Free A Stroke Of Magic by Tracy Madison Page B

you. I scared him off.” She twisted her fingers together. “Don’t be angry with me. I did what I felt was necessary.”
    I shouldn’t have been surprised that Troy would stoop to such a level, but I was. Even after everything that had happened, I had a difficult time reconciling the man he actually was with the man I’d thought him to be. Though I knew one thing for certain: I hadn’t loved him. Not really.
    “I’m not angry.” I pushed Troy out of my head. “Let’s get back on track. My wishes don’t seem to be connected to anything in particular, and certainly not to my artwork.” I gasped when another thought hit. “Maybe something did happen, but not like you’ve explained.”
    “But something has? What?” That came from my sister.
    “I was working on a sketch for an ad campaign, and I drew me and my boss sitting at a table as a couple at Frosty’s Ice Cream Shoppe. Later, over lunch, he asked me to go there with him. But that’s not the same.”
    “Did you wish you’d go there with him when you were drawing it?” asked my sister.
    “Not exactly. I was lonely and wishing someone would ask me to lunch or something, but I’m not sure. I was in the zone.” But then I realized. Ethan had asked me to lunch that day. Did that mean it was only a wish-induced invitation? Ick. I hated that thought.
    A tiny grin popped up on my grandmother’s face. “Do you have a crush on him?”
    I ignored the whisper of desire that teased at me. “He’s cute. And really nice. I haven’t thought about him in that way, if that’s what you mean.” Just a little lie.
    “I think—maybe—there are two different things going on here,” Elizabeth mused.
    My grandmother lit up even more, if that’s possible. “This is so exciting! Aren’t you excited, Alice?”
    “No! It’s scary and strange and if I can’t figure it out, then things are going to get even weirder.” How many times in a day did I wish something would happen? You know, those random thoughts like I wish it was five so I could go home, or I wish it was Saturday, or…or anything, really. “I could screw things up without even meaning to!”
    Grandma huffed. “Screw what up? You should be thrilled. This is our legacy; this is who we are. Grab on with both hands, Alice! Your life will never be the same.”
    But that was the problem. I wanted my old life back. I wanted order to prevail. Change was the polar opposite of what I wanted—what I needed. “Can I give it back? Or pass it to someone else?”
    “I don’t know,” Elizabeth said. “You can try, but I’m pretty sure you’re stuck with it now.”
    A spasm of fear rolled into me. “That’s just terrific. You should have kept this little gift to yourself, Elizabeth.”
    “Oh honey, I’m sorry. I was trying to help you, not make things worse. We can figure this out, though. Why don’t you tell us what Miranda said to you? Maybe that will shed some light on why your magic is so different from anything we’ve experienced.”
    “She said my daughter was special—”
    “You’re having a baby girl! I knew it!” my grandmother exclaimed. “I dreamed about it, you know.”
    One question answered. “Ah. That’s how you figured it out. I was going to ask.”
    “Go on, Alice,” my sister prodded. “What else did Miranda tell you?”
    I repeated her words to them, and then I shuddered. “It’s crazy. I don’t need or want a soul mate. I can raise my child with all the love and guidance she’ll ever need. On my own.”
    Elizabeth tipped her head to the side and appraised me. My sister had that look: the one that told me she wasn’t saying something she definitely should say.
    “Spit it out.”
    Her dark brown eyes bored into mine, searching. “Miranda told me you were having a daughter too. But she also said…” She inhaled a deep breath.
    “This is about me and my child, so you better tell me, Liz.” Still, even as I made my demand, a whoosh of lightheadedness had me