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“Can we do it here?” he asked.
Fiona shook her head. “No, we have to do it at the house.”
“There’s too much damage from the fire!” Jake protested.
“Are you certain of that?” Layla asked. “My visions show it complete again.”
“That’s impossible. Work crews would need to go in, clean it all out, and then rebuilding could begin. And they’d have to let it all cool first. I don’t think there’s any way that we could do that today.
Max nodded. “You need to believe them. It’s crazy, but they all know and feel things we don’t.” Max’s gaze shifted to a spot between Layla and Jake, but high and over their shoulders. “Roy, stop trying to eat everyone’s pizza! I set a place for you!”
“Who’s Roy?” Jake asked, wondering if this group of people would ever make sense.
“Oh, he’s a ghost that clings to Fiona.”
Max laughed, still looking at that same spot. “Roy said I made him sound like a dryer sheet.”
The others all laughed and Jake thought they were insane. “Is this some form of puppetry? What exactly are you doing?”
“Seeing a ghost. Don’t worry about it. You’ll believe eventually.”
As they finished eating, Fiona stood. “Let’s head over to the mansion. Jake, Layla will ride with you, and then she’ll ride back with the rest of us if you still don’t believe us.”
Jake nodded, pleased that Layla would be the one to ride with him. After all, he knew her better than the others... And she was the prettiest. Not sure how that mattered since he’d be watching the road, but it was still true.
As they all went outside, Layla got into Jake’s car with him, while all the others climbed into the sheriff’s truck. “I don’t know that I ever exchanged more than two or three sentences with Max before today.”
“He’s a great guy!” Layla said. “I’m really glad he and Fiona found each other.”
“Do you really believe all that stuff?”
Layla nodded. “My powers are weird in that they only work when the wind blows from the north, which is just plain strange to me.”
He glanced at her at one of the town’s six stoplights. “Are y’all playing some sort of elaborate joke on me?”
Layla was silent for a moment. “Not at all, but I sure can see why you’d ask that.”
He pulled into his own driveway, planning to walk to the house beside his own. “It just seems so weird. Do you often just call someone and invite them to participate in your strange rituals?”
“This is a first for us, and we only did it because of my premonition and my gut feeling that you need to be part of it.”
He sighed. “All right. Don’t tell me what’s really going on.”
She shook her head. “We’ve told you.” Getting out of his car, she headed toward the entrance to the mansion. “I don’t see any fire damage at all,” she called to Jake over her shoulder.
Fiona gave her a look. “Still won’t believe?”
“He actually asked me if this was some sort of elaborate prank we’re playing on him.”
“I can see why he’d ask,” Fiona said, shrugging. “I hope he really does need to be there and won’t keep it from working with his negativity about it all.”
Bella nodded. “I’m sure he’ll figure it out as we go. If he’s half as involved as Max has been, he’ll believe quickly.”
Max opened the door of the mansion and insisted on going inside first. “There’s not real damage,” he called to them. “I can see some of the walls are black from the smoke, but other than that, you can’t tell this house was on fire just a few hours ago.”
Jake was the last to enter the house, and looking around, he said, “There was so much more damage than this. It’s not possible that this house got through that fire with so little damage.”
Layla looked at him for a moment. “Makes you want to believe, doesn’t it?”
