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“Meeting people is important,” I said then turned to open the fridge. It was pink, to match the other appliances and toilet in the house, but it let out a gust of cold air. Inside was a can of soda, Clark’s favorite.

“Don’t bother feeling bad about the kiss,” he said, making me jump and hit my head on the fridge before I turned to stare at him, head throbbing.

“What?”

He shrugged his large shoulders. “You were drunk and upset about your husband. I don’t take it personally.”

“Oh. That’s good. You don’t feel exploited or anything?”

He almost smiled, and he looked like a completely different person before the scowl settled back. “No, I don’t feel exploited. And if I did, I’d probably like it.”

He turned and strode back toward the front hall, leaving me gaping after him. Was he a lunatic? How nice. I could carry around dead birds while he reveled in abuse.

I sighed as I slowly followed him. We were all of us mad here.

five

. . .

I sat on the gold velvet couch with the contract next to me with Sage, Jackson, and Jerome staring at me like a bunch of vultures. The teenager, whose name I still didn’t know, was building a fire in the fireplace.

“Come on, Mom! It’s the best house ever!” Jackson said, smiling bright, showing his adorable tooth gaps and breaking my heart. “I’ve never seen such a perfect spiderweb as the one in my room.”

I gulped. “We’d clean all the cobwebs. That’s not a reason to move in.”

Sage tapped the contract. “But it’s such a great price. You won’t be able to find somewhere with room, and in the school district, anywhere close to that price.”

I frowned at the contract then at the teen building the fire. “Excuse me, I don’t think I caught your name. Why is the rent on this house so low?”

He poked the fire for a few more seconds until it caught and started burning brightly then turned and straightened up. “Ray. Some people think the house is haunted, but it’s just that there was a grisly murder here thirty years ago.”

Jackson giggled. “That’s awesome! How many people were killed? Just one? Did they find the killer?”

Why were my kids so weird? They were usually very well-mannered and careful about what they said, but here it was like all the rules were off. That’s what Sage said, that she wanted to be somewhere she could be free from all the eyes always watching us. Out here, no one would care if I started collecting and stuffing dead animals. Maybe that would be my passion. No one would care if Jerome was obsessed with bugs, and Jackson was obsessed with psycho killers. They’d have to watch themselves at school, but at home, maybe it would be nice to live in a house with such a bad reputation that no one noticed mine.

My phone sang, ‘You’re All I Need to Get By,’ and I pulled it out, staring at the screen with Clark’s picture on it. My finger was shaking as I sent the call to messages. Then I picked up my pen and scrawled my name on the contract.

The contract got blurry for a second, before it cleared. The fire must be smoking. I collapsed back on the couch and felt like I’d fought a mighty battle without accomplishing anything.

“Do you want a drink?” Ray asked, an ironic name for a ray of darkness. “There’s a stocked liquor cabinet included in the furnishings.”

I straightened up and stood, forcing a polite smile. “Absolutely not. We’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll bring over everything that won’t be put in storage after I get the boys registered in their new school.”

The Ray of darkness walked towards me slowly, danger in every step, then he held out his hand, and a keyring dangled from his fingers. “Welcome to Hoar House.” He smiled, but it was a creepy smile that showed that he needed a lot more practice.

I slowly took the keys while Sage muttered, “Whorehouse? What the crap?”

“Hoar like frost,” Ray said, glancing at her. “You do know that word, right?”

She gave him a snotty smile. “Yeah, I do. I also know the more common word that you call slutty girls. I’m all kinds of educated. Mom, can we come back tonight?”

And not have to spend another night in the house I’d given my heart to? I’d have to pack up all our kitchen stuff. Spices, condiments, groceries. Did I want to do that tonight when I felt half dead?

“Not tonight. Tomorrow morning. You can walk to school then take the bus out here afterwards. You can finish packing tonight.”

“Okay. Later, Ray,” she said, wrinkling her nose at the caretaker.

I didn’t end up sleeping that night. Instead, I packed, cleaned, and did everyone’s laundry. There was a stacked washer and dryer in the old house, on the opposite side of the hall from the powder room, but it wasn’t the set I’d spent nine months researching until I found the perfect system.