“It happened tonight. I saw it. We were at my aunt and uncle’s, and suddenly my dad just pushed back his chair and said we had to leave. It wasn’t from a text or phone call or anything. He just knew that my mom needed him, and then my grandma called and told us about my aunt.”

“It seems kind of fucked up that they aren’t together then.”

“My dad told us that he knew the moment he saw her that he loved her.”

“I knew the moment I saw you,” he said, his breath tickling the back of her neck. “I felt like I was hit by lightning or something.”

“No you didn’t,” she said, leaning forward enough to look back at him. “You barely looked at me.”

“I thought you were too young for me.” He trailed his finger down her cheek. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“Why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying. Why do you think I drove you home from Ryan’s all those nights? Do I look like a Boy Scout to you?”

“Why didn’t you ask me out?”

“I told you, I thought you were too young. I was going to wait until you were older, but then your dad split, and…” He shrugged. “I was tired of waiting.”

It wasn’t the spell. He’d fallen in love with her without the spell. She crawled up his legs until she was straddling his lap. “I love you,” she whispered as she cupped his face.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

“Because I’m happy.”

Lina was vaguely aware of Adele, Nick and Alice occasionally talking and Nick disappearing a couple of times to get the rest of them coffee, water and some type of cookies no one ate. She stayed silent, curled into Phil’s side on the lone couch in the waiting room, taking comfort in his familiar strength as she stared at the door leading back into the surgical area, waiting as if in a nightmare to hear whether her sister would live or die.

At some point a distraught Julian showed up, one arm casted and a bandage on his forehead. They’d been on their way home from dinner when they were broadsided by an SUV. He sat beside Alice, crying off and on and promising God and anyone else who was listening that he would treat Shiloh like the princess she was if she survived.

It was almost 2:00 a.m. when an exhausted-looking surgeon appeared. As soon as he said, “She’s a very lucky woman,” Lina turned into Phil, sagging with relief, hearing “no brain trauma” but not much else, too emotionally drained from the hours of worry to concentrate on the surgeon’s words.

After the surgeon left, Lina broke away from Phil to hug her mother and Adele, and then she was turning to Nick. “Thank you,” she said, taking his hand.