Virtually Yours: A Virtual Match Anthology

by Kait Nolan

  Delia didn’t trust her thoughts or emotions at the moment. She wasn’t sure how much of what she’d just experienced she could explain, and she didn’t even want to try.

  But one thing was for sure—the first chance she got, she was going to see Shaun. She didn’t know what she’d do if he was behind the Craig texts. Waiting wasn’t going to help her sort any of this out, though. It had to be done today.

  Mother had shown up while Calla was schooling Delia on spells. She sat with lips pursed at Grandma Elle’s bedside, and when they walked in, her eyes darted their direction. “Ah. There you are. We were beginning to think you were lost.”

  Around her mother’s frame, a deep gray haze like smoke hovered. It felt stern, distrusting, uncompromising. It sparkled a bit with gold flecks that added a feeling of anticipation...of growth and change.

  Her mother’s aura was no surprise to Delia, but the look in Patty Harris’s eyes as Delia spaced out in front of her was growing more alarmed by the second.

  Delia laughed to break the tension. She had to focus to speak. “No. We didn’t get lost.” Was this entire endeavor going to be this distracting? She was in trouble. She was supposed to drive and carry on normal conversations and such.

  Get it together, Delia.

  She needed to visit with Grandma Elle and then she needed to go see Shaun. She was dreading it—she didn’t want to prove that Shaun was such an asshole that he would purposefully scare her this way. However, if it was him, she needed to know now. This little game wouldn’t be fun anymore once he was called out.

  “Earth to Delia,” Grandma Elle said, attempting lightness. “What are you thinking about?”

  “I…” Delia had turned to face her grandmother, and smiled at the way her radiant spirit matched the royal blue aura that faded to silver at its edges. “Do the silver and gold sparkles join the aura as we age?” Delia asked absently.

  “What?” Mother said sharply. “What is going on with you, Delia?”

  Delia shook her head to clear her mind.

  “De has a bit of a stalker situation unfolding,” Calla answered for her.

  Delia narrowed her eyes at her talkative cousin. It was more information than she had planned to give, and Mother drew a sharp, shocked breath.

  “Don’t worry!” Calla said quickly. “We did a spell. De should know who it is in no time, and we did a humdinger of a protection spell, too.”

  Mother’s face went white and she looked like she might faint.

  “Nice.” Delia glared, crossing her arms. “Way to bring up every single topic that I did not want to talk to my mother about today. Thanks.”

  “How about your man friend? I didn’t bring that up.”

  “Jesus.” Delia took a deep breath to soothe her temper. She needed an extra dose of patience today.

  Grandma Elle laughed. “Oh, Calla. I wish you were here more often. We Robbins women could do with the excitement.”

  “We are not interested in this sort of excitement!” Mother exclaimed. “You keep your nonsense to yourself.”

  Calla shrugged. “Delia is all grown up, Aunt Patty. She’ll believe us or she won’t, but it’s her call.”

  Mother sputtered, and Grandma Elle wasn’t meeting her eyes anymore. “Well, I never!” she shouted, and then she walked out in full dramatics.

  Silence fell in the small, sun-drenched hospital room. And then Grandma Elle started to laugh again. “That outburst was a long time coming.” She finished getting her jollies out of it, and said to Delia, “Don’t worry, honey. No matter what, I don’t think you can do anything seriously wrong in that woman’s eyes.”

  Delia grimaced. “Have you met my mother? There’s no pleasing her, and that goes especially for her only daughter.”

  Grandma Elle gave her a firm look. “You are only seeing it from your perspective, dear. In other words, you’re blind to the truth. Speaking of, do you have any questions after what Calla told you—”

  A knock against the doorframe of the open door startled all three of them, and Delia glanced over guiltily to spy Cole standing there. A faint tracing of orange surrounded him, with a bright lemon yellow outlining his form. His aura was bright, honest and open—just like him.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hey. Am I interrupting?” Cole asked from the doorway.

