She beamed like we hadn’t just run off the road in the rain.
Like we didn’t almost kill the most handsome man in existence.
He’d been drenched, so all I knew was he had dark hair. It was long enough to hang into his eyes, which could have been any color as they’d been obscured by darkness and shadow. His smile had been kind and he loved his dog enough to run into the road to save him, but had glared at me like an unwelcome intrusion.
None of that was enough to warrant the fascination that currently had me ignoring my friend and her call from fate as we finished our drive to my Aunt Ruth’s house.
I watched the man and his dog shrink in the rearview, diminishing until they disappeared from my life altogether. That shouldn’t have made me as sad as it did. “I wonder why he wouldn’t let us drive him home? Did I say something wrong?”
Or did he sense my terminal taupe-ness and had to run, run, run before I infected him?
Amelia sagged into her seat. “I don’t know. Stranger danger?”
“Like we were the dangerous one in that situation.” The way he stared at me felt dangerous. As did the fluttering in my belly and the fact that I kept searching for him through the rearview. I gave Amelia an “am I right or am I right?” look.
Instead of a high five of solidarity and head bob of righteousness, she grimaced. “You did almost kill him with your car.”
“There is that.”
It’d been dark.
And raining.
But that man…he was the stuff dreams were made of. Broad shoulders. Dark hair. Strong features. And he seemed strangely familiar, though I wouldn’t mention any of that to Amelia. She’d be handing me another phone call from fate before the words were out of my mouth.
As it turned out, our near-death experience didn’t happen too far from the house. Two more turns and it came into view, stately, regal, and completely out of my league. Where I was a takeout dinner in Styrofoam boxes, this was a five-course meal on gold-encrusted dinner plates. Red maples lined the drive. Autumn had lit the leaves on fire, and they shuddered in the storm, warning us off. The glow from the porchlights welcomed me home, which was weird as I hadn’t been paying an electric bill. A crack of lightening lit the sky and Amelia shrieked. I yelped in return, then pulled to a stop in front of the house.
“Talk about an eventful arrival.” My friend sounded more peppy than usual. After all these years together, I hadn’t known she was an adrenaline junky. Which was fine because apparently, I was too. Every whip of the wind had my heart rate spiraling. Every lightning bolt cranked the energy running through my veins. Electric excitement shivered across my nerve endings.
This was right. This house. This place. (That man.) It was all right.
I blinked away thoughts of sopping wet strangers. He was hot, but his part in this adventure was over. Time to look forward. To follow the whisperings of my higher self and spirit guides.
I grimaced at my inner monologue.
I could only follow Amelia’s advice so far without feeling ridiculous.
Leaning forward, I peered through the windshield. “Do you see any shadowy figures in the windows? The internet said people were seeing shadowy figures.”
Amelia practically sparkled with enthusiasm as she shook her head. “It’s weird the lights are on, isn’t it? Why are the lights on in a house that’s been vacant for months?”
We gathered our bags and sprinted for the porch. With expectation trembling through my fingers, I slipped the key into the lock and we tumbled inside. We clutched our bags and peered into corners like the Ghost of Great Aunt’s Past would jump out and yell BOO at any minute.
“It’s weirdly clean in here.” Amelia slid a finger over an end table. “You’d think there’d be dust or cobwebs after six months.”
“I’ll be honest, I don’t even know how the lights are on right now. I certainly haven’t been paying an electric bill.”
My friend shuddered and looked at me with wide eyes. “Do you think the ghost’s been paying it?”
“How can I take you seriously when you think ghosts pay bills? Obviously, there’s a reasonable explanation for this.”
Thunder rolled.
Lightening flashed.
Amelia cringed. “You do realize you sound like every character in every horror movie ever right now?” The quaver in her voice had me wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“Remind me.” I leaned around to meet her eyes. “Which one of us needs to work on the fearless factor?”
“Ha-ha.” She slapped my arm to cover the blush in her cheeks. “Very funny.”
“I thought so.”
Amelia stopped in her tracks and turned to me. “Seriously though, Evie. Lean into that fearless stuff. Life is meant to be lived, not survived. You have to learn to let people in and stop worrying about them turning out to be another Drew. You can’t hide yourself from the world and expect to feel good about it.”
“Okay, weirdo. I hear you. Less hiding and more…” I shrugged. What was the opposite of hiding?
“Just put yourself out there, doll. That’s all I’m saying.”
Further exploration revealed the entire house was weirdly clean, fully furnished, and enormous. I’d have to learn the difference between living rooms, drawing rooms, libraries, and studies in order to live here.
“This place has that weird, someone’s been here recently vibe.” Amelia peeked up the staircase. “Good thing I brought my sage.”
I followed her gaze, running my hand along the banister. “It does feel weirdly lived in.”
To my best friend’s surprise, even after a thorough sage scrubbing and prayer of protection, that feeling didn’t dissipate. Though, the stink factor increased tenfold. I loved Amelia, but our senses of smell would never get along.
We climbed the sweeping staircase and claimed our bedrooms,
