Page 45 of Lovesick
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Friday night came a little too quickly.
Before I knew it, Lizbeth and I were ambling along the snowy path to the bridge that crossed the river. It was a thirty-minute drive to Jackson City from there. The way things were going, it would pass in total silence. I’d already been grumpy and concerned over this “dinner.” Then I saw her sleek black pants, flowing white top, and the pop of her eyes in makeup.
After that, I was downright irascible in my head.
Lizbeth cleared her throat and said, “I had you bring me a little early. I hope that’s okay. There are a few things I need to pick up.”
“That’s fine.”
“Tyler’s email said to meet at Belle Vieat five.”
Tyler was his name. Interesting.
“Where do you want to go first?” I asked as we pulled onto the highway. Belle Vie was a fancy upscale restaurant with a hundred-dollar-per-plate average. Which all but firmly refuted my hope that this was a punk college kid. Also destroyed the idea of this beingjust a dinner. This Tyler guy was taking her on a date.
And damn if it didn’t annoy me that it would probably be a romantic date.
“The Antique Barn, if you don’t mind?”
For what felt like the first time in days, I cracked a smile. “The Antique Barn? What do you need from there?”
“Something very important,” she replied mysteriously, but some of the uncertainty had left her voice. Which meant it was probably time for me to lose the annoyed vibe that I wasn’t meaning to give off.
“Got it.”
The silence was less burdened after that. When I pulled into the Antique Barn, she popped out, then held up a palm.
“Wait. Don’t follow. I’ll be five minutes.”
My hand paused halfway to the seat belt.
“Okay.”
Less than ten minutes later, she dashed back outside, clutching a bulky bag in her hands. Whatever lay inside was wrapped in a cardboard box.
“Very mysterious,” I said.
Her wide smile returned. “I know. Now can you stop at Bed and Bath?”
“Can I come into this one?”
She shook her head, eyes bright.
With a dramatic sigh, I put the Zombie Mobile in reverse. “Sure.”
I wanted to go in with her, see what she was like in a store like that. Did she light up? Probably. The girl was practically a living Christmas tree.
Four stops later—including a kitchen store, a home repair store, and an office supply store—she climbed back into the Zombie Mobile. Bags littered the floor at her feet. Our easy banter had returned while I unsuccessfully tried to guess her mission with all these tightly controlled packages. I couldn’t even peek inside to see what she’d bought. Somehow, she’d had them all double-bagged or covered up.
Odd.
What could she possibly be hiding?
“Okay.” She yanked the seat belt across her. “I think it’s time to head to the restaurant.”
The steering wheel was already pointing that way, so I hit the gas. The weight of her impending departure felt like my chest was a balloon someone was slowly letting air out of. She was bottled, red-haired sunshine. With resolve, I forced my mind back to the task at hand. I reallydidhave an errand to run in Jackson City. An errand that mattered dramatically to the rest of my life and also involved the petit fours hidden behind my seat.
