did you steal from these witches?” She worried Elsa was bad and remembered the chant from the witches when she was seeing Elsa’s memories. They had believed she was. “Also, I’m calling you Mushroom or Mush for short,” Ana said with finality.
The opossum stuck out her tongue. “That’s a horrible name.”
“Too bad, Mush.” Ana forced herself not to smile. Somehow the name fit the opossum perfectly.
“Fine. But to answer your question, I only stole back what they took from me. They believed I was too powerful and wanted more for themselves.” She paused. “I’m hungry. Do you have any grapes?”
“Hang on.” As a medical professional, Ana couldn’t help but want to help. She took a few green grapes from the refrigerator, washed them, dried them, and hurried back to her room. “Here.” Ana handed her one.
“Thank you.” Mush clutched it between her two adorably cute paws and took a bite. She chewed with her mouth open and it was the most endearing thing Ana had ever seen. When she finished with one, she went on. “It was our ancestors—yours and mine—that helped the others curse me into the mirror realm.”
“Wait, we’re related?” That was a surprise. Then she remembered the way her father looked when she mentioned magic. Did he know about Elsa?
“Yes, I’ve been in the mirror realm for fifty years. Your father is my brother.”
“Hold on, what?” Ana had never heard her father mention a sister. “That can’t be. You look like you’re in your late twenties and my father is seventy-eight. That would make him nearly a hundred.”
Mush took another grape from Ana’s hand and began to eat. “Actually, he’s more like two hundred and thirty, but who’s counting.” She finished her grape.
Ana sat in silence. She wouldn’t believe the opossum, except the creature was talking to her. “So what do I need to do?” Nate would be here soon and she needed a plan.
Mush tilted her head. “Are you sure you want to give up so much power? You could do anything with the magic you possess.”
Ana already understood power to an extent. As a doctor she held lives in her hands on a daily basis. That was all she needed. “Yes,” Ana said, and meant it.
“Very well. Then you must go to Swan Lake and throw the ring your Nate gave you into its churning depths. Once that is done, you must say these words three times: Free the magic. Return it to Fable Town.”
“But I don’t want to throw away the ring. I love it.” Ana covered it with you hand. “It was a gift.”
“I’ve seen the ring before. There are nefarious workings already afoot in Fable Town. That ring will leech out every last bit of the magic within you as well as your soul and you’ll be trapped within, like I was trapped in the mirror realm. Is that what you want?”
“No,” Ana whispered.
“Even if you decide to stay in Fable Town and keep the magic, you still have to get rid of that ring. It is evil. I swear it.” Mushroom took the last grape and began to eat.
“Fine.” She studied the ring and thought she did feel a maliciousness emitting from it. “Let’s go now then.” Ana put on her winter boots, a coat, and a hat and stuffed Mush inside her jacket. “Hold still,” Ana said when they were outside. “Your little claws tickle.”
“Trust me when I say it isn’t the best being squished against your rumbling stomach either.”
“Sorry.” Ana hurried down the street, making her way to Swan Lake. She waved at the few people she passed by until she reached the part of the Lake where she’d been tied up, behind town hall. When she arrived at the bank, she took off her wedding ring. She’d forgotten gloves and her hands were icy as was her nose. “Okay, so I just toss it in?”
“Yep. And then say the words. Do you remember them?” Mush poked her head out, her nose sniffing the air.
“I think so.”
“Good, then do it.”
Ana chucked the ring. It hit the water with hardly a splash. “Free the magic. Return it to Fable Town,” she said.
The ground beneath her shook.
“It’s working. Say it again,” Mush said, excitedly.
“Free the magic. Return it to Fable Town.” Snow fell from trees and dropped into the water, like there was an earthquake happening. Birds took flight by the hundreds, squawking their upset over the movement.
“One more time.” Mush had her paws clasped together, her eyes watching the water expectantly.
Dread filled Ana. Was she doing the right thing? She only had the word of an opossum to go from. Something didn’t feel right. If she stopped now, she could tell her family the truth about the magic, and Elsa, and how she threw her beautiful ring in the river.
“Ana, say it again!”
“Fine!” Ana clasped her hands into fists. “Free the magic. Return it to Fable Town.”
“Yes.” Mushroom jumped out of Ana’s coat and ran over to the edge of the river. “Thank you for freeing my magic. It won’t be long until I collect it all again. It won’t be long until I can exact my revenge on you and all Oldenberg’s.” She whispered some words and then waited.
