She suggested a second date, now she's short in texts

Read the pattern across days, not the wording of one message. A reply that's short but arrives within a few hours, on a normal day, usually means she's busy and still in the conversation. Replies that stretch to a day or two and shrink to a single word are more telling, but still not a clear no. Look at whether she initiates anything, asks you a question, or refers to something you said earlier. If she's still doing those things, the interest is probably still there under a thinner layer of effort.

Also check the context. A short text on a Wednesday when she mentioned a deadline is not the same as a short text on a Saturday when she has nothing on. The specifics she gave you about her week are the most reliable evidence you have, so use them before assuming the worst.

When she sends something short, your first job is to respond to what she actually said, warmly and briefly, without asking her to justify it. If she says the week is busy, acknowledge that it sounds full and let it go. The temptation is to ask a probing follow-up about whether something is wrong, and that almost always makes a short reply shorter. You want the exchange to feel easy for her, which means no homework.

Keep the second date present through what you already have, rather than reopening it as a question. A reference to the plan that assumes it's still happening, like mentioning something you'd like to try on the date, keeps it alive without making her commit to anything new in that moment.

Once the immediate reply is sent, the next move is a single concrete proposal, but only if the conversation has some life in it. A specific day and time or a specific place is far easier to say yes to than an open invitation to hang out sometime. If she's been vague about her week, offering two options and letting her pick one reduces the work of replying. If she goes quiet after that, the plan is not automatically dead, but you've now given her a fair chance to respond.