Page 49 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
“Well, we’ve already broken the experiment rules. Might aswell keep going.” He sat on the top step, gesturing for her to join him.
“That’s like saying I have a crack in my phone screen, might as well shatter the whole thing.” She sat down anyway.
The staircase was narrower than average, barely enough room for two adults to walk side by side. Lucky held her hands between her thighs, hoping to take up less space. Their shoulders and hips met in the middle despite her efforts—a comforting warmth radiated through his clothes.
She asked, “Anything exciting happen for you yet?”
“Not really. I smelled flowers again when I was in the kitchen. I followed it but it might have been leading me back to my room. I think it faded when I saw you. I stopped focusing on it so I’m not sure.”
“Interesting. What kind of flowers?”
“I don’t think it’s a specific one. It’s more like a pleasant floral perfume.”
“Is it familiar?”
“Yep.” He nodded, clearing his throat. “Very.”
“I wonder what the parameters are for scents. Can the house make them for anyone it wants to? It made one for Eunice and she hadn’t slept yet either.”
Maverick sighed, shaking his head.
“What?” After accepting he wasn’t going to elaborate, she said, “At least yours isn’t like mine and completely random. Hennessee hasn’t shown me anything personal at all.” If Hennessee House wanted to get her attention now, it should use Maverick. He always smelled so good. She’d follow even faster than with the peppermint. Currently, his usual cocoa butter scent was stronger than normal, still lingering on his skin after his shower.
“That’s a good thing,” he said seriously. “I’m never sleeping in this house. With the way my dreams work, I’m low-key terrified what it’ll show me.”
“With a mind like mine, it should be having a field day. It could have tried to put the fear of everything in me a million times over using the things I’ve read in people. And yet? Nothing. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe it has other plans for you.” He shrugged. “I get where you’re coming from, but no one person can know everything. Sometimes things just won’t ever make sense, no matter how you spin it.”
“Well, I can’t accept that.”
“I know.” The resigned look on his face made her heart sink. Words fell to the wayside as they stared at each other until he said, “Your eyes are starting to look better.”
“Ah, going for my eyes again, I see,” she joked. “I promise I’m fine.”
“What’s it like?”
“The pain?”
“No, being able to read people the way you do. What’s it like living with it?”
“Oh, um.” No one had ever asked her that before. “I don’t really remember what life was like before I could do it, so I guess you could say it changed everything for me. I’ve never met a person I couldn’t read. No matter how old or young, confident or shy, good or bad—I see them for who they were. Who they are. Who they want to be. Who they will be if all their stars align. Sometimes it feels like cheating.” She looked away, concentrating on her knees, and felt him move impossibly closer.
Their temples nearly touched, and he didn’t need to use more than a whisper. “What do you mean?”
“Life gave me a cheat code, but it wasn’t free. I have to pay for it.” She shrugged. “No one wants to be around a know-it-all. No one likes it when you know their secrets, sometimes before they do. My family doesn’t like me very much because they think I’m too self-righteous, among other things. Keeping friends is difficult when you start being too weird or too driven. I see everyone and my payment, my punishment, is no one sees me.” She smiled at him to keep from crying. She’d never said that out loud before. Easy to forget how much it hurt when she forced herself to never think of it.
He shook his head, frowning and concerned. “Having a gift isn’t a punishment.” His fierce whisper was almost enough to convince her.
“A gift. Sure. I wish whoever gave it to me left a note so I could return it.” She laughed.
“Who would you be without it?”
She stared at him wide-eyed, slightly in shock.
“Don’t misunderstand,” he said gently. “I’m not saying you’d be nothing without it. I’m asking who would you be instead? What would your life be like? Would it be better? Would it be worse? Who would you want to be? It’s obviously had a profound effect in shaping who you are. Would you be the same person without it?”
She shook her head. Of course, she wouldn’t be. Her ability was tied to her existence. Not to be dramatic but losing it would be like staying alive after giving up her heart—she didn’t know how she’d function. That was why it hurt so much to be rejectedso thoroughly by her loved ones. Changing for them meant denying a part of herself.
