What a cruel case of déjà vu.
Blake stopped mid-sentence. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
He didn’t look convinced. “So, yeah. My mother loves to work on different projects around town. Her latest project is to raise money for a local swimming pool.”
I stopped breathing for a second. “Wow. That’s a big project.”
The waiter was moving smoothly around tables and chairs, expertly dodging all the people walking around, almost like he was dancing. He held a hand out like he was balancing plates of food on it. Did he realize his hand was empty?
“Yes, but she’s confident she can reach the target amount and get it all happening.”
“I love swimming. I’d go there.”
“That’s great. See, that’s what I mean. Everything she does is for the community.”
It was hard to concentrate. He was getting closer.
I kept my eyes on Blake, trying to think of something to say. I hadn’t been on a date before, so I was feeling out of my depth, and the ghost was making it so much harder.
Wait, was this a date? He hadn’t called it a date, but I guess it was. That made my anxiety ratchet up a few notches. And the fact that a ghost could potentially ruin it was making my breathing shallow. The need to run was overwhelming.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit pale.”
Dammit. “Yes. I’m a bit tired, that’s all.”
A bit of a lame excuse, but whatever.
“Well, you need to make sure that you don’t stay up half the night on your phone when you know you have work the next day.”
What?
He just automatically assumed I’d been on my phone. He sounded like a parent. I opened my mouth to reply, but I wasn’t going to tell him I was still recovering from being attacked and having my magic drained.
I said the first thing that came to mind to change the subject. “So. What’s it like being the son of a priest?”
He blinked. He obviously wasn’t expecting the question. Well, neither was I. “It’s okay. People respect you, you know? They look at you differently. They expect you to be like your father.”
I leaned forward. “Are you like your father?”
I didn’t know why I’d asked that question.
“In some ways, but not in others. It’s hard to explain. I’m not going to become a minister, if that’s what you mean.”
I smiled. I wasn’t sure what else to do. I was trying not to look directly at the ghost moving at the edge of my peripheral vision.
I suddenly remembered that I only had an hour for lunch. I was the one who had to re-open the shop. I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. “Oh! I have to get back.”
We headed to the register and I pulled out my wallet to pay for my lunch, but Blake stopped me.
“I’ll get that.”
“No, it’s fine. I can pay.”
Mum had always insisted that her date paid for everything – and she would make sure she ordered the most expensive meals and the top-quality wines. I never wanted to be that girl.
I wanted to pay my own way, but Blake insisted. I eventually gave in.
“Thank you.”
I didn’t really know what else to say.
He walked me back to the shop and I was glad I got away from the ghost waiter before he saw me. We arrived six minutes late and my stomach dropped when I saw that there was a customer waiting.
Kellie was at the door and she put on a fake smile as she said hello.
I smiled back, but my smile was genuine. “Sorry I’m late. We were just having lunch and I lost track of the time.”
“That’s okay,” she said, but I got the feeling it was far from okay.
Blake said goodbye and I thanked him again as I unlocked the door and we walked in.
As soon as we got inside, Kellie grabbed my arm. “Are you dating Blake Pierce?”
“Um, no. We just went to lunch. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Up until the other day, Blake was going out with Emily Pullman.”
A slight chill ran down my spine. “I don’t understand.”
She let go of my arm, but glared at me. “Emily is my friend. Blake was dating her — has been dating her for two years — until you moved here. Then he just dumps her out of the blue and asks you to lunch? That’s not right.”
“I don’t know what to say to that. There must have been a good reason for them breaking up.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “Emily told me that there was nothing wrong. No warning. He just dumped her. In a text message. God, that’s so lame and such a coward’s way out. I’d like to punch him in the throat.”
My head was all over the place. I liked Blake and didn’t know if I wanted to take things further with him. It was too soon. But I could feel a distance growing between Kellie and I and she’d only known about me going to lunch with him for less than five minutes.
She’d welcomed me into the house and treated me like we’d been friends since childhood. Good friends were so hard to find. I didn’t know what to do.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
She hitched her handbag up higher on her shoulder. “I gotta go.”
I watched her leave without buying anything and struggled to work out what I was going to do next.
“I told you he was bad news,” Jackson said.
I turned to him. “Don’t start. I need to think. And that conversation was private, by the way.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But I’m worried about you. He’s a player. He’s all charm and charisma, but it’s all fake.”
“You don’t even know him.”
“Neither do you, and that’s my point.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!”
Our conversation was cut short by the door opening and my next customer wandering in.
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Author's Note: Have you ever been dumped via text message?
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