Page 51 of The Ghost of Ellwood

At my desk, I tapped my pen on my notebook, reading over my story notes. I had set up the plot to include a romance, but with how I was feeling, I knew it wouldn’t be a very happy one.

“Wait.” I sat up in my chair and started writing out my thoughts, the pen moving so fast that my sentences meshed together. No one other than me could read my excited scribbles.

I’d had the romance set up between the main character and a man he met while unraveling the mystery of the haunted mansion. But what if I changed the romantic interest to the ghost?

“Perfect! This is what I was missing.”

Everything started clicking together now, and I scrolled through the document to change a few small details. I typed three pages in ten minutes and kept going.

Creak.

I looked at the door, hope blossoming in my chest. “Theo?”

He didn’t answer me, but I knew he’d made the sound. And even though I didn’t see him, it helped to know he was there.

Chapter Eleven

“Are you going to ignore me for forever?” I asked, following Carter as he walked from behind the counter to a display ofNightmare on Elm Streetmerchandise, set out for the Halloween season.

I had needed to go to town today to look for new clothes, so since Carter hadn’t answered my calls for the past three days, I’d decided to stop in to see if he was working.

“I’m not ignoring you,” he muttered, stacking T-shirts in order from small to extra-large. “It’s calledwork, Ben, you should try it.”

“I’m here because of work,” I said, not letting him push me away. Theo had done that enough over the past few days. We hadn’t spoken a word to each other. “I have a book signing this weekend and needed something to wear.”

Carter glanced up, and I noticed he’d put in purple contacts. “Since when do bestselling authors shop at the mall? Shouldn’t you go over to the pavilion that has all the high-end designer shops?”

“I, uh, didn’t know about them.” I rubbed the back of my neck, noticing the muscles were tight. A headache was forming too.

God, please don’t let it turn into a migraine.

“Figures,” Carter scoffed. “That’s because you spend all your time chasing ghost stories.”

“Look, I know why you’re acting weird.” I placed a hand on the wall in front of him when he tried to walk past. “But I’m not mad about the kiss. Okay? So can Ipleaseget my best friend back?”

Sighing, he grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and pulled me to the back of the store. When we were in a somewhat private place, he flipped around to me.

“I’m sorry for being a douche,” he said. “Being rejected just sucks. I felt like a dumbass that night. Even looking at you right now makes me want to crawl under the sales rack and hide for all eternity.”

“I didn’t reject you, Carter. I told you we needed to see where things went. That’s all. When you kissed me, it caught me off guard.”

“You didn’t want to kiss me?”

“No, I did,” I answered, surprised by the admission. Because I truly did find him attractive, and like he’d said, we got along really well. There was definitely a connection; it just wasn’t as strong as the one I felt for Theo.

Theo, that damn infuriating ghost.

“Then why did you pull away?” Carter whispered.

“Because I don’t want to rush into anything. When we met, you said you just got out of a relationship, same as me. We’re amazing as friends, and I’d like to keep it that way for a while.”

“Enough of the bullshit, Ben. No more of thisfor a whilestuff. Are you sticking me in the friend zone? Be honest.” The way he crossed his arms and squared his jaw made him look about as intimidating as a fluffy kitten.

“I like you, Carter. A lot. But—”

“There’s always a but.”

“ButI think we’re better as friends. So yes.”