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Chapter Three

Buck

Before he had a chance to argue, I steered a sputtering Harry out the front door of the mansion. We’d reached the bottom of the steps before he regained his composure and yanked out from under my arm.

“I have things to do. I can’t be strolling the property. I know you don’t mind lollygagging, but I take my job here very seriously.”

Affronted, I straightened my spine, pulling myself to my full height. “Now, Harry—”

“Mr. Harry,” he snapped. “Everyone calls me Mr. Harry. You can’t just go around taking such, such, such liberties.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. If he thought this was me taking liberties, he’d be shocked to know how often I’d imagined stripping the older man down and having my way with him. Or he could have his way with me. I didn’t care much as long as we were touching.

“We finished the parlor, and you promised to take a walk with me by the pond.”

He straightened his vest, glaring at me like I’d broken his favorite vase in the front hall. Which technically, I had, but he didn’t know that. I’d glued the chip back in place with Jetty’s help, and we’d spun the little imperfection around so it was against the wall.

“I most certainly did not. You kept saying it, but I never agreed.”

Sighing, I crossed my arms over my chest and let my head fall back to stare up at the bright blue sky.

“Good. I’m happy you see reason,” he said.

Before he could pop back into the house, I held up a finger. “If you go for a walk with me out to the pond one time, I’ll never ask you to do it again if you hate it.”

He huffed. “Fine.” Then he disappeared.

Laughing, I closed my eyes and transported myself to the pond. I found Harry tapping his foot impatiently six feet from the edge of the water. “What took you so long?”

“Well, the goal was to take a walk out here. Don’t you ever just want to explore the property? Chance—”

“Mr. Chance.”

“Yeah, him. He’s done such a beautiful job with the gardens. Now that the property is cleaned of that malevolent spirit, there are more animals wandering around.”

He held up his hand, stopping me. “What do I care about the outside? The inside is my domain.”

“Think how much watching the birds and butterflies fluttering around would cheer you up.”

He frowned—which I still found adorable, but I’d never tell since then he’d probably stop. “I can hear the birds from inside.”

This man was so ridiculous. “Well, there’s a bunny who seems to have claimed the yard for his home. He’s so cute. Watching him hop around puts a smile on my face.”

He rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. You’re like a child. I bet you still watched cartoons as an adult.”

Harry

Buck threw his head back, laughing. “Are you kidding? I still watch them now with Scotty and Stevie. Don’t be so grumpy.”

Ignoring him, I stared out at the water for a minute. “How much longer do I have to stay out here?” I demanded. Our new guests would be checking in any minute, and I really did have things to do. I wasn’t one to waste the day away.

He sighed. “One lap around the pond.” As I side-eyed him, he added, “Please.”

Throwing my arms up in exasperation, I stomped past him to circle the pond once. I saw a few other spirits around who immediately disappeared the minute they saw me glaring in their direction. Good! At least someone realized that I wasn’t one to be trifled with.

Why was I doing this anyway? Giving in to Buck’s silliness wasn’t going to make him less irritating. If anything, he’d probably grow worse. It was time to tell him that he needed to move back out to the pond. Or move on to the other side. That thought made a pang shoot through my heart, which…weird. I hadn’t felt physical sensations since my death except when it came to Buck.

“Here you go,” he said, holding out his arm.

I grabbed onto it and stepped over the large log laying half in and half out of the water. “Thank you.”

He patted my hand before I could move it. “You’re welcome. I wouldn’t want you to trip.”

A part of me wanted to remind him that, hello…we could’ve just poofed to the other side. Or even hovered over it. We were nothing but spirits after all, but I held my tongue. It really was very considerate of him.

“You know what I like best about Willowhope Manor?” Buck asked conversationally as we continued our stroll.

I snorted. “I know what it is. You like scaring the guests.”

He snickered. “No, but that’s my second favorite thing.”

That surprised me. He’d ended up under my tutelage because he scared a woman so badly that her husband was ready to commit murder. I’d had to explain to him that we give them enough paranormal activity for them to get goosebumps, but not enough to send them running and screaming into the night.

Mr. Chance’s hotel would never survive if people were too scared to come visit. The manor was my home. The thought of it becoming eternally abandoned made a shiver run up my spine. Where would I go? What would I do? I liked serving Mr. Chance’s customers. Buck was still a work in progress when it came to hauntings, but he tried.

“It’s you,” he finally said.

I stopped short. “Me? Why in the world would it be me? All I do is yell at you and remind you of your shortcomings.”

