27 Dates: Spring Boxed Set: Vol. 1-7 Read online

  When he was with her he felt free of the burden that had plagued him for three years, but when she was gone that weight returned, a crushing mantle that he’d grown accustomed to wearing. He sighed and pulled out Aura’s picture. Was he betraying her? Was he betraying his promise? Or would she be happy with his competition with Kate? But the picture had no answers, and he put it aside to avoid the reminder.

  The minutes dragged by and he half expected Jackson to knock on his door. Reed rarely lost his temper, and never with Jackson. The fact that Jackson didn’t knock suggested he didn’t know how to respond, and was likely talking to Shelby now, hoping she knew what to do.

  He fleetingly considered telling Jackson the whole truth about Aura, but chances were he would just tell the blondes, and then Kate would know. Then the whole dating challenge would be over anyway. He sighed and rolled over, his thoughts turning to memory.

  He thought of Aura’s smile, her defiance when other kids picked on him. Of her fawning over Tim when he’d called. He thought of her changing in the next few months, and the years they’d gradually drifted apart. Then he remembered her final call.

  And how she’d lost her life.

  Volume: 5

  By B. N. Hale

  Chapter 1

  Kate and Marta parked outside the restaurant, Carne Asada. Owned by Marta’s uncle, the restaurant was Brazilian, and several of Marta’s cousins worked there, as well as Marta’s mother. The moment they walked in the door Maria engulfed Marta in an embrace.

  “Mi hija!” she cried. “You do not visit enough!”

  “I work here,” Marta said, extricating herself with a sigh. “I’m here every week.”

  The large woman snorted and shifted her attention to Kate, pulling her into an equally effusive hug. Kate smiled at Maria, grateful for the boundless love the woman possessed. She hugged everyone, and everyone was family.

  The restaurant wasn’t large but it was renowned for its unusual blend of Puerto Rican and Brazilian cuisine. Pictures and flags of both countries were on proud display, while the décor boasted steer horns and other rancher equipment.

  She shouted to one of Marta’s cousins and he prepared a table. Once they were seated she fussed over Marta, pulling at her hair and speaking half in English, half in Spanish. Marta finally snapped in Spanish and the woman threw her hands in the air. Muttering to herself, she turned to Kate.

  “How’s the dating challenge?”

  Kate wasn’t surprised she knew about Reed. “It’s his turn,” she said. “But he hasn’t asked yet.”

  “Why are you asking him at all?” Maria asked. “He’s supposed to be chasing you.”

  “It’s just a game,” Kate said with a smile.

  “Then make sure you win,” Maria said.

  “Mother,” Marta exclaimed in surprise.

  Maria blew out her breath and walked away to greet the next customers. Her muttered words were in Spanish, and Marta rubbed her forehead wearily. Kate’s smile turned sympathetic and she lowered her voice so Maria wouldn’t hear.

  “She does love you,” Kate said.

  “I know,” Marta said. “But my family can be stifling. She doesn’t understand why I’m going into Nursing when I could get an accounting degree and work here.”

  A young man overheard the comment as he walked to the table with a couple of glasses. “Because you don’t want to work here,” he said with a smile.

  “Hector!” Marta exclaimed, rising to greet her brother. “I didn’t know you were working today.”

  “Just filling in,” he said.

  Hector was expected to play soccer, the sports his dad had played, but much like Marta, he had his own dreams. Unfortunately, he was still in high school, so Maria required him to play baseball as well. He frequently had to skip basketball practice because their family didn’t think it was important.

  He was already tall for his age, and his dark complexion and dark eyes were a lethal combination for the girls. Maria had banned several from the restaurant because they would come just to watch him work.

  “So how’s Reed?” Hector asked.

  Kate shot Marta a look. “Just how many of your family know about him?”

  “All of them,” Hector said. “And most of the customers by now.”

  “Mom won’t stop talking about it,” Marta said.

