Page 94 of Coffee Break with the Billionaire

“You’ll have to figure that out by yourself,” I tell him curtly. “I’m not about to play matchmaker.”

“Yeah, you’re not very good at it.”

“I am so.”

We don’t say much else until the plane lands. “You going straight to see Dad?” Ashton asks.

I nod, already trying to pull up the Fenella I need to be to deal with our father. That Fenella seems very far away from the Fenella I’ve been for the past two weeks.

The Fenella I’ve become. In only two weeks, too. Battle Harbour has been good for me, in my opinion.

Let’s see if my father agrees.

Chapter forty

Silas

Iget a textfrom Fenella late Monday afternoon, the first I’ve heard from her since Sunday night.

Sunday night when I told her I was falling in love with her. But even more amazing, Fenella told me she felt the same way.

It doesn’t seem real, because if it was true, why would she leave without saying goodbye?

Fenella:I couldn’t say goodbye to you. I’m sorry. But I’ll see you Tuesday night.

She ends it with a heart emoji, which is something but she doesn’t say where she’ll see me, or how. Fenella just pulled off the party of the decade in Battle Harbour, and that’s including a royal wedding. I wouldn’t put it past her to be able to send a hologram of herself to me tomorrow.

Monday morning was slow but picks up to a packed house in the afternoon as all the sleepy and hungover townsfolk file in for some much-needed caffeine.

It’s good to keep busy, but bad because all anyone wants to talk about is Fenella.

I let Leodie man the cash register while I keep the pumpkin spice lattes coming.

It hurts that she didn’t say goodbye. It hurts just as much as I thought it would. But I manage to keep a little flicker of hope alive.

I’m falling in love with you, too. Just wanted to get it out there.

Tuesday is Halloween, and by noon, anyone with young children has given up on a normal workday. The City Council spends the afternoon readying the square for the party that night, and I ready myself to see Fenella.

Only the afternoon turns into the evening; trick-or-treating begins and I start to hand out pumpkin-shaped cookies that my mother spent all week making. Mini Marvel characters, part of the Paw Patrol, princesses and fighter pilots shriek as they run from store to store collecting treats.

Beside Coffee for the Sole, Hela’s stays locked and dark.

I last until nine o’clock. By then, the little kids have finished their trick-or-treating and have been bundled off to bed and the teenagers are dancing in the streets. I see Wyatt with his friends, with Brody, and wave as I head to my car.

I drive to the lighthouse, feeling strange that the bright headlights of Fenella’s car are not right behind me like last time.

Maybe she’s not coming back. Maybe that’s how she works—blowing into town like a storm, disrupting lives and hearts, before leaving, like a falling star.

One minute it’s there, and gone the next.

I take the path through the woods, noticing one of the solar lights is burnt out, and set up my telescope. But instead of peering through it, I tilt my head and look up.

The sky is a canvas of dark purple, with pinpricks of starlight, much like the ceiling of Fenella’s club. The Draconids meteor shower is odd in that it happens earlier in the night, just as darkness falls. Tomorrow will be the optimal night to watch, but there may be some tonight.

The waning moon helps. And there—I hold my breath as a line of brilliance arcs across the sky, leaving a trail of colour to fade into nothing.

I’ve seen a lot of things in the sky, but this is magical.

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