Page 17 of You Can Make Me (Carnival of Mysteries #28)

“Oh, you mean the one him and Kal worked at?” Sam asked.

“I’ve been bugging Walter and this one to bring Dee Dee over.

I’d love to meet him. That would be an interesting story.

You don’t hear much about folks working for years at a traveling carnival anymore.

” Sam laughed. “They’re usually creepy and rickety and set up in low-income neighborhoods to rob the poor people blind from expensive admission and food.

I also remember reading about the prevalence of drugs at those places.

Didn’t you guys bust a drug ring once that was operating out of a carnival? ”

Gene looked at Denny again, and some unspoken conversation went on between them.

“Something like that,” Gene finally said. “I don’t know if he’d want to talk?—”

“Oh! I just remembered something else I wanted to ask you.” I startled them with my outburst. “Didn’t Dee Dee have a Ouija board at the house? I’ve been so fuzzy on that day, but I just remembered Dee Dee and that blond man with a Ouija board. Denny?”

He looked down and went back to rubbing my feet. “Yeah, they had a board.”

Neither he nor Gene said anything else.

Sam and I eyed each other. Weird. It wasn’t the first time we’d pestered Gene about something for a story, but he usually told us he couldn’t comment, or he’d goof around to get us off topic.

It usually worked, too. Jerk . I sometimes wondered if he didn’t have a little bit of whatever the Filipino version of a trickster god was, or some brand of fae in him.

“That was kind of wild. I thought folks only used those things in horror movies these days. I’m curious. Do you think it has something to do with their work at the carnival?”

Denny turned to give me what I could only describe as a pleading look. “I don’t know that they’ll want to discuss it.”

“But Denny! This could be a good story. I know you’re not into woo-woo stuff,” Sam said. She finished a brownie and reached for a second, and as much as I’d wanted to try one— maybe they’d help me sleep better or take the edge off my pain—I didn’t want to take the chance they’d make me feel woozy.

“Who says I’m against woo-woo? Just because I teased you about your raking class?—”

“ Reiki , Denny, and it’s powerful stuff.”

“—or whatever it was, doesn’t mean I don’t have an open mind.”

Gene snorted at Denny’s comment and shook his head.

Denny’s eyebrows went up. “Fuck off, Ochoa. I went with Walt Senior to see his psychic. Saw her a couple of times, actually. He believed she was helpful. And I told you about those old ladies.”

“Old ladies?” I asked.

Something flickered in his face, almost as if he hadn’t meant to say anything, but then he continued. “In Laurel Canyon. I keep that Magic 8 Ball they gave me for luck. And I even smudged this place before I brought Cooper out here, what do you think of that?”

This time, Gene’s eyes did bug out. “Now you’re queer and witchy? Damn, you think you know a guy.”

Denny threw his empty water can at Gene, and Sam burst out laughing—but I had a flash of memory. No, it couldn’t be the same two old ladies. I’d have to ask Denny about them later.

“Come on, sweetheart. Behave,” Sam said, scolding Gene. “Denny, I fully support you in all things. Whether you’re bisexual, pagan, or even a vegan, I’ll always love you.”

“Lapsed vegan,” he said, with mock seriousness. “And I love you, too, even if your husband is a pain in my ass.”

Gene sprang off the couch, and I pulled my feet back just in time before he plopped onto Denny’s lap. Gene held his face while he kissed him repeatedly. Denny groaned, pushed him away half-heartedly, and wiped at his face.

“God, why the kissing? Always the kissing! Sam, is he this slobbery with you?”

She laughed so hard she started sucking in breaths, sounding very near to a seal.

As soon as Gene was up, I turned myself around and placed my head in Denny’s lap. When he looked surprised, I reached up and patted his cheek. “To protect you from Gene’s kisses.”

His warm smile as he gently threaded his fingers in my hair nearly stopped my heart.

This man was a precious gift, and I was going to do everything in my power to make all of my bad behavior up to him.

“Denny, tell us about that psychic. I want to meet her. I wonder if she’d work with Elia and Roz.”

I could tell Sam was trying to ease the subject away from whatever had Gene and Denny clamming up.