Ana didn’t say anything either. Too shocked with what Elsa had said. The opossum had lied. Or at least not told the whole truth. “Are you really my aunt then?”
“Of course.” Mushroom ran around in a circle and then stomped her foot. “It’s not working.” She sat back, bringing her clawed hands together. “You threw the ring in the river. You said the words. Why?”
“What?” Ana asked, coming closer to the opossum.
“I should be back to myself, but for some reason I’m still an opossum. Yuck! I need to be me again.” She glanced at her reflection in the water and stuck out her tongue. “I’m hideous.”
“Maybe it’s karma, Elsa,” Ana said, crossing her arms in horrified apprehension.
The opossum turned on Ana and hissed. “Maybe you should shut your mouth.” She started away down the river. “I’ll fix this. Mark my words. My magic may not have been strong enough before, but I’ll find a way to change back and then you’ll all be sorry.”
“Great, whatever you say.” Ana ran the opposite direction, hoping Nate would understand about her losing his ring.
“Oh, and by the way, Ana?” The opossum shouted.
“Yeah?” Ana stopped and searched the riverbank for the creature. She found her not too far along.
“Now that magic is returned to Fable Town, it’s protected from the outside world. Shielded by magic to all Narries. Let that piece of information sink in.” The opossum started away. “Good luck getting your happily ever after now.” She snuffle-snorted.
Ana didn’t find the opossum very cute after all. “It can’t be.” She hurried, desperate to get back to her parents’ house and went through the sparsely wooded park, across Swan Lake, careful not to slip, and down the street. Inside, she ran up to her bedroom. Her phone had been on the bedside table. She was sure of it. But now it was gone. “Where is it?” Her heart beat erratically as she tore through her packed suitcase, throwing clothes and shoes and underthings onto the bed. It wasn’t there. It wasn’t anywhere.
Frustrated, she sat on her bed and put her head in her hands. If Nate were a Narrie, then she would never see him again.
Something tapped her thigh and she flinched, glancing up. It was an old broom. Like really old. “Where did you come from?”
The broom shivered as though it were excited.
Ana should’ve been at least a little freaked, but with everything that happened, she didn’t have the energy.
It bumped into her knee with a crack.
“Ouch.” Ana reached out and grabbed hold of the handle. A wisp
of fuchsia magic rolled along her fingers. Had she leeched magic from the broom just then? She released it, expecting the broom to fall, but it continued to stand upright all on its own. “What does this mean?” Hadn’t she freed all of the magic within her?
The broom began to hop, like a puppy desperate to play. She could almost hear it saying, “Ride me, Ana. Let’s go for a ride.” The broom handle was made of a smoothed out tree branch that reminded her of oak, the bristles a combination of hay and twigs. Ana guessed it was probably more than two hundred years old.
“You’re a witches broom, aren’t you?” She knew it was the same one she’d flown in her dreams.
The broom began to dance, the bristles splitting into what looked like two legs.
Ana tried to smile, but she was too heart-broken. She’d rekindled her love with Nate, only to be separated from him again.
“Ana?” Her dad gave a single knock.
The broom vanished as her dad came into Ana’s room.
“Looks like you still have some packing to do. Are you alright?” He sat beside her.
Despite the strange broom and the possibility of magic, she couldn’t contain her sadness. “No, Dad. I ruined everything. I saw someone in the mirror. She said her name was Elsa. Then I got all of her memories… and her magic. Then she became an opossum. Plus, I threw my wedding ring into the river because she told me to and it’s gone.” Tears stained her cheeks and dripped down her neck. She knew she wasn’t making any sense, but the pain in her heart was so raw, she struggled to process her feelings and put them into words. “Elsa said now that magic is back, Narries can’t be in or find Fable Town. I’ve lost him, Dad. I’ve lost Nate.” A sob tore from her throat.
He rubbed a hand over his face, looking frazzled and tired. “I had hoped it would never come to this.” He shook his head, his shoulders slumped as he stared at his hands. “This is my fault, but together perhaps we can fix things, if you’re willing to help?”
“Of course.” She studied him, working to see what secrets he held. “I’ll do anything to get Nate back.”
Iced Raspberry Cookies and a Curse Page 12
