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“I think if we stick in one place long enough like this, you might just find some more friends to add to our family of misfits.”
“Only if they’ve got an open mind,” I deadpanned. “They’d think I was crazy if I started talking to Remington or something. Knowing me, I’d forget that not everyone else can see him.”
“Yeah, if we can figure out a way to get rid of that ghost and save all the others. No pressure, right?”
He ran a hand over his stubble, his telltale sign that he was out of sorts. It wasn’t just weighing on me, it was dragging us all down.
We had several souls in our hands, and we couldn’t let them down.
We dropped the heavy subjects as the afternoon wore on, the other guys joining us as we looked through all of the booths.
Ben and I found the antique store again. Ethan snagged several bags full of treats. I found a journal and some cool trinkets. Ryker and Lincoln were the only ones who didn’t find anything they wanted to take home outside of some delicious food.
As the sun started to go down, music filled the air. A live band was setting up in front of town hall.
They lit several bonfires in front, and people gathered around, listening to music, chatting, and just enjoying the night.
Between the crisp night air and the mountains in the background, the soft music playing, and the crackling of the fire, it was hard to believe that we were dealing with something so dark up at the castle.
In this moment, it was just us and this gorgeous town.
Ryker moved in next to me, his fingers tangling with mine, while Ethan and Ben chatted right behind us.
Unlike a lot of places we went, nobody gave us strange looks for being so close, and me being the only woman among all the guys.
By now, we hardly kept our relationship a secret. Sometimes that backfired on us. Thankfully, it didn’t here.
My phone started to ring, bringing me out of the moment. I glanced down to see Hale’s number. He mentioned that he was going to try to come this weekend, but he didn’t have an exact time yet.
“Hey, Hale, how’s it going?” I said as I answered.
“Not bad,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “I’m glad I finally got a hold of you. I’ve been trying to get through all afternoon. The signal out in these mountains are horrendous.”
“Oh no, is everything all right?” I asked quickly. I had all the guys’ attention now. They were leaning in to hear him better so I didn’t have to use the speakerphone.
“Oh yeah, I just cleared things up a little bit early, so I’m literally pulling into town now. But they’ve got everything barricaded off.”
Lincoln took the phone from me, stepping away so he could give Hale directions.
He must have figured out where Hale was coming from, turning in the direction of a black SUV as it skirted around the main part of town, eventually coming to a stop at the gates of Bellmore Castle.
That was our cue to leave, so we started following Lincoln up the path.
He’d hung up and handed my phone back. By the time we got up to the driveway, Hale had already parked.
“Oh shit, he’s going to be trouble, isn’t he?” Ben joked as the man stepped out of his car.
Even I could admit that Hale was gorgeous, though he wasn’t exactly my type. He was lean and tall, in a bulky, leather jacket, some kind of band tee, and tight-fitting jeans.
He had on biker boots that looked like they’d been worn down over the years. His hair was shaved on the sides and long on the top, flipped over to the side and obscuring part of his face.
He grinned, showing off his lip piercing, and I spotted one on his eyebrow as well. His cheekbones were well-defined, sunken just enough to give them extra definition and met a strong jawline. The man was carved from stone and could have been a model easily.
“Hey, sorry for the lack of notice. I tried,” he said as we walked up.
“No problem,” I reassured him. “We’re glad you made it okay. If you’d come a few days earlier, that storm would have made it impossible.”
“Oh, trust me, I know. I was stranded at the worst motel of my life,” he groaned as he popped open his trunk and pulled out a leather duffle bag.
