Page 8 of Fated to the Gargoyle

“It’s a parking lot, Lamar. I can handle it.” I fish my keys out of my purse.

“Never said you couldn’t.” He holds the door with his shoulder while I lock up. “I’m the one scared of the dark.”

I don’t argue.

We step out into the parking lot, and the cold has sharpened while I was inside. I pull my sweater tighter and hit the key fob, and my car chirps back at me. The shopping center is mostly dark, just the gas station sign across the road and the yellow wash of the lights on empty asphalt.

I’m halfway to my car when I glance up for one more look at the statue, and I stop walking.

“What?” Lamar says beside me.

The statue is gone.

The roofline is bare. Nothing up there but shingles, a rain gutter, and open sky where all that stone sat when my shift started.

“Lamar.” I pick my words careful. I want to be sure before I sound crazy. “Was there a statue on the roof when you got here this morning?”

He cranes back and gives the roof a good long look. “A statue?”

“A gargoyle statue. Big and gray, right there on the edge.” I point, and my finger’s steadier than my voice.

He takes his time about it, tilts his head, and shrugs. “Huh? Nah. Don’t think so.”

Okay. I walked under this building on my way in tonight and there was a full-sized stone gargoyle crouched on the edge of that roof. I looked up at it and stared long enough to feel embarrassed about it. Now it’s gone, Lamar doesn’t remember it, and I’m standing in a dark parking lot in a town where I haven’t unpacked. I refuse—I absolutely refuse—to be the girl who loses her mind on day one of her new job.

“Never mind.” I drop my arm and keep walking.

He falls in beside me and keeps whatever he’s thinking to himself. “You good?”

“Long day.” I even smile when I say it.

The rest of the way passes in silence. I open my door and toss my purse on the passenger seat.

Lamar props a forearm on the top of my car, close enough that I catch the soap under the grill smell that clings to him. “So. You gonna let me take you out sometime?”

I laugh. Of course it had to be this man, on my first shift, with that beard and that smile. “I don’t date coworkers.”

“Yeah?” He tips his head and waits.

“That’s a rule,” I tell him.

He leans in an inch. “That one of those hard rules, or one of the ones with room in it?”

“It’s a hard rule, Lamar.” I don’t give it any room.

He pushes off the car and holds up both hands.

“All right. I hear you.” He starts walking backward toward his truck, hands still up. “But just so you know, Treasure, I’m not real attached to this diner.”

I put both hands on my hips. “Lamar.”

“Shadow Suds is hiring.” He’s still moving backward, watching me as he goes. “That’s all I’m saying.”

I drop my head back and look at the sky. “Lamar, oh my god.”

“Have a good night,” he calls, one hand up in a lazy wave as he finally turns around.

I laugh at his back the entire way. This man is really out here planning a career change behind a date I haven’t said yes to.