Chapter 11
Eleven
We arrived at an Italian restaurant in the next town over. It was brimming with people, leaning into each other over plates of pasta on white tablecloths. Thankfully, they were still able to seat us right away.
Lori slid into one side of the booth. “You two take the other seat,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll have to get up and use the restroom.”
Theo and I did an awkward little shuffle and a nervous laugh escaped my lips before I ultimately slid in first.
A mistake in hindsight.
He sat next to me and it was like all the air had been vacuumed out of the room. His arm pressed against mine and our knees touched under the table. How was I supposed to eat a meal without hyperventilating at his proximity?
Lori stared at the two of us, shooting me a sly smile before lifting the laminated paper in front of her.
“Our light is out.” Lori pouted as she squinted at the menu. “Theo, would you be a dear?”
The question had barely left her mouth when the oil lamp in front of us flickered to life.
“Hey,” I hissed, turning my body to ensure no one had seen.
“No one was looking,” he said in a low, reassuring voice.
Lori chuckled. “I didn’t realize you were quite so skittish, Josie.”
“I’m not.” I averted my attention to my menu, trying to ignore the heat creeping into my body.
A waiter came over and took our orders. Lori and I agreed to split the lasagna and Theo got a pesto dish.
“Have you had Italian food before?” I asked when we were alone again.
A smile formed on his lips. “Yes. We have excellent chefs in The Hallows.”
“Do you think he lives under a rock?” Lori asked with a laugh.
I held up my hands. “I don’t know! Sorry for being curious. We hardly talk about…you know.”
“His realm.”
“Not so loud.” My eyes scanned the restaurant but no one was even paying us the slightest bit of attention.
They shared a look. An, “isn’t Josie so sweet and naive” look.
“Dear, I think you highly underestimate the strange things people talk about who visit Mystic and the surrounding area. I had a group of vampire hunters come into my shop the other day.”
My eyes bulged. “Vampires are real?”
Theo laughed, warm and deep before clearing his throat.
Lori smiled. “Not to my knowledge, but they certainly were an enthusiastic bunch.”
I slumped back into my seat. There was about two inches of space next to the wall I could have shifted into, but I found myself unable to break the contact between Theo and me.
“How did it go at the shop today?” he asked as breadsticks were delivered to our table. I wasted no time snatching one. My stomach had started to rumble, the long day with minimal food had caught up to me.
“Phenomenal. Loads of new customers. I even had to turn quite a few away that made appointments for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Some of them will be perfect for you.”
“You should have gone instead of staying with me.” I felt guilty that Theo had been missing out. He hadn’t outright said so, but I could tell he loved working with Lori.
“Nonsense. You needed the help today and Theo will have plenty of time in the shop.”
“Have you always been into energy healing?” I asked, staring at the breadstick I was tearing a tiny piece off of. It was hard to make eye contact with Theo when we were crammed in this booth together.
“Lori has been teaching me. I’d always found it interesting, but I never saw it as an option for me.”
“He’s such a natural,” Lori gushed. “You should have him work on you.”
I nearly choked on the bread I’d just stuffed into my mouth. Imagining Theo staring deeply into my eyes, trying to read my energy—it was far too intimate for my liking.
“I’m good.” I grabbed my water and took a sip to quell the coughs scratching at my throat.
“I’m only a natural because you’re an incredible teacher.” Theo’s frame ate at my peripheral vision, practically forcing me to turn my head but I resisted.
“Nonsense. You have a gift. It’s a shame you’re wasting away in an office back home. Your grandfather always said it was soulless.”
“A little,” Theo admitted. “But I’m able to keep to myself. I like it.”
Questions bubbled to the surface. What did Theo do for work? What was his life like? But for some reason, showing too much interest felt a lot like showing weakness so I kept quiet and let the two of them carry on.
Lori sighed wistfully. “I took over the shop from my stepmother. I always dreamed of passing it along to someone else in the family, but that never panned out.” She gazed at Theo and I knew what she was thinking.
She wished she could leave it to him. I certainly wasn’t a candidate considering I’d turned up my nose every time she’d tried to educate me on energy healing and crystals.
“You’ll find the right person,” he said.
“I think I already have.” There was a twinkle in her eye.
This time I did chance a glimpse at Theo, but he had his head ducked, staring at the corner of the table as if deep in thought.
