Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I nod, my throat growing tighter as I wonder if this is what it would have been like to have a dad. A good dad, not one who made fun of me every time I took a fall in peewee hockey. I’ve always told myself that having a piece of shit father was good for me. He pissed me off, and I used that anger to push myself hard enough to make my dreams come true.
But who knows how much farther I could have gone with more faith in myself, faith put there by an adult who cared more about helping me grow up strong and safe than his own ego.
When I’m a dad, I want to say things like that to my kids. I want them to know they’re loved even when they’re struggling. And that their dad is always there for them, no matter what.
I nod. “Thanks, Slasher.”
“Call me Kevin,” he says with a smile. “If you want. My grandkids do. They think it’s funny that a hardcore guy has such a wimpy name.”
I shake my head. “Nah, you’re too badass. You’re Slasher to the end.”
He laughs and turns back to his magazine. “Damned straight.”
I punch in my dates and lock down the cottage with the surprisingly well-provisioned kitchen for the next two weeks. I’ve just finished paying and sending the address to Mel when the nurse appears in the hallway leading deeper into the hospital. “Boudreaux?”
I stand. “Here.”
She smiles. “Dr. Varek will see you now.”
Glancing back at Slasher, I take a bracing breath.
He nods. “You’ve got this. I’ll be here when you’re done.”
Comforted by that—and by the fact that I’ll be with Mel and Chase tonight, no matter what—I follow the nurse down the hall.
Chapter 17
Melissa
I click on the link Aaron sent and gasp. In two seconds, Tessa is hovering over my shoulder, gasping, too.
“Oh my God, is that what I think it is?” she asks.
I nod. “It’s the witch house. From when we were kids.”
“Well, when you were a kid,” she says. “I was a teenager who drank beer at bonfire parties in its creepy backyard and got freaked out squatting to pee in its spooky shadow.”
“It was still the bonfire spot when I was a teen, too,” I say. Tessa is eight years older than I am, but Bad Dog was still a sleepy little town when both of us were young. It’s only started to grow in the past decade.
“But now it’s all fixed up and fancy,” she says.
“Sure is,” I mutter, sucking in another breath as I scroll past shots of the kitchen. “Oh my God, look at that stove.”
She squeals. “I didn’t know they made that model in royal blue. And look at the turquoise mixer! That’s a limited-edition KitchenAid Artisan,” she says, every bit as into baking porn as I am. “Damn, I want that kitchen. Hell, the whole house.”
“It’s gorgeous,” I agree. “Hard to believe it used to be so spooky.”
She shivers. “But it was. So spooky. Didn’t your brothers spend the night there once?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Wesley said he heard a ghost child crying all night, and Matty felt tiny, ice-cold fingers around his throat. Just resting there, not squeezing, but still…”
“Still,” Tessa agrees with another shiver. “Can you tell Aaron that you’d rather stay somewhere else? I mean, it’s super cute, but you’re already a big chicken after dark anyway.”
I scowl up at her. “I am not.”
She arches a brow. “When was the last time you had to call Matty to come over and help you check under the bed for monsters?”
I bristle. “It’s been a few weeks. Once I realized the scuttling sounds were coming from the raccoons in the attic, I’ve been much braver.”
“Uh-huh,” she says, clearly unimpressed. “And how long until you give yourself a heart attack imagining all the ghost children in that place? One day? Two?”
“The ghost children are probably gone,” I say, scrolling through the rental’s five-star reviews. “All the reviews say they had a great stay, and it’s part of the Meadows Falls community now. They have a security guard and their own little fire department and everything. We’ll be much safer than in my neighborhood way over at the edge of town.”
“True.” Tessa hums thoughtfully. “It’ll probably be fine. And if you need someone to help you beat back the poltergeists, Aaron will be there to help you out. Though he does only have one good arm.”
“I don’t think you can fight poltergeists with fists anyway. I’d need to burn some sage to cleanse the air of bad spirits or something. I’ll do some research before I head out. Just in case.”
She pulls in a breath and squeezes my arm. “That new hippy store on Main Street! I bet they have ghost-busting supplies. I could swing by for you now. I’m done with my prep and can’t start the bread until it rises anyway.”