Page 119 of The Ghost of Ellwood

“Wayne started the fire,” I said to Theo, as he wouldn’t have heard any news about it. “He had a heart attack by the greenhouse. I bet that’s where the fire started, which is why my room got it so bad with it being right above it.”

Theo knelt beside me. “Can you forgive me?”

“Forgive you for what?” I asked, meeting his dark eyes.

“I didn’t notice the fire for a while. I was on the other side of the house, absorbed in a stupid documentary while you were up there…” Theo closed his eyes, his body flickering.

“Baby, I’m not mad at you.” I touched his jaw. “You saved me.”

A tear trickled down his cheek as he opened his eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

Carter lived close to the manor, but not close enough for Theo and I to be together while I stayed with him. Sleeping without him would be rough. But we’d faced challenges before; this was just another we’d overcome.

“You know I’ll be here every day to see you, right?”

“I know.” Theo laid his head on my shoulder. “And I’ll be waiting for you.”

***

Living with Carter was like having a child. A very messy child who didn’t pick up after themselves. I hadn’t noticed it the times I’d visited, and I bet that was because he actually put forth the effort beforehand. It wasn’t that henevercleaned; he just went long periods before doing so.

I loved him like a brother, but I was ecstatic when I was able to go back home.

It took two months to complete the repairs on the manor. The side with the greenhouse had to be rebuilt, and other parts of the structure had to be fixed. The inside was deep cleaned. Some walls and the roof had to be torn out and replaced. The men worked hard, though, and we were fortunate to have amazing weather so there weren’t many weather related delays.

Once it was completed, the manor appeared as it had when I first laid eyes on it. They had stayed as true as they could to the original design in the rebuild.

For the first week I was home, Theo and I barely left the bedroom. During the construction, finding a place other than the woods to make love had been difficult—though we’d certainly given in a few times and went to said woods. Having privacy again and knowing it was permanent had fueled our lust for each other.

Writing had been slow for the past two months, but I had managed to work a little. It was hard to get into the mindset when I wasn’t in my own space and hard to focus with Carter being…well, Carter. I had emailed my publisher explaining the situation, though, and they understood.

Life was back on track now, and I couldn’t have been happier.

“One day, I’m going to go back there,” Carter said, as I sat with him on my front porch one afternoon. “To Redwood.”

“Why?”

“I can’t explain it, Ben. With the nightmares I keep having and shit, I feel like it’s the only way I’ll get some closure. And maybe I want to yell at that stupid bitch for almost taking my best friend away from me.”

“Don’t,” I said, as my lungs constricted. I didn’t want Carter anywhere near Lady Death. “Promise me you won’t ever go back.”

“Can’t do that.” Carter’s green eyes pierced me before he looked at his hands. “I feel like something is calling me back there. And my will to resist is slipping.”

“You’ll tell me before you go?” I asked, knowing I couldn’t stop him if his mind was set on going.

“Yeah. I will.” Carter exhaled and stood up. “Guess I’ll head home. You have a certain ghost to surprise.”

A nervous smile touched my lips. A surprise, indeed. I watched Carter leave before going into the house to fetch my boyfriend. He was in his favorite chair, legs tucked up under him as he read one of Stephen King’s novels.

“Hey, you,” I said, standing in the doorway. “Come on.”

He smiled and marked his place in the book. “Should I be worried?”

I shrugged. “Guess you better come with me and find out.”

“Where are we going?” Theo asked, as I grabbed his hand and led him outside.

“You’ll see.”