  Grandma Elle sat up straighter in bed and craned her neck to see Cole standing there, as Calla gave him a very obvious once over and then turned to Delia and mouthed ‘wow’ as her eyes crossed.

  For the love of all creation. They were ridiculous. And her heart lurched at his presence all the same.

  “Um...give me just a minute.” Delia wasn’t sure how she was going to extricate herself from the awkwardness, but there was a volatile combination of personalities in the room, and she felt a strong urge to separate the different parts of her life to prevent a disastrous mingling.

  “What do you mean?” Cole asked, stepping into the room and pulling a bouquet of roses from behind his back. He walked to Grandma Elle’s bedside and smiled, his dimples making Delia’s blood pump something fierce. He offered the roses. “I came to see this lovely lady.”

  Now Calla rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, buddy.”

  Grandma Elle snorted, and reached to slap Calla’s hand. “Now, you leave me the glory, young lady. It’s been a good decade since a man brought me such lovely flowers. I would like to enjoy it.”

  Delia didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt fidgety and weird all of a sudden. The boundaries were down, and dangerous meetings had already started to occur.

  She checked herself, surprised by her thoughts. She was actually jealous of Cole’s attention. She didn’t want to share him, even with these beloved ladies.

  Finally, Cole stepped over to Delia’s side and kissed her cheek, and some of that jealousy abated. The stone’s warmth tingled against her chest.

  Calla gasped, and Delia swiveled to see what had surprised her. Her cousin’s eyes were narrowed on Cole and her.

  “What?” Delia asked.

  “Nothing,” Grandma Elle said. “Nothing you should concern yourselves with.” She settled back against her pillows again. “Now, despite this young man’s brave words, I do believe he came to see you, Delia. Calla and I were about to enjoy a game of rummy, so you two can run along. Go ahead, now.”

  “Grandma…”

  “I am fine, honey. You go. Have fun. It’ll be good for you. It’s been an interesting day already, and it’s still early yet.”

  Interesting was an understated way to put it.

  Cole slipped his fingers into hers as he pressed the button for the ground floor in the elevator. “Good morning?” he asked.

  “Strangest morning ever.”

  “Want to fill me in?”

  “No...I’m still absorbing.”

  “Ah. Must be family drama. I’m not interested anyway.” He grinned.

  She squeezed his hand. “What are you interested in?”

  He looked straight into her eyes. “You. What would you say to lunch?”

  “I would say thank you. I am famished.” It was true. She was surprisingly hungry for the hour.

  The next surprise was his choice of restaurant. They took his car, leaving hers in visitor parking at the hospital. It seemed a wise choice, because the faint auras she was seeing all around her were still distracting. She wasn’t sure she should drive.

  When Cole parked ten minutes later, Delia stared at the building in shock as he came around to her side of his car and opened the door for her.

  She didn’t tell him that this was where she’d retrieved the signed divorce papers from Shaun yesterday. Or about the lunch she’d eaten alone after Shaun left for his own life.

  It felt almost...right...that they should eat here today.

  A different Maitre d’, thankfully, led them to a table in a separate room of the restaurant from where she’d eaten yesterday.

  Cole pulled her chair out for her. Delia sat, her hear
t fluttering a beat rapid as hummingbirds’ wings as she pretended to peruse the menu.

  The server came right over and took their orders—iced tea for both of them, and Delia took a second to watch Cole as he spoke with the server about the specials. He smiled so often that he’d started to get laugh lines, which just made his dimpled grin more charming. Delia made sure to stay out of the sun and obviously wasn’t nearly as happy; her face was still as youthful as the day they’d met.

  God. So long ago. It seemed like a lifetime.

  He looked over and met her eyes, and grinned when he found her staring at him, lost in her memories. He swiveled his body so it directly faced hers. He had a way of making her feel like she was the only person in the room.

