Page 109 of The Magic We Made

As if on cue, Ash appears in the doorway, wearing only my duvet and a stunned expression.

“Guy?”

Frankie

“Ash!” Gaia leaps from her chair and goes to kiss her grandson on one stubbly cheek. “Thereyou are. We were just talking about you. Come sit down. I’ve brought all your favorites.”

Ash doesn’t look very happy to see her.

“What are you doing here?” he demands. The duvet has slipped to the floor, but fortunately, he’s got on briefs. Still, they’rebriefs. I’m not sure he wants to be displaying what he’s got going on down there for his boss, even if she happens to be his grandmother.

But it doesn’t seem to bother either of them, since they’re standing in my kitchen, arguing.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here?” Gaia asks. “I came to thank your lovely girlfriend for saving your life—”

“I’ve told you,” he interrupts, without a hint of his usual good-natured humor. “You’ve got to stop doing this.”

“What am I doing, darling?” Gaia is so petite, she has to crane her neck to look up at her tall, mostly naked grandson. “Payinga social call to the woman you love? What’s so wrong with that? I felt it was time I got to know her. Is that some kind of crime?”

“Yeah!” Ash cries. “When you break in, itisa crime!”

“Oh, don’t be so silly, Ashraf. I didn’t break in; I used the key. And Francesca doesn’t mind. Do you, Francesca?”

“It’s Frankie,” I say. I’m too numb to think of anything else. “It’s Frankie, not Francesca.”

“Oh, no,” Gaia says. “You’re much too beautiful to be called Frankie. You’re a Francesca.” To Ash she says, “You know, I’m surprised at you. You have a beautiful woman here who saved your life, and what are you doing? Sleeping in. Aren’t you ashamed?”

Ash looks frustrated in that special way only parental figures can frustrate us as adults. “Guy. I’m serious. I want you to get—”

“You know, darling, Francesca and I were just discussing what it was that brought the two of you together, and it made me wonder: is it possible that, for the first time ever, your gift has failed you?”

Ash looks confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, only that, as someone suffering from the curse—as you often refer to it—of finding lost things for others, isn’t it possible what you’ve found here in West Harbor is something you felt was lost from your own life, as opposed to someone else’s?”

Ash looks even more confused. “Are you talking about the house? I bought that house for you.”

“You didn’t buy that house for me, darling.” Gaia moves back to the table, but this time she sits in the chair across from me, leaving the one beside mine vacant for Ash. “You should know by now who you really bought it for.”

It takes a second or two for Gaia’s implication to sink it. But when it finally does, Ash explodes.

“No,” he thunders, tugging his fingers through his hair as he always seems to when he’s frustrated. “That’s not what happened, and you—”

“But I’mglad,darling! You never find things for yourself, only for others. I think it’s about time you—”

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” I’m not sorry, it just seems polite to say I am. “But I can tell that you two need a little space to work this out, so I’m just going to go outside and—”

“No!” Ash takes a few steps toward me, then looks down at himself. “Frankie, don’t go. Or wait just a minute and I’ll grab some pants and go with you—”

But I’m already unlocking one of the sliding glass doors and stepping outside, taking my coffee with me. “You stay here, Ash,” I say. “Work it out with your grandmother. I think the two of you really do need some time alone.”

“Francesca,” Gaia calls, “don’t go, darling! There’s nothing for us to work out. Everything is fine. Come and have some shakshuka before it gets cold.”

But I’ve already closed the sliding door behind me, then turned... and caught my breath.

Outside, it’s cool, much cooler than it was yesterday, and the sky that stretches overhead is as blue as the ceramic dishes that Gaia manifested onto my dining room table. There isn’t a cloud to be seen.

But what causes me to catch my breath is that somehow in the night, autumn finally arrived. It’s turned all the leaves on the trees from green to the colors of flame—red and orange and yellow, but most of all gold. The air itself seems to have a golden glow to it, as rich and bright as the jewelry around Gaia’s wrists and neck.That gold is reflected in the water of the lake, gleaming like a mirror. It’s a cool, crisp, golden fall day.