Page 71 of Enchanted to Meet You

“Mark, what are you talking about?”

“Rosalie.”

“What?”

“Rosalie Hopkins.”

Dr. Steve had uploaded the first question. It flashed onto the screens above our heads in the Haunted House category. Dina spun around on her stool and hissed, so she wouldn’t be heard by nearby teams, “Sleepy Hollow. It’s Sleepy Hollow, isn’t it?”

Derrick agreed. “I was going to say Sleepy Hollow.”

“Write that down,” Dina commanded Yasmin, who had the pen. “Sleepy Hollow!”

“Wait a minute,” I said. Something was bothering me. “Mark, what were you just saying about Rosalie?”

“I said she’s actually very sweet once you get to know her.” Mark chewed thoughtfully on a mouthful of nachos. “And Billy. He’s such a great guy. I don’t know how we’ve overlooked that for so long.”

“Mark,” I said. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling at me. “Never better. I was just thinking. Don’t you agree that Rosalie and Billy are great? Just a really cool couple. I don’t know why we don’t hang out with them more.”

Dr. Steve posted another question, and Dina whipped around. “Who is the earliest recorded witch? You guys? First recorded witch? Hecate?”

“Actually,” Derrick said, “it’s the Witch of Endor in the Bible, First Book of Samuel.”

Dina gasped. “It is! You’re right. Yasmin, write that down.”

“Uh,” I said. “Mark, can you ask Dina what you just asked me? About Rosalie and Billy.”

“Sure.” Mark turned toward Dina. “Honey, how come we don’t hang out with Rosalie and Billy?”

Dina looked away from the screen above our heads long enough to stare at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“They’re such a nice couple. We should really have them over sometime.”

“Are you kidding?Nowyou decide to mess with me?”

“I’m not messing with you.” Mark’s eyes were wide—but I noticed they also had a slightly glassy haze to them, like the streetlamp outside, as if the mist from the sea had rolled in andwas obscuring their light. “Maybe we should invite them to the restaurant for Sunday Gravy.”

“Rosalie and Billy.Billy Walker?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, smiling pleasantly. “Why not?”

Dina’s gaze flicked over toward me. “What’s wrong with him?”

Concerned, I shook my head. “I don’t know. Mark.Mark.”

It was loud in the restaurant, with the buzz of all the teams, the drone of the baseball playoffs on the TV screens that weren’t projecting the trivia questions, the bing-bong of the games over in the video arcade, and Dr. Steve’s voice over the microphone. Plus loud rock was being pumped out over the Brewport’s sound system: I recognized their classic rock station as being from the same music streaming service I used at Enchantments, only mine was set to Coffee Shop.

But Mark was only sitting a foot or two away from me. He should have been able to hear me. It still took a few moments for him to respond. When he did, it was with the same slow, glassy-eyed look I’d noticed before.

“Yeah?” he asked, and took a tiny sip of his beer.

“Mark,” I asked. “How long have you felt this way about Rosalie and Billy?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, thoughtfully. Mark never did anything thoughtfully. He did it quick, and thought about it later. “I guess it’s been coming on slowly over time. But it really struck me just now, up at the bar, when I ran into Rosalie, and she gave me one of her homemade muffins. Those things aredelicious.”

Derrick