Page 20 of Before the Summer He Found Her

“Yeah. Really. I told him I’d ask you. By the way, this goes against enjoying your time off and not thinking about work during your weekends. You are under no obligation to say yes, even if it’s Scott asking.”

I can feel her rolling her eyes at me in jest, and I wonder if she actuallyis, and I can feel her doing it.

“I can be there tomorrow,” she says. “And I can also spend tonight doing absolutely nothing related to work if it assuages you.”

“It might. Except we both know we’ll be on our phones, checking email.”

“Right. In the same vicinity as one another. If only we had a way of checking the other would stay off their work phones.”

Her words hit me right in the gut.

Does she… does she want toseeme?

Shit.

I can’t handle this.

As much as I’ve been connecting to her, I can’t sense the answer to that question. There’s a short silence, where neither of us says anything, all the while I’m analyzing her words in my head, determining what this means. Not thinking clearly, of course. Because thinking clearly means not entertaining the idea of hanging out with Channah Abrams whatsoever.

Except… Iwantto see her.

“Channah,” I say. As she says, “Do you want—”

We each laugh, stopping.

I clear my throat, planning on asking about tomorrow to set up our plans for the site walk. “Are you free to get together tonight?”

Tonight? Did you just saytonight, Ezra? On a Friday night. A date night. This can’t be a date. Is it a date? Did I just ask Channah out on a date? No. No. No.

“Oh, umm…” I hear the flush in her voice. “I’m not doing anything.”

May Day. Abort. Abort. Abort.

I open my mouth to reframe my question, to suggest I only asked her in relation to a work project I had in mind.

“You wanna grab a bite at King of Prussia Mall?” she asks. “Then, we can walk around afterward?”

“I’d really like that,” I say, words betraying every warning that flashes through my mind.

***

“Ezra, right?” I hear a voice tease at the edge of the food court at the mall. An entire work shift has happened since we’ve spoken. I spent the day handling meetings in person and visiting with various techs and managers. I’m burnt out. Exhausted.

Yet the minute I hear her voice, the stress of the day floats away.

A finger pokes my right shoulder, and I spin around. Channah’s smiling face and eyes meet mine, and we each laugh nervously. She’s wearing a purple blouse with jeans that hug her curves. Her dark hair appears more golden in person, just like the Channah of the past, ringlets curled around her face. There’s a thick, winter jacket slung over her left arm. Her skin looks brighter than Past Channah, more glowing, and she’s not slinked over. She stands tall, vibrant, full of life.

“H-hi,” I stammer, feeling extra stiff in my suit. “I mean… hello.”

She dips her head in slight embarrassment, her face flushing. “Hello.”

“How goes the war?”

She smirks. “We’re in the middle of another winter, soldier, but at least we’re not all stuck in cabins out in the middle of Valley Forge Park.”

I laugh. “Oh, that’s right. Valley Forge is somewhere around Philly, isn’t it?”

Her mouth opens wide, in mock alarm. “Haven’t you traveled here often for sites? And you’veneverbeen to Valley Forge? It’s right down the street. We must remedy this. Tonight.”

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