“You’re not even scared that she was naked in the front yard?”
“I knew it!”she cries out in excitement.“C’mon, we’ve all been young.”She lets out a giggle, and I suddenly want to gag.
“Mom,” I say with a sigh, “nothing happened. Josie is Alicia and Archie’s friend. Her car got stuck, and it was late, so she stayed in my spare bedroom. Nothing happened,” I repeat, unsure who I’m trying to convince more.
I can almost feel her excitement deflating.“Oh.”
“I promise you’ll be the first to know if I decide to go after someone.”
“By the way,”her voice yet again turns excited,“my friend’s daughter comes to visit her next Friday. She’s recently divorc—”
“Bye, Mom!” I hang up, feeling bad for not letting her finish but getting mad over her constant meddling. I’m thirty-nine, for fuck’s sake.
Pulling the stack of resumes closer to me, I start reading the first one.
ChapterFourteen
JOSIE
“No, you can’t stay there.” Alicia shakes her head as she crosses her arms over her chest.
“We’ve been over this, Alicia,” I reply calmly, even though I’m feeling anything but. “And we both agreed it’s okay for me to stay there.” In fact, we’ve been discussing this for what feels like ages, and we just keep going in circles.
It took me three hours to make Alicia consider letting me move to the Ghost House. I tried reasoning with her yesterday and this morning, and it seems as though she’s finally made a decision. I must act nonchalant about all this ‘unsafe’ business, or she’ll back out. After the sheriff’s message to her, she went into overprotective mode with a hefty dose of guilt, and now she’s taken it upon herself to make sure I’m fed every two hours like a newborn baby and tucked on the couch with a blanket. It’s getting a bit exhausting, and it’s been just twenty-four hours.
I wave her off like an adorable but very annoying fly. “It’s a perfectly livable house.” Somewhat.
She pauses for a moment to give me a meaningful stare—she must think it works on everyone because it works on Mark, but he’s wrapped around her pretty little finger. “There’s a reason people call it the Ghost House, you know.”
“Urban legends.” I wave my hand in the air, my metal bracelets clinking in the process, and I find the sound soothing. I always have, even though it annoyed some people in the office. It’s so good to be my own boss where I can wave my hands as many times as I want without being threatened by the office piranhas. “You should know more than anyone else. You write them.” I raise my brows, reminding Alicia that she’s a writer and gets paid to create said legends. “The plumbing is old, and the heating,” and other things I don’t mention, “but the house is not that bad. I’ll come stay with you when they replace the roof, okay? Plus, it’ll be easier for me not to drive back and forth. I’ll start doing some of the work with the contractors. And besides, I need to get a feel of the place. You know how it is for me.”
She purses her lips. She knows about the weird quirk I call ‘professional insight.’ If the circumstances allow, I prefer to stay in the place I’m about to reconstruct for a few nights so I can find what exactly the place is missing. If there’s a weird sound, an extra squeaking floorboard or step. I’ve slept in some pretty creepy places, and the Ghost House doesn’t scare me in the slightest.
Bears, on the other hand, do. I can order some bear spray to carry on me at all times and, in the meantime, stay indoors. And a car. I probably need a new car. I hate that Archie was right. Thinking about my vintage treasure I abandoned in a rush to escape bear claws makes me feel guilty. But then I remember that it shut me out when danger was nearby, making me feel slightly better.
“I don’t know, Joz.” Alicia doesn’t sound convinced. “We’ve got space here. A safe space, you know.” Her eyes grow round, reminding me of the bear situation. I think.
“The house is safe too, I promise.” Safer than walking in on Alicia and Mark doing the deed because it’s just a matter of time before that happens. I’m sure Ghost is already traumatized. I don’t want to be the next victim.
“Alright.” She throws her arms in the air. “You win. But you call me the very minute you feel uncomfy. Right?”
“Scout’s honor!” I lift my hand.
“Okay then.” She nods, satisfied. “Let’s go get your stuff from the car then. I’ll call Justin on the way there.” Right, her older brother and local, hot mechanic who owns the only auto shop.
She grabs her keys and heads toward the door, making me instantly sweat in panic. I can’t let her drive me there because she’ll want to see the house, and when she does, she’ll drag me back to her place, kicking and screaming.
“I’ll call Archie to pick me up!” I suggest cheerfully, jumping enthusiastically like a toddler. “We need to discuss a few things anyway.”
She watches my performance silently, not looking convinced as she crosses her arms over her chest. “Call then.”
I smile sheepishly. “Can I borrow your phone?” I still haven’t gotten mine from the car. I haven’t gotten anything really, so I’m still wearing borrowed things, including underwear.
She pulls it out of her back pocket, unlocks it, and passes it to me. I tap Contacts, find Archie’s name, and hit dial.
“Alicia?”comes a voice on the other end.“Is everything okay?”
“Why does everyone in this town seem to think there must be a disaster happening if someone calls them?” I bitch, and he laughs.
