He hummed that famous riff from The Kinks’ “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”
“Ah.” He nodded slowly, a wise ginger guru. “One of life’s toughest questions, especially when there’s a lady involved.”
“Yup. I can’t help feeling like the universe keeps smacking me down, you know? And whenever things start to hum between us, it’s like a switch flips, andbam,we’re butting heads again. Maybe we’re not meant to be—Hannah and me, Trappers Cove and me.”
“Huh. That’s one way to look at it.”
Xander arched an eyebrow. “You got another?”
“Well.” Garrett stretched and scratched his belly. “You believe in signs, right?”
“Sorta, I guess.” Should he tell his new friend about the curse, the ghost, and the whole eerie mess? Nah—better to have Garrett think him sane.
Garret regarded him, his spooky pale gaze inscrutable. “So, what survived the destruction?”
“Well, uh—” He tapped his chest.
“And…?”
“The cosmic transmitter thingy.”
“The one thing Gus wanted you to hang onto. Interesting.” He shifted on the mattress. “What’ll happen to it if you sell the property?”
Xander shrugged. “I guess I could plant it in the town cemetery.” Unless the UFO people decided to keep it as a shrine to their departed friend.
Garrett guffawed. “Good luck getting Father Ochinang to agree to that.”
Irritation tightened Xander’s brow. “You got a suggestion, smart-ass?”
He scrunched his lips to the side in a comically pensive expression. “You know, that FriendBook group’s still active.”
“Yeah, I saw.” A few days ago, he checked the site in a moment of boredom. New posts had slowed to a trickle, but there were tons of video clips of the melee—the sickening crunch as the walls collapsed, billowing clouds of dust, water pumping skyward like blood from a severed artery. It turned his stomach to think of how many people could’ve been hurt and how narrowly he’d averted a life-destroying lawsuit.
Huh. Perhaps Gus was looking out for him after all.
“And the TV news piece,” Garrett prodded, “you saw that?”
“Yeah, of course.” That cute reporter had Xander’s misfortune to thank for her story going viral. Should’ve been Hannah who got the credit, but she was too busy trying to pull his ass from the rubble.
“So, are you gonna use that momentum or just slink back to Seattle with your tail between your legs?” Garrett picked crumbs from the blanket. “’Cause if I had a lady like Hannah rooting for me, I know what I’d do.”
A tingle of warning prickled Xander’s nape. “Garrett, look at me.”
Ice-blue eyes met his.
“Are you sweet on Hannah?”
Ice-blue eyes rolled heavenward. “Nah. She’s not my type. Besides, she’s stuck on you. But she’s a quality person, you know? Loyal, smart, easy on the eyes. I wouldn’t be so quick to give that up.”
Xander sank back onto his pillows. “To tell the truth, Hannah’s the main argument for staying.”
“Wow. Trappers Cove sucks that much?” Garrett looked genuinely taken aback.
“No, I—” He was making a hash of this. He actually hated the idea of leaving this cute little coastal town for Seattle’s crazy traffic and yet another round of job hunting. “I kinda like it here.”
Garrett’s big hand smacked the mattress. “Then stay. Show us what you’re made of.”
Another knock on the door.
