Page 55 of The Devil She Knows
“I do a little of this, a little of that. I’m a sort of … a Renaissance woman, you could say. Right now, I’m working as a coffee connoisseur.” She paused, then laughed. “A barista, but the gig’s temporary.”
Sam looked at Daphne sideways as she spoke. Temporary, huh? Meaning what, exactly?
“That’s actually how we met,” Tom said, brows squishing together. “It’s the funniest thing. I was walking past this coffee shop I’ve never been to in my life when suddenly, completely out of nowhere, I got this—thisfeeling. Like I had to go inside. That’s when I met Cassandra and I just … I felt like Ineededto ask her out.”
“Wow,” Sam said flatly. “Sounds almost like you were compelled. As if by magic or maybe some dark, demonic force.”
“Sam.” Hannah shot her a wide-eyed look, telling her to cut it out.
“Magic.” Tom snapped his fingers. “Exactly. It felt like magic.”
“Aw, Tom. You flatterer, you.” Daphne blew him a kiss across the table. “I’ve beendyingto check out this restaurant, and Tom here offered to take me.”
“That’s why we were having trouble getting seated. I called earlier, but they weren’t taking same-day reservations.”
“Oh!” Hannah’s eyes widened. “So—you met today? That’s nice.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Daphne stretched across the table for the wine and filled her glass with what was left of the bottle. “So, fiancées? Did I hear that right? You’re engaged?”
“Mm-hmm.” Hannah smiled. “We’re getting married in Lake Como this June.”
“Mazel tov!” Daphne held up her glass. “To the happy couple. I hope it works out for you.”
Hannah huffed out an indignant sound while Sam, desensitized to Daphne’s brand of humor, simply rolled her eyes.
“I’m guessing you don’t believe in marriage,” Hannah said tartly. “How revolutionary.”
“If you were born where I was,whenI was, you wouldn’t be in any rush to the altar. Girls married off as young as fourteen to men twice their age,” Daphne said, curling her lip.
Sam knew Daphne was more than a thousand years old, but she hadn’t stopped to think about what that meant. What her life might have been like when she was alive. That she might have been married once.
Sam looked at Daphne sharply.
Hadshe been married once?
“Jesus.” Hannah’s hand had flown to her throat, her face ashen. “Were you, like, in that Kool-Aid cult or something?”
Sam reached for her wine.
“Wasn’t that in the seventies?” Tom frowned. “Wait, youarein your twenties, right?”
“No, no Kool-Aid cults for me, just the regular kind where we worshiped the ancient gods,” Daphne said, shaking her head. Suddenly, her face brightened. “Hey, did you know the wordaltarcomes from the Latin wordsaltariumandadolere,the latter meaning to ritually burn or sacrifice? Personally, I think that should tell you everything you need to know about marriage.”
Tom’s frown deepened. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
Because that was what was concerning here. Her thoughts on marriage.
“Of course you didn’t, Tom. We only met forty-five minutes ago,” Daphne said, rolling her eyes before staring across the table into his. After a moment, Tom’s blinks grew slower and his smile dopey. Daphne turned to Hannah and shrugged. “They call it an institution for a reason.”
Sam kicked her under the table, as hard as she could, and the little grunt Daphne let out was probably more satisfying than it should have been, but what was it she had said?You can’t blame me for getting my kicks where I can? “How aboutwedon’ttry to convince my fiancée that marrying me is a bad idea, hmm?”
“Oh, Samantha, no! You completely misunderstand me,” Daphne said, hand over her heart. Assuming she had one of those. “Just becauseIthink marriage is an antiquated and regressive institution meant to feed the wedding industrial complex doesn’t mean thatyoushould feel that way. Your mileage may totally vary, and you know what? I hope it does.”
The waiter returned with a bottle of wine, Sam’s whisky, and two salads.
“Would you like to see a menu?” he asked, directing the question to Daphne and Tom. “Or do you know what you’d like?”
Tom, who had started to drool while staring into space, said nothing.
