Page 122 of The Haunting of Lockton

“Another rival,” Skyler murmured in my ear. “Girl is after my sweets.”

I snorted.

By the time we left the store, clouds had rolled in, turning the cold air even more frigid. The temperature was expected to drop for the rest of the day and into tomorrow.

Skyler’s jaw tightened as he squinted at the sky.

“We should stop by the store,” I said, drawing my coat closer as a cold gust whipped through my hair and stung my cheeks. “Gotta stock up on groceries to feed a certain glutton.”

“You’re so mean to me,” Skyler said, the tightness of his jaw going slack. The tense set of his shoulders eased too, just as I’d hoped. Distracting his mind from the winter storm that would sweep through town soon. Snow stirred up bad memories for him.

I really did need to go to the store though. Snow was common for us in Ivy Grove, so I wasn’t worried, but it was a good idea to stock up on food and essentials in case of power outages or if we got more snow than predicted and ended up stuck up at home.

After we grabbed groceries and started to head home, a snowflake landed on the windshield. Just one for now, but it was enough for Skyler to tense back up, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. I reached over and rested my hand on his thigh.

Skyler breathed in deep and grabbed my hand on the exhale. He didn’t link our fingers, but his thumb brushed across mine in a steady rhythm.

Once at the house, we carried in the groceries, and they helped me unload them. Since it was cold, I decided to make chili for dinner, using ground turkey instead of beef. I got to work chopping an onion and green bell pepper before adding it to a large pot, along with fresh garlic. Skyler stood beside me and watched. He enjoyed watching me cook.

The TV turned on in the living room.

Julian looked toward the archway before stepping over to peer beyond it. His expression fell a little, and I knew Alan had made himself invisible again. I then heard a creak from the floor above me.

Alan had gone to his room.

“Roy said not all the ghosts welcome my light,” Julian said, dropping back down into the chair at the table. He glanced up as there was another creak. “I guess he’s one of them.”

Chapter Seventeen

Skyler

“This is bullshit.” I stood at the kitchen window that morning, watching the snow fall. It blanketed the ground and didn’t look to be stopping anytime soon.

“I find it beautiful,” Alan said, appearing beside me. The coffee machine whirred to life and sputtered out a few drops before coming out in a steady stream to fill the pot.

“Yeah, well, snow and I don’t have the best history together.”

Alan’s body flickered once. “In the trenches, it was either raining or snowing. Mostly rain. There was a saying that ‘no sooner is a trench dug than it fills with water.’ It was true. But there was one December when the rain stopped. I remember standing knee-deep in mud and icy water that felt like a thousand needles stabbing at my feet and shins, my boots and socks soaked through, and just looking up at the sky. Large flakes drifted down on us. And it was quiet.”

Having someone who actually fought in the trenches of WWI stand in front of me to talk about it was surreal.

“Among the quiet, I then heard distant singing,” Alan continued, his gaze on the snowy backyard. The soft light made his blue eyes appear paler. “It was coming from the enemy trenches. I think that’s when it really hit me that we weren’t fighting soulless, blood-crazed monsters. They were men, just like us.”

“You never told me that before,” Paxton said. He stepped up behind me at the window and slid his arms around my waist.

Alan gave him a tight smile. “There’s much I haven’t told you about those days. It’s not a very happy story.” He nodded to the whirring machine. “I made coffee.”

“Thank you,” Paxton told him. He then kissed the back of my neck. “It was weird waking up without you. You never get out of bed before me.”

I turned my head to nuzzle his cheek. “I was hungry.”

He chuckled. “I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Do you have time? I thought you had to be at work by nine.”

After another brush of his lips to my nape, Paxton stepped over to the pantry. “Val texted and said she’s closing the shop because of the weather. The trucks haven’t gone out to salt the roads yet.”

“So you get a snow day?”