Chapter 5
Scotty
“Where have you been, little brother?”
Instead of answering my brother, Stevie, I shoved another bite of corn into my mouth and held up a finger for him to give me a minute.
Stevie sighed, looking crestfallen at my obvious attempt to dodge his question—yet again.
Things had grown tense between us over the last couple of weeks. He’d been hanging around inside the main house more, engaging with me more than he had in a while, but that just made me feel like shit.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want him to hang out with Trixie. I did. It was good for him to have someone special in his life, but he hadn’t brought up their budding relationship to me, so I hadn’t brought it up to him. Which left this weird standoff in my mind.
“Sky, have you heard from Ego lately?” Chance asked from the head of the table.
Sky leaned into King, looking even sadder than Stevie, and shook his head. “No, he’s barely replying to my texts, and he’s not answering myFaceTimesat all.”
“I haven’t heard from him either, not since he told me to roll my crew out for now while a friend of his uses his house,” Jetty said.
“I guess at least I know whereyou’vebeen,” Stevie muttered next to me. “Not that I know where your head’s at these days.”
Swallowing dramatically—not that there was actually any food left in my mouth—I rolled my eyes at my brother. “I’m right here. I’ve just been spending a lot of time at the library.”
Everyone at the table’s attention shifted to me.
“Why?” Sky asked, wrinkling his nose like the library smelled bad.
I shrugged. “Why not? I like to read.”
Chance tilted his head, gazing at me quizzically. “I never see you with a book.”
Willing myself to sit still, I said, “That’s because I read at the library.”
Jetty barked out a laugh. “Uh, why? It’s not exactly relaxing.”
King snorted. “That’s true. I spent a lot of time there when I was young, researching hauntings, and I think the furniture is older than my grandmother.”
I sniffed. “I like the atmosphere.”
Sky winked at me, then banged his hands on the table, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Can we talk about Ego, please? I’m really worried. He went fromFaceTimingus in the morning for yoga, calling and texting me, Chance, Rosie, or Elyse all the time, to silence. Something’s up with him.”
Jetty nodded slowly. “And unless I’m wrong, all his touring is over. Shouldn’t he be home by now?”
King pulled Sky in closer. “Has anyone considered that maybe he needs time to process? Like, I know he was really excited to find out that ghosts are real and that he’s a sound witch and all the other paranormal stuff around here, but maybewhen it was time to come back here for a break, it all hit him, and he just needs space.”
Sky pulled away from him. “But space from me?”
Chance reached over and patted his best friend’s hand. “There’s no sense in worrying. He’s responding enough for us to know he’s alive, so let’s give him a little more time.”
After that, Chance and Jetty steered the conversation away from Ego, thankfully leaving me alone, and began peppering King and Sky with questions about their latest dreamwalk. Stevie didn’t participate any more than I did, but he stayed at my side.
When we were done eating, in an attempt to avoid further dialogue with my brother, I headed toward the sink to wash the dinner dishes, but stopped in my tracks when Harry appeared in front of me.
“Don’t worry about cleaning up, Master Scotty,” he said. “Buck and I will take care of it.”
Ugh. Thwarted by the butler. Harry was the one who really ran the house, so what he said went, but I had to try. “You two made dinner. I really don’t mind?—”
I cut off as he shook his head sharply. “No, I insist. I don’t know what’s going on”—he held up his hands in surrender—“and I don’t expect you to tell me, but take some time for yourself. You can relax or head to the library.”
