Page 6 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

“Dawn, you’re making the poor girl uncomfortable. How about you just introduce yourself and let her get on with her shopping?” A second woman had approached us, and I had to do a double-take because she looked exactly like the strange woman I was already talking to, only the biker chick version. Her hair was cropped short into a spiky pixie cut and she had a thick rim of eyeliner around her eyes and dark purple lipstick. She was wearing skintight ripped jeans, a tank top, and biker boots. “Excuse my sister. Sometimes she forgets the meaning of boundaries and that not everyone can read minds. I’m Destiny, by the way. Destiny Rhodes. And this head case over here is my younger twin, Dawn.”

I automatically returned Destiny’s handshake while my brain worked furiously to unpack what Destiny meant when she said not everyone could read minds. “Julia Bryant, and yes, I am the new history teacher,” I introduced myself, a stiff smile plastered across my face. “Are you friends with Principal Hawthorne?”

“We belong to the same…club, I guess you could say. It’s made up of the two of us, Catherine, another friend of ours, Beverly, and a few more people. Bev owns a bookstore. You should check it out. I get the feeling she would love to meet you,” Dawn suggested with a sly twinkle in her eyes.

“You think?” Destiny exclaimed, her eyes going slightly wide. She stepped back as if to assess me from a distance and hummed to herself in approval.

“Oh, I don’t think—I know. Red, you’re in for quite a ride, but I guarantee that it will all be worth it.” Dawn grabbed my hand and gave it a short squeeze as she peered down into my eyes. I suddenly felt like I was the butt of a joke I wasn’t in on. Destiny and Dawn were by far the weirdest set of twins I’d ever met. I’ve been friends with a couple of twins before, both identical and fraternal, and I knew that there was some weird voodoo stuff that happened between them. But with these two…I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about them made the hairs at the back of my neck stand on edge.

“Uh…I’ll…I’ll definitely visit the bookstore. Thanks for the recommendation?” It was meant to be a statement but ended up sounding like a question instead. “It was a pleasure to meet you two, and I hope to see you around town, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to…” I trailed off, jabbing my finger behind me and awkwardly pointing down the empty aisle. Before they said anything else, I pushed my cart away, completely forgetting that I had been in the middle of deciding which cereal to buy. Getting my groceries took way longer than anticipated. After Destiny and Dawn approached me, other customers in the store grew bolder and introduced themselves, peppering me with all sorts of questions—some way too personal for my liking. I even got asked on dates by two guys, both of whom I’d turned down. I was all for getting back in the saddle after the disaster of my last relationship…eventually. I definitely wasn’t going to go out with the first random guy I met.

I found a cute little bistro about a block from the grocery store. I huffed out a quiet laugh when I saw that the owners didn’t bother stressing out over a name, simply calling the bistro The Eat. The outdoor sitting area was already full, and although I would have loved to do some people watching as I had lunch, I wasn’t that disappointed when I walked inside and was met with a mouthwatering meld of spicy scents and the cheerful chatter of people over a Bruno Mars song playing from speakers mounted on the wall over the bar. The walls were painted in a warm amber color reminiscent of bourbon, and the floor, ceiling, tables, and chairs were all manufactured from dark wood of varying shades from ebony to cherry red. Strung over a lattice framework on the ceiling were fairy lights. They were switched off since it was still daytime, but I pictured how the open room would look come sundown. The fairy lights would lend an ethereal golden glow to the bistro, enhancing the rustic atmosphere. I made a mental note to visit again sometime after dark as I looked for a waiter or hostess to show me to a table.

There were empty stools by the bar, as well as a few empty tables by the window. I briefly debated where to sit myself when I caught the bartender’s eye. She waved me over to the bar and paused in the middle of her wipe down of the granite top counter, placing a laminated menu in front of an empty spot.

“Hey there, welcome to The Eat. Name’s Rachel. What can I get you?” she smiled openly, her nose ring winking at me. I sat down and placed my bag on the counter in front of me, my gaze swinging from Rachel to the array of bottles on display on the shelf behind her and the painting mounted over the shelf of the same main street I’d just driven down. I didn’t know if it was the same person who did the one I saw at school, but the artist was just as talented. The painting was of a festival of some kind and showed a parade procession through the street with The Eat standing out in the background decked in fairy lights.

“Hi, Rachel. I’m Julia.” I found myself responding to the openness of her friendly smile and reached out my hand, which she shook with a firm grip. “Could I have a mimosa while I look over the menu?”