  Maybe the only person on the planet, the way he was staring into her eyes.

  That look said he wanted to kiss her again. It said he wanted her.

  With anyone else, that look would have scared her today. But seeing it on Cole made her heart stop for entirely different reasons.

  And that was more frightening than anything he could say.

  “Those thoughts seem deep. Want to share?” he asked.

  “Not today,” she answered easily, picking up her water and taking a slow sip.

  She was adept at hiding her feelings from him. Hadn’t they practiced many times in their college years, and after? He didn’t need to know what she was thinking, especially because it was far too soon for her to be thinking it.

  “What are you up to tonight?” he asked.

  “More of the same. Exciting, huh?”

  He started counting off the excitement on his fingers. “Let’s see, we have avoiding the press behind door number one, preventing a stalker from tracking you down behind door number two...there’s gotta be something better to do than all that.”

  “Yeah, I’d rather be anyone else right now.”

  “Don’t say that. You’re great. It’s the men who are the problem.” He rolled his eyes dramatically.

  “Truth! Men suck.” She winked at him.

  He looked a tad hurt by the assault on his gender, even though he’d started it, so she reached for his hand to make it right, and the touch made her skin flush. He picked up her hand in both of his, tracing her palm with a fingertip, in slow circles as her heartbeat sped up.

  And then their food came.

  They kept the conversation light as they ate, but Delia would venture they were both feeling the tension between them.

  Delia’s phone rang, and they both turned instant glares on it.

  “My phone—the enemy,” she joked.

  It was Jenna, but in a decision fueled by jealousy over his apparently cozy relationship with her best friend, Delia didn’t tell Cole who was calling.

  “Hi,” she answered. Cole watched her intently, and she met his eyes in a stare-off. Then she gave him a wink.

  “Delia, I have words for you.”

  “Huh?”

  Cole whispered, “Sounds serious. I’ll just step away for a moment.”

  Delia smiled gratefully and watched him walk toward the restrooms.

  “What’s going on, Jenna?”

  “I received a call this morning from a very excited Cole.”

  “Oh...yeah?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me. I know he stayed at your place last night, and about the kiss. What are you thinking?”

  “Um—”

  “No! No excuses. Are you kidding me? This is Cole we’re talking about. He is important to you. He isn’t some fling.”

  “I know,” Delia said quickly. “I don’t mean to fling—”

  “Delia you absolutely cannot rebound with Cole! You are going to break that man’s heart. Again!”

  “What do you mean again?” Delia asked.

  “God damn it. Cole was in love with you back when you met Shaun. There, I said it.”

  Delia swallowed back sudden tears. Cole’s three-year absence made more sense after a knock to her perspective. “You haven’t told me...all these years?”

  “What the hell good would that have done you?” Jenna sucked in an exasperated breath. “Anyway, you know now.”

  Cole was coming back, and Delia made a strange sound something like a cat strangling.

  “Oh, crap. You’re with him right now, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah. At lunch.”

  “Well...call me later. I have more words.”

  Delia worried that was the understatement of the year.

  And she worried she’d made a terrible mistake last night.

  And she worried she couldn’t hold it together, right this moment.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cole took his seat across the table.

  Delia snapped the case of her phone shut and set it on the table. Her hands were shaking. A mental image of her heel coming down on poor Cole’s heart filled her mind. She was an asshole. She couldn’t lead them down this path. Not now—not so soon after her divorce. Soon? It had just happened yesterday!

  But she couldn’t just end it, not after last night’s kiss.

  She blinked, close to tears, and Cole dove right into hero mode. “Are you okay?”

  There was no honest answer that she could give now. “No...it’s overwhelming. I thought I was going to have a quiet weekend after signing those divorce papers. You know, ponder all the ills that led to my sorry twice-divorced state.”

  “It hasn’t been quiet. Always plan for loud if you want quiet. The universe loves to contradict.”

