Page 77 of The Love of My Afterlife
She folds her arms. “If you’re going to give up on Jonah, why don’t you just come back with me now then? Before Eric discovers what I’ve been up to and rats me out. At least that way you know you’ll be in Evermore and not somewhere else.”
I think of Mr. Yoon and how he’ll need someone to settle him back in at home tomorrow. I have to write Cooper a list of dos and don’ts. I have to chase up the council and see about getting Mr. Yoon an assessment.
“I…I can’t. It’s just two days. I’ve got things to do. I need to, you know, get my affairs in order. Please. Just hold them off for two more days. I promise not to call you again. And when I come back, I’ll be your guinea pig, like we agreed.”
“Great. That’s great, Delphie, because this guy arrived yesterday and he’s looking for love.” She flicks her fingers, and a mirage pops up in front of my wardrobe. It’s a hologram of a sweet-looking fifty-year-old man, dressed in a woolly jumper.
“He’s called Roger Pecker, and he was a farmer back on Earth. And he was mad into it, farming. Like,obsessedwith farming. He especially likes explaining the benefits of using a chisel plough over a mouldboard plough. You would think he had nothing left to say on the matter, but he does. He has a lot more. He’s been single for twenty years, so he’ll be keen to tell you all about himself, I expect. So that’s what you can look forward to if you don’t kiss Jonah and save your damn life.”
“You seem angry with me. I thought youwanteda guinea pig?”
Merritt looks at the floor. “I wanted a happy ever after. I wanted…” She trails off and stamps her feet.
I shake my head. “Happy ever afters don’t happen in real life. You work solely with dead people. Surely you know that?”
Merritt’s mouth sets in a grim line, and she twists one of the many rings on her fingers, biting her lip.
There’s a knock at my door. Merritt jumps. Wow, she really is on edge.
“Two days,” I say, putting my hands together. “You can run circles around those guys I thought? Around Eric? You can hold him off. I’ve made peace with it. I’ll even date Roger Pecker, no complaints.”
Merritt looks like she’s about to say something else but then stops herself. Instead, she throws her hands up in exasperation. She lifts her chin. “Please just try, Delphie. And no. I can’t promise that Mrs. Ernestine won’t murder you, so maybe watch out!”
She’s kidding.
Right?
Before I can confirm she’s kidding, she has shimmered and popped off back to Evermore.
I open the door to find Cooper standing there, hair damp, wearing a black T-shirt with a photo of Jack Nicholson kissing Helen Hunt. Underneath it says,Good Times, Noodle Salad.
“Nice,” I say, pointing to it.
“It was a gift.”
“I like it. Are you…?”
“Yeah, I was thinking…?”
We laugh. I take a breath. “How can I help you, Cooper?”
He laughs too. “You could allow me to take you to dinner this evening.”
“Excuse me?”
“This evening. Dinner. With me.” He thumbs at his own chest.
I brush my hair back behind my ear. “You mean…like a date?”
“I do.”
“I thought you didn’t date?”
“I don’t.”
I grin. I’ve never been on a date before. And the last time I went out to a restaurant in London was in 2015, and that restaurant was the Paddington branch of Chicken Cottage. I think of what Mr. Yoon said.
It’s nice to see you looking happy.
