Page 40 of Dream Lake

“Well, that was fun,” the ghost said, as Alex took a right on Spring Street and headed to San Juan Valley Road. “Where are we going now?”

“Sam’s place.”

“We’re going to clear out more of the attic?”

“Among other things.”

“What other things?”

Exasperated by the constant necessity of having to explain his every move, Alex said, “I want to catch up with my brother. I haven’t talked to him in a while. That okay with you?”

“Are you going to tell him about doing the remodeling for Zoë?”

“Justine may have mentioned it to him already. But if she hasn’t, then no, I’m not going to say anything.”

“How come? It’s not like it’s a big secret.”

“It’s not a done deal,” Alex said tersely. “I may back out.”

“You can’t.”

“Watch me.” Alex found perverse satisfaction in riling the ghost.

He expected all kinds of arguments and insults. But the ghost was silent as the truck headed out of the commercial district.

***

Alex visited Rainshadow Road to help Sam install a pair of carriage lantern sconces on a fireplace wall paved with antique handmade bricks. As they worked, an English bulldog named Renfield sat on a cushion in the corner and watched them with bulging eyes and an open drooling mouth. Renfield had been a rescue dog, with such abundant health problems that no one had wanted him. Somehow Mark’s girlfriend, Maggie, had sweet-talked him into taking in the dog, and although Sam had initially protested, he had eventually caved as well.

It was hardly a surprise that Renfield paid no attention to the presence of a ghost in the room. “I thought dogs were supposed to have a sixth sense about supernatural beings,” the ghost had once remarked to Alex.

“On his best day,” Alex had replied, “he’s only got about three senses working right.”

As they worked together on the installation, it was clear that Sam was in the kind of relaxed good mood that could only have come from recently getting laid. As the ghost had predicted, Sam was falling for Lucy Marinn in a major way, although Sam was determined to view it as one of his usual no-commitment deals. “I hit the jackpot with this girl,” Sam told Alex. “She is sweet, sexy, smart, and she’s fine with having a casual relationship.”

It had been a long time since Alex had seen his brother as preoccupied with a woman as he was with Lucy Marinn. Maybe never. Sam always played it cool, never letting his feelings—or anyone else’s—get the better of him.

“This casual relationship involves sex?”

“It involvesgreatsex. Like, an hour after we’re done, my body is still saying ‘thank you.’ And Lucy doesn’t want commitment any more than I do.”

“Good luck with that,” Alex said. Leveling a light fixture against the wall, he used a chalk pencil to mark the screw hole locations.

Sam’s enthusiasm dimmed visibly. “What do you mean?”

“Ninety-nine percent of the women who say they don’t want commitment either secretly do want it, or at least they want you to want it.”

“Are you saying Lucy’s playing me?”

“It could be even worse than that. She could be sincere in thinking she can handle being a jump-off, when in reality she’s not equipped for it. In which case—”

“What’s a jump-off?”

“A woman you’re having a no-strings relationship with. As in, you have sex with her, and then—”

“You jump off.” Sam scowled. “Don’t call Lucy that. And the next time you ask me how my life is going, remind me not to tell you.”

“I didn’t ask you how your life was going. I asked you to pass me the half-inch masonry bit.”

---