Page 23 of One Last Wish

Chapter Eight

Over the next few nights, there were no dreams waking me up. With Thanksgiving on Thursday, it gave me an extra day off. Evelyn was spending it with her parents, which meant I got the apartment to myself.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” It was the sixth time she had asked me. “Come for the food. You don’t even have to talk.”

“No, I was by myself last year, and for years before that. I like my own company, Evelyn. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. I’ll stop by Bookends later and drop off some pumpkin pie. You have other food for tomorrow, right? I don’t want you to starve.”

“You don’t have to,” I complained, but knew it was pointless. Once Evelyn had made her mind up about something, that was it. “I’ll get a few things when I finish work.”

“We’ll have lunch. What time is your lunch break today?”

“Around one.” A lunch date with Evelyn meant I didn’t have to put up with Theo on my break, or Darce for that matter.

“Okay, see you then. I need to shower and get ready. Danny is meeting me in an hour.”

“Danny, huh? Are you giving him another chance?”

“The guy went down on me in his car the other night. I’ve realised where his skills are. He’s worth another try.”

“You whore,” I laughed, choking a little on my mouthful of cereal.

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DARCE WAS ALREADY WAITINGwhen I got to Bookends. It was a really cold, crisp day, and my cheeks were burning from the chill.

“I think it might snow today,” I mused, opening the door with my key.

“Are we really going to talk about the weather?” Shit!Small talk?What the hell was I doing? Ignoring him, I punched the alarm code in while Darce began to turn all the lights on.

Theo rushed in a few moments later and looked disappointed when he noticed Darce was already in with me.

“I’ve found some awesome dragon cut outs for the midnight release party,” Theo announced proudly.

“That’s great. I’m going to finish painting the dragon eggs tomorrow.”

“OnThanksgiving?”

“No better time.” I forced a smile. Darce was quietly moving around the ground floor, putting all the display lights on.

“Is Darce trying to earn a bonus? He's been in early with youallweek.”

“That’s not true. He started at ten once.” Wandering over to the cashier’s desk, I began to set the register up. “Theo, can you check the basement level, please?”

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