Page 24 of Haunted Ever After

“You think?” She heaved a sigh, but her voice was stronger. A far cry from the terrified woman he’d been confronted with this morning. “I don’t know if I’m cut out to live in a haunted house.”

“Not many people are,” he said lightly, but an uncomfortable feeling began to swirl in his gut. He could almost hear what she was going to say next. This town wasn’t going to do it for her. He wasn’t going to do it for her. Whatever was between them would be over before it even had a chance to start.

But this wasn’t about him, he reminded himself firmly. This was about Cassie and the fright she’d had last night. She was running on probably an hour of sleep and had a ghost in her house. It wasn’t the best time to grill her on her future plans.

Meanwhile, the time was at the forefront of his mind. He still had to open the café, and he needed to get going. While his heart wanted to stay with Cassie and do anything to make her feel better, everything else inside him needed to leave. He wasn’t a “take a personal day” kind of guy.

“Why don’t you come back to the café with me? Maybe get a cup of coffee? A latte?” Anything. Anything she wanted. He’d learn to shake an espresso—whatever the hell that was—if that’s what she needed right now.

But she waved him off with a weak smile. “I have coffee here. Maybe I should stay home, stop being so scared of the place. Exposure therapy and all that.”

“Could work.” He hated leaving her alone, but he was already rising from his chair. He really was running late. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah.” Cassie sighed as she spoke, but her nod was firm. “I should probably take a nap or something.”

“Might be a good idea,” he said. “Your porch looks cozy and all, but probably not for sleeping.”

“Definitely not. I don’t want to think about all the places I have wicker marks.” She rose from her chair and walked him to the front door. “Thanks,” she said, grasping his hand. “For everything.”

He squeezed her hand. “It’s what I’m here for.” It wasn’t until he said the words out loud that Nick realized it was the truest thing he’d ever said. She’d needed his help, and he hadn’t hesitated. He wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. “Here.” He held out his other hand. “I can give you my number. Text or call if you need anything else.” He’d hoped for a smoother, more romantic way to get his number into her phone, but this would have to do.

She handed her phone over immediately. “You don’t mind?”

“You kidding?” He pulled up a new contact entry and tapped in his info. “Unless you want to loiter outside the café all night.” He handed her phone back. “Seriously. I’m here. For whatever you need.” His cheeks flamed at the insinuation. He didn’t mean it like that, but at the same time he did mean it like that.

“Thanks,” she said again. Her voice was lower, and maybe she meant it like that too. If Nick were a bolder man he would have kissed her, but there was still something in her eyes that looked shaken. He didn’t want to push.

Instead he leaned down, brushing his lips across her forehead. “Sweet dreams.” When he pulled back, her eyes were closed, as though savoring the touch of his lips, and she gave a small hum in response. Work, Nick reminded himself. You have to go to work. The people in this town depend on you for caffeine. It was the only thing propelling him out the door and down the street to Hallowed Grounds. He was five minutes late unlocking the door and flipping over the OPEN sign, but there was no one there to care.

Except Elmer, of course. Where the hell have you been? It doesn’t take that long to walk down the stairs.

Emergency, he texted back. Cassie’s not used to this town being so…He hesitated before finishing the sentence. Would Elmer be offended? Ah, the hell with it…haunted.

There was a pause before Elmer replied, and Nick spent the time rushing through his opening duties right before the first customer showed up. In fact, it was a good few minutes before Nick’s phone rumbled in his pocket. It can be a lot if you’re not ready for it.

Wow. That unexpected insight from his ghostly friend made Nick pause, setting down his phone while he steamed some milk. He passed the latte across the counter before ringing it up and wiping his hands on a clean kitchen towel. Are you speaking as one of the haunted or the hauntee?

No comment.

Nick snorted. Elmer certainly had experience being both, and was probably the one person that Nick knew who had that kind of perspective. He’d never thought about what it must be like in Elmer’s metaphorical shoes. Had becoming a ghost taken a lot of getting used to? He suddenly had so many questions.

But before he could formulate any of them into a text, Elmer sent another message. The trick is to ease her into it. Show her it’s not all scary. Because you and I both know it’s not. But she doesn’t.

He had a point.

Nick was used to his mornings being punctuated by texts. Elmer knew that Nick was a captive audience and usually took full advantage. But today his phone stayed quiet until halfway through lunch, when it buzzed again in his pocket. He pulled it out, surprised to see that the message was from a 407 area code. Orlando.

It’s Cassie, the message read. Thanks again.

You feeling better?

She didn’t answer right away, and Nick wasn’t sure what to read into that. But he could be patient. Give her time, he told himself. Maybe she was figuring out the nicest way to say that she’d spent the day packing her shit and was halfway back to Orlando.

Nick was always fantastic at hyperbole.

Her response, when it finally came, wasn’t nearly as drastic. I’m not scared of my kitchen anymore, so that’s progress.

Baby steps, he replied before clicking his phone off. He had an idea. Elmer was right. Cassie needed to see more of Boneyard Key. Beyond the gimmicky ghost tour, and away from what went bump in the night in her house. Nick knew exactly what Cassie needed to see.

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