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“Hannie girl,” she beamed and pulled me in for a huge hug, wayward strands of her charcoal hair tickling my cheek. She’d always called me that, and it made me a little reminiscent, as did the gentle scent of honeysuckle that always clung to her like a second skin. “And who is this handsome fella?” she asked as she pulled back.
“Beatrice Durrand, I would like you to meet Deveraux Glapion.”
“Oh, my sweet goddess. I knew I recognized you from somewhere. The host of that wonderful show. So lovely to meet you.”
Dev smiled and took Bea’s hand, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “Enchenté.”
Bea fanned herself with her free hand, raising her brows at me. I knew what she meant.
“Mercy, you are a handsome one. Poor August might have a run for his money.”
I swore I caught a blush creeping up Dev’s neck, but it was gone almost as quickly, and he smoothly answered, “You flatter me, but I am quite certain I could never make you as happy as he does.”
Dev helped get Bea’s wagon into the courtyard, and then I followed along as we walked, and she told him stories from their time on the property and the things that the renters reported to them upon dropping off the keys. I remembered some of them, but a lot were new to me, and I found myself getting sucked in. Bea had always been an amazing storyteller. I remembered her telling Reagan and me tales around campfires in the yard, relaying bits of her rich past. Bea was a bit of an eccentric, but Dev seemed to click with her. They shared the same sort of . . . energy, though I wasn’t quite sure what I meant by that. When I heard them swapping recipes for gris-gris bags and witch balls—whatever the hell those were—I kind of tuned them out. I knew they were used in different religions as articles of protection, but like most other things concerning the supernatural, I didn’t believe in it. I did, however, believe in the power of thought and mind over matter, so I supposed if you needed a talisman of sorts to focus those intentions, who was I to judge? I touched my pendant through my shirt, still wondering about that mark. It had faded, but it was still strange that it matched up with what I remembered of my nightmare.
The sun was just beginning to set when Dev finally put his notebook away. “I think I got what we need for today, ladies. This has been wonderful. Thank you both for your time and great conversation.”
“Oh, dear boy,” Bea said and patted Dev on the cheek. “It was utterly my pleasure. And I mean that.” She winked, and I laughed.
Dev sighed. “If only I were a few years older, and you weren’t married,” he replied and placed a kiss on her cheek, clearly making the older woman’s day.
“I’d better get to my tasks, Hannie girl. August was feeling a bit under the weather today, so I left him back at the cottage to rest and then run to the store after. And I need to get a few things done before the cleaning crew comes tomorrow. So good to see you, my sweet,” she said and hugged me close. “Don’t be a stranger while you’re in town, okay?”
I agreed, making sure to tell her to enjoy some of the vacation the show would provide the couple. She waved me off, grabbed some things, and took the steps to the second floor, headed for whatever she had on her to-do list for the evening.
“So, did you get what you needed?” I asked, turning to Dev.
“Everything and more,” he said with a smile. “I have a ton of new things to do some research on, and I’ll get the information off to my team to start that when we get home. Speaking of, are you ready to head out? You look beat.”
He wasn’t wrong. I felt utterly drained. My nearly sleepless nights were creeping up on me big time. “Yeah, let’s.”
We headed out the courtyard entryway and Dev stopped in his tracks. I glanced at him and then looked where his gaze was, not sure what had snagged his attention. As I did, I saw a large man walk out from around the side of the house.
“What are you doing here?” Dev asked the guy. Clearly, he knew him, which made my alarm drop a notch but not entirely.
“Oh, hey, Dev. I didn’t know you would be here today. Just being proactive, is all, checking things out for wiring and whatnot.”
Dev gestured for me to follow, and we met the man halfway across the drive. He was taller than average and solidly built with jet-black hair and guy-liner ringing his ice-blue eyes, his clothes a mix of punk and goth. “Hanlen, I’d like you to meet one of my crewmembers. Our tech grip extraordinaire. This is—”
The man interrupted Dev by sketching a ridiculous bow. “Remy Dee Reaume at your service, ma’am.” I heard the Cajun twang in his voice and knew that he’d likely grown up in New Orleans.
Dev playfully shoved at Remy’s shoulder. “Knock it off, Casanova.” He grinned when Remy straightened, then raised an eyebrow and issued a whatcha-gonna-do gesture in my direction. “As I was saying, Remy handles all our technical stuff for the show. He runs the power lines, sets the cameras, tests the audio, and hangs out in the command center during the shoots. We couldn’t do a show this large without him. Seriously.”
“High praise, man,” Remy said. “The team actually calls me R2. Most of us have fun nicknames. Except Dev here. He’s too good for that.”
“Not true,” Dev shot back. “Nobody’s given me a good one yet.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could come up with something,” Remy teased.
“Nope, enough of that,” Dev said. “Why are you here now?”
“As I said, just trying to get a jump. The place is big, and I needed to measure some things and map out some others. When you sent us all the address, I just figured I’d come over and take a peek around. I hope you don’t mind.” He turned to me.
“No, it’s fine. I knew you guys were coming. So did Bea and August, even though we didn’t know exactly when or how often before the filming days.”
“Yeah, they buzzed me in,” Remy said. “Nice couple. I parked on the road up a ways by that wayward shed.”
“Oh, did you go in?” Dev asked.
