Page 20 of Real Fake Hauntings

“Is that…?” I pulled aside his jacket and gasped. “It is!”

Underneath his jacket, Ian was wearing one of my special Halloween Tea Cauldron T-shirts.

Oh, my goodness, but this man was going to kill me one day from all the sweetness.

In response, he scrutinized my head. “Nice hat.”

“Oh, shush,” I mumbled, throwing my arms around his waist and hugging him close. Not too close, though. He wouldn’t appreciate green makeup and glitter on his black ensemble.

When I stepped back, he dug into his pocket and offered me a metal badge.

“I found this yesterday. Made me think of you.”

“It did?” I took the badge and examined it in wonder. It was round with a cartoon ghost holding a shield and a sword going Boo and Cavalier Cemetery Tours written around the edge. It was perfect. “I love it.”

He gave me a rare grin. “I thought you might. It’s merchandise from when my mother did the tours.” Taking the badge from my hand, he carefully pinned it to my T-shirt. His eyes warmed, as did the butterflies in my belly.

A flurry of barks broke the moment. Fluffy bounded toward us, apparently recovered from her exertion.

Ian crouched to greet her, then stood to pet Rufus, who had followed at a much more sedate place.

“That was a long dog walk,” he commented.

I noticed Key peeking around the building, probably hoping I’d get to answer Ian’s questions instead of her. Smart woman. She’d go far in the bounty hunter business.

“There was a situation. I thought Key and the dogs might come in useful. I’ll tell you after,” I added, seeing Shane and Alex walking up to us.

Ian nodded, and Key decided it was safe enough to join us with the strays here.

“How’s the tour going?” I asked, excitement filling me up anew. Ian’s mother had sent us her old tour stories, which we had integrated into the scripts. She had wanted to be here but had already made plans with her husband. I’d been vaguely relieved at the news—as much as she sounded like an amazing person (she had raised Ian, after all, and Ian was pretty amazing), meeting my boyfriend’s mother so soon had felt somewhat overwhelming.

We might’ve kissed and fooled around, but Ian and I had yet to spend a night together. A night together in the same room, I amended. The time he’d slept in my living room didn’t count.

“One of the big spotlights is busted,” Shane said in a gloomy voice, his one-eyed stare boring into Alex. “Your friend’s stuff is crap.”

Alex shrugged like the most laid-back, unconcerned surfer dude ever, long, blondish hair included. “You need to plug it in the way I showed you.”

“I did, and it’s not working. It keeps going off and on.”

“I’m sure it’ll work when it counts,” I said, siding with Alex on this one. Bee-Bee—also known as the deathtrap and that piece of crap among my newfound family in Olmeda—was still in perfect working order.

“That’s going to take some strong magic,” Shane muttered ungraciously.

As if on cue, there was a loud thunk and a bright white light all but erased our retinas.

“Dude,” Shane exclaimed, shading his good eye with his hand.

“See? Told you it works.” Alex grinned, trotting down to the spotlights and turning the offending one off.

I blinked, but the square of white burned into my retinas refused to go. “That’s one powerful light.”

“My friend only provides the best,” Alex said proudly.

“Yo, Alex,” a new voice shouted from the distance. A young, red-headed man stepped from behind a small mausoleum with an armful of wispy white stuff. “You want these on the statues too?”

“Who’s that?” I asked, curious.

“That’s Allen.” Alex cupped his mouth with his hands and shouted back, “Statues too!”

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