Page 51 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
“Will he be safe out there?”
“Probably. It’s his house. He knows more than any of us.”
“Maverick, do you understand what this means? Look.” She gestured to the ground as flowers whirled around their feet and up their calves. “It gave him flowers. This is his welcome home. Hennessee has been waiting for him to come back.”
He looked uneasy and skeptical.
“Don’t be like that, please?” she pleaded. “This is good. This issogood.”
“We don’t know what it’s showing him,” he said. “We don’t know what comes after this. I know you want to believe the house has good intentions, and I’m sorry, but I don’t. Neither does Xander. And if he says that, it means something.”
She shook her head, taking a step back.
He took a step forward. “Just wait until you talk to him before deciding if this is actually a good thing. Please? In the meantime, we’ll stay down here until he comes back or if something happens and he needs us. Okay?” They sat together at the small kitchenette table in front of the window. The vibrant colors of theorchard were no match for the oppressive darkness, but the white gazebo glowed in the moonlight next to it. Maverick pulled their chairs together, as close as they’d been on the stairs. Fifteen minutes of silently waiting passed before she said, “I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too.” He paused. “I want to tell you something.”
She tore her attention from the window for him.
“Since I’ve met you, I’ve started dreaming again. I’ve written more in the past week than I have all year,” he said. “I really do believe you have a gift. The kind that helps people see the best in themselves. You guide them toward where they would be happiest. You’re a muse, Lucky.”
“That’s very sweet, Maverick. It’s not true, though.”
“That’s what I see in you,” he said. “I also see that you’re a know-it-all and a little self-righteous. And you lie all the time. I see everything and I’m still here. Because I want to be and I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to.”
She scoffed. “Sure, you say that now.”
“Because that’s how this works. This is how it starts.” He huffed in frustration. “You’re so brilliant it’s ridiculous and yet you think it’s okay for you to make decisions for me.” He paused. “For us. Why can’t we do that together?”
“Because it won’t work.”
“But you’re not psychic, remember? You don’t know how this will end until we live it, but we’ll never find out if you keep running away,” he said. “I want to see where this goes. What do you want? Honestly. Not based on what you think will happen or how you think I’ll react. What do you honestly want?”
She didn’t even need to think about it. “I want to be wrong about us. You don’t know what it was like for me when I tried to be with other people.” Her voice was shaking as badly as herhands. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want him to think he made her unhappy because he didn’t. Not even close. “I want…I want to take things slowly. I need slow.”
“Slow,” he repeated, wiping her tears. “We can do that.”
Lucky sniffled, laughing as she smiled, but thensomethingmade her yawn. She felt it, like a command in her head telling her body what to do. The edges of her vision began to blur and darken as she looked at Maverick and whispered, “I think I’m tired.”
17
Lucky jolted awake as if something forcefully ripped her from unconsciousness. She barely moved an inch before feeling the awful cramp in her neck. And legs. And her right arm—why was she so achy?
Because she’d slept on a makeshift bed made from pushed-together kitchen chairs, the wall, and Maverick’s body.
Maverick, who was still asleep.
Shit.
“Maverick, wake up,” she said, heart beating too fast. “You have to wake up.” She shook him gently.
He woke with a start, inhaling sharply on high alert. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Panic danced in his eyes as she held his face, trying to stay calm. “When did you fall asleep? Was it after sunrise?”
“I didn’t sleep.” He shook his head, looking past her around the kitchen. “I didn’t…Youfell asleep. I almost carried you upstairs because you passed out so hard—you just turned off likesomeone pushed your power button. But I didn’t want you to be upset that you weren’t down here, and I was fine. I felt fine. I don’t remember going to sleep.” He closed his eyes, grimacing. “But I think I did. No.No.”
“Did you make it past sunrise first? It might not count if it was during the day.”
