Page 33 of Treasure and Tarot (Echoes of Secret Springs #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Six

C olton didn’t think he’d ever been so tired or cold in his whole life, and he had done a ghost-hunting story from a cellar in Maine at one point, where the ghosts had dropped the temperature twenty degrees in three minutes.

Still, the tree lighting in the square had absolutely been worth it. The guys had worked their asses off putting up all the lights, Mrs. Berry directing them like a general directing her soldiers.

And then they had gone to the Christmas walk in Secret Springs.

His knee was killing him. Abby was sound asleep in his arms, and Sebastian was drooping like a butterfly that had been tormenting a dog all day.

What? He had seen videos of that on YouTube.

The guys had all decided to sleep at Gent’s house, because they didn’t even want to drive or walk any farther than it took them to drop off Sebastian and Colton and Abby.

Besides, they were going to get up and help Gent clean the house tomorrow.

He had been procrastinating about putting in all sorts of window coverings and furniture and stuff for his folks’ visit, and then all of a sudden, it was time, and they were going to be there.

So the guys were going to help. If Colton’s knee worked tomorrow, he would help too.

Sebastian yawned hugely. “Are you okay, babe? You look a little like your knee is killing you.”

“Are you trying to say I’m limping really hard?”

“Well, yes, but I was trying to be more diplomatic than that.” Sebastian patted his arm.

“I appreciate the diplomacy, but you’re right. My knee hurts. I’m going to have to sit down and take a load off as soon as we get Abby to bed.”

“I was thinking of something even better,” Sebastian said. “Maybe a hot shower with that shower seat that you put in.”

“Mmm. I can see where that would be a good idea. But I’m not sure I have the energy to knot here tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t think I have the energy for it either.” Sebastian put his hand on his lower back and arched his neck, his head falling behind him. “My lower back is hurting.”

“I can rub that for you while you sit on my lap in the shower.” He beamed at his husband, which still had the best sound to it.

“Well then, let’s get our kid in bed, huh?”

He liked that, too. A lot, in fact.

Our kid.

As they walked up to the porch, the curtain in the window twitched, and Colton immediately tensed, pausing on the stoop. “Do you think there’s someone in the house?”

Sebastian blinked at him. “Love, it’s our house. There’s always someone in there. Like always , the ghosts are always inside with or without us. They worry when we’re not there, especially at night, especially with the baby.”

“Like the unborn baby or Abby?”

He got a look that was one hundred percent humor the lunatic. “Does it matter? All I’m saying is that it’ll be hard tonight, you watch.”

It blew his mind that Sebastian could be so blasé about it.

“It’s going to be a hard night. Ghosts don’t like it when we’re outside and it’s dark. No big deal. I’m not going to worry about it.”

Sure enough, when they went inside, one of the bookshelves had been emptied, and the books were stacked floor to ceiling.

“Wow. Uh. Do you mind if I call Law over to get this?”

Sebastian tilted his head. “I thought we were going to take a shower.”

“Babe, you have a major ghost thing going on here.”

Sebastian again looked at him like he’d lost his mind, then he got a smile and a shrug. “All right, I’ll take her upstairs and put her to bed. I’m going to go get in the shower. I’m freezing. If you need to call Law, call Law. You can call all of them. I don’t mind, but I’m going to get warm.”

Sebastian didn’t sound particularly angry. He just took Abby from him and headed up the stairs, whistling softly.

Well damn it. Was he supposed to call Law and record this, or was he supposed to go upstairs and have a shower?

He grabbed his phone and started videotaping. That would work. That was half work, half not, right?

“So, we were out at a Christmas Stroll in the town next to the Junction, and this is what I came home to. It was not like this when we left. I have been informed reliably by my husband that the ghosts don’t like it when we’re outside after dark, especially with the baby.

I’m not sure if he’s talking about the unborn baby or Abby.

I’m assuming Abby, but I just had to record this and show everyone what we came home to. ”

He stopped the recording and then he sent it to his team.

He thought about heading upstairs, but if he was going to have to come unlock the door, he was going to stay down here so he didn’t have to do stairs.

He wasn’t sure why he ended up marrying a man with a house that had three stories.

In retrospect, it might not have been the wisest thing.

