“Good,” Mel said, crossing her arms over her chest.
They all just looked at me. I wish I could make them understand, but it wasn’t my story to tell.
Then Raph came out carrying a tray of drinks, followed by Geoffrey with a tray of snacks. It had the Rice Krispies treats I’d made, plus some candy the kids would love. He set the trays down and then brought me a spritzer.
“Thank you,” I said, taking it from him as he kissed my head.
“Can I get you all anything to drink?”
“I made a pitcher of margaritas, or we have spritzer. I also got some Capri Suns for the kids,” I said.
Raph brought us all drinks before he went and sat on the edge of the pool, talking to Alex and the kids like it was the most normal thing in the world. I couldn’t take my eyes off as Ava swam over to him and started asking him questions aboutthe house. The two of them looked like they were discussing real estate, not haunted houses, but Raph just rolled with it.
I turned back to the girls to take a sip from my glass, but they were all staring at me. “What?”
Eleanor just smiled.
“So you and the beast?” Mel asked, with a small smile, like she was finally understanding.
I just shrugged. While there still was nothing final, I couldn’t deny there was something, and that something was becoming more and more real.
31
BELLE
The next day, everything was wonderfully normal. I worked a shift at the coffee counter in the bookstore before I came home and made dinner. Nothing out of the ordinary, which should have been my first clue that something was about to ruin it. I had just put some veggies into a pan to sauté when my phone buzzed on the counter.
I glanced at the screen. Tripp. My stomach dropped so fast it was almost physical.
It was easy, dangerously easy, to forget that real life still existed when I was here.
But real life always found a way to knock . . . or call.
“Hello?” I answered, keeping my voice neutral.
“Well, well,” Tripp drawled. “You’re hard to reach lately.”
“I’ve been working.”
“Not enough.”
I gripped the edge of the counter.
“What do you need?”
“I need you at a new property,” he said smoothly. “Effective Monday.”
My heart skipped. “I already have my assignment.”
“Not anymore.”
The vegetables crackled softly in the pan behind me. “What property?” I asked carefully.
“Private residence. Out near Lancaster. Big job. You’ll be there full-time.”
Full-time.
“Tripp,” I said slowly, “I can’t relocate full-time. I have?—”
