Page 26 of Love At First Fright
“She’s very sweet. How did you two meet?”
“Through our agent.”
As they danced, Rosemary spied the two Regency ghosts outside the window, lit only by the low-hanging crescent moon and the silvery glow that surrounded them in a delicate haze.
They clearly hadn’t kept their promises to stay away from each other, arguing and gesturing wildly at each other. Rosemary thought she heard a distant rumble of thunder, even though the night seemed clear.
The song drew to a close, and thankfully Lance spared them all from another performance. As lovely as his playing was, Rosemary wasn’t sure she could handle another dance around the room with Ellis. As she pulled her cardigan back on, she noticed that the ghost dog had temporarily abandoned his post by Ellis’s feet and had fled through the wall into the night, where he was lying belly-up as one of the ghosts fawned over him and pressed kisses to his paws.
“Thank you for tonight, Lance, but I’m afraid I’m off to bed,” Rosemary said, taking the pause in music as a moment to make her escape.
“As you wish, darling.” Lance smiled, glancing up at her from his reading glasses as he sifted through more sheets of music. “For me, the night is still young.”
Rosemary made her way into the hallway, taking note of the way her shoes echoed on the stone floor. She ought to remember that for her next horror novel; it would add to the atmosphere. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel the same apprehension she usually did after an evening of socialising, that bone tiredness that came from performing the personality of a normal, well-put-together, confident version of herself.
“Rosemary, wait.” She felt a warm hand grip her wrist, and turned to find Ellis standing right behind her.
“You’re going to bed already?”
“Jet lag,” she lied. He hadn’t let go of her wrist yet, and she wasn’t sure why she hadn’t pulled away.
“I see. Well, you owe me a list.”
“I do?”
“Of horror movies, remember? I recall you made it very clear how embarrassing it was that I haven’t watched any.” He grinned. Finally, he looked down, and saw he was still holding her, and pulled away. There was no reason for her to miss his touch.
“I’ll give you my number then,” Rosemary suggested. Just two colleagues swapping numbers for research purposes, nothing going on here. A moment after she passed Ellis his phone back, she felt an answering ping in her pocket.
“Go easy on me with the recommendations, alright? I don’t want nightmares.” He grinned. He was all disarming British charm, and she couldn’t take much more of it. Her guards were coming down, and she didn’t like it. “Good night, Ellis,” she said.
“Good night, Rosemary.”
She broke eye contact and went up to her room. She sent over a list of movies, a mix of classics and favourites.
An hour or so later, her phone buzzed. Rosemary ignored it at first, she was deep in research about the Vatican Necropolis for an idea she had about a possessed nun—though it was still in its infancy—but then her phone buzzed twice more. Probably Dina and Immy in the group chat.
But it wasn’t. Ellis Finch popped up on her phone screen, with the word “photo” underneath. He’d sent her a photo? Far too quickly, Rosemary opened up the message.
Fig is not sure about this,he’d written, attaching a photo of the dog staring suspiciously at a freeze frame ofThe Thing.
Cover her eyes when you get to the next scene,Rosemary sent back,so she doesn’t get doggy nightmares.
Not possible, I’ll be needing both my hands to cover my own eyes.
The Thing isn’t even that scary!
Says the woman who was reading a killer mermaid book in a body of water,Ellis fired back.
Horror relaxes me, I told you.
You need to find other ways to relax, Rosemary.
Boy, did she ever.
10
Rosemary was just about tolight her ghost candle and climb into bed when she heard a creaking sound in the hallway. A stiff wind rattled her windows, a draught blowing the curtains with a puff of breath. She wasn’t scared. Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating her room in white. Okay, maybe she was a teensy bit scared. It wasn’t every day you had to fall asleep in a house that was both haunted by ghosts and the location for a horror that had sprung from the dark recesses of your mind. It suddenly felt very important that Rosemary sprinkle a trail of salt in front of her door. She dug around in her suitcase, also pulling out a small bag of dried lavender to stuff under her pillow.