  Oh, lord. Did it ever.

  “Listen, Cole...you know I appreciate the lunch, and everything you’ve done for me in the last day...and you, in general, right?”

  His eyes went guarded instantly, and she knew he could see what was coming. She pushed on.

  “It isn’t fair to you to start something now. I just got divorced. And the last day has been beyond strange, with my grandmother, and this weird trick Shaun played on me that turned out to be more than just an annoyance.”

  “Delia, don’t you dare. Don’t make some snap decision that you’re going to have to live with—”

  She held up her hands. “No snap decision! No decision at all, Cole. I just can’t make you promises in the middle of all this. And it’s unfair to pretend like we could be any dating couple. With our history—”

  He laughed, but the sound was raw, panicked. “Our history is as friends, nothing else. Look, I didn’t mean to pressure you. We can take a step back.”

  Delia nodded, her stomach sinking beneath the mantle of the earth. Oh, what was the right call in this situation? And did she have to do what was right? “I think we have to. I have to deal with my life, and leaning on you isn’t fair.”

  “You said that already. The fair part.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes, didn’t dimple his dimples.

  She wanted to stay, and so Delia decided she had to leave. She was being selfish and Cole deserved so much more than that.

  The kiss last night...it felt so right.

  But she was fooling herself. No solid relationship could be built on this foundation of shifting sand. If she had ruined the friendship, she’d never forgive herself. All of that ran through her mind in the space of a few heartbeats, and as Cole leaned forward to say something else, Delia jumped up. “I’m sorry. I have to go. I’ll call you, okay?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes showing hurt even if his voice didn’t. “You can always call me, Delia. For anything.”

  She couldn’t contain her emotions anymore, and as her chest went tight, all she could think of was escape.

  Oh, she had screwed up worse than ever now.

  She managed to run outside before a sob ripped loose. She stopped and leaned against the brick wall outside the restaurant.

  Damn it. Now she regretted riding with Cole. Her car was back at the hospital.

  Straightening her spine, she started the long walk back there. It would do her good. It had better.

  ~*~

  When she reached her car
two and a half miles of hoofing it later, Delia was mad. Possibly more angry than she’d ever been in her life.

  And she was ready to see if Shaun was the one behind the drama of the last twenty-four hours. Drama that had possibly cost her a very good friend.

  She had also had plenty of opportunity to grow used to the aura thing. She’d seen every shade at least twice in the past half an hour on the city’s busy sidewalks. That was a silver lining, at least.

  She drove to Shaun’s apartment building thinking she’d be lucky to catch him, but his car was in the lot.

  She hadn’t been here before. Why would she?

  The building was faded by time, run down. Delia had trouble picturing Shaun here.

  She knocked loudly on his door, trusting him to either be sleeping at odd hours if he was home, or have a video game on. He was just that adult.

  But he opened the door right away. “Delia? What’s going on?”

  She didn’t need to meet his eyes. She was focused on his aura. It was a bright lemon-yellow right next to his skin, but a few inches out it faded into a dark pink. It felt...needy, dishonest, and also bright, young…just like him.

  “Are you okay? Or are you on some awesome drugs you would never try with me?” he snarked at her.

  She met his eyes. “No...it’s just...not what I expected.”

  “What? Divorce? Want to come in and I’ll bone your socks off? We can do divorce that way if you prefer.”

  That jolted Delia out of her daze. She glared. “Never again, idiot.”

  “Then why are you here?” He glanced over his shoulder into the apartment.

  “What, do you have a guest?” Delia narrowed her eyes at him. “I want to talk to you about turning on ‘see my location’ on my phone yesterday. Why did you do that?”

  The immature smirk on his face was replaced by a snarl. “I don’t know, because you wouldn’t let me talk to you—at all—about this divorce thing? Because I still love you?”

  “Whatever, Shaun! You had plenty of chances to take your wedding vows seriously. I couldn’t do it for you.”