Page 39 of Haunted Ever After

A half hour later, they’d destroyed the entire pizza and most of the bottle of wine while Cassie filled them in on what had happened with Nick this afternoon.

“Wait.” Sophie’s eyes went wide behind her glasses. “He said what?”

“I know.” She still couldn’t believe it herself. His vitriol had come out of nowhere, and she hadn’t been able to get him out of her house fast enough. She picked a pepperoni off her last slice and popped it in her mouth. “Sorry to disappoint,” she said while she chewed.

“No, it’s just…” Sophie shook her head. “That’s not Nick. He’s a nice guy. Always has been.”

Cassie snorted. “Believe me, he wasn’t this afternoon.” She pointed at the fridge. “Even Mrs. H had had enough of his shit.”

“Oh wow. Nan was telling me about this.” Libby got up and moved closer to the fridge, examining the magnetic poetry. “She really does move those around, huh?”

Cassie nodded. “It’s feeling less and less weird the more it happens.”

“I don’t know.” Libby gave a little shudder. “I know this is Nan’s thing, the family business and all, but sometimes it still gives me the ick.”

“She really put that phrase up when Nick was here? Like she threw Nick out?” Sophie asked.

“More like she strongly suggested it,” Cassie said. “She can move these little words around, but not whole human beings. As far as I know.” God, wouldn’t that be something. Today, magnetic poetry; tomorrow, people. Would Mrs. H evolve, like a Pokémon?

Libby shook her head, still staring at the fridge. “I’m trying to remember any time Nick got thrown out of somewhere.”

“I can’t picture it,” Sophie said. “I’ve known Nick since…” Her voice trailed off while she thought. “I don’t remember a time in my life that I haven’t known Nick.”

Libby nodded in agreement. “Sure, sometimes he gets mad. Everyone does. And boy, can that man hold a grudge.”

“Yeah, but he’s such a nice guy,” Sophie said. “He’s never been…I dunno. Misogynistic or angry like that.”

“Do you think it’s because you talked about selling the house?” Libby polished off the wine at the bottom of her glass.

“I don’t know,” Cassie said. “Would that really upset him that much?” Sure, they’d had a couple nice evenings out together. And more than a couple very nice kisses. But that didn’t make them committed to each other or anything. No hearts were being broken here. Yet.

But Sophie gave a low “Ohhhhhh” of recognition. “I bet that’s it. If he thinks you’re leaving town…that’s a sore subject with him.” She and Libby locked eyes across the kitchen, and the two of them nodded in unspoken agreement. Cassie suddenly felt very tired. It was exhausting sometimes, feeling like you didn’t have people.

But maybe these two weren’t being exclusionary. After all, they were here, and they’d brought sustenance. They weren’t leaving her on read and then sending selfies from happy hours that Cassie wasn’t part of anymore. They were trying. Maybe Cassie should too.

“He did tell me,” she said tentatively, “something about his parents leaving town? And his sister?”

Libby nodded. “And Madison.” She said the name quietly, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“Madison?” Cassie echoed. She looked from Sophie to Libby. “I thought his sister’s name was Courtney?”

“Oh, it is.” Libby sighed. “Madison’s my cousin. She and Nick were high school sweethearts. Prom king and queen, all that.”

“Okay…” Cassie drew out the word. “And now?”

Sophie sighed. “Now she’s more like his childhood trauma.”

“The long and short of it is,” Libby continued, “he loves this town, and she didn’t. She left, and he stayed here.”

“Ah.” Cassie reached for the wine bottle, but it was empty. She shook the last few drops into her glass before giving up. “And he’s still holding a torch for his first love?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Libby toyed with the stem of her wineglass. “I love Mads, but she didn’t treat him great. She strung him along for a few years when she really should have let him go. It got kinda messy there at the end.”

Sophie nodded. “Really messy. I haven’t seen him date anyone since then, and they broke up, what, five years ago?” She looked over to Libby, who nodded in confirmation. “He’ll go out with a tourist for the weekend, but that’s about it. It’s like he doesn’t want to commit to someone who’s going to leave him behind again.”

“I really thought he’d changed. I thought…” Libby didn’t finish the thought, just gave Cassie a sorrowful shake of the head.

“His family left, his sister left, his girlfriend left,” Sophie said. “If you started talking about leaving too…” She shrugged. “Maybe it set him off?”

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