Page 45 of Haunted Ever After

He had some errands to run after work. Get what he needed, then call her.

The bell above his door chimed, interrupting his gloomy thoughts, and at first all he could do was blink. It took a moment or two to realize that Cassie was really in his doorway. She wasn’t a mirage conjured by his lonely heart.

“Hey.” She hiked her bag up on her shoulder and glanced around.

“Hey.” His voice felt rusty, like he hadn’t used it in a while. He cleared his throat hard while Cassie cast cautious glances around the café. What was she looking for? Witnesses, in case he started berating her out of the blue again?

But then she took a sidestep toward the trash can by the door, furtively tossing in a blue take-out cup. Spooky Brew? She’d gotten coffee at Spooky Brew? Damn, she must really hate him; their coffee sucked.

They stared at each other for a few awkward moments until the door behind Cassie crashed open, the bell over it ringing frantically. Cassie jumped and whirled as Ramon came barreling through the door.

“Whoa!” He stopped himself with a hand on Cassie’s shoulder, and Nick had never been jealous of someone else’s clumsiness before. Ramon looked from Cassie over to where Nick stood behind the counter, then sagged with exaggerated relief.

“Thank God you’re here,” he said dramatically. “Look, I don’t know what my man here did, and I’m sure he deserves you being pissed at him. But please, I’m begging you. Tell him how to fix it. I’m so sick of the moping.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I don’t mope.” He tried not to notice Cassie suppressing a smile.

“You mope.” Ramon grabbed a clean apron from under the counter and started into the kitchen.

“You’re fired!” Nick called after him.

“No, I’m not!” The swinging door bumped closed behind him, leaving Cassie and Nick alone again.

The awkward silence persisted. “Hey,” Cassie said again.

“Hey.” This was going great. But she was still here, so maybe this was an olive branch? Maybe she was here to bury the hatchet? Hopefully not in his face?

“You…ah.” Cassie’s stroll to the counter was overly casual. “You don’t have any banana bread left, do you?”

“Sure do. It’s just plain, though. I hope that’s okay.” He hadn’t been able to touch the cinnamon recently. “You want a latte to go with it? I know for a fact that Spooky Brew can’t pull a shot of espresso to save their life.”

A tentative laugh burst from her, and the sound released some of the tension in Nick’s shoulders. “Yeah.” She glanced over her shoulder to the trash can, and when she looked back at him there was a hint of a smile in her eyes. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Nick tried to act casual, but it was hard when just a small smile from her made him feel like he’d won the lottery. “You got it.” He glanced back at her while she fiddled with her bag. Silence settled between them again, broken up only by the hiss of the espresso machine.

Cassie didn’t look at him. She looked out the front window, down at the counter. She didn’t move to that back table. She didn’t get out her laptop and plug it in. “I should probably take it to go,” she finally said. “I’ve got a ton of work to catch up on.”

“Oh. Sure.” Nick told himself not to be disappointed even as his heart plunged down into his shoes. There was no reason for him to expect things to just snap back to how they’d been. Just because she came by for some decent coffee didn’t mean she was here to hang out in her satellite office in his café.

“No, I mean, I just…I didn’t bring my laptop.” Cassie shifted from one foot to the other. “I wasn’t planning to come by here.”

“And then you had the coffee at Spooky Brew and changed your mind?” Nick reached for a cardboard to-go cup and purposely didn’t look to see how his joke landed.

She didn’t respond at first, but when he turned around she looked rueful. “Their coffee really sucks,” she finally confessed, the laugh escaping her sounding more like a sigh as her shoulders relaxed.

“You gotta come here to get the good stuff.” He smiled down at the cup as he swirled in the milk. He didn’t bother with latte art since he was popping a lid over the top of it.

“Don’t I know it.” Cassie took the coffee and the slice of banana bread he’d wrapped up for her. She tucked the banana bread into her bag and came out with her wallet.

Nick waved off her gesture to pay. “No charge.” He took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Consider it a long overdue apology for the things I said. I was a dick that day. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah.” Cassie watched him carefully as she put her wallet away. He wasn’t sure if she was agreeing to accept his apology, or simply agreeing that he’d been a dick. Or both; that was certainly an option.

“I don’t know what happened. Maybe Sarah was messing with me, I don’t know. I can’t explain away what I said, but I promise I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry for hurting you, Cassie. I swear I’m not that kind of guy.” He paused. “Which is, of course, exactly what someone who is that guy would say. But seriously, ask anyone. Ask Ramon back there—” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Ask Sophie. Or Libby.”

“I know.” Cassie sighed. “They’ve already stuck up for you. Well, not Ramon. I haven’t asked him. But…” She seemed to think for a moment before nodding decisively. “I’m actually here to ask a favor.”

God, yes, anything. Nick clamped down on his back teeth to keep from sounding too desperate. “Anything you want.” Perfect. Great job of not sounding desperate.

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