“Well.” They stopped in the parking lot and stood between their cars. “I had a lovely time with you today, Ellis.”
“Right back atcha.”
Cherry made like she was going to open her car door, then turned back. “Do you want to exchange numbers?”
“Yes,” Ellis said, so quickly they both laughed as they pulled out their phones. Numbers were exchanged, and Cherry sent Ellis a text with a cat emoji. Then she surprised Ellis by leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. When she pulled back, it occurred to Ellis that maybe Cherry had surprised herself, too. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes darted a bit.
“Okay. I’m off.”
“Will you be at the diner next week?” Ellis asked, sounding more hopeful than she cared to admit.
“Definitely.”
“Good.”
Cherry did get in her car then, and Ellis stood and watched as she drove away, and she felt something she hadn’t felt in a really, really long time.
Longing.
Chapter Seven
Editing was Cherry’s favorite part of posting. She loved the creativity of it. The way she could take only the best parts of things and stitch them together like a master seamstress making the most beautiful of gowns, so the pretty things were front and center and the mistakes and blemishes were left on the floor in strips.
Sunday was dark and stormy, one of those days where you wake up and it’s gray and cool, and you just want to stay in bed all day. She’d done that. She’d slept for an extra ninety minutes. Well, it wasn’t full-on sleeping, but she dozed and relaxed and followed her brain as it meandered down different unrelated paths, the way brains do when they’re untethered and given free rein to go where they want, even if it’s to the high shelf or the back corner where things had been intentionally boxed up and placed out of view.
So, yeah, her brain went to one of those far-off places and found Ellis, and she let herself daydream for a few moments about what a great time they’d had yesterday, about the softness of Ellis’s cheek against her lips, before she reeled it back in and forced her focus back to her computer screen.
“Hey, those posts on Insta from the Barkathon are great.” Shea had popped her head around the doorframe of Cherry’s room. “I want a dog now.”
“You don’t have time for a dog,” Cherry reminded her, not looking up from her monitor. “You said so yourself. About thirty-seven times.”
Shea’s sigh was loud and put-upon. “You stop it with your facts and your logic. Just stop it.”
Cherry grinned. “Sorry, Charlie. Reality is reality.”
“Who’s that?” Shea asked and came fully into the room.
“Who?” Cherry squinted at the row of photos across the top of her screen and then watched as Shea’s finger poked through the air and landed on one particular blonde with an orange tabby cat. A photo Cherry had forgotten she’d taken.
“This very hot woman right here. With the cat.”
“Oh, her. That’s Ellis.”
Shea tipped her head to the side, then moved to sit on the foot of Cherry’s bed. “And who is Ellis, and why have I not heard of her before?”
Talking about Ellis hadn’t really been in Cherry’s plans for the day. She wasn’t ready. She kinda wanted to keep her to herself for a while. But Shea was relentless. If Cherry knew anything at all, she knew that. Shea was a person who needed all the information all the time, and if she didn’t have it, she drove you mad until she got it. Cherry knew from experience if she didn’t tell Shea what she wanted to know right now, she’d have no more peace for her Sunday. She took a big breath, spun in her chair so she was facing Shea, and started talking.
“So, Ellis works at that cute little diner I like so much. The one I work at a couple mornings a week?” At Shea’s nod, she went on. “She manages the place, so I’ve never seen her before, I assume ’cause she’s in the back. But last week, she had to fill in for a waitress that called out sick, so that’s when I saw her for the first time.”
“She’s super hot.”
“Right? And…” She pressed her lips together as she tried to find the right words to describe how drawn to Ellis she was. “It was, like, this instant attraction.” She snapped her fingers. “I mean instant. I’ve never had that before.”
“Oh my God, I love this story so much already.” Shea shifted her position so she was on her stomach on Cherry’s bed, her chin propped in her hands, like they were two teenagers having a sleepover. “And?”
“I mean, we talked a little bit over a couple of days. Flirted some.”
“Flirted? You?”
