“Well, I can’t really say, since it’s years since I was close with a woman, if that’s what you mean,” Raine responded to Julietta’s question. He held her at arms’ length and looked her in the eyes. “But there’s lots of time to find out about that,” he added.

Julietta became worried again. If it was years since he had last had a woman in his life, then it could very well be because he was cursed for all that time. But was it all of thirty years?

She didn’t ...