Page 8 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

“Not to mention,” she continued in a melodious tone as she studied the books I’d chosen before swiping the scanner across the barcodes, “she has one hell of a good-looking brother. He’s a bit of a dog when it comes to the ladies, but I’m sure once he meets the right woman he’ll come to heel. You should ask Rachel to bring him along for drinks. Maybe you’ll be the one to tame the rascal…” She looked up at me again, her gaze assessing, and I wondered what was going on in her head. “On second thought, you’re too good for him, and I think Rachel would concur.”

“What makes you think I don’t have a man waiting for me at home?” I cocked my head to the side and crossed my arms across my chest. Should I be flattered that Beverly was trying to set me up within an hour of us meeting, or offended that I was obviously giving off pathetic, single-girl vibes?

“It’s a hunch, and you’ll soon find out, Julia dear, that at least half of the happy couples of Mystic Cove are the way they are because I am a meddlesome old lady. I’m still getting a feel for you, but mark my words, before the year is over, you’ll be firmly ensconced within the arms of Prince Charming and singing my praises.” She told me the total cost for the books and I dug out my credit card and handed it over.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Bev. I’ve had enough Prince Charming wannabes to last a lifetime, and it turns out that Disney has been selling us dreams all along. But when I’m ready to put myself back out there, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”

Beverly tutted and gave me a distinctly maternal look. “Love does not wait for you to prepare yourself. It springs up whether you are searching for it or not, and it’s up to you to grasp tightly onto it with both arms or sit back and watch it pass by. And trust me, little one, you don’t want to wake up alone twenty years from now with a whole mountain of regrets weighing you down.” Her hazel eyes flickered with a deep and ancient sadness that made me wonder if she was speaking from experience.

I said nothing in reply to Beverly’s statement and quietly accepted my card and the paper bag with my novels. I opened my eyes to bid her a good evening when the painting of the cottage snagged my attention again.

“I could have sworn that that painting showed the cottage during the day.” I frowned, leaning across the counter to get a closer look, and I could hardly believe my eyes. Thinking that it was perhaps a trick of the light since the sun had set while Beverly and I had tea and biscuits, I rapidly blinked in an attempt to adjust to the waning light, but I was not hallucinating.

While the sun was setting outside, the same thing was happening in the painting. The garden gnomes were slightly illuminated by a group of fireflies floating around the front garden, and there was a warm light shining through the closed drapes on the front window of the cottage.

“Wow. How…how is that possible?” My fingers curled into the palm of my hands. I resisted the urge to jump over the counter and grab the painting from its perched position to study it more closely.

“They call them illusionary paintings. Not sure exactly how they do it. Who knows, it might be magic. Do you like it?” Beverly asked me, and I nodded, unable to say anything else. I was too riveted by the new discoveries I made the longer I stared at the painting, like the pair of yellowish amber eyes peering out of the forest in the background. If I squinted my eyes, I could almost make out what looked like the muzzle of a beast and a flash of sharp teeth.

“I’ve seen a lot of these paintings around town. Are they all from the same artist?” Did all the other paintings have these secret and hidden facets as well? Now I wanted to go back to The Eat and see for myself, or hunt down the artist and ask how they were able to create something like that. I certainly wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a few pieces to hang around the house, and maybe some for Mom as well.

“Not really, but they are all students at the same art school. I could put you in touch with—” Beverly came to an abrupt stop, her eyes going comically wide and a Joker-esque smirk twisting her elegant features. “Landon Grayson! Why didn’t I think of him sooner?”

Without saying a word to me, she picked up the store’s phone and dialed a number, humming quietly to herself until the person on the other end picked up. “I found her!” she exclaimed without warning or greeting.

Before she could say anything else, the person on the other end of the line started talking. The words were indistinct, but the voice was clearly male, and whatever he said made Beverly light up.

“I am doing fabulous, Landon dear, but I wasn’t calling to catch up. Actually, I have a young lady with the most gorgeous red hair standing in front of me that I really think you need to meet.”

