Page 71 of Haunted Ever After

But so what? Her leaving town didn’t mean they had to end. Orlando wasn’t that far away, and people did long-distance relationships all the time. All he knew now was that he liked his life with Cassie in it and didn’t want to think of a life without her. They could make it work. They would find a way. Maybe he wouldn’t mind a few strings after all.

Yeah, he was definitely calling Cassie tonight. They had things to discuss. And things to do that didn’t involve talking.

There was a knock at the outer door to the café right as the timer went off for the cakes. Nick ignored it, letting the knocking continue while he took the loaf pans out of the oven. There were always going to be Those People who thought that because they were on vacation, rules didn’t apply to them. Rules like closing times: they wanted a coffee and it didn’t matter that the coffee shop had closed hours ago. Couldn’t he just open the doors and serve them anyway? People seemed to pack extra audacity when they went on vacation.

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of buttery sugar and lemon, making Nick’s mouth water. He hoped Elmer could smell it. It was a little more effort than the banana bread he could make in his sleep at this point, but he had to admit Elmer was right. Totally worth it. He set the loaves to cool next to the finished banana bread. He’d ice them tonight and then pack it all up later, ready for tomorrow.

He fired off a text: hope I did it justice, before glancing around, gearing himself up to clean the kitchen. He’d just started stacking dishes in the sink when his phone buzzed with a response; he dried his hands on a kitchen towel before throwing it over his shoulder and picking up his phone.

Perfect. Smells just like I remember. You’re not bad at this!

Wow. Rare praise from Elmer. Nick smiled, a warm feeling blooming in his chest.

Meanwhile, someone was still knocking on the fucking door.

Nick threw the kitchen towel to the counter in a private display of temper, then he sucked in a deep breath through his nose as he barreled through the swinging kitchen door and into the café proper. He knew how to deal with folks like this—snarky and just this side of rude—but his annoyed stride halted when he saw a familiar blond ponytail through the front window. Libby.

Why the hell was Libby knocking at the café like she didn’t know he was closed? But the look on her face made Nick’s heart stall in his chest; something was wrong. Now he couldn’t get the door open fast enough, unlocking the latch and throwing back the bolt with nerveless fingers.

“What is it?” The words tumbled out of his mouth as he pulled open the door. “Is it your grandma? What’s wrong?”

Libby shook her head, ponytail swinging frantically to keep up. “It’s Cassie.”

“Cassie?” His heart gave a great thump, nearly stalling in his chest. “Is she okay?”

Libby shook her head. “We need you. Come on. Nan’s at her house right now.” She looked over her shoulder, toward the Hawkins House, and ice pooled in Nick’s stomach.

“Okay.” He darted out the door, closing it behind him before he realized—keys. He needed his keys to lock the door. And he should probably take his phone too. “Hold on.” It only took a moment to dash inside, back to the kitchen, to scoop up his phone from the counter and his keys from their hook. His hip caught against the corner of the counter on his way back out, more than one stool crashing to the ground, but he didn’t notice the pain.

As he stepped onto the sidewalk, pulling the door closed behind him and fumbling with his keys to lock it, he glanced back into the café; had he turned the oven off? He didn’t give a shit; the whole place could burn down for all he cared. Cassie needed him, and nothing was going to get in his way.

But he had the presence of mind to fire off a text (Is the oven off?) while he was still under the awning before he locked the door. He could only hope that Elmer’s range reached to the sidewalk, and he practically sagged with relief when he got an immediate reply (All good in here; go help your girl!). He was already heading up the sidewalk, his long strides forcing Libby to trot to keep up with him, as he stowed his phone away along with his keys.

“What’s happened?” he asked. “Did Mrs. H turn on her?” Just the thought of it had him seeing red. Cassie had bent over backward to try to understand her ghostly roommate, and now this? Mrs. H could fuck with him all she wanted; he was used to it by now. But if she’d done something to hurt Cassie…

But Libby shook her head. “It’s not Mrs. H,” she said. “It’s Mister H.”

“Mister?” Nick stopped short, facing Libby. “Where the hell did he come from?” But something clicked in his brain. The bees, the buzzing…the aggressive static. The masculine, outdated thinking.

Holy shit, it was Mr. H after all.

Libby filled Nick in on everything on the rest of the walk to Cassie’s house.

“From what we’ve been able to figure out, Mrs. H has been keeping him at bay all this time. First while she was alive, and then…afterward.”

“Strong woman.” Nick conveniently forgot that he’d hated Sarah Hawkins all of five minutes ago. “Bet he hates that.”

“Yep. And then Cassie came along, and then you came along. Mr. H wants to control Cassie, and he’s trying to get you to do that for him.”

Nick had to scoff at the notion. “Fuck that.”

“Exactly.”

They reached the Hawkins House, and the sight of Cassie sitting on the top step filled Nick with relief. Whatever was going on hadn’t touched her yet. She looked fine. She looked…

Pissed.

She came storming down the steps of her front porch, her face like thunder. “Absolutely not,” she barked as she met Nick at her front gate. She put her hands on the gate, as though that would keep him out. She glared past him to Libby. “I told you not to get him.”

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