Gabriella was still thinking about it the next afternoon as she sat in the living room eating lunch with Amelia and Madelyn. James was off today and Bradley and Graham were out on an errand, leaving the three of them alone for their lunch break.

“Can I ask you a weird question?” Gabriella asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Madelyn and Amelia exchanged a look. “Which one of us?” Madelyn asked.

“Both of you.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

Her face was warm, but whatever. “How do you handle dating with this job?”

Another glance between them, this one a little playful, and Gabriella was already regretting bringing it up.

“Who is it?” Amelia asked. “I assume not James, because yikes. So that leaves-”

“No, God, no,” Gabriella interrupted quickly, holding up a hand to stop Amelia before she said anything more. “No, no one here. God. No, it’s a guy up at my mom’s new place. We’re going on a date soon.”

Some of the teasing left Amelia’s tone at this. “Oh!” she said, taking a bite of her salad. “Hey, that’s great! What’s he like?”

Gabriella shrugged, taking a sip of her iced green tea. “He’s nice,” she said. “Um, a landscaper. Tall. Very sweet. I don’t know him that well, but he asked me out, and I’d like to get to know him better.”

“That sounds like a great start,” Madelyn said from the other end of the couch, where she sat with her heating pad across her back and a bowl of soup in her hands. “What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know how he’ll react to me working here.”

The other two nodded sympathetically. “I get it,” Madelyn said. “Yeah, that’s a pretty normal thing in this field.”

“How do you guys handle dating with this job?”

Amelia shrugged. “I generally date people who are already in the field,” she said. “It narrows down the options, especially since I really only date women. But I feel like it sets you up on a solid foundation from the start. We both know that these things are real, so we’re not worried about the other not believing in it all and that putting a strain on things.”

“Are you dating anyone?” Gabriella asked.

“No, not right now.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Madelyn added.

Amelia waved her off, making a face. Gabriella suddenly remembered all the night shifts with Amelia on the phone with her friend out in Palmer. “Oh.”

“Don’t ‘oh’ me,” Amelia said, her face tinged with red. “Madelyn, share your wisdom.”

“Um, don’t get thrown off a building while working for a monster-hunting organization. It makes dating difficult.”

Her tone was light, but Gabriella wasn’t sure how to react to that. Apparently she was quiet for a little too long, because Madelyn added, “I’m mostly joking. Um, I’m not sure though. I’ve been single for a while, but I was dating a guy when I started working here. It weirded him out a little, but he didn’t try to say it was fake.”

“I just can’t imagine that working out,” Amelia said. “If he’s there insisting that it’s fake while you’re literally dealing with it every single day. I’d kill him.”

“We’ve got family members who do that,” Gabriella said. “At least two of our uncles insist that me and James both work for a corporation in Boston. The rest of the family knows, but Uncle Pete and Uncle Ray just refuse to believe it.”

“How do you handle it when it comes up?” Amelia asked, digging through her salad for a piece of chicken.

“We mostly ignore it. But I guess that’s harder to do in a romantic relationship.”

“I think that’s where it gets difficult,” Madelyn said, setting her soup bowl on the coffee table. “I guess if I was looking to date, I’d want someone who I could at least be honest with upfront. He wouldn’t need to work for the Foundation or anything, but I’d want someone who understands what I’m doing.”

“What if they just didn’t know about it?” Gabriella asked. “Like, if you just didn’t tell them?”

“You see that working for a long-term relationship?” Amelia asked skeptically.

Gabriella felt herself blush. “Maybe not,” she said. “But I just…”

“I guess it’s just harder to date in this field,” Amelia said, saving her from finishing that half-formed thought. “I’m trying to think if anyone here has had a steady partner in the years since I’ve been here. I’ve gone on dates outside the Foundation early on, but they never worked out. Mads, you’ve been single for four years?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Bradley’s mentioned a boyfriend from when he worked at the Essex Branch, but I have no idea who he was or if he worked for the Foundation. If you really feel like asking him about that, then Godspeed. And if you have any exciting information about James’s dating life, you know more than me.”

“He just doesn’t have one,” Gabriella said. “At least not since I remember. He said he’s not looking for anything right now. Like, not forever, but it’s been a long time because he’s always been so career-focused. Our grandmother always worried about him.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Amelia said. “So, as you can see, we’re probably not the best people to ask about these things. But if you want my advice, I’d say be honest. Not necessarily on the first date if you don’t feel comfortable with it. But early on. You don’t want this hanging over you, especially if you think it might wreck the relationship.”

Gabriella nodded slowly, the unease in her stomach lifting just a little. That was doable. And if she decided to keep going with the relationship, hopefully they’d have enough of a connection that it wouldn’t matter. Or Elliot would be into ghosts or something.

“I’ll be honest, it can be lonely,” Amelia continued, fishing through her salad bowl again.

“What’s lonely?”

All three of them jumped and screamed as James’s voice came up the stairs. He yelled too, nearly falling back down as they all spun around toward him. “I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, holding up his hands. “I forgot my bag here last night. I thought you heard me come in.”

“Jesus Christ,” Amelia said, holding a hand to her chest. “Frigging warn me next time.”

“How did you not hear me come in?” James asked. “And what’s lonely?”

“Oh, dating while you work in this field,” Madelyn replied.

James shrugged as he walked into the living room. “I guess,” he said. “I went on a date with this girl who worked for one of the companies the Foundation contracts with and it was weird. The only thing we actually did have in common was the paranormal.”

“When was this?” Gabriella asked.

James hadn’t mentioned anything about a date in a long time. But he waved her off. “Oh, like eight years ago,” he said. “Anyway, who’s going on a date?”

Amelia and Madelyn looked at Gabriella, who slowly raised her hand. She cringed as a grin spread over James’s face. “Oh, really?” he asked. “Please, do tell.”

“It’s a guy up at my mom’s place,” she said, face on fire. “It’s nothing.”

“Is he nice?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know how he’ll feel about all this.”

She gestured around the room, and James’s smile faded, just a little. “I get it,” he said. “It’s a lot to try to work with. I feel like both someone involved and someone who’s not would have advantages and disadvantages.”

“When was the last time you went on a date?” Amelia asked him.

James waved her off. “I’m married to my career,” he said, echoing his flippant response to their relatives when they asked the same question on holidays. “Besides, we’re talking about Gabby here.”

“No, we’re not,” Gabriella said. “I was just curious how everyone else handles it.”

James shrugged. “I’m not the one to ask,” he said. “I wouldn’t say no if it dropped in my lap, but I’m not looking. Madelyn, maybe. Amelia, if she gets her shit together and asks out that nice lady she keeps talking to.”

Amelia’s jaw dropped, and she whirled around, but ultimately stayed in her seat as James winked at her. “Graham’s single and ready to mingle,” James continued. “And Bradley’s just waiting for the right swamp monster to come along and sweep him off his feet.”

“Thanks,” Gabriella said. “This makes me feel a little better. I don’t know why. But it does.”

“Yeah, that sums up a lot of things here,” James said. “Alright, I’m going to find my bag and get back out of here. If Graham sees me here, he’s going to ask about the kitchen and I haven’t cleaned it yet. And I don’t have seniority off the clock.”

He hurried into his office, and Gabriella picked her sandwich up to finish the last couple of bites. As she was eating, her phone buzzed on the couch beside her.

ELLIOT

Are you free Wednesday night?

He’d managed to choose her one full day off that week. Smiling, Gabriella picked up her phone and texted him back.

They didn’t need to discuss it on Wednesday. So she could just relax and enjoy the date.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 10