Page 65 of Haunted Ever After

There was something to that. Another puzzle piece. But Cassie could only handle one of those at a time, and right now she was working on Sarah’s past. With a sigh she reached for her laptop bag. Buster would be here any minute to fix the showerhead in the upstairs bathroom, but he had a key. She left a note on the table asking him to check the electricity one more time. Couldn’t hurt, right?

“I’ll be back in a bit!” she called out to the empty house. “If there’s anything else you want to let me know about, feel free! I’ll check the fridge when I get home.”

Her heart pounded a little faster the closer she got to the café. Nick’s gift this morning had been unexpected and all the more perfect because of that, but was it also a message? They were all about no pressure, no strings. Was this saying he wanted more? Was this saying he wanted less? Like I like you, but please quit coming by the café every damn day? She glanced idly in the window of I Scream Ice Cream as she walked past, remembering what Nick had said about it on the ghost tour. Sometimes an ice cream shop is just an ice cream shop. Maybe banana bread was just banana bread.

Nick glanced up from behind the counter, and his smile looked like the sunshine after a summer rainstorm. So she’d probably been overthinking it. As usual.

“You done already?” He tossed a towel over his shoulder in the style of every clichéd diner owner in every movie or television show. “You’re not supposed to eat an entire loaf of banana bread in one sitting, you know.”

“You didn’t leave me a latte to go with it,” she shot back. “How was I supposed to enjoy it like that?”

“I had to keep you coming back here somehow.”

“You know I love you for more than your banana bread.” Her breath caught in her throat as the words left her mouth. She meant it in a teasing way; she’d said that kind of thing more than once to him. But Nick’s eyes widened, just long enough for Cassie to see that this time, those words had had an impact.

She really shouldn’t have said that. No pressure, no strings, she repeated to herself. Get a grip.

But Nick put his elbows on the counter, leaning toward her, an easy smile on his face. “I’ll take what I can get.”

Okay. They were okay. She relaxed into a smile as she stretched onto her toes, leaning over the counter for a kiss. “You can’t leave one of those in the mailbox, either.”

“Good point.” God, his smile felt good against her mouth. She opened her eyes to watch Nick press his lips together for an instant as though to savor the kiss. “Iced hazelnut?” His gaze lingered on her mouth in an extremely distracting way, and Cassie forced her brain back on task.

“Yes, please,” she said. “And power.” She headed to her table in the back corner; Nick was just too damn distracting. “I think I’m going to just have to bite the bullet and rewire the whole damn house at this rate.”

“That sounds nice and low stress.”

“Oh, yeah. Won’t dip into my nonexistent savings at all.” Her laptop gave a pleasant chirp as it started charging, and Cassie tsked at it. Her logical brain reminded her that it wasn’t her laptop’s fault and her electricity worked fine; she had working lamps and appliances and hair dryers and all kinds of things. There was just something about her laptop and her house that didn’t get along. Sarah Hawkins seemed to have something against Cassie working from home. It was the twenty-first century; Sarah Hawkins needed to get with the program.

That thought flashed in her mind like the neon ghosts in the coffee cup outside of Hallowed Grounds, and she knew she needed to pursue it further. But then Nick dropped off her iced hazelnut latte, along with a kiss on top of her head, and safe to say that put her mind on other, more pleasant things.

“Whatcha working on today?” He glanced down at her laptop, his hand flat on her back between her shoulder blades. Something about his touch was so grounding; it was like being connected to him was the most comforting thing in her life. It felt right. So right that it was almost unremarkable.

“Research,” she said. “On Sarah Hawkins. Enough is enough.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Nick said. “Getting a little sick of that bitch.”

“Hey.” Cassie looked up with a frown. “Don’t call her that.”

He held up defensive hands. “Look, she’s not my biggest fan. I don’t want to take it personally, but she’s making it hard.”

“I get that. But she’s my roommate. There’s got to be a reason for all this. And I’m going to figure out what.”

“If you say so.” There was still an edge to his voice, but he kissed her hair again before leaving her to it. Cassie took a long sip of her latte—heaven—then brought up the genealogy website. Last time, she’d only gone as far as to confirm that C.S. and Sarah Hawkins lived in Boneyard Key in 1910, but now she brought up the 1900 census and searched for William Donnelly.

The result came back almost immediately. Donnelly, William. Age fifty-seven, occupation: Architect. The next line however, was where she struck gold. Other members of the household: Blankenship, Sarah. Age nineteen. Relationship: Niece. No occupation listed.

“Gotcha,” Cassie whispered at the screen. If she ever needed any confirmation that Sarah’s spirit was really in her house, here it was. The fridge had said earlier this morning that Donnelly was her uncle, and now here was the proof in a PDF. But this new knowledge sent a chill down her spine and her brain down a rabbit hole. Why did William Donnelly leave town? How did C.S. Hawkins enter the picture? She wasn’t sure what search terms she needed to enter to get the answers she sought.

But maybe her answers weren’t online. Cassie all but chugged her latte as she repacked her computer bag.

“You charged up already?” Nick waved off Cassie’s debit card when she tried to hand it to him.

“Not quite. But I need to talk to Theo.”

Nick’s brow furrowed. “I thought you already talked to him.”

“What, are you jealous?” She stretched up for another over-the-counter kiss. “I found something that I want him to see.”

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