Page 361 of Boots, Bucket Lists & Bad Ideas
“Maybe you could keep him. You know, since the adoption you tried to get fell through.”
He doesn’t understand that Hershey and Godiva meant something to me and Hope. They weren’t just two random dogs; they were dogs we found on our bucket list. I don’t tell him. I shouldn’t have even told him I tried to adopt them. I’d just been so heartbroken when I couldn’t surprise Hope.
“Maybe the possum will have a wife, so you’ll have two.”
“Asshole.” I hang up, shift into gear, and pull onto the road toward the property.
The road to the run-down house is all dirt and potholes with a ghost-story vibes.
I glance down at the listings again. We’re really doing this—me and her. I’d rather be driving to The Hive. Instead, I park in front of the house, if you can call it that.
It’s somehow gotten uglier.
The porch sags under my weight. Shutters hang off single rusted hinges. And the front creaks when I push it open, the door handle almost falling off in my hand.
“Dean?” I glance up the stairs ahead.
Silence. Just the low hum of—I’m not exactly sure what.
“Dean?” I peek in what could be a study.
Dust motes float in the slant of the afternoon sun through the cracked window. Everything is so still.
Then I turn and in the living room, I find a swing suspended from the ceiling. Not just any swing, a familiar leather and chains that I saw at The Crimson Hollow.
What the hell is my brother doing here?
I edge around the swing like it’s a trap.
“Dean, if you’re in here doing something that requires a safe word, I swear to the Lord.”
Silence answers. And that somehow makes it worse.
Please don’t let me find him naked and covered in glitter. Or a costume. Lord, please no costumes. Or handcuffs. Shit, did the fool handcuff himself to the bed frame, and it snapped underneath him?”
I notice an envelope on the seat with my name.
Plot twist.
Not sure I like it. I hesitate, not sure I want to touch the seat. Sticky is the first word that comes to mind. And not thespilled sodakind.
I pick up the envelope and open it.
The bucket list you didn’t know you needed.
Jade.
My heart races as I look up, scanning for her, but there’s no sign of her.
I open the folded card.
Good boys deserve rewards. Follow the scent to find your next clue.
I stare at it, excitement pulsing through me.
Fuck, I love this woman.
I read it again.
