Page 12 of The Silence of Monsters

When we exited the courthouse, Channing shoved the massive sunglasses back on her face and spun on her heel like she was going to sprint in the opposite direction. I caught her arm, the way she had done to me earlier, and pulled her to a halt.

Even though her eyes were covered, I could still sense her glaring up at me. “Winnie won’t be in the city until this afternoon. I don’t have to be back at the office for a couple of hours. I’m pretty sure you didn’t eat breakfast this morning. Let’s grab a bite.”

Channing was seething. “I don’t want to sit down and have a meal with you.” She lifted the back of her hand to exaggeratedly rub her lips. “I need to brush my teeth again.”

I chuckled at her antics and shrugged. “Fine. I will follow you back to your place and help you pack. You’re on the verge of being evicted anyway.”

She snorted. “Thanks to you.”

I smirked in response and told her, “When you find the place where you really belong, no one, regardless of their influence, can make you leave.” I was speaking from my own experience. Once I left the Cove, I swore I would never go back. It was exhausting to live my life for everyone other than myself. My freedom was short-lived because my mother dragged me back. In the game of control, I always seemed to lose to her. I was forever searching for the place I just described to Channing.

Instead of arguing, Channing relented. “Fine. I’ll let you feed me. I don’t want your hands on anything else of mine today. I can pack and get down to the Cove on my own.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to remind her that it was my lips that had touched her, not my hands. I smiled to myself when I thought of her reaction earlier.

I doubted she would appreciate the distinction.

Channing

“Wait a minute.”

Winnie’s face twisted into a cute look of concentration. Her eyes skipped between me and Win. “You got married because you don’t want to get married?” Her questioning gaze landed on Win. “And you asked Aunt Channing to go along with your plan because you didn’t want to bring a stranger home to live with us?”

Win shifted his weight. If I didn’t know the kind of man he was, I would think he was nervous about being grilled by his young niece.

“That’s a big part of it. I am sick and tired of your grandmother bringing surprise dates home because I know my relationships will directly affect you. I will never agree to a long-term commitment with someone you didn’t like and respect, Winnie. Making a deal with your aunt is the best option right now. It gets your grandma off my back and allows you and Channing to spend more time with each other. We agreed to be honest with you about the situation, so you didn’t get the idea that this relationship between me and your aunt is the real deal.”

The teenager’s eyes switched to me. I wanted to squirm in my seat but managed to stay still. I reached out to hold her hand and forced a weak smile. “I know this must be a bit of a shock. It’s okay to be confused and angry. But I want you to understand that your Uncle Chester and I know what we’re doing.” I was lying through my teeth, but both my words and my smile were real when I told her, “As long as I get to spend more time with you and be an active part of your life, nothing else matters.” I shifted my hand so I could tug on her earlobe playfully. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”

Winnie gave her head a slight shake and muttered, “I thought you didn’t get along. Whenever you’re in the same room, all you do is argue. Aren’t you going to make each other miserable for the next couple of years if you go through with this?”

Win cleared his throat and leaned a little closer to the young girl. “There is a lot your aunt and I don’t see eye-to-eye on. However, we both love you and want what’s best for you. You don’t need to worry about anything other than that. We’re the grownups. It’s our responsibility to make sure you’re happy and healthy. Not the other way around.”

His voice was deep and steady. It was hard not to believe every word he said. No wonder he was so good at running Halliday Inc. All he had to do was use that soft, confident tone, and people would sign their life away to him the same way I had.

Winnie turned to stare at me. She lifted her hand and pulled on her bottom lip nervously. It was the same anxious tic my older sister used to have. My heart squeezed painfully as the image of the teenager and her mother overlapped in my mind.

“Aunt Channing,” she paused like she was trying to put her thoughts in order. “Are you sure you can move to the Cove? What about Grandma? Didn’t you tell me that you were never going back to the manor? You hate that house.” She shivered slightly. “I do, too. No one believes me when I tell them that it’s haunted and scary. I guess if you move in with us, you can help me prove that something supernatural is going on.”

The topic shift between her grandmother and ghosts was hard to follow. I guess both those things could scare you to death. “I’ll be fine. If your grandma has a problem with anything, your Uncle Chester will handle it. She pushed and pushed until he had to come up with this crazy idea to get her to back off.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her playfully. “I can help you prove it if the house is really haunted. Two sets of eyes and ears are better than one.”

Win grunted and motioned for the server to bring us the bill. The restaurant where we’d met was close to his office in the city and more upscale than one I would pick on my own. He flatly told me I needed to change out of my pajamas if I wanted to be allowed into the establishment. I had to fight the urge to find an even uglier, tackier set of pjs to throw on under my go-to blazer. However, I needed to be there to talk to Winnie. I didn’t want Win to speak for me or leave out details that would give her false ideas about our fake union.

“Stop indulging her, Harvey. The manor isn’t haunted. It’s just old and drafty. The staff moves around in other parts of the house and the sound travels through the vents and ductwork. It can explain whatever Winnie thinks she’s hearing.” Of course, he would have a boring, pragmatic explanation for whatever spooked our niece.

I fought an eye roll and sat back in my seat. “That estate has been in your family since the pilgrims landed on the East Coast. It’s ancient and full of history.” Including the tragedy that befell Winnie’s parents. “There can be more than one explanation for what Winnie is experiencing.”

Win’s eyebrows shot up, and the fingers of one of his hands tapped steadily on the table in front of him. The rhythm made the water in the glasses bounce. “You think ghosts are a more reasonable explanation than sounds simply carrying through a big, drafty house?” He sounded exasperated at the idea.

I shrugged. “It’s not a reasonable explanation, but it is more interesting than yours. Sometimes it’s fun to indulge in the unknown. Either way, Winnie is scared, and you haven’t made an effort to ease those fears.” I said the last part in a clearly accusatory tone. It baffled me that he was so insensitive to the fact that the little girl was living in the same home where both her parents had perished. It didn’t seem like such a farfetched idea that Winnie was feeling spooked after everything she had lost within those walls.

I didn’t want to tell either of them that I could imagine my sister’s troubled soul staying behind to keep an eye on her daughter. I didn’t really buy into the spooky and otherworldly. Though, while I worked at the curio shop handling antiques, there were times it felt like some of the really old, sentimental items came with the spirit of the previous owners attached.

I jerked my wandering thoughts back to the present and reassured Winnie, “I’m not afraid of your grandmother or ghosts.”

Winnie sighed as she picked up her fork to poke at the expensive dinner in front of her. “Sometimes I think I’m losing my mind.” She refused to meet my gaze as she practically whispered, “I know that Grandma Harvey and my mom were ill. Whenever I tell Grandma Colette that I’m creeped out by something in the house, she says it’s probably nothing. She always asks me if I want to end up locked away from society like my other grandma. She constantly reminds me that something may be wrong with me.”

I sucked in a harsh breath and whipped my head around to glare at Win. I couldn’t believe he let his mom talk to an impressionable teenager in such a way. The memory of her parents should be something sweet and sacred. Not a threat as to what the girl might face if she didn’t conform to Colette Halliday’s plans for her. I was surprised to see that Win looked equally disgusted by Winnie’s revelation.

---