AllFreeNovel
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“Hey,” Dane said.
“Hi.”
“What are you up to?” Dane asked, sitting on the back of his couch.
“Oh, nothing. Just sitting around,” Alissa replied, her voice a little flat.
Dane paused, waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. Weird. Alissa was almost always doing something, whether it was investigating something in her neighborhood, writing, reading, or trying to make her struggling herb garden work. She could hardly sit still some days.
“Do you want to grab brunch? We haven’t been to Rossi’s in a while.” He ran his hand through his hair.
“Sure, yeah.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up in about an hour?”
“Okay. See you then.”
He hung up, excited to see her but still uneasy. Was she not feeling well? She still showed up to work yesterday and worked as hard as she usually did.
He took a shower and got dressed, choosing dark jeans and a button-down shirt. Even though Rossi’s was one of the nicest restaurants in town, people never dressed up beyond nice jeans. He’d quickly learned that his usual “dressed up” was far too formal for Blueberry Bay.
He drove to Alissa’s and texted her when he pulled up. He got out of the car and waited by the passenger door for her, a small knot in his stomach for reasons he couldn’t pinpoint. It wasn’t the flutter of anticipation he usually felt. Soon, Alissa came out and his breath hitched. No matter how many times he saw her, he was struck by how beautiful she was.
Today she was wearing a navy blue dress he hadn’t seen her wear before, her curls forming a halo around her head.
“Hey, you look beautiful,” Dane said, giving her a soft kiss.
“Thanks.” The corners of Alissa’s mouth went up for a moment, but even that small smile didn’t reach her eyes. Her smiles always reached her eyes, brightening her entire face.
Dane opened the car door for her and she slid inside. When he got back behind the wheel, he glanced at her and started the car up again. She didn’t seem particularly tired or sick. Usually when she got into the car with him, she was bursting to tell him something about her day or something about what was going on in town. Now she was staring blankly out the window.
“Did you have a rough week?” Dane asked, pulling away.
“Mm?” Alissa looked back at him, then out the window again. “No, it was fine. Everything is fine.”
Dane raised an eyebrow, but didn’t respond. Something clearly wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to press her in the car. The ride to Rossi’s was short and Dane found parking about a block away. Alissa took his hand on the walk over, but much more reluctantly than usual.
Rossi’s was busy, but they were seated immediately at a table by the window. The sun was starting to set, illuminating Alissa in golden light. It only served to show what a bad mood she was in.
“What do you think you’re going to get?” Dane asked, looking at the menu. “I liked the gnocchi last time but the special sounds good.”
“I’m not sure.” Alissa frowned at the menu. “The special, I guess.”
They sat in awkward silence until the waiter came and took their orders. Dane ordered the wine, as he usually did. Alissa always preferred that he did, but today she even seemed annoyed by that.
“How was your day today?” Dane asked. “Did you do anything fun?”
“It was fine. And I just did some things around my place.” Alissa looked past him, then back at the table.
Dane took a deep breath through his nose and let it out.
“What kind of things?” Dane scanned her face.
“Laundry. Did it, folded it. Read a little bit. Wrote a little bit.” Alissa dragged her finger through the condensation puddle left behind by her glass of water.
“You wrote some of your new novel?” He sipped his water to dampen his dry mouth. Things had never felt this uncomfortable with Alissa, not even when they first met. “That’s great. Did you get over that bit of writer’s block you had in the third chapter?”
“Sort of. I just skipped it and started the next chapter.”
