If Wishing Made It So by Lucy Finn

another shaky breath.
    ‘‘Does he feel the same way?’’
    Hildy shrugged. ‘‘I don’t know. I don’t imagine he does. He’s engaged to marry someone else.’’
    ‘‘Ms. Caldwell, if you don’t mind my saying it, I could take care of everything for you. You want this guy to fall in love with you, I can do it. Believe me, it’s easy.’’
    Hildy looked horrified. ‘‘No! I want Mike to really love me, because I’m me, not because of some trick.’’
    The genie gave Hildy another look, this time one with more pity than compassion. ‘‘Didn’t you ever hear that all’s fair in love and war? I could make him love you with the same intensity, the same passions, as if he decided to all on his own.’’
    Hildy pressed her lips together tightly. ‘‘No means no. Look, maybe it was okay that you set up Mike and me running into each other. But stay out of my love life from now on. I mean that.’’
    ‘‘As you wish. I live to obey you. I belong to you, at least at the moment.’’
    ‘‘And I do not want you to belong to me.’’ She sat silent for a minute, then spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘‘But it would be unethical to return you to someone who intends to commit criminal acts with your powers. No, that is out of the question. And you did ask me to help you escape—’’
    ‘‘Ms. Caldwell, you need to understand what you’re committing yourself to. Mr. Torelli is a convicted murderer, and he is going to do whatever is necessary to retrieve that bottle and get me back— and that might include killing you.’’
    The words burst from her lips. ‘‘Killing me !’’ Hildy yelled loudly enough that she terrified the cats, who ran as fast as they could out of the room.
    ‘‘That about sums it up,’’ Tony said.
    Hildy began shaking from head to toe, partly from fear, and mostly from being so mad she felt as if she were going to explode. ‘‘Well, we’ll just see about that. This Jimmy the Bug has no idea who he’s dealing with.’’
    Tony G. gave the girl credit. She had a lot of guts, but the way she was trembling, her words had to be more bravado than anything else. But he hid his observations and gave Hildy an unreadable look. ‘‘I’m guessing he doesn’t,’’ he said.

Chapter 9
    At about the time the genie’s appearance transformed Hildy’s life in ways she could not as yet begin to imagine, Hildy herself had caused a profound alteration in the lives of two other men, each in a radically different way.
    Since he had run into Hildy earlier in this extraordinary day, Mike Amante had become a clock-watcher, a fidget, a man caught on the horns of a dilemma—and left with the uneasy feeling he was about to be gored.
    ‘‘Mike, what is your problem?’’ Kiki’s voice had lost its public silkiness and become irritatingly high-pitched. ‘‘You have been sitting in front of the television and changing channels for over an hour. You’re not even watching anything. When are you going to get dressed? We’re meeting my friend Odelia and her boyfriend for dinner and then we have tickets to see the Foo Fighters concert.’’
    He groaned. Visions of a hot, jam-packed venue full of the Foo Fighters’ screaming fans appeared in his imagination. He’d rather get a root canal. Sitting on the sofa in their posh suite at Trump Plaza, comped by the hotel for Kiki of course, he kept staring at the television, manically punching the buttons on the remote control, scrolling through the stations. Two hundred damned stations and nothing worth watching, he thought. At the same time, he answered Kiki without looking in her direction. ‘‘My stomach’s upset. I think I got food poisoning at that luncheon this afternoon.’’
    ‘‘Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody else got sick.’’ Kiki walked over and stood between Mike and the television screen to get his attention. She was wearing only her bra and thong panties.
    He averted his eyes, not at all interested in her near-nakedness, and