Nick hadn''t expected Mirabe to remember his chat with Emmitt, but he


    shrugged it off and said, "It''s nothing much. When I was younger, I had a few major surgeries and some other injuries. As you get older, those old wounds tend to re up again."


    Mirabe''s ears perked up at the mention of "injuries." Most people talked about illnesses, but injuries... It seemed Chester had a history.


    Thinking about treatments and remedies for old injuries, Mirabe felt she had a good idea of what might help.


    Nick''s eyes moved to Mirabe''s hands, which were resting on the chair. Her coat sleeves were long, covering her wrists. After a moment, he asked, "By the way, did you wear the bracelet Chester sent you?"


    He''d specifically told the courier to make sure she wore it.


    Mirabe came back to the moment, nodded slightly, and then shook her head. "I''m a student; it''s not really convenient."


    Nick thought for a second and then replied, "That''s fine. Whatever works for you."


    Mirabe nodded softly, and then her phone buzzed. She took a quick look. "They''re calling us down for dinner."


    **


    After dinner, Linnea didn''t stick around the Davis house. She made sure Autumn and Zach exchanged contact info and added each other on Messenger before leaving.


    Once in the car, Autumn promptly blocked Zach on Messenger.


    Adding him was just to keep the parents happy-she wasn''t serious about it.


    Back at the Davis house, Delh grabbed Zach''s hand and said, "Send Autumn a message, make a good impression."


    Zach, already feeling a headacheing on but unable to refuse his mom, sent a smiley face emoji while she watched. "Good enough?"


    He hit ''send'' without even looking at the screen and handed the phone to Delh.


    A few secondster, Zach took his phone back, "Can I go now?"


    As he turned, Delh caught his arm again, "Wait a minute."


    Zach, already annoyed, asked, "What now?"


    "Did you block her on Messenger?" Delh had noticed a red exmation mark on the screen.


    "Of course not."


    "Then why does your phone show...?" Delh''s voice trailed off as she realized it was her son who had been blocked.


    Zach gave her a confused look, then checked his phone.


    Seeing the exmation mark and the message ''Message not delivered,'' Zach''s face darkened.


    He''d just added her, and she''d already blocked him.


    Well, well, that was a bold move. This woman had definitely gotten under his skin.


    Delh watched her son silently.


    Seeing him rejected like this, she suddenly wasn''t so enthusiastic about the match either.


    Meanwhile, Linnea was asking her daughter what she thought of Zach.


    Autumn, eyes glued to her phone, answered every question with a nonchnt, "Mmm, he''s alright."


    Linnea, realizing the setup had failed, sighed.


    "Mom, Emmitt''s back today," Autumn said, having just seen a message from


    Emmitt on Messenger, asking when they''d be home.


    Linnea''s face lit up, "Really?" She then told the driver to speed up a bit.


    Twenty minutester, they were back at the Shields family estate.