Page 64 of The Matchmaker
“The village is depressing,” he says. “You expect all these people to come and just not notice the state of the main street? It looks as gloomy as it did when I left.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” I chide. “It’s not gloomy.”
“It’s gloomy. It’s dystopian gloomy. And you know you need to water those hanging baskets, right? You can’t just put them up and hope for the best. You’ve also got a litter problem.”
“We do not have a litter problem. We have foxes. That’s different.”
“You’ve got to clean it up, or no one’s going to come here and think, yes, that girl is right. This sad little place I’ve never heard of deserves my time and energy to save it. Here’s ten thousand euro.”
I pout, seeing his point. “Well, what do you suggest we do?”
“As I said, dress it up. Sweep the streets, water the plants, put some fake displays in the empty shop windows and agone fishingsign on the door.”
“That’s lying.”
“That’s life. Better yet, that’s business.” He leans back on the stool, rolling his shoulders back. “Speaking of business. Will you be partaking in any of this matchmaking yourself, or will you just be standing in the back with your clipboard and headset? Because a new guy started at the office who I think would be great for you.”
“My ex-boyfriend wants to set me up?”
“Only weird if you make it weird.”
“I’m not looking for anyone right now,” I say, and he hums.
“That’s what they all say.”
I shrug, returning to my stock list while keeping my eyes round and innocent and—
“Alright,” he says flatly. “What happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re really bad at secrets, Katie Collins. You’re a bad liar and a bad secret keeper and you’re doing that thing where you obviously want to tell me something, but you want to pretend that I forced it out of you.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Bad at lying,” he reminds me. “Tell me. I’ll be gone in an hour anyway. Did you kill someone?”
“No.”
“Are you pregnant?”
“No! Harry! I met someone. That’s all.”
“Who?”
“Nobody.”
“Katie—”
“We also kissed.”
“Is he local?”
“He works for Glenmill.”
Harry snorts. “Of course he does. Always have to make thing difficult for yourself, don’t you?”
“He’s an on-site project coordinator. Doesn’t that sound impressive?”
