Page 61 of She is the Darke

“If I keep chasing you, if you keep liking me back…would you move here?”

It was the first time she’d seen uncertainty in Callum’s eyes.

“I suppose one of us would have to move. The three-hour drive between us would get old very fast. And you have the pumpkin patch, and your top secret no-girls-allowed golf club—”

“It’s not a golf club.”

“Damn. It was worth a shot.” She sighed and rested her head back against the door. “Plus, you are a founding family member, so far be it for me to steal you away. I would need a job though. An important one. Like maybe driving the tractor of the hay rides for festival week and I want the same salary as my other job,” she teased.

“You are a tough negotiator.”

“Fine, I will also be a wine sampler. And a corn dog taster.”

“You make things lighter.” He’d said it with such conviction, she had to know more.

“What do you mean?”

“My life was heavy for a long time, and then you came along, and since I saw you, everything just feels…bearable. It’s fun again. You have this enamoring way of looking at the world and it’s like a breath of fresh air. You could be in a dark room and just by existing you could banish the shadows. It’s a rare thing, Stacia.”

“Well, save your compliments until you see my energy level in the morning. That light and bright ain’t so fun at six-thirty in the morning when I’m already up singing musicals off-key, talking your ear off, messing up your kitchen, and making plans that don’t make any sense.”

He laughed, and she marveled at how easy his smile was. Handsome boy. “Plans like what?”

“Like after you get off work tomorrow, do you have your top-secret meeting stuff? Or do you have time to do an adventure with me?”

“Tomorrow is Halloween. Your favorite holiday, right?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the P at the end.

“Then how could I say no to a Halloween adventure?”

“Good, because Alex said there is this ghost tour around town, and you end up at this little pub that was built in the early seventeen hundreds as the first building in the whole town, and it’s supposed to be haunted by a witch who used to live there!”

The smile fell from his face completely.

“Callum?” she asked, leaning forward. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat and repeated it, but she couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince her that he was fine, or himself.“Yes. I’m great. Just…surprised. Alex doesn’t like haunted stuff, so I’m a little shocked she suggested the ghost tour is all.”

“Oh. Well, we don’t have to go,” she backpedaled. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, or—”

“No! I’m in.” His smile crept back across his face, and even if it was smaller than before, it was still a smile. It counted. “I haven’t been there in a very very long time. It’ll be good to see the old pub again. My family has a very long history with it.”

Okay, well now she was extra super intrigued. “Eeee, now I really can’t wait. What costume should I wear?”

“Marie Antoinette, most definitely.”

“Yessss.” She pumped her fist. “I was hoping you would say that!”

There was still something behind his eyes…something somber. Something thoughtful, but when she asked him about it, he shook his head and told her, “Everything is okay.” And then he changed the subject and asked her about her parents, and her childhood pets, and the town she grew up in and she got lost in talking to him because he was so easy.

It was as if she’d known him forever.

This was different for her. Never in her lifetime had she ever been so comfortable with another person.

It made her happy that she’d finally stumbled onto a nice, normal man.

Chapter Eight

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