Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Blake

Jericho gestured in my direction. “This is Maddelyn Johnson. She is new in town and I want you to make her feel welcome.”

Blake’s eyes snapped to his father’s and they shared a look before he turned his attention back to me. “Pleased to meet you, Maddelyn. I hope you’ll like it here in our little town.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I haven’t been in Angel Falls long — only a few days — but so far it’s nice here.”

There was a dimple in his left cheek that made an appearance when he smiled. “Have you been out to the Falls yet?”

“I saw it as we drove by the other day. It’s beautiful.”

“I’d love to take you sometime. It really is a breathtaking site — especially from the top of the waterfall.”

Yeah, nah. Ain’t gonna happen.

I didn’t know him, so I wouldn’t be getting in a car with him anytime soon. And I couldn’t think of anything worse than standing at the top of a waterfall and looking down. Just the thought of it set my heart racing. I gave a little involuntary shake of my head and tried to smile, hoping he wouldn’t think I was being rude. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I blamed the image of me splattered on the rocks at the bottom of the waterfall.

I struggled to keep the smile plastered in place while my mind scrambled for something to change the subject.

Johnny strode over and stood next to Blake like he was sizing him up. “Check out the designer label clothes. He’s loaded.”

I ignored him and tried my best not to look in his direction. What was he doing?

Blake winked at me. “Think it over and get back to me.”

Overconfident, much? I guess when you’re good-looking and rich, you could get away with it. The other girls in town might like it, but I wasn’t going to be swooning over him.

“Maybe I could show you around town, then?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

This guy was too insistent. We’d only just met. I bit back all the smart-ass responses that came to mind. “Thanks, but Kellie and Tracy have already shown me the town.”

Only a small part of it, but he didn’t need to know that.

Johnny frowned at Blake and stepped into his personal space. How was I supposed to ignore him?

Blake’s smile didn’t falter; the dimple still in place. “Okay then. There’s plenty of time. There’s lots of things to do in town. We have an outdoor cinema that shows movies twice a month. There’s two pubs. There’s even a Chinese restaurant. And I’m sure we’ll see each other soon.”

He winked again and Johnny rolled his eyes. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh. I’d wanted to roll my eyes too, but I had to be polite. I guess that was one advantage to being a spirit.

Jericho slapped Blake on the shoulder. “Well, we’ve taken up enough of your time, Maddelyn. We’ll leave you to get on with your day.” He smiled at each of us. “Have a nice day.”

We said our goodbyes and Johnny mimicked Blake’s casual wave as he sauntered away.

I held back a laugh, then scowled at him and mouthed the words, “Stop it.”

What was Johnny’s problem with Blake? He was acting like he was jealous.

Surely that wasn’t it. I’d just met Blake. And it wasn’t like Johnny and I were a couple… It would be kinda impossible anyway. That would require both of us to be alive.

I suppressed a shudder.

Once they were out of sight, we started walking again and Tracy was unusually quiet.

But I was curious. “So, was that Alexandra Pierce’s husband?” I remembered her saying her husband was a priest.

“Yes. She’s also Blake’s mum. They’re well-known in Angel Falls and very well-off. What she said about all the fundraisers and such is true. She’s probably bored at home.”

I imagined that being married to a priest would be kinda boring.

Tracy picked up the pace. “Blake is a popular boy in the town, and he’s single right now.”

What?

The last thing I wanted was for someone to be playing matchmaker. The last thing I needed right now was a boyfriend. I had more important things to do. The job would help with the money side of things, but I needed to really work hard to learn this magic stuff and then get the hell out of dodge.

Okay, that was two ‘last things,’ but whatever.

I had to keep my head on straight and not get distracted. The ghost thing was hard enough to deal with. So what if Blake was like a younger version of Chris Hemsworth? I could pretend he didn’t exist. I doubted I’d be seeing him anytime soon anyway.

I was so focused on the thoughts spinning in my head that I barely noticed that we’d walked past Herbie’s Burgers. Kellie would be in there right now, but Tracy kept going. Good. I wanted to get home.

As we turned a corner to head to the car park, I could see a man walking from the direction of the clock tower, covered in blood.