Page 3 of With All My Haunted Heart

“A good surprise or a bad one?” Skeptical, I twist in my seat and look through the frosted glass of my personal office. “Uh…Deanna? Why is there a stranger in my office?”

Even with my back to her, I hear the smirk in her voice when she says, “Xander isn’t a stranger.”

The squeal that escapes my lips is far from dignified, but with only Deanna and my best friend around to hear it, I don’t care. Especially since Xander is the whole reason Deanna works here. They were friends before I moved to Windsfell, before Xander got his big-city job and left us both. I scramble out of the chair and hurry for my office.

“Pippa!” Xander wears a broad grin when I step inside. He’s made himself at home, sitting in my chair with his feet propped up on my desk.

“Come on, man.” I anchor my hands on my hips and glare at Xander until he removes his expensive Italian loafers from the glossy wooden surface. Xander is a white man with an impressive summer tan, stylishly ruffled blond hair that sparkles like gold, and blue eyes that have inspired several previous boyfriends to wax poetic.

“You know you love me.” Xander rises from the chair, all six feet two inches of him, and crushes me in a hug. He smells like summer—sun-kissed skin, bonfires, and salty sea air—and more than the musty books and burning incense of my actual childhood, Xander smells like home.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I ask when he finally releases me. He lives in Brooklyn, which is at minimum a three-hour drive from here.

Xander runs a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he’s had since we met in college. “And ruin the surprise? Where’s the fun in that?”

He’s trying for nonchalance, but it rings false to my ears. “How have you been? How’s Barrett?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Xander sits against the edge of my desk and crosses one ankle over the other like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “He broke things off six weeks ago.”

Shock stalls my tongue. Xander isn’t the kind of friend you can keep up with through the osmosis of being chronically online—he’s never been on social media, not even in college—but I can’t believe he didn’t tell me sooner. “But he—”

“Only proposed a couple months before that? Yeah.” For that life update, I got a late-night phone call to celebrate. Now, Xander executes another graceful shrug that belies the hurt dulling his usually vibrant eyes.

I reach for Xander’s hand and trace my thumb over his knuckles. “What happened?”

“Apparently, he only proposed to get me to ‘stop nagging’ him about getting married.” Xander makes scare quotes with his free hand. “He said it was easier to go along with what I wanted than deal with the mess of breaking up.”

“What an asshole,” I say, earning me an affirmative head tilt. “But…something must have changed.”

“Oh, you know. Turns out that fucking a stranger helped him realize how much he missed being single.”

Rage burns through my veins, and even the blue quartz on the desk behind Xander can’t calm me. “He’s such a fucking coward. I’m sorry, Xan. You deserve so much better than that.”

Xander waves me off, like he’s not entirely sure he agrees with my assessment, but then a mischievous grin reignites the usual spark in his eyes. “I don’t suppose you know any curses that could make him impotent or cause all his hair to fall out?”

A sinking sensation pulls at my heart. “You know I don’t do that kind of magic.”

“I know. I was kidding. Mostly.” He stands and gestures for me to take my place at my desk. “I’m actually here for something far more exciting than that garbage excuse of a man.”

Following his lead, I loop around the desk, slip into my chair, and give him a nod. “I’m listening.”

“I bought a bed-and-breakfast!”

“You—”

“Bought a B&B! In Oak Spires!” He flops into the wide chair across from me, the one for clients that’s been empty for an embarrassingly long time, and continues. “I’m tired of being so far from my family. I want to see my nieces grow up, not just pop in for holidays.” He shoots me a cheeky grin. “Plus, it’ll be nice to be near all our old college haunts.”

I want to be on board with his enthusiasm, I really do, but I can’t stop the worry niggling at my heart. Leaning forward, I rest my arms against the desk and fiddle with the piece of blue quartz. “But what about your job?”

Xander’s features pinch with disgust. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to leave ever since the bigwigs decided to embrace AI. I didn’t become a software engineer to put artists out of work and destroy the environment.”

“And you landed on starting a bed-and-breakfast?” I try to keep the skepticism out of my voice, but while Xander was never particularly passionate about his work, he’s never shown any interest in the hospitality industry. “When did all this happen?”

“A month and a half ago. Ish.” Xander barrels on before I can point out that a rebound business venture is not the healthiest way to get over a broken engagement. “We’ve already moved in and everything. It’s this absolutely stunning Tudor-style manor, just wait till you see the stonework. You’re going to love it. We’re finishing up some final renovations right now, landscaping mostly. It’s on the outskirts of town, so there’s a ton of land.”

“Wow, Xan. That’s—”

“The grand opening is set for next month, assuming the liquor license goes through next week. We’ve hired the best for all the prep work, which is what brought me to you.”