Page 4 of Something Cryptid This Way Comes
During our group vacation in Italy this past July, he shared that he listens to my stories as he’s getting ready for bed. Picturing him in those plaid shirts he loves, puttering around his bedroom, listening to me, then sliding into his sheets with my voice in his ears, warmth washed into my chest. For all the years I’ve known Trevor, I’ve held a deep affection for him, but something changed that day, and the tenderness I had for him seemed to burrow into my core.
That feeling is back now, as I tell my tale. I’m not sure why my feelings for him shifted intomore, fiercer, and softer,but it happened, and hell if I know what to do about it.
Hades stirs from his spot on the rug. He pads toward me, his tag jangling from his collar, and noses my lap. The Belgian sheepdog found me in the woods while I was camping last year, thin and hungry, his black fur matted with mud. He’s been my faithful companion ever since. I rub the top of his head. “Did you come over to add something to my story?”
He licks my hand in response.
“Bram,” Charlie calls from the hallway. He comes into my office, his T-shirt dusted with flour, carrying my phone, which is ringing. “It’s Trevor.”
Surprise and delight flash into a warm sunbeam, lighting up my body.
“Awesome.” I pause the recording and grab the phone, then tap to answer the video call. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Trevor’s smiling face fills the screen. His short dark brown hair is tousled like he’s been running his fingers through it, and I wonder if he’s had a stressful day. The stubble he was sporting the last time we video chatted has grown into a close-cropped beard. It gives more focus tohis lips. I’ve never paid that much attention to his lips before, but now, I can’t stop looking at them.
Would they feel soft against mine? Or firm? Would they be warm?
I lick my lips, then shake my head to clear those thoughts. “How are you?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Oh, you know… there’s always something going on here. How was your trip?”
“Really good. I just finished editing the episode. Spoiler alert, we didn’t see Bigfoot during the investigation, but I got some great stories. You’ll have your version of it tonight. I’ll finish recording after I eat.”
His eyes light up with his smile. “I can’t wait.”
“So…” I focus on the faint line of stress between his brows and the tension in his shoulders I pick up on, even through the screen. “What’s wrong?”
Huffing a laugh, he sits back in his chair. He’s in his office at the inn, and wearing yet another plaid shirt. Brown this time, like his eyes and hair, with a thin line of orange running through it. He looks good, like a sexy lumberjack. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”
“No.” I grin, and he does too. “Tell me.”
He rakes his fingers through his hair and rolls his shoulders. “Okay, here goes. Agnes came to see me today.”
“Oh no,” I groan and drop my head back. Nothing good comes from my great-aunt stopping by. I love her, but finding—or as my mom would say, causing—trouble is part of her DNA. And I know Trevor has only shared half of the antics she’s gotten herself into.
“Yeah.” He huffs a knowing laugh. “The short version is, she thinks she saw a winged cryptid flying over her car, two of her bandmates saw something bipedal that’s bigger than a bear, and someone in her gardening club saw what they are calling a wolf-man.”
“Seriously?” I gape at my friend. I was expecting him to say something along the lines of yet another appliance breaking at the inn, not anything cryptid-related that isn’t about Mabel. Stroking Hades’s head, I glance at Charlie, who has made himself at home on the small sofa lining the far wall. “I wonder why she didn’t call me.”
Trevor shifts and I catch a glimpse of russet leaves against the blue sky over his shoulder. No matter how long it’s been since I’ve lived in Maplewood, I know that view from the window over the desk in the office, having spent summers during high school working part-time alongside him in that very spot. “You were away, but she said she’ll reach out. There’s more. Agnes talked to the community development guy who’s super involved in the festivals about all of this and they think it’s time we hold an event to honor Mabel, and whatever other cryptids may be lurking around here. They want to do it next month to kick off the Halloween events, and volunteered you and me to host it.”
Sprawled across the sofa, Charlie lets out a low whistle and raises his brows at me. “That’s a lot of information.”
Trevor leans closer to the screen. “Is that Charlie?”
“Yeah.” I turn my phone toward my brother so Charlie and Trevor can wave at each other, then spin it back. “So, new sightings of different cryptids all at once?”
“Over the course of a couple of weeks, from what Agnes says.” He shrugs. “I suggested the flying thing was a hawk or a heron, and the look she gave me…” He chuckles. “Anyway, I’m surprised there hasn't been a festival for Mabel yet, since the stories about her go back decades, and you know how this town loves its festivals.”
“I do.” In the wake of our parents’ divorce, getting lost in the festivals was a distraction for Charlie and me. Life in Maplewood took some getting used to, but our mom and Aunt Agnes did their best to help usadjust. “I’ve been to Bigfoot festivals in a few cities. It’s about time Mabel got some of that love too.”
There’s a whimper, and Trevor slides down to the floor, his back against the oak cabinets. “We decided to hold the event the second weekend in October.” I hear a jingle of Bandit’s collar as he jumps onto Trevor’s lap before his nose takes up the screen. Trevor moves the phone, holding it up and out of Bandit’s reach, those soft-looking lips tugging at the corners. “I know it’s not much notice, but can you come? Will you host it with me?”
“Yes.” The answer is automatic. I’d do anything for him. “I’m not traveling for another investigation until December, and if there’s anything on my calendar that will interfere, I’ll move it. This will be fun.”
The tension in his shoulders eases. “Thanks.” His cheeks tinge pink as he bites his lip. “You can stay with me. And bring Hades.”
Hades’s ears perk up at his name.
