Page 47 of Haunted Ever After

She held up a placating hand, that smile still lighting up her face. “Okay, I believe you. See you tonight.”

The bell over the door chimed as she left, and Ramon came out, leaning in the doorway to the kitchen as they both watched her head up the street. Then he turned back to Nick with a grin. “Niiiiiice.”

Nick rolled his eyes. If it wasn’t Elmer bothering him about his love life, it was Ramon. “Shut the hell up.”

“I’m just saying, that was smooth. Help her out, get her to agree to a date in return.” He held out a hand for a fist bump. “Good job, man.”

Nick did not fist bump back.

It wasn’t until lunch was almost over that he remembered his phone and pulled it out of his pocket. His home screen was entirely covered with texts. What a surprise.

Almost eighty-five. I died the day before my birthday. How’s that for a kick in the ass?

Ask her out! I know you fucked it up before, but try try again!

ASK HER OUT YOU DUMBASS

Of course I remember Mrs. Hawkins. Ask me anything. Isn’t that what the kids say? Hahahahaha

ASK HER

Oh you asked her out. Good job!

Please don’t cook for her

Nick cleared away all the notifications with a chuckle. Thanks, he typed. I’ll get back to you about Mrs. H after tonight.

Tonight. The word had never felt so good.

Twenty-One

Cassie should have said no.

Yes, she wanted to help Sarah Hawkins. And sure, going through Nick to talk to (text to?) Elmer may have been the only way to accomplish that, short of putting the Oxford English Dictionary on her fridge, one word at a time. But on the face of it, going out with Nick again was a bridge too far. She’d written the guy off in her head a while back, and there was no point in letting him back in.

But there was something about the way his face had lit up when she’d walked through the door of Hallowed Grounds that morning. Like she was a miracle, and all he wanted was the chance to bask in her miracle-ness. He’d missed her.

And fine, she’d missed him too.

Besides, the man made damn good coffee. Whenever Cassie started to reconsider her date that night, she remembered the atrocity that was Spooky Brew’s dark roast and did a full-body shudder.

She wasn’t going to dress up, though, she told herself as she changed her earrings for the third time. She’d been in Boneyard Key long enough to know that there wasn’t much around here worth dressing up for. No five-star restaurants, no jacket or tie required. Cute shorts and sneakers would get her in anywhere in town.

Nick was waiting for her right at eight, leaning against the wall near the darkened entrance of Hallowed Grounds. He looked so much like he had the night they’d gone on the ghost tour together that she thought she’d gone back in time. He wore jeans and work boots but he’d changed his shirt to a gray button-down. The sleeves were rolled up, and he had a large bag slung over one shoulder.

“We going on a road trip?” She indicated the bag.

He huffed out a laugh, pushing off the wall and glancing down at the bag as though he just noticed it was there. “No. No, this is dinner.” Now that he was close, she could see it was an insulated bag, sagging with the weight of its contents. “Don’t worry. I didn’t cook.”

“What is it?” She reached for the bag as though he’d hand it over. She knew better, and he shook his head.

“It’s a surprise.” His hand moved as though he wanted to hold it out for her to take, but then he dropped it. They weren’t there yet. Not by a long shot. But Cassie fell into step next to him on the sidewalk as he led them in the opposite direction from her house, past The Haunt and down the street. The lights to Poltergeist Pizza flickered; the delivery guy must have felt like working tonight.

She knew where they were going right away, once they hit the sidewalk that snaked between the buildings and toward the water. Eventually the concrete of the sidewalk gave way to sand, until her Keds began to sink gently into the earth with each step. It didn’t take long for them to reach the clutch of picnic tables, where they’d watched the sunset together before.

Nick set the bag down and Cassie took a seat on the opposite side from him. After unzipping it, he pulled out a six-pack of beer in green glass bottles. “I couldn’t remember if you were a beer person or not,” he said apologetically. “I’ve got some sweet tea in here too, and some waters.” He popped the top off one of the beers, setting it to the side. For the Beach Bum. Of course. Cassie liked that she knew that. It made her feel like a local.

“I like that you thought ahead. I’ll take a tea.” He passed her one, a plastic bottle with a blue label. Cassie blinked at it; this was a Publix label.

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