  “So will you help me?” Kate asked, turning to Hector.

  “I’m always on your team,” Hector said, and then smiled. “Except when it’s his turn.”

  Kate laughed dryly. “I find it disturbing how quickly my friends betray me.”

  “Get used to it,” Hector said, clearing the table next to them. “We’re just glad you’re not moping about because of Jason—”

  “Hector!” Marta snapped.

  “Sorry,” Hector said. “Let me know when you’re ready to order.”

  Kate waited until he was gone, fighting to control her emotions. Marta started to speak twice but ultimately fell silent. Kate had hardly thought of Jason for weeks, but it appeared Marta had been telling her family a great deal.

  “I love your family,” Kate said tightly. “But I don’t like being the source of your family’s gossip.”

  “I’m sorry,” Marta said. “I told Hector everything, but no one else. And he would never share it with anyone.”

  It was a consolation, but not a big one. Still, she couldn’t expect her roommates to hold every secret. She sighed and nodded, and Marta looked relieved. Once they’d placed their order, Marta leaned back in her seat.

  “What’s wrong, Kate?”

  “What makes you think anything is wrong?” Kate asked.

  “You’ve been on edge for the last week. Did something happen on your Hogwarts date?”

  Kate shook her head, and then on impulse said, “The date was fine, but something about Reed was off.”

  “In what way?” Marta asked.

  “I can’t put my finger on it,” she said. “We had a great time and he clearly enjoyed everything, but there were several times I noticed an odd expression, like his mind was elsewhere.”

  “That’s not a good sign,” Marta said. “You think he’s losing interest?”

  Kate jerked her head. “I don’t think it has anything to do with me. I can tell he likes me—more than he wants to admit, actually.”

  She smiled as she recalled him touching her arm when she’d dropped him off. His touch was nothing, hardly necessary, but his expression revealed his own surprise. He wanted to be close to her, but his habits held him in check.

  “So what does it have to do with?”

  “Can you keep a secret?” Kate asked. “And I mean from Ember, Brittney, and your family?”

  Marta nodded, and Kate didn’t doubt her. Of any of her roommates, she trusted Marta the most. She may have told her brother about Jason, but she’d never broken Kate’s confidence when specifically asked not to.

  “He mentioned a girl named Aura,” Kate said.

  “Past girlfriend?”

  “No,” Kate said slowly. “She was his best friend for years but he wanted more. Then something happened and it was over. When he talked about her there was a tightness to his smile that I’d never seen before.”

  “You’ve only been on four dates,” Marta said. “Do you know him well enough?”

  “I think so,” Kate said. “He’s very open, but with Aura I think he’s holding back.”

  “Everyone has their secrets,” she said. “Are you going to push him on it?”

  Kate shook her head, still uncertain. She wanted to know what Reed was hiding, but not for herself. She sensed that whatever had happened had left a scar, and she felt a yearning to alleviate that pain. Before she could speak further their meal appeared and Hector set the steaming plates on the table.

  “Let me know when you’re ready for dessert,” he said, and then disappeared again.

  As they ate their dinner, Kate noticed Marta checking her phone. It was the third time she’d done so s
ince they’d entered the restaurant. At first Kate suspected she was waiting for a guy to call, but then realized Marta was purposefully keeping the screen away from her.

  “What’s Reed doing while we’re here?” she guessed.

  “How should I know?” Marta asked, flustered by the straightforward question.

  “You were quite insistent that I come to dinner with you,” Kate pointed her fork at her. “Just tell me, am I going to like the surprise?”

  Marta sputtered for an answer and then gave up. “You’re going to love it.”

  Heat warmed Kate’s chest, spilling into a smile. “He may be hiding something, but he can’t hide what he feels for me.”

  “I wish I had a guy to ask me like this,” Marta said wistfully.

  “I’m asking him too, you know,” Kate replied. “There’s nothing stopping you from doing the same.”

