Page 5 of The Midnight Order
When I get back inside, my phone rings and I pause before running to grab it.
The damn thing hasn’t worked once since I got here.
“Hello?!” I answer breathlessly.
Nothing.
“Hello?!” I shout as if that’ll make whoever’s on the other end hear me better.
“Argh!” I slam the phone down and head for the shower, hoping that’ll make me feel better before I go into town and figure out how the hell everyone around here communicates with the outside world.
However, the way the town seemed yesterday makes me suspicious that theydon’t.Blackmoore gives the distinct illusion that you’re in another world entirely.
Either that, or I’m disillusioned by the city and don’t know how the rest of the world lives.
Once I’m in the shower, I assess that it doesn’t, in fact, work. There’s water, but it’s ice cold and smells god awful.
I shower as quickly as I ever have and rush through getting dressed and blow-drying my hair, taking extra time to use the blow dryer as a makeshift heater, blowing it beneath my sweater and over my legs.
Once I’m in the Tahoe, with the heat going and my nerves nearly shot before noon, I take a deep, cleansing breath and then head down the drive toward I-10.
I don’t know how anyone can live here, but I have to remind myself that I’m moving into a home my great aunt couldn’t care for in her final days, which is why there are issues.
There are bound to be bumps in the road; I only have to account for them. I have to give myself and this rickety house some grace.
The problem is, I’ve never been good at working under pressure without a good night’s sleep and a warm shower.
My temples throb as I throw myself a pity party before pulling into the coffee shop I stopped at yesterday.
The same woman is operating the counter; this time, it seems the entire town is here, though there’s no wait.
I sidle up to the register and order myself another pumpkin cheesecake latte, taking care to look at her name tag this time.
“You moved into the old Dormund place, right?” she asks me.
“Yes, Karen. I did.” I smile, and she momentarily looks down at her name tag before smiling back up at me.
“Shame, what happened to Old Lady Dormund. Just an absolute shame.” She’s shaking her head as she steams the milk for my latte.
My brows crease at the idea that something untoward happened to my aunt when the lawyer told me she passed away from old age and a failing heart.
“I told her not to buy that place when she stopped through town and said she was here to see it. Told her it was too close to them…” She trails off, looking up as if she’s said more than she should, before shaking the look away quickly. “Anyhow, what’s done is done. We’re all sorry for your loss, Hun,” she finishes.
“Too close to who?” I prod as she puts the lid on my latte, her eyes seeming to travel far off.
I follow her line of sight out the window, finding nothing worth staring at before turning back.
Shockingly, she’s in front of me when she was feet away a second ago.
I gasp, and she cocks her head at me awkwardly. “You alright, Hun? You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I-I’m fine,” I stammer. “Just need this coffee, is all.”
She laughs, and it sends a chill down my bones. “You’re jumpy; maybe you don’t need any coffee. I’ll take your business, though. Don’t get much these days.”
I look around at the shop that doesn’t have an empty seat, confused by her words.
“Hey, Karen?” I ask, following around the counter, where she stops near the pastry case on display.
