12.

" N obody sent me," she said slowly.

"Horseshit," Alex snapped. "No one comes to visit a strange old man unless they think he's a murderer or he's got money. I'm neither." He paused. "I've got neither." Another pause. "You know what I mean!"

"I know what you mean," she agreed, taking a seat across from him.

"Then why are you here?"

"My name is Jack." She decided that telling the truth might be a better move here than coming up with a lie. Even an interesting falsehood could ruin her chances of learning Zeke's story, and of discovering whether the man she'd slept with the week before was actually someone she could have a future with.

"I'm Alex. You already know that, though."

"I do."

"Why are you here, Jack?"

"You're an interesting man, Alex," she said slowly. "You owned your own business for many years."

"Family business."

"It closed a few months ago."

"Economy is bad," he said gruffly.

"Is it that bad? Or did you get tired of waiting for Zeke to come back?"

Alex's eyes widened.

"What the hell? Why'd you go and say something that like? Who sent you? It was her, wasn't it? It was the witch!" Alex's eyes looked panicked, and Jack reached for his arm, holding it gently.

"No," she said. "I'm not a witch. I'm not working with a witch. I just wanted to see if there was any chance that the story could be true."

"What story?"

"About a week ago, I met a young man with a pumpkin mask," she said slowly. "He was very handsome, and very kind, and very interesting, and he told me a story I found to be unbelievable."

"You saw Zeke," he said slowly, realizing. "You saw Zeke, and he told you about the curse."

"You seem to know a lot about the story this man told me," she said.

"I know all about it. I've lived it." Alex's face fell. "Trying to hold it together until the curse is broken has been my life's work, but it's been so very hard."

"Tell me why."

"Because of her," he said. "Because of the witch."

"What witch? What do you know?"

"How much time do you have?" Alex asked, looking up at Jack. For the first time, she took in all of his wrinkles and worry-lines. She took in the fact that he looked very, very tired. Alex had been waiting for his son to return for a very long time, but he was going to keep right on waiting unless Jack found a way to actually break the curse and return Zeke to his family.

"I have as much time as we need," she said.

"Do you want to go for a walk? I don't want to tell you around here," he said, looking around. "You never know who is listening."

Jack doubted that the residents playing Bingo or Guess Who were going to be interested in eavesdropping on their conversation, but she decided to play by the rules and show Zeke a little bit of respect.

"Sure," she finally said. "Sure, let's do it."

She helped him to his feet, and guided him over to a nearby walker.

"Do you need to like, get permission to go outside?"

"Of course," he snapped. "Why the hell wouldn't I need to get permission?" He shook his head. "They make me ask for everything around here."

"Sounds frustrating."

"Doll, you have no idea."

They made their way to the reception desk where Renee was once again standing patiently.

"Everything going well with your visit?" Renee asked cheerfully.

"Oh, absolutely," Jack smiled. "You know, Uncle Alex and I were thinking of going for a walk. It's such a lovely day. Do you mind?"

Renee's eyes slid to Alex. For just a moment, Jack sensed a hint of annoyance, but almost as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

"Of course," she said. "You can definitely take your uncle for a nice little walk."

Jack nodded to Renee, and guided Alex toward the front door.

"Residents are only permitted to use the back door," Renee said, interrupting. Jack turned, and Renee pointed toward a side door that led into a fenced-in area.

"Of course," she said. "Thank you."

Once Jack and Alex were outside, and they'd gone about twenty feet from the building, Alex shuddered.

"I hate her."

"Who? Renee?"

"Yeah. She gives me the creeps."

"Why?"

"Pretty sure she works for the witch."

"What's with all this talk of the witch? Who is this witch, anyway? And why would she care so much about a silly curse?"

"It's not a silly curse," Alex said. "Zeke should have told you that."

"He did. He said he only has until next year to fall in love."

"That's right," Alex said. "He's been trying."

"He didn't get to visit you this year, did he?" Jack asked quietly.

"I didn't have a way to tell him where I was going."

"You chose this place for yourself?"

"I'm old," he said. "I'm tired."

"When my grandpa started getting older, he wanted to live in an assisted living facility, too."

"I'm not as old as your grandpa," Alex snapped.

"I'm just saying," Jack said, holding her hands up innocently. "I understand that it can be a nice option, especially if you need to find your own way to age gracefully."

Alex cocked his head. He looked past her toward the building, and he stared at it for a long time. Finally, he looked back to Jack.

"I do want to age gracefully," he said, "but someone was watching me at the house."

"What do you mean?"

"It's almost time for the curse to be solidified," he said. "If Zeke actually finds someone to love him before the clock runs out, the witch won't just be beat - she'll be dead."

"What?"

"If he lifts the curse, it's going to kill the witch."

"How do you know that?" Jack asked.

"She put herself into the curse," Alex told her. "She didn't mean to, of course, but it's impossible to avoid adding a little bit of your soul into a spell."

"Is it?" Jack didn't know anything about magic.

"It's impossible," he said. "Magic carries a price, and the witch knows it."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"She's going to do whatever it takes to keep Zeke from fulfilling the curse."

"Meaning?"

"If I don't die this year, she's going to try to kill me to distract him. She wants to make him sad so he can't fall in love."