  “Yes there is,” Marta said, and threw a meaningful look at her mother, who was seating a family nearby.

  Kate smothered a laugh. “How would she react if you asked a guy on a date?”

  “She would disown me,” Marta said. “I’m already breaking her heart by living away from the house and doing Nursing. All she has left is setting me up on blind dates with guys from Puerto Rico.”

  “At least she’s trying.”

  “My last date breathed through his mouth like a leaf blower,” Marta said. “He could have cleaned our steps just by walking to the front door.”

  “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

  “The people in the movie theatre thought the air conditioning was broken.”

  “Was he at least cute?”

  Marta stabbed her steak. “No. He wasn’t.”

  Kate began to laugh but turned it into a cough when Maria walked by. Marta was beautiful, but her mother was insistent she go on dates only with others from the island. It gave Marta an excuse to avoid other guys, but she still had to date the ones her mother approved of. With how many cousins she had, word eventually got back to her mother that she’d dated someone else.

  They finished their meal laughing about Marta’s past dates, and by the time they were in the car Kate’s thoughts turned to what evidently awaited her. Knowing an invitation for their fifth date was coming soon caused her to fidget nervously.

  “Trust me,” Marta said. “The guy is like a dating savant.”

  “He is rather brilliant,” she agreed.

  Marta threw her a long look. “Are you sure you want to fall for him? He may not want anything more than the game.”

  Kate had no answer. “For now,” she said, “that’s all I want too.”

  I think.

  Chapter 2

  Kate noticed Marta’s expression and frowned. “I know what I’m doing,” she said.

  Marta grunted, the sound infused with doubt and amusement. Her expression and tone matched her mother’s inflection so perfectly that Kate grinned. She pointed back to the restaurant.

  “I thought your mother stayed at the restaurant,” she said. “But I hear her voice in the car.”

  Marta’s eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed. “Please don’t say I sound like my mother.” She shuddered. “You’ll bring my nightmares to life.”

  They shared a smile and then Kate attempted to glean information about Reed’s latest invitation. Marta proved surprisingly resilient, refusing to provide even the tiniest detail. Resigned to wait, Kate tried to guess based on where they were going, but Marta turned down the road towards home.

  “Really?” she asked. “I expected something a little more.”

  Their dinner had been late and the sun was already setting. The streetlights were on and the horizon glowed a dull orange. As they pulled up to the house, Kate saw that only Ember and Brittney were present, both talking outside Ember’s jeep like they had just gotten home. But their posture was too excited, their attention too focused on Kate’s arrival.

  “They’re terrible at pretending,” Kate said.

  “We’re new to being spies,” Marta said with a smile. “I’m sure we’ll get better with practice.”

  They pulled into the driveway and Kate exited. Ignoring Ember and Brittney’s feigned surprise, she strode to the door and swung it open. The darkened interior of the house greeted her. Nothing was different.

  She frowned and looked back at her roommates. They stood together on the driveway, their anticipation brighter than the streetlights. Confused, Kate took a step inside and peered around in the darkness. There were a few dishes from lunch in the kitchen sink but nothing out of the ordinary. Then she spotted a large paper ball on the floor. In the dim light she noticed holes in the paper but could not tell if they were letters, numbers, or symbols. Intrigued, she reached for the light switch, but paused.

  There were two switches on the wall, one to the ceiling light, one for the lamps. The arrows pointed to the second switch. Then she noticed an extension cord running from the wall to the ball in the center of the floor.

  She flipped the switch and light blossomed inside the paper ball, cascading out of the holes to shine on the walls and ceiling. She’d expected letters and text, a message of some kind, but instead they were stars. Reed had turned her home into the night sky.

  Kate stared in wonder. The timing had been perfect, with the fading light of day allowing the light in the room to truly shine. She stepped into the room and turned a slow circle, marveling at the flawless display.

  “Well?” Ember demanded from the open door. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  “It’s stunning,” Kate breathed.