After we finished dinner, Theo drove Lori home while I followed in my car. Lori’s night vision wasn’t amazing so it was definitely for the best.
The entire time I kept turning the volume up on my scratchy radio, trying my best to drown out thoughts of Theo—how relieved I’d felt when he showed up at the market today, how I scanned for him every time the crowd near my tent got larger, and how he looked at my paintings like they were something special.
“Ugh!” I shook the wheel. “What is wrong with me?” I could not be crushing on the warlock living across the hallway. I just couldn’t. In no way, shape, or form was that an acceptable thing for me to do.
When we were two turns and a few minutes away from Lori’s house, my car started making a sputtering sound. One I had unfortunately heard many times before.
I groaned as the noise got even louder.
Lori’s red truck got further in front of me until it made a turn. I pulled off to the side as smoke started to pool out of my hood.
“Of freaking course,” I muttered, shaking my head. This thing was incredibly unreliable. In fact, it was probably a miracle I’d made it up to Maine in the first place. The only reason I still had this car was because I couldn’t even give it away. If it had any value I would have sold it ages ago.
I stepped out of my car, grabbing my bag with the cash from the market and shouldering it.
I let the door slam shut as I started walking in the direction of Lori’s.
It was less than a half mile up the road, otherwise I might have tried to call for help.
Besides, maybe a frigid walk home would effectively cool off my thoughts of Theo.
I wrapped my coat around me.
I’d been walking a few minutes when headlights nearly blinded me. I stepped away from the road, nearly eating it by tripping over the guard rail.
The vehicle slowed down, headlights still blinding me when a voice rang out. “What are you doing?”
I squinted, finally making out Theo’s face. He had the window rolled down as he pulled Lori’s truck over to the side of the road and turned the engine off.
“My car broke down,” I said.
“And you thought you’d walk?” It was the loudest I’d ever heard him be and his wide-eyed expression was making me feel like my decision-making hadn’t been the best.
“Um. Yes?”
His glare hardened. “In the dark.”
I frowned. “It’s not that dark?”
“Yes, it is.” He looked unimpressed as he pointed to the lone street light nearly a hundred feet away. “And I’m assuming the money from the market today is in there.” His eyes went straight to my bag.
“Um, maybe.” I blinked up at him innocently.
He sighed and shook his head. “You do know how incredibly dangerous this entire scenario is, right?”
“Good thing I have you to rescue me.”
“I’d rather your survival instincts be a little more sound.”
“I’ll work on it.” I walked around the front of the truck to the other side.
He leaned over to push open the passenger side door before I climbed in. He drove the short distance down the road to where my car sat abandoned before pulling off behind it.
“Did you stop for the flat or the smoke?” he asked, getting out of the truck.
“Shit,” I muttered, sliding out of the passenger seat and slamming the door behind me. I could see now that my front left tire was flat. “I must have hit something when I pulled off the road.”
“Do you want to start changing that while I look at the engine?”
I stared at him like he was out of his mind.
“What?”
“I don’t know how to change a tire.”
“Really?” He frowned, like this was some obvious life skill I should know. “Didn’t your father teach you?”
“I resent that sexist as fuck statement.” I folded my arms across my chest. “But no, he did not. He didn’t teach me many things on account of the fact that I was barely out of diapers by the time he peaced out.”
He winced. “Your mom, then?”
“Uh, no. One time she forgot to add oil for a few months straight and the car died…” I frowned. “You know what, it was a lot like this now that you mention it.”
He let out a long sigh and nodded. “That’s probably it.”
He held his hands out for my keys and I tossed them to him. It was a terrible throw that should have come up a foot or two short, but somehow, they kept sailing right into his waiting hand.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” he said quietly, opening the door to my car and popping the hood.
I shrugged hoping to appear completely unfazed. “It’s all right. He left when I was four and started a new family a few years later.”
Theo frowned but I continued. “It was why I didn’t get to know Lori until I was older. She’s his mom but you’d never know it considering he’s all uptight and into numbers and, frankly, sort of a dick.”
I tried to put off my discomfort with a laugh, but he watched me carefully. His hand held the hood up, but he made no move to inspect anything.
“It’s fine,” I felt the need to add. “Or, I mean, I’m fine. My mom is great. I’m all good.” I rocked back and forth on my heels, that uncomfortable feeling of oversharing settling straight into my gut.
Dammit. Why had I gone and said all that?