My jaw dropped to the floor and my stomach sunk when I finally caught on to what Beverly was trying to do. I scurried to grab the phone away from her, but Beverly gracefully evaded my attempts and ignored all the panicked signs I was giving her. “Don’t be like that. I know I may have been off the mark a few times in the past, but believe me when I say I have found the one this time.”

“Oh, for the love of— Bev, stop what you’re doing this instant!” I hissed, walking behind the counter and stopping in front of her, my hands on my hips. She gave me a conspiratorial wink and kept talking as if I wasn’t standing right there.

“And besides, she wants to buy some Mystic Cove originals, and who better than you to show her the best your students have to offer. Are you back in town yet?”

There was more indistinct chatter from the other end of the phone call, and I could tell from the clipped tones that this Landon was just as happy as I was about being set up out of the blue.

“That’s a shame. I suppose I will have to make the reservation for tomorrow evening then, say seven-thirty-ish. I’ll text you Julia’s address. Tootles.” She cut the call off and turned to face me with a wide grin on her face. “I know you’re mad at me right now, but remember what I said. I know what I’m doing. Landon will pick you up tomorrow. Clair de Lune is a four-star French restaurant, so do doll up and prepare to knock the socks off that grump.”

CHAPTER 8

The grand entrance I had planned for my first day at work was ruined by a terrible night of sleep. Granted, I didn’t have a flashy entrance planned or anything, except to put my best foot forward, literally.

After coming home from Beverly’s, my face redder than the lobsters from grandma’s clambake, I’d tried to soothe my frayed nerves by picking out a killer outfit to match the secondhand Louboutin black pumps that I’d bought as a pick me up post-breakup but hadn’t gotten the chance to wear yet. And I really loved the ensemble I’d picked out, but my impending blinding date with whomever Landon Grayson was hung precariously over my head like a guillotine blade.

Any excitement I had over my new job was eclipsed by the nervous anxiety bubbling in my gut. I’d done blind dates before, and tried dating apps, but from what I saw today, gossip spread through Mystic Cove faster than wildfire, and I just knew that Beverly was on the hotline telling everyone that I was going out with this guy tomorrow. A part of me was tempted to stand him up, but I was wary of ruining the budding friendship between Bev and me. I didn’t know her well yet, but I had a feeling she was a force of nature in this small town. If I wanted to make friends and be successful here, I was pretty sure I needed to stand on the good side of Beverly Barnes. And how bad could the guy be? Bev seemed to instantly like me, so she must have good taste…right?

I might have known her for less than two hours, but there was an air about Beverly that made you want to trust her, and who knew? Maybe she was an extraordinary matchmaker and Landon was my soulmate. At the very least, this could be the first step to getting back into the dating game like I had promised everyone I would do eventually. I just hadn’t planned to get back in there so quickly.

Before I went to bed, I logged onto my laptop and did a Google search. The only thing that popped up on Landon was that he owned a few galleries, one of which was right here in Mystic Cove, and that he ran an art school above the gallery in town. There were no pictures or background information on him, but Beverly wouldn’t let me down…right?

* * *

Come Monday morning, I was more exhausted than when I’d gone to sleep. Getting any sleep was virtually impossible. I would jolt awake as soon as I started dozing off, my emotions swinging wildly from jittery excitement about my first day at work to a stomachache inducing unease over the blind date. I think I managed around two hours of sleep.

Flash forward to seven a.m. on Monday and I was trying to hide the dark shadows under my eyes and failing miserably to administer eye drops onto my bloodshot eyes. My eyes were so dry and crusty that I couldn’t put in my contact lenses, so I had to dig out my glasses from where they were stashed in my nightstand.

Two cups of coffee and a couple of nibbles of my toasted bagel were all I could swallow down before setting off. I felt like—and the irony was not lost on me at all—a small town girl visiting the big city for the first time as I walked down the halls toward the staff room. It was as if I was seeing the school through different eyes now that there were students milling about. The excited chatter and laughter from the students, lockers being slammed shut, the squeaking of shoes on the floor, and the scents of polish and chemical detergents mixed in with a myriad of deodorants were nostalgic in more ways than one.

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