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“Matt’s on duty this weekend.” Kaitlin plopped into the chair across from her. “You’re not sleeping again, are you? Maybe it’s all that ghost energy being stirred up. Maybe it’s time to tell Mason the rent’s due and to move along.”
Amy managed a laugh. “If only it worked that way. They’ll be here until they feel they’ve gotten all the footage they need. From what I understand, they’re going to air episodes soon.”
“Well, I hope that turns out the way you want it to,” Kelsey said, concern softening her voice.
“As do I, sister.”
“They’re finding things?” Kaitlin asked. “Anything like what I saw?”
“Not that I know of. I can’t understand half of what they’re doing when I watch them film. But some things have happened that they are pretty excited about. The power went out and doors slammed… though honestly, I’m not so sure. Sully seemed to think it was all playacting.”
“Sully?” Kelsey asked, one eyebrow raised. “He was there? At night?”
“Keeping an eye on things. Worried they were going to break something he’d been working on or fall through the ceiling.”
“That’s a lot for the two of you to supervise.”
“They’ve got a hard-ass producer. Sully likes her. We both felt comfortable enough leaving it in her hands.” Amy sipped her coffee. “It appears they film constantly and then piece the episodes together after the fact. Mason doesn’t work too hard—it’s his crew putting in the hours. It just looks that way on the show.”
“Matt is convinced he’s a charlatan,” Kelsey said. “Thinks the whole thing’s just entertainment.”
“I don’t know,” Kaitlin countered. “The medium seemed pretty authentic to me. And I know what I saw.”
“I guess time will tell,” Amy said, tipping her face back to catch a bit of sun. “I’ll text you both when Mason’s ready to review footage. We can check it out together—you know I value your opinion.”
“Oh, I’d love to see it,” Kaitlin gushed. She accepted a cup of coffee from Kelsey.
Kelsey also set a mug in front of her sister. “Well, I’m just worried about you—about how all this is affecting your health. You used to talk about the mansion like it was a person, remember? Said you could feel it calling to you. Maybe it’s just… tired of being poked at.”
Amy looked down at the dark mirror of coffee and watched her reflection ripple.
“It’s changed,” she said quietly. “It doesn’t feel like it used to. I could stand in those halls and feel calm once. Now it’s like the calm moved out and left something else.”
Kelsey reached for her hand, fingers warm. “Then maybe the mansion’s not the thing that changed.”
Amy knew what she meant. The worry, the press of deadlines and finances, and her growing attraction to Sully. Maybe Amy was the one causing the change, not the house. But the thought didn’t ease the knot in her chest—that cold suspicion it was something darker, something outside her control.
Noah bounded out onto the deck, saving her from answering Kelsey and admitting her worries. “Aunt Amy, are you and Sully really going on a date tomorrow?”
Kelsey spun around. Kaitlin leaned forward. Both wore identical expressions of shock and delight.
“What?” Amy sputtered, cheeks flooding with heat.
Noah shrugged. “He told Dad at the hardware store. Said he was taking you to dinner after his nieces left.”
Mac barked a laugh from the kitchen. “Well, the island news network strikes again!”
Kaitlin elbowed Amy playfully. “Now that’s the kind of distraction you could use.” Kelsey and Kaitlin grinned wide at her.
Amy groaned and covered her flushed face. “Seriously, you guys.”
Later, walking the trail back toward the mansion, a small smile crept through her embarrassment. Through the tangle of worries about the house and her restless nights, the thought of Sully pulsed steady and warm.
She tried not to picture him but did anyway—not just the size or the presence of him, but the little things: the curve of his grin when they shared a laugh, the way his voice dropped when he was thinking hard, how gentle he’d been the night he found her wandering in the fog.
Was he looking forward to seeing her as much as she was to seeing him? Apparently, he’d already made plans and would confirm soon.
That night, she left the cottage lights low and tried to sleep, her heartbeat counting down the hours she couldn’t calm.