He shook his head, nudging me with his elbow to keep walking. “That’s not all you do. You teach me things about the afterlife every day. You always warn me of danger, and you put your foot down and keep me safe if you think the magic Mr. Chance or his mom are doing might somehow harm me. Plus”—he bumped my arm with his—“I think you enjoy my company as much as I like yours.”

“That’s ridiculous. I keep you with me so you don’t make any messes that I’ll have to clean up later.”

“Mhm,” he hummed, sounding completely unconvinced.

Feeling uncomfortable, I sped up, needing to get this pond-break over with. I didn’t understand why Buck even wanted me outside with him. He’d have a better time if he was alone, free to fish or chat with the other spirits. I knew he was friendly with most of them, and they hid from me.

“Have you ever been in love, Harry?”

My heart thumped, shooting a weird energy through me, and I choked. On what? I had no idea. I didn’t salivate, and it wasn’t like I could choke on air. Good grief. What had come over me today? Maybe it was being outside, away from the safety of the mansion.

Buck stopped, turning me toward him. “Have you?”

I waved him away. “I’m over a century old. There was never time for such things in my lifetime. My parents put me out when I was young, so I learned quickly how to work hard. It’s been my pleasure to take care of others. It’s all I’ve ever needed.”

His expression screwed up in confusion. “Why did your parents kick you out?”

Buck

“Because I liked men, of course,” he said, then slapped his hand over his mouth. Guess he hadn’t meant to admit that out loud.

I shook my head. “I hate people. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He turned, walking again. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago. Things were different then.”

“It’s still not okay,” I insisted. “So you never tried to…”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, Buck.” Before I could respond, he asked, “What about you? Have you ever been in love before?”

I hummed, giving the question some real consideration. “I thought so. Once. When it didn’t work out, I felt like my heart shattered into a million pieces.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. Now I know it was a healthy dose of lust mixed with infatuation.”

He glanced over at me curiously. “How do you know that?”

A doe appeared in a break in the tree line, and I pointed. “Look.”

Harry stopped, and I caught the startled delight on his face before he had a chance to school his features into their normal reserved blankness. When two baby deer walked up on either side of their mama, a wide smile spread across Harry’s face. “Oh my.”

We remained silent, watching the trio sniff around. Throwing caution to the wind, I slid my arm around his shoulders and leaned down to whisper, “I knew that it hadn’t truly been love the minute I met you, Harry. The wonder on your face right now is exactly how I felt the first time you spoke to me.”

Harry went stiff as a board under the weight of my arm, becoming more corporeal than normal. I guessed that was a plus. I’d expected him to disappear back to the manor. Even though I’d been quiet, the sound of my voice drew the mama’s attention, and she swung her head in our direction, then nudged her offspring away.

Harry turned toward me. “I don’t understand.”

Since he hadn’t stepped back, I stroked my fingers along his smooth cheek, enjoying the silkiness. “You, Harry. When I first died, the thing that bummed me out the most was that I’d never had a long-lasting relationship. I’d always wanted that, you know? Someone to get up with in the morning. A person I’d want to spend my days with and miss like crazy when we were apart. That special someone that I’d want to tell all about what happened while we were apart and hang out with after dinner. All the things we do now. I longed for that when I was alive.”

“But…” He shook his head. “We work together.”

I smiled down at him. “Harry, we choose to help at the manor. They’re getting free labor because you love it there, and because I love being wherever you are. We’re in our afterlife. Technically, we don’t need to do anything at all. Granted, it gets pretty boring, but…” I shrugged.

Harry blinked several times in a row like he’d gotten something in his eyes. “You enjoy spending time with me? You said I’m grumpy and boring and—”

I pressed a finger to his lips. “I never said you’re boring. I only push you to leave the house or binge a TV show with me because I want you to relax. You work too hard. These are better than our golden years. We live in a beautiful place, surrounded by wonderful people who adore you, and I want you to enjoy it.”

He clutched my wrist, pulling my hand down. “No one adores me. And you…why would you want to be around me? You’re all sunshine and rainbows. I always think the cup is half-empty and you’re just happy that there’s a cup. We’re nothing alike. Complete opposites in every way.”

Feeling braver by the minute, I slid my arms around his waist, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn’t pull away. “Jetty, Chance, Chance’s parents, Kingston, and Sky all think of you as family. I’ve heard them chatting about how glad they were that you’d stayed on instead of passing into your great reward years ago, or they’d never have had the opportunity to know and adore you.

“As for me? I am a happy-go-lucky guy. I’ve always been that way, I suppose. But the only reason I greet each sunrise with such joy is because I know I’ll see you. You a re the cup for me, Harry.”

His pale skin flushed scarlet again. “Well…”