Page 69 of Call It Serendipity

Gin Mill is a true classic. With red brick walls, a copper coffered ceiling, and classic industrial sconces, it is everything you want from a local tavern on a late autumn night.

I sit at a high-top table with Taylor and Levi, sipping my whiskey, and keeping my attention pointed towards the front of the place. It’s convenient that the stage is set in the nook between the two doors and the band is already up there performing. This way, I’m far less obvious as I watch the entrances, easily playing it off as interest in the musicians donning Ghostbuster costumes for their set.

Every muscle in my body twitched to run towards Lucy’s house as soon as I entered town limits once more. Playing it cool and agreeing to meet here has proven to be vastly overrated.

“How are you two liking Ellicottville?” Levi shouts over the cover of a Smashing Pumpkins song. It’s a fitting choice.

Taylor leans forward across the table, as if her answer deserves to be cloaked in secrecy. “Actually,” she starts, “it’s grown on me.”

“Turning into a small-town girl?” I tease.

“Not quite. But, I originally thought you lost your marbles when you talked about preferring this place over the city. I didn’t realize it could be so charming here.”

“We are known for our charm,” Levi agrees with a serious nod. Then he turns to me. “But do you really prefer it over the city?”

“Yeah,” I say as a rush of cold air blasts through the pub and sends a chill up my spine. I turn to face the open door, just in time to see Lucy pushing it closed behind her. My heart swells being in her presence once more. “Yeah,” I say again. “I really prefer it here.”

I watch her fidget uncomfortably with the hem of her suede dress where it falls mid-thigh, perfectly at her fingertips. It’s subtle; if you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t realize she was doing it. But I am.

I’m also paying attention to the way her eyes are a little wide as she glances around the place. And when they land on me, I watch them soften just a hair.

In an attempt to further ease that anxious edge, I stand and meet her halfway. My hands gravitate towards Lucy, cupping the back of her arms just above her elbows and rubbing when I feel a shiver pass through her.

“Hey, you,” I say.

Her burgundy painted lips lift slightly. “Hey, you.”

“Hi, Jake.”

My attention snaps over to the woman standing at her side. “Claire, yeah, hey,” I say quickly, hoping it’s not obvious that I failed to notice her enter with Lucy.

But if the amused glint in her narrowed gaze is any indication, Claire absolutely realized my mistake. “How are things?” she asks like she already knows.

I grin back at her as Lucy tucks tighter into my embrace. “Things are good. Really good.”

“It had better stay that way,” she warns before turning on her heel and leading us all back to the table.

I keep an arm around Lucy’s waist as we weave through the crowd, and when her roommate is a few steps away, I lean in to whisper yell over the music, “Claire is surprisingly scary.”

She loosens a laugh, but there’s a ripple of nerves in it. “She can be.”

On the tip of my tongue sits a host of questions about why she seems edgy and unsettled. I’m about to ask when I watch her loosen the tension in her shoulders and plaster a smile on her face. Lucy has officially locked down her thoughts like she does so well.

She slides onto one of the chairs at our table and greets the rest of the group. On the surface, she appears calm enough. Enjoying herself even.

But her smile is a fraction too sharp, like it’s being forced. And when I take the last seat at the round table, right beside her, she reaches over and clutches my knee with ferocity.

“I’ll grab you drinks,” Levi is offering her and Claire. “They have those apple cider mules again this year.”

“Oh, I’ll take that,” his girlfriend says brightly.

“Same, please,” Lucy adds.

I can feel the tension in my own body increasing with each passing second that I watch her discomfort. Never in my life have I wanted to fix something so badly.

Below the table, I tap a finger on the back of her hand. When she looks my way, I mouth okay?

She nods and flashes a reassuring smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.