  “Reed arrived just after you left,” Brittney said. “He set it up remarkably fast.”

  A smile spread on Kate’s face as she gazed on the starry room. Reed had done all this, for her. He’d meticulously cut out stars from the covering and probably placed it with care. Game or no game, heat suffused her frame at how much time he’d spent on her.

  “Where’s the invitation?” she asked, her eyes still on the host of stars. Then she realized the stars were not shining on blank wall. She stepped to the corner of her couch and leaned in to see a Starburst candy highlighted by the star, held to the wall with tape. She scanned the room and realized other stars were also position to fall on pieces of candy. “Does it have to do with this?” she asked.

  “He wouldn’t say,” Ember said. “He said you’d have to figure it out on your own. Although he was very particular about the placement of the Starbursts, so I’d suggest we start there.”

  Kate noticed they all whispered, even Ember, as if reluctant to disturb the scene. Marta was as enthralled as Kate, and stared at the walls, her eyes reflecting the starlight. Together, all four began searching the stars, and they worked their way around the room, hunting for clues. Five minutes went by, then ten. Kate retreated and examined the shapes of the stars but found no clues in the shapes. They attempted dimming the light, but that didn’t reveal anything. Then they each took a wall and examined it up close. As Kate shifted from star to star, she noticed one Starburst was not lit by a star.

  She frowned and reached for it, wondering if Reed and made a mistake. Her fingers stopped a hairsbreadth from touching the dark starburst and she smiled. She squinted and looked at the dark wall, and began to spot the others.

  “Some of the candy doesn’t have a star,” she exclaimed.

  “So he just made a mistake,” Ember said with a shrug. “I saw a few of those.”

  Kate looked over her shoulder. “Did he put the Starbursts up with the stars on? Or off?”

  Ember frowned. “On. But why would that matter . . .”

  “Take down any candy lit by a star,” Kate said.

  “Why?” Brittney asked.

  Kate pointed to the wall. “With the stars on, he wouldn’t miss one. I think he placed candy in the darkened sections where the stars don’t touch.”

  She hurried to a wall and began removing all the Starbursts that were touched by a star. Then she took a step back and pulle
d out her phone.

  “Brittney, turn off the light.”

  She stepped to the switch and cut it off, plunging the room into darkness. Then she flipped the second switch for the overhead light—but it didn’t come on. In the darkness Brittney giggled.

  “He took out the bulb,” she said. “I don’t think he wanted it to be that easy.”

  Laughter reverberated in the gloom as Kate pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, turning it on the nearest wall. She gasped when the remaining Starbursts were shaped into words.

  I’d be over the moon,

  With the secret revealed they rushed to clear the other walls, and then they all pulled out their phones. Ember protested when Marta’s light shined in her face, and then they turned the lights on the walls to read aloud.

  “I’d be over the moon,” Kate said.

  “If my date you’d be,” Marta said.

  “For a night of stars,” Brittney continued.

  “And wonders to see,” Kate finished.

  Kate turned her flashlight to the ceiling, which revealed the date and time. She began to laugh and her roommates joined in, all four delighted at finding Reed’s clues. Then Kate turned the stars on again and they stood in the magical room.

  “Well we know one thing,” Ember said.

  “What’s that?” Brittney asked.

  “Kate’s in trouble,” she said smugly.

  Kate grinned with the others. She knew Reed had a talent for creating romance, but this felt like more than a game. She turned a slow circle, her heart fluttering as she gazed on the twinkling stars, hoping it was not her imagination.

  They left the lamp on the floor and turned it on each night. Word spread to friends and neighbors, and girls flocked to the room to see the starry invitation. Kate found herself the center of a great deal of attention and speculation. Even Marta’s mother stopped by after work. Dressed in her uniform from the restaurant, she stood in the center of the room, marveling at the stars on the walls.

  “Your next invite had better be perfect,” she finally said.