Page 102 of 'Til All the Seas Run Dry

“I was fine,” Jory answered mulishly.

“Sure you were. You’ve always been fine. You’ll alwaysbefine. But you deserve to be better than fine, dear heart,” Magda said. “And so does Niamh. And so does Nat. And Callum. So does everyone.”

“That’s not your business,” Jory choked out, her voice clogged by sudden tears.

“You’re right,” Magda said with a shrug. “It’s not. And I didn’t actually do anything. Callum found his way here. I merely gave him a place to stay. You two did the rest. Sometimes things just need… coaxing. Or what’s that word Jamie uses?Facilitating.”

“And Niamh? What the hell were you facilitating tonight?”

“I told you. Things need to move forward. I know she would have gotten around to telling Nat. But time is of the essence.”

“What does that even mean?” Jory shouted.

Magda leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table. “It means, my love, that things are about to happen. Things arealreadyhappening. And so other things need to move forward to make room.”

“You’re speaking in riddles.”

“Am I?”

“What things are happening? Or about to happen?”

“That’s not your story, Jory. It’s not mine either. I’m just a facilitator, remember?”

“Magda.”

“Jory,” Magda said with a sigh. “You’ve gotten too used to being alone. You’re afraid. You have insurance policies on insurance policies. When were you going to tell Callum about the apartment?”

“I was going to!”

“I’m sure you were, but when?”

Jory blinked. When was she going to tell him? On the way to Scotland? When she had her sealskin back? She wanted to believe that she would have told him sooner than that, but Magda was right. A part of her still expected this thing with Callum to fall apart.

“He left before,” Jory whispered. “What’s to stop him from doing it again?”

“He only left you before because there were secrets. Are there going to be secrets this time?”

Jory squeezed her eyes shut against the tears. When she opened them again, Magda was standing right in front of her. She’d always been silent as a cat.

She reached a gentle hand up and cupped Jory’s cheek. “Things need to move forward.Youneed to move forward, dear heart.”

Jory sniffed, and Magda produced a tissue from thin air.

“Here you go, honey,” Magda crooned as Jory wiped her eyes. “I love you. You know that, right?”

Jory smiled weakly. “I love you too. Even if I don’t have any idea why.”

“Why do we love anyone?” Magda said, patting Jory’s shoulder. “Now, I’m going to go tell Robbie that it’s safe to come out and bribe him with some cookies to drive me home, and you are going to go downstairs and fix this.”

“But what about Niamh and Nat? Will they be okay?”

“Areyouokay?”

“No thanks to you,” Jory said testily, but Magda smiled gently because they both knew the truth. Jory was okay almost entirely thanks to Magda. Magda who had taken her in. Magda who had been a friend. Magda who had known the truth that Jory wasn’t ready to see, who had given Callum shelter, who had given them time.

“I still think you’re a meddlesome old hag,” Jory said, wiping her nose.

Magda laughed. “And I still think you’re a delightful pain in my ass. But all will be well.”