Page 51 of Trick or Stalk

Soon, Presley.

You’ll know I’ve been there.

You’ll know I’ve been everywhere you are.

CHAPTER 10

Presley

I pull into the driveway and shut off the engine. “We survived.”

Penny looks at me from her car seat.

“Barely.”

She wags her tail.

“Never grocery shop hungry. That's the lesson we've learned today.”

I glance at the bags filling the back seat. I went in for groceries and came out with everything on my list, plus three different kinds of Halloween candy, apple cider, pumpkin muffins, caramel popcorn, and a bag of treats Penny absolutely did not need.

In my defense, she looked at me with those pleading eyes. I never stood a chance.

“Come on.”

I climb out and walk around, opening the passenger side. I lift her out and set her down. Penny immediately puts her nose to the ground.

With her leash in my hand, I grab two grocery bags and start toward the house.

The late-afternoon sun hangs low behind the mountains, throwing long shadows across the yard. A breeze moves through the trees, sending leaves skittering over the grass.

Penny races ahead of me, running up the porch steps.

I climb them after her, then pause.

Something is different.

My gaze moves over the pumpkins. Lanterns. Cobwebs. Ghosts.

I look away, then back to the ghosts. I stop on the one hanging beside the front door.

It's straight.

I frown.

For a moment, I simply stare at it.

“No.”

Penny looks up at me.

I set the grocery bags down on the porch.

The ghost hangs perfectly from its hook, facing the yard.

Exactly the way I wanted it to.

Except... I didn't fix it.