Page 30 of Magically Generated
Once again, Nora stood next to her friend and watched as Everett disappeared.She couldn’t sort through everything going on in her head.It was a mess.
It would have been simpler if his claims of magic had been false.She’d know what to do with that discovery: she’d walk away and never speak to him again unless absolutely necessary.She’d lump him in with Samuel and the people who made answering phone calls a pointless endeavor.She’d make the walls around her heart even higher.But now…
She felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you okay?”Aimee asked.
“I…I don’t know.”
“That’s partly why I asked him to make something else.To buy us—you—a little time.”
Nora shut her eyes and relaxed against her friend.Yes, there were so many scams in the world, so many people spouting absolute nonsense.For their own gain…or in some cases, online scammers were victims of human trafficking.
It was frustrating to always be wondering if what you saw or heard was fake, and technology had given rise to new ways of deceiving others.
But there were real things in her life, too.Like this friendship with Aimee.
“What are you going to do now?”Aimee asked gently.
“I don’t know,” Nora said again.
“Before you found the sketch, did you feel like you’d gotten him out of your system?”
“No.”Nora sighed.“I want more, but even knowing that he wasn’t lying about this…” She gestured toward the snowman.“It doesn’t mean he won’t try to screw me over.”
It was hard to imagine Everett Sun ever screwing anyone over, but she still had to be vigilant.
“I know,” Aimee said, “but maybe it’s worth—holy shit.”
Nora jerked her head around and saw Everett standing next to a small rabbit—a bit higher than his waist—made of snow.Like the other sculptures they’d seen together, it made her smile.
There could be no doubt now: he reallywas behind all the delightful snow sculptures.
Yes, sometimes the unbelievable was real.A tightly wound part of her began to loosen.
“I’m always here if you need anything,” Aimee said, “but would you like me to go now?”
“Yeah,” Nora said, her gaze still locked on the sculpture.“You can go.”
Aimee waved at Everett.
“Nice to meet you,” he called out before coming to stand next to Nora.
His proximity made her skin prickle, and she swallowed before meeting his eyes.
“All the sculptures across the city,” she said.“Why did you do it?”
“I’d wanted to for years, and this year, there was finally enough snow in Toronto before Christmas for it to work.”
“You could have moved somewhere else.Montreal.Quebec City.St.John’s.”
“But then I wouldn’t have met you.”His serious, quiet tone made goose bumps break out on her skin.
“You still didn’t answer my question,” she said.“Why did you do it?”
“To make people feel a bit of Christmas magic.”
“It certainly worked on me.”She hoped that didn’t sound sarcastic; she was sincere.
