Page 169 of A Curse On Black Lake
Tiny doesn’t go running, but stays close to my side, alert and observant. And I trust him to alert me since his eyesight is better than mine in the dark. We step off the porch and go around the corner, still not spotting anything.
Turning back around, we go to the other side of the porch that wraps around the house, and I don’t see a figure, or even a ghost.
Wishing I had some pants and boots, I go down the steps and towards the barn. The only way you can get into that barn is through the two doors, or one of the stalls, and a latch would have to be broken to do that. Spotting no open doors, I walk around, but it’s quiet. The animals are relaxed, and Tiny seems to have lost interest, as if the threat is gone.
We go back up the hill to the house, and I scan the area one more time.Quiet.
Tiny pees and follows me back inside.
He circles a spot on the rug and plops down.
I flip the deadbolt and close the blinds before going back upstairs.
“Oh, thank God,” Eliana says and gets off the bed, coming over to me.
Her arms wrap around my waist, and I hug her close, pressing a chaste kiss on her temple. “I’m fine. Tiny heard something, but I didn’t find anything.”
“Do you think it was him?” she asks.
“Maybe, or it was nothing, and Tiny heard an animal. When the sun rises, I'll look again.”
“Should we call the police?” she asks.
“I don’t know what they would come out here for. If it was him, he’s gone for now.”
“Okay.” Eliana grabs my hand. “Can we go back to bed, please?” she asks.
I chuckle, guiding her over to her side and lifting the sheets.
“Give me a second.”
After getting the dirt off my feet, I crawl back into bed and pull her naked body into mine. “The Spirits didn’t wake me up or anything,” she says.
I spread my hand across her stomach. “Maybe they gave you the night off.”
She snorts. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”
We lay there for a while. The adrenaline is still surging through my veins, so I’m wide awake, but I want to hold Eliana until she goes back to sleep.
“Did you seriously go out there buck naked?” she asks.
I chuckle and drag a finger over her supple skin. “Yep, couldn’t waste time looking for pants.”
She huffs a laugh. “I don’t know if I can go back to sleep,” she says.
Glancing at the clock, it’s only one. “We still have a few hours before we have to get up.”
“I don’t know what I would do if he hurt you,” she whispers.
“I’m going to find him before that happens,” I mutter, closing my eyes, and praying I didn’t lie to her. I don’twantit to be a lie.
She hums and shifts in my arms, and I kiss her temple. “Go back to sleep. We can talk about it in the morning.”
“It is morning, but okay,” she says sleepily.
A few hours later, I’m wide awake, but Eliana is sleeping soundly in my arms, and I don’t want to move. I’ve never been so taken with someone. I dated around a bit when I was a deputy, but nothing ever stuck. It never crossed my mind to introduce anyone to my parents. But if they were still living, I’d take Eliana to them today.
She has such a beautiful heart of gold behind her attitude. Even though I like her sass quite a bit. But I’ve learned that she had to build those walls around herself to keep people out, including me. This is a small town, but without Divine intervention, we may have never truly connected with each other.
