Page 161 of Beau and the Beast

“If the book was the key, wouldn’t the curse be broken now?” Alfie asked.

“I don’t know—we don’t know that,” Violet said, cutting in.

“Wolfram still looks like a sideshow,” Alfie pointed out.

“Jesus, Al—“

“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking!”

“Maybe it won’t kick in until it’s actually published,” Violet said. “We should be celebrating.”

“Excuse me if I’m not in a partying mood yet,” Geoffrey said. “I wish we had any fucking clue how all of this is supposed to work.”

“It’ll all be moot in a few weeks anyway, at least for Wolfram,” Alfie said. He winced immediately and Wolfram guessed that Violet had kicked him under the table.

He was right though. Wolfram knew he was right.

“Congratulations on finishing the book, Beau,” James said, cutting through the chatter and the bickering. “I still believe it’s going to fix this. We just don’t know the exact mechanics yet.”

“Right,” Violet agreed. “All we can do is move forward and keep hoping.”

“I’ve been hoping for ten goddamn years,” Alfie said, his voice rising to speak over them, “and it hasn’t changed a thing, has it? I keep listening to you all and doing everything you say. No breaking the law, no doing anything bad or mean or whatever the hell you all say. I just spent my fucking thirties doingnothingbut good in the world and I’m still trapped in this godforsaken condo. How do we know that it’s even going to expire for us after ten years? We don’t know shit. This could be the rest of our lives and—“

“Alfie, that’s enough,” Wolfram said in a firm tone. “It’s a strange time for all of us. But that has nothing to do with the effort that Beau has poured into this.”

“I understand why you’re upset,” Beau started, but Wolfram raised a hand to silence him.

“We’re all doing our best,” Wolfram continued. “Even if we don’t break the curse, you have to be satisfied knowing that you’ve spent the last ten years doing good in the world.”

“I don’thaveto do shit, Wolfram,” Alfie spat back. He dropped his napkin and pushed away from the table. “I can’t believe you all can be so calm about this. Special family dinners and kumbaya bullshit—all of this has beenjust so great, but I have a life I want to get back to. I’m tired of pretending like this is ok—like it’s all so fucking normal.”

James stood up to stop him from walking away but Violet was quick to get up too, to put a cautioning hand on James’s shoulder.

“He’s mad. Just let him go,” she said. “It’s ok.”

They returned to the table as a dour silence descended over the room. Wolfram could almost taste the dissatisfaction in the air, the morose feeling wafting back and forth between the other diners.

The silence was interrupted abruptly by the scraping of silverware across a plate, and when they looked over, Geoffrey had upended Alfie’s plate to deposit the leftovers onto his own.

“I’m starving,” he said without looking up, “and these chickpeas are amazing.”

* * *

No one stayedbehind when they were done eating that night, and Beau didn’t try to convince anyone to stay and chat.

He felt like a tremendous failure, telling himself that he shouldn’t have made the announcement at dinner.

Did I seriously think that they’d be happy?he wondered afterward as he washed dishes.Of course they won’t be happy if I can’t break the curse.

“Leave those,” Wolfram said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Someone else will do them.”

“I don’t want anyone else to have to do them.”

Wolfram stooped to nuzzle his cheek against Beau’s, apparently not caring in the moment if anyone else saw.

“Please,” he said gently. “I want to spend time with you for a few minutes.”

Beau sighed and Wolfram stepped back. “You can see me all night, if you want to. You know that.”

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