But he knew that Sebastian wasn’t going to leave, so his knee was just going to have to get better.

Sure enough, his phone started pinging wildly and there was a knock on the door before he could even answer the phone, Law and Gent standing there. Law had the camera.

“Where is it?”

“It’s right here.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Gent kind of just stared. “Your ghosts have fascinating stacking potential. If they would like to come over to my house and put books into shelves, I would really appreciate it. Or they could hang curtains.”

Colton shook his head, but he had to ask. “Did I mention that the curtains moved when we walked up?”

They both shook their heads, and Law asked, “They moved?”

“Yeah, when we came home, the curtains twitched. Sebastian said not to worry about it. That the spirits didn’t like it when we went outside after dark with the baby.”

“Did he mean the unborn baby?” Law asked.

And Gent added, “Or Abby?”

“Right?” Gent and Law, they got him.

He heard the water starting upstairs, and it occurred to him that he was missing primo naked time with Sebastian, and the longer he missed it, the more aggravated Sebastian was likely to get, and he might be spending the night down here on the couch, which was not good for his knee.

“Do you guys mind if I go upstairs and have a shower with my husband like I promised? You know how to lock the door on your way out.”

“Not a problem, man, not a problem at all,” Gent said with a smile that seemed wildly eager. “We’ll lock up and turn off all the lights and stuff. We just want to do a couple of readings, check a couple of things. I think we’re going to have to write a book about this place.”

“Knock yourselves out. I got a naked pregnant guy upstairs, and a sleeping child so… I’m outie.”

They both laughed at him but waved as he limped up the stairs.

“Is there room for me?” he asked when he walked into the bathroom.

“Of course there is,” Sebastian called from the shower. “Strip and get your cold ass in here.”

He did just that, peeling off layers so he could step into the shower stall. The warmth actually took his breath when he did, and it made him stagger.

Sebastian grabbed him, dancing him over to the bench seat so he could plop down. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, baby. Sorry. The cold then hot took my breath.”

“Mmm.” Sebastian grabbed the retractable shower head and started gently spraying his head. “Let me do your hair.”

“Thanks, baby. I left Law and Gent downstairs.”

“They’ll lock up,” Sebastian murmured.

“They will.” He leaned into Sebastian’s touch. “I didn’t want to miss this.”

“I didn’t want you to, either. And when we’re done here, you need to go kiss Abby goodnight.”

“I know. But I am a ghost hunter at heart.” He smoothed his hands over Sebastian’s belly.

“Silly man.” Sebastian washed him carefully, and he returned the favor, and while there was no knotting happening tonight, they were both breathing deep and both hard by the time they were done.

That was going to be nice when they woke up later on. They would have the energy then, too.

They leaned against each other, letting the hot water run down on them, and he finally realized Sebastian was dozing against him.

“Hey, you. Come on. Let’s dry you off and put us to bed.” There was no way he was going downstairs again to check on the guys, so he would just text. But he would stop in and see Abby, even if she was asleep. He made a point to kiss her every night.

They pulled towels off the towel warmer to dry off, then wrapped up in their robes. He went to kiss Abby, and by the time he’d texted Gent a few times and gotten the answer that everything was locked up and safe, Sebastian was burrowed under the covers, the TV on low volume playing Top Chef reruns.

He slid into bed, rubbing some Aspercreme on his knee before he pulled up the covers and plugged in his phone. Colton turned off the light on the bedside table, just as happy as he’d ever been.

He loved this domestic stuff after all those years of being on the road.

“Did you have fun?” Sebastian asked.

“I did. I really did.” They had bought a ton of bizarre gifts for the guys and for Gent’s mom and dad and sister. The only thing Sebastian had let him buy Abby was a hat with candy cane stripes. It had been made by the Garden Club ladies’ auxiliary.

And it had replaced the one Abby had lost at the tree lighting.

“Good.” Sebastian yawned. “I love you.”

Colton rolled over, pulling Sebastian into his body so they could spoon, sharing his warmth. “I love you too, baby. Good night.”

“’Night.”

He heard Sebastian’s breathing even out into sleep almost right away, and he grinned into the darkness. “Now, if you guys really want to make yourself useful, stack Abby’s Christmas presents down by the tree on Christmas Eve.”