Of course, now my curiosity was piqued more than ever, but I snuggled into Denny’s lap and relaxed to the sound of his warm voice speaking about a psychic they used to find missing people. I was fascinated, but also exhausted…

The next thing I knew, Denny was setting me on the bed and sliding my socks off.

“Please, Den?”

“What’s wrong, baby?” He bent over me and smoothed my hair back, worry in his expression.

“Stay? I don’t want to pressure you, but…just lie with me?”

He stood up and exhaled. “Cooper, you need your rest. I don’t want to disturb you.”

“And I’ll rest. With you here. Please?”

It wasn’t fair of me to ask him before we talked about us again, but I needed him tonight. All the talk about my assault threatened to crack open the walls I’d erected to keep the panic at bay. I knew Sam meant well, but I wasn’t ready to go there.

“Look, if you go out and sleep on the couch or wherever the hell you’ve been sleeping, I’m just going to follow and drape my wasted body over you.”

“Cooper. I know what I said earlier, but I don’t want to push you. You need to be sure.”

“I am sure.”

“I’m trying to do what’s right?—”

“Then get in here. Please don’t make me beg.”

He waited a few beats before kicking off his shoes. He pulled off his shirt but left his jeans on.

I recognized this behavior, though. He got flustered occasionally when he was giving me my way but still thought he needed to be all noble and shit. It was cute, but he needed to get in this bed.

He finally lay on top of the blankets on his back, with his arms crossed over his chest.

I didn’t speak for a long time, but I rolled on my side to face him and through the dim light from the window, I watched his forehead lines grow deeper.

“Denny? Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah. What do you need?”

I blew out a breath.”Do you regret what happened between us?”

Denny flinched at my words, and he cursed under his breath.”Not in the least.” He exhaled a harsh breath through his nose. “Thought I made that clear earlier. The only thing I regret was losing you.”

“You never lost me, Denny. I’m just a proud bitch, and I couldn’t accept that you’d ghosted me.”

“I never?—”

“I know. And I know you might need time?—”

“Cooper, I want you to have your life back. I want you to not be in pain. I want you to be happy.”

“Can I work on that and winning you back?”

He huffed out another breath.”You never lost me.”

I exhaled this time. “Okay. Then I promise I’ll start cooperating. Bring your PT friend. We’ll call the plastic surgeon for a consult. I’ll try the occupational therapist. I’ll drink those nasty shakes. I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

Denny turned his head to look at me. “Good. That’s good.” He smiled.

“And then I want to get to work.”

Denny laughed. “Of course you do. It’s got to be driving you nuts, not having fifty million things going at once.”

“I can’t sit here anymore and rot. That’s all I’ve been doing. Thank you, for bringing them here today.”

“I’ll do anything for you. Remember that.”

I placed my hand on his face, and he nuzzled my palm.

Good . So hopefully he’d still be this amenable when I hit him up to help me find more information about this carnival. I was already formulating a plan to get him to help me talk to Dee Dee again, see what he would tell me.

Between the dreams I’d been having, the stories Granddad used to tell me, and all of the connections between the players involved in my attack, I knew the carnival played a role somehow. It was almost as if I was meant to intersect with the carnival at some point in my life.

I intended to find out not only what was so special about this particular place, but how it all fit together.

Denny rolled over and kissed my forehead. “Get some rest. You had a big day.”

“I feel awake for the first time since this all went down. I feel like I have a second chance. And Denny?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I want a second chance with you.”

“It’s yours.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in Denny’s scent.

But after a few moments, instead of smelling Denny, my nostrils filled with the smell of dirt and decay. A constant drip sounded from somewhere, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything.

Then I heard…whistling? It was a familiar tune, and it echoed off the walls so much I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

Suddenly, there were lights in the distance, so I started walking, slowly, because the ground was uneven and my cane kept hitting rocks.

Colorful triangular-shaped tents appeared in the distance, and my breath caught in my chest.

The carnival.

I began to walk faster, but just as I was almost able to read what was painted on the sign above the entrance, it began to retreat.

“No, come back!” I called out. I hurried toward it, then I tripped and fell forward into the blackness once more.