Page 81 of Debugging Love

Eyes can’t really light up, but Cassie’s eyes don’t know that because they do. She covers her mouth with her hand.

I rest my plate on the island, preparing to set her straight.

“That’s three ‘coincidences,’” She uses air quotes.

I let out a gruff “Ha ha” followed by, “My friends and I already had this discussion. This isn’t some cosmic sign, or God giving me any kind of hints, trust me. Chance and I have no future.”

Cassie clasps her hands. “His name is Chance?”

“No. I mean, yes. But no. Again, not a sign. He just goes by that name. His real name is…it starts with a ‘J’ and has a lot of syllables.”

Cassie settles against the counter, a pleased smile on her face. “You know, when I pressed Choose, my ex came up. Turns out, he had some guy named Drew fudge the algorithm.”

“No way. Drew Dinwiddie?”

“Yeah.”

“I work with Drew.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyway, the second time I pressed Choose, guess who Cupid chose?”

“Drew?”

“No, my ex-boyfriend, now fiancé.” She flashes me her very large diamond ring.

“What a random, not in any way cosmic or fateful coincidence.”

She crosses her arms, hiding that gorgeous gem under her thin bicep. “Hmm. Well.” She’s trying hard not to smile, but I can tell she already has this story tied up in a little bow. Chance and I are not chance, we’re meant to be together because God said so. Ha! Right. “I don’t date coworkers.”

With her smile finally tamed, Cassie says, “Of course not. That would be messy,” and then she goes back to cutting the cheese.

“Soooo messy. Been there, done that.”

“Hey, how about I give you a free month or two on MatchAI?”

“Heh heh. No thanks. I’m not into online dating or dating of any kind. Not right now. I’m having fun being single and pretending I’m in college except I don’t go to classes and I’m not poor and I don’t have roommates.”

After a few deft slices of her knife, Cassie pops a square of cheese into her mouth. “I get it. It’s not for everyone.”

“It’s for Chance, though.”

Before I finish my sentence, Cassie continues, “There are tables by the pool if you want to enjoy the outdoors while you eat. I’m guessing you’re not into space cowboys, otherwise you’d be glued to the screen.”

“I’m not into werewolf space cowboys. I might go for a plain space cowboy, though.”

Cassie’s eyes do that light-up thing again. She smiles like she knows something I don’t.

“Is your entire backyard haunted or just the pool?”

“You heard about our pool?”

“Christopher told us.”

“Nothing back there is haunted. We just happened to find skeletons when we were digging the pool. We respectfully relocated them.”

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