Page 29 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
“Really?” she asked.
“I’ll talk to Xander and Stephen. I’ve convinced them to do much worse. This’ll be easy.”
“Worse like what?” she asked, simultaneously hoping she didn’t sound too eager and knowing full well she did.
“I’ll tell you later.” He nodded to the camera. “Let’s focus on your stories for now. Did anything else happen last night?” Ever the professional, he’d slid them right back on track after her near derailment.
“No, this was it.” Oh,shit, she soundedbreathlessagain. That man really bewitched her with a promise of a damn drone.
The window continued to climb upward, faster now. Maverick still hadn’t noticed.
“Nothing else?” His expression dipped for a moment. “Nothing else at all?”
Even through her happy haze, she picked up on the hint. “Should there have been?”
“Not necessarily. Your predecessors all experienced a…noticeable uptick in activity,” he said, using his presenter voice. “The kind that made them want to leave. If anything, this discovery seems to have encouraged you to stay longer.”
“You’re right about that. I’m not going anywhere.” She grinned. “By the way, you have some dust on your face.”
He began wiping, making it worse.
“Here, let me.” She grabbed the Kleenex out of the nightstand, and he held still as she cleaned his face with light strokes. “Much better.”
Neither one of them moved back, staying closer than they should’ve been. She was pinned by his gaze yet again.
He asked her softly, “Do you smell flowers?”
No, but she smelled cocoa butter—and the faintest notes of peppermint.
A mild early-morning breeze flowed into the room. Maverick looked away and did a double take. “Was the window open like that when we came in here?”
11
“Oh my god.” Georgia paced in a tight circle. “Oh my god. How did you not see that? How did you not feel it?Oh my god.”
“Ehh, they seemed a little preoccupied,” Chase said conversationally.
Lucky glanced at Maverick, who stood with his arms crossed while staring at the playback. Stephen replayed it again as if they all hadn’t seen the window move the first four times.
“Does it mean something?” Rebel asked. Being in a demonstrably supernatural house didn’t seem to faze her.
“It means the house woke up.” Maverick covered his mouth with his fist.
Lucky said, “That’s so interesting. Are you all operating under the belief that the housesleepsduring the day? Maverick said it was dormant-reactive—I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Xander explained that it’s closer to being in power-save mode,” Stephen said. “Daytime activity is exclusively reactionary.Something, usually intense emotions, triggers it to respond and then it quiets back down.”
Rebel stared at the footage for a moment before side-eyeing Lucky. She then squeezed closer to her dad, reaching up to hold his hand. “What triggered it to open the window?”
“Uh, we don’t know yet,” Maverick said, and Georgiacoughed. “But you don’t have to stay. I’ll take you home the second you give me the word. It’s up to you, sweetie.”
“Mmm…I want to stay for now.” Rebel fidgeted. “The house is nice. It wants us to be nice too.”
What a strange thing for Shortcake to say. Lucky exchanged a concerned look with Maverick, who shook his head slightly, eyes tightening. A move she recognized from her nanny days. She’d leave it to him. Some things were better for parents to handle.
Maverick asked, “Did you get the pancake ingredients at the store?”
“And we got sprinkles too!” Rebel pulled her dad to the kitchen, bursting the bubble of the meeting.
