Page 102 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
Gengar was awake and watching her—folded into bread-loaf mode at the foot of the bed.
“Not you,” Lucky said to him. “I love you very much.”
In between feeding Gengar and her breakfast self-tape session, Lucky liked to go on a daily walk around the neighborhood before it got too hot outside, to clear her head. Among other things.
Each house featured the kind of manufactured uniformity enforced by HOAs and there were at least two cars in every driveway—something big like a minivan or SUV paired with a sleek sports car, which was very telling.
Some of her temporary neighbors noticed her, pausing to point and whisper while watering their lawns, checking their mail, or power walking down the opposite sidewalk. She’d always thought neighbors in small communities like this were supposed to be nosy as hell, but no one dared to say anything to her until she beamed a sunny “Good morning!” at them as she passed by.
Lucky savored the warm air in her lungs and on her skin, the feel of her muscles stretching, and even the slight pain in her shins. She really needed to invest in a good pair of shoes sooner rather than later. But the best part of her walk? Finally allowing herself to think about Maverick.
[Redacted]:Good morning. Please let me know you’re okay.
She’d changed his contact entry to help her stay strong and even forbidden Xander from mentioning him during their meetings.
It’d be safe to talk to him at sunrise if he’d bother calling, but he hadn’t, and it’d beendays. Were text messages all she deserved now? She was so devastated she almost didn’t respond the first time he checked in, but knew if she didn’t, he’d be at the house within the hour.
She could break his heart seven ways from Sunday but let her be in danger. He’d come running to her rescue because that was the kind of person he was.
Blocking her thoughts about him from Hennessee House wasn’t hard. He was too precious to her to fail.
Thiswas hard—not knowing if he was ready to talk about things yet. She hated obsessing over it. She just…didn’t understand how they’d gotten here. Heknewhow important her work was to her. He’d been worrying about her since day one and she’d proven she could handle herself. Why was staying a little bit longer suddenly an issue?
Restrictive clauses aside. She understood that part. That was all on her.
Lucky:I’m okay. Thank you for checking.
Maverick was in his feelings. He needed time. She just wished he would tell her how much.
She flipped her phone between her hands as she passed the neighborhood library. It had a fountain out front—the strong,nostalgic smell of its chlorinated water made her want to go swimming. She also wanted to call Georgia. But she worried she’d hallucinated the whole having a new friend thing.
Making friends had always felt like climbing an impossible mountain—every time she tried, harsh winds sent her stumbling back into a nerve-shredding and vomit-inducing free fall.
Initially, Lucky believed being rejected would be a singular occurrence. As the black sheep, her family didn’t consciously band together to isolate her. It was groupthink. Easier to roll along and use her as the scapegoat for their own issues.
Then she attended college, where it happened again. Instead of a mother hen, warning her dorm mates about the boys with bad intentions at parties, she was a jealous cockblocker. The weird girl with the neat party trick was soannoyingwhen she decided she wanted to be seen as a real person.
They weren’t the problem—it was her. Lucky needed to change.
After graduation, she joined a neighborhood nanny clique and discovered how to convince people to like her. They gossiped, traded war stories, and covered shifts like real coworkers. None of them knew she spent her off days doing things like wandering around forests with alleged telepaths who made their names trying to solve cold cases. None of them knew she had ESP. She kept her two lives separate until one eclipsed the other.
But Georgia knew everything—and liked her anyway?! Impossible.
The line only rang twice before Georgia answered. “Hi, it’s Lucky.”
“Well, well, and it only took several days. Honestly, I’m impressed. I didn’t think you’d work up the nerve.”
Lucky snickered as she pressed the button for the crosswalk. She sensed the unspoken insecurity hiding behind Georgia’s bravado. At least they were somewhat in the same boat. “When you said we were friends, did you mean the dinner and small talk kind of friends, or we call each for support kind of friends?”
“Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. I like dinner and constant contact. I suppose I can make an exception for you when it comes to talking on the phone. I’m not against it, but I will say hearing your voice strangely makes me want to see your face. Might have to switch to video.” Georgia laughed. “I heard about you and Mav.”
“Heard what exactly?” She frowned and then quickly smiled at the prancing mini pinscher sniffing her ankles as it walked by with its owner.Good morning, she mouthed to them.
“All of it. He tells me almost everything and Rebel fills in the rest.” Lucky could practically hear Georgia’s nonchalant shrug. “Oh, Silvia wants your number. Can I give it to her?”
“Why does she want it?”
“Why do you think?” Georgia scoffed. “You’re her brother’s girlfriend. She wants to get to know you. Really, Lucky, are you okay over there? Usually you’re quicker than this.”