“I’ve never seen you around before and it’s too late in the season for you to be a tourist. You the new teacher, Red?” she asked as she mixed up my drink. My left eye twitched. She was the second person to call me Red and know what I did for a living. I was well aware of the small-town gossip grapevine trope, but this was getting ridiculous. And as for the nickname, it’s not that I minded being called Red, but it was unoriginal to the point of annoying. It was up there with Raggedy Ann and Chucky.

“It’s Julia, or Jules if you prefer, and yes, I am the new teacher. Was there an announcement in the local newspaper or something?”

Rachel snorted, placing a coaster and champagne glass in front of me. I took a small sip and hummed in pleasure when the taste of orange juice mixed with sparkling wine hit my taste buds. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was. You’ll find that everyone here has the tendency to get excited—or riled up—over the weirdest things. It’s been a while since we had someone new blow into town that wasn’t just passing through, so I guess you’re the shiny new toy. Don’t look now, but Buck from the hardware store and Brett Thorne are totally checking you out,” she whispered conspiratorially.

Anytime someone said things like “don’t laugh, but,” or “don’t look, but,” I was guaranteed to do the exact opposite. Naturally, when Rachel told me not to look, I took a peek over my shoulder, using my hair to shield part of my face and saw the men she was referring to.

“Let me guess, the one in the pressed suit is Brett Thorne?” I drawled in a dry tone, giving the guys a bland smile when they raised their beer bottles in greeting.

“I promise he’s not as pretentious as he looks, unless you’re facing him in the courtroom. I hear he can be a devil to go up against. So, are you interested?”

What was with the people in this town? “I am quite done with all the lawyer types, thank you very much. Been there, done that, not keen on a repeat performance.” I sneered at the image of Toby’s face that popped into my head.

I hadn’t thought about him and my ex-BFF for a few days, but now that they’d intruded into my little slice of paradise, I sent out a silent prayer to the universe that they both got sunburned on their honeymoon.

“Oh, I sense a story behind that. Want to share? Quite frankly, I think it’s unfair I get paid peanuts compared to a shrink when I do their job way better,” she joked.

“I came here to grab a bite to eat. If I start talking about my garbage ex-fiancé and trash can ex-best friend, my appetite will go down the drain,” I groused, taking a hefty sip of my mimosa.

“Oh, honey, just you wait until you get a taste of Miriam’s cooking. You’ll never want to eat anything else again.” Rachel winked at me. “So, tell me about this ex of yours. It might help if you get it all off your chest. If you feel that burying his dead corpse is the only way you can get over what happened between you two, I know a couple of spots that are great for burying bodies.”

Somehow she managed to charm me into spilling my guts. When I was done and nibbling on the last of my fries, we spent around ten minutes brainstorming creative ways to end Toby and then made a date to have drinks later in the week.

My stomach full and my spirit lighter now that I had unburdened myself to my first friend in Mystic Cove, I took a stroll around the shops. I wasn’t ready to be alone in the quiet of my home yet, and although I was by myself right now, being in the presence other people staved off the loneliness just a little bit.

Mom called me as I walked out of an antique store with some throw pillows for my couches and an antique clock that I bought just because it reminded me of Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast. She was calling to check in on me and I assured her that everything was well and quickly cut off the call before she went on a tangent about one thing or another and continued browsing through some boutiques. I saw a pair of leopard print Jimmy Choo heeled sandals that called out to me, but I resisted the urge to nab them. They were slightly used, but I would have to wait for my paycheck because I knew if I bought one pair, I’d go down a rabbit hole and leave the store with at least three pairs.

The sky was awash in shades of red and orange as the sun hung low over the horizon when I made my way back to the car, but a store sign caught my attention and I remembered Dawn and Destiny’s suggestion from earlier.

“The Book Coven, huh?” I remembered Destiny saying that she and a few other ladies were in a club or something and a coven was like a group of witches. Maybe they were part of a book club and they met in the bookstore? Biting down on my lip, I wondered if I should go in. A few of my favorite authors had published new titles recently, but I usually got e-book versions. My bookshelf was already cluttered, and e-books didn’t take up any space. I was about to walk away when the door to the bookstore opened, the sound of wind chimes tinkling loudly, and a rose-pink-haired woman poked her head out, her lips downturned and eyes narrowed in a fierce scowl.

“Are you going to come in or just stare through the window like a numbskull?” She didn’t give me the chance to answer, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the store.

CHAPTER 7

“You must be Beverly. I met some friends of yours earlier; they recommended your store to me,” I said into the silence when Beverly let go of my hand and stepped behind the counter and switched on an electric kettle.

“And yet you were going to walk on by without stopping in to say hello.” She arched her eyebrows at me. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those tree huggers who’d rather go blind staring at a bright screen than reading a nice, thick hardback.” She stared at me over the rim of her bright red cat-eye glasses.

---