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Chapter

Sixteen

When Marvin chimed and rolled off his dock the next morning, Leo followed him out of the sitting room.

Their war had entered a new phase. Fortunately, there was less shouting now. Leo no longer tried to stop the vacuum from cleaning. He just watched it do so and issued corrections, which it ignored.

Nate sat at the kitchen table with his coffee and made a supply list.

He’d been awake since six, and he’d spent most of that time thinking about how to say the thing he wanted to say. He still didn’t really have a plan. There probably wasn’t a good way to talk to Leo about his thoughts.

All he knew for sure was that he couldn’t use the word broken again.

Leo drifted back through the wall almost as if he knew that Nate had to talk to him.

“I’m going into town today,” Nate said.

Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“I need to get some supplies… and do some research.”

“Research?” Leo tilted his head. “What are you researching?”

“The house. Its history.” Nate licked his lips. It was clear something was off about this house, and it was equally clear that Leo didn’t remember. But this was a small town. There would be rumors, and some of them might hold a kernel of truth. Something for Nate to dig into.

Something that might tell him what he was dealing with here.

“I’m the history of the house,” Leo claimed. “Ask me.”

Nate looked at him and, again, wasn’t sure what to say.

Leo stood there with his chin up and his arms crossed. Confident. As if he had answers to give.

He didn’t, and they both knew it.

Nate decided to change the topic just slightly. “There’s something I’d like to tell you about how ghosts usually work.”

“I know how ghosts work. I am a ghost in case you forgot.”

“And you’re a very special ghost.”

“What do you mean by special?” Of course Leo was immediately suspicious.

Nate played with the pen in his hand. “Most hauntings don’t have as much personality as you. They’re not really people. They’re more… impressions left behind. Cold spots, footsteps, a voice saying the same thing over and over. Even some of the ghosts that have shape… There’s nobody home.”

“I didn’t know that,” Leo admitted.

“Real ghosts like you are rare.” Nate watched Leo’s face while he said it. “You’re someone who hasn’t moved on. There’s got to be a reason for that. Last night you talked about your duty.”

Leo drew his arms more tightly around himself. “You think you know what my duty is?”

“I don’t.” Nate set his pen down. “But it’s probably not a happy thing. Ghosts don’t stay in places where they were happy.”

Leo frowned. “What?”

“You’d think they would. Somebody dies and stays in the house where they raised their kids, or where they fell in love. That kind of thing.” Nate shook his head. “But happy people move on. Love doesn’t hold anyone here. You claim to love this house, but that’s not why you stayed.” Nate paused, keeping Leo’s gaze. “I think something terrible happened to you here.”

The kitchen went quiet.