Page 40 of Ghostly

Rosalie did the puppiest puppy eyes he’d ever seen.

He cleared his throat and scratched her behind the ears. “She’s just… she likes it.”

“Likesyou!” Ida giggled in the living room.

Gabriel ignored her. “Now go back to yourowner, Rosalie.”

With a bit more coaxing, Marge got her dog back. “Did you brush her?”

“Yes. A—uh, a friend said long-haired dogs need frequent brushing.”

“I know that,” Marge said, but with no malice in her voice. “I do it every day. But she didn’t resist you?”

“Uh…” Gabriel looked to Rosalie, who wiggled her tail. “No, no, she did. I’ve got war wounds all over here.” He indicated his arm, luckily covered by the sleeve.

More laughing from Ida. “Liar!”

“Oh, my good man. You’re a saint. And with all you had to endure, to think I also let you wait longer than I said! But you have to forgive me. Me and Rex, uh…” Marge blushed.

Oh, god.“It’s fine. No problem.”

“But will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Forgive me.”

“Of course.” Gabriel squeezed her hand. “No problem.”

“Thank you. Let’s go, Rosalie. Say goodbye to the nice man!”

Rosalie barked at him once, as if trying to say, “How dare you let me go”, then whined and ran after Marge, her fluffy tail swinging back and forth.

He was going to miss the little furball.

A light, shimmery feeling expanded in his chest. Gabriel needed a moment before he remembered why it felt familiar. The dinner!

Ida glided through the doorway. “Did you feel something just now?”

“Forgiveness,” Gabriel said, his eyes following Marge’s car. “Marge asked me to forgive her. And I…” He looked to Ida. For a few seconds, they stared at each other, then simultaneously ran for the contract. Gabriel removed it from the folder.Forgive, forgive, forgive—his heart fell as he saw the word, still clear and dark, as one of the conditions on the page.

He hadn’t succeeded. But then what was all this about?

“Gabriel, look.” Ida pointed at an empty space aboveforgive. “Thewarm upcondition is gone. You had done it, just not the one we thought.”

A thought flashed through Gabriel’s mind—of course it wouldn’t beforgive, how could he expect that of himself—before he refocused on the other condition. “But I hadn’t done any warming up.”

“You warmed uptosomeone,” Ida said, eyes gleaming proudly. “That was clever!”

“But that would mean… oh, no. I’m not warming up to Marge. I’ll admit the Schuyler Sisters aren’t witches, but warming up is a far too strong a term to use—”

“Not Marge, dummy.”

Gabriel stared at her, mouth gaping.

“Admit it.” An amused smile played on her face. “You didn’t like Rosalie when she came here, but you could barely be torn away from her today.”

“Maybe I don’tdislikeher anymore.” That was as far as any confession was going to go. “Let’s not over-analyze this and rather take it as what it is. A victory. And what do you do when you win?”