Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mike
The beautiful restaurant and all the happy people eating inside did nothing to abate my tears.
I was doing my very best not to weep as we ate the six-course meal, but my eyes kept getting glassy whenever I saw how in love Erik and Marcus were.
Dylan and I sat on chairs next to each other with Marcus in front of us on a bench seat, making room enough for Erik to sit with us.
I’d feared he would have to stand awkwardly next to the table, but he sat like he truly was a part of our evening, and I loved that.
“Before I forget,” Erik said, looking directly at me. “Where did you buy your lace panties? I want Marcus to wear the same ones but we couldn’t find them online.”
My face was burning up and I prayed that Marcus kept Dylan's attention so he wouldn’t notice. “I’ll—” I swallowed. “I’ll send Marcus the link.”
“Thank you,” Erik winked. “We plan on visiting you in the future, maybe work on more cases where more mediums are needed.”
“We would love that,” I grinned. “But I have to admit, it feels lonely without you tailing me.”
His smile turned sad. “I know. It was hard for me too. I’m just glad you have Dylan, otherwise it would’ve been even harder for me to leave you.”
“Had it been anyone other than Marcus who’d tried to take you, I would’ve fought them on it,” I admitted with a soft smile. “We had fun together, and I’m glad you were my first ever ghost.”
Erik’s eyes turned wet and he had to look away from me. I knew the feeling all too well. The absence of his gaze gave me the chance to pull myself together, too, so I did, trying to look at the happy eaters around us and admire the décor.
“That sounds amazing!” Marcus exclaimed. “A whole week!”
“With snow and everything,” Dylan agreed with an eager smile. “We leave tomorrow.”
Marcus sighed dreamily. “We might need to do the same in the future. Just sitting inside a warm cabin while the snow is falling outside the window. With the fire going and some hot cocoa….”
“We can go next month,” Erik interrupted, clearly also hooked on the idea. “You were told to use some vacation days, this could be amazing for us, and there likely won’t be any other ghosts there considering it will be a small cabin.”
Marcus nodded eagerly. “I just hope they won’t judge me for renting a cabin for a whole week alone.”
Erik just shrugged. “We save on the expense and no one will be around to hear you scream my name there.”
“Erik!” Marcus hissed, his cheeks getting redder.
“What did he say?!” Dylan whispered, eager for gossip.
I leaned closer and whispered, “Sex stuff, I’ll tell you later.”
He groaned. “It’s at times like these where I hate that I can’t hear him.”
We continued to eat and laugh, the conversations flowing.
It was the best goodbye and ‘see you later’ I could’ve asked for, and when we went our separate ways, I looked behind me and saw the loving look they shared as they walked side by side back to the train station.
Erik was in good hands with his Marcus, and I’d managed to complete my first ever case and the one I would cherish above all others forever.
“Ready to head back and pack?” Dylan asked with a teasing tone.
“What is it with you and my packing?” He always got incredibly turned on watching it. But who was I to kink shame.
He just shrugged and laced our fingers together. It seemed the rest of our evening would be used for packing and then some fun in bed.
“It’s so cute!” I gushed as we approached our rented cabin for the week.
There was a ten-minute walk to the resort where we could use their spa and restaurants if we wished.
They also had a small store for those of us who wanted to cook for ourselves.
The cabins were cheaper than if we stayed at the resort, but I couldn’t fathom coming here and choosing a hotel room over a cabin with the snow-covered trees surrounding it.
All the cabins were placed in a crooked line, with lots of space in between.
The green trees behind were nothing but endless forest. There were skiing hills close by as well, if we felt like trying that, though I highly doubted it.
Dylan’s stitches were healing up nicely, but he was far from healed enough for us to go skiing.
I was mostly sad about missing out on the spa, but Dylan had promised we could return next year if we liked it here.
I already did, and we hadn’t even unlocked our cabin yet.
“I can’t wait to get into the heat,” Dylan grumbled as he fumbled with the key. I just grinned widely behind him, eager to relax and have some hot cocoa with my boyfriend.
“Ta-da!” he announced, stepping aside to gesture me in first even with the cold bothering him so much.
I’d managed two steps before locking eyes with an elderly man, his greying hair and frail body told me he’d likely died in his seventies. He wore a striped pajamas and gave me an odd look.
“Can you… see me?” he asked, his tone raspy.
“I can,” I replied, giving him a polite smile. I heard Dylan groan behind me. There went that vacation, unless we could ask for another cabin.
“Oh,” the ghost said, eyeing me. “I’ve never met a person who could see me before.”
“I’m a medium,” I replied patiently. “My job is to help ghosts pass on to the afterlife or help them in other ways.” My words seemed to frighten the ghost and he moved further away from me.
I ignored his weird reaction and instead introduced myself.
“My name is Mike, and this is my boyfriend, Dylan. What’s your name? ”
“J?rgen,” he whispered, still looking frightened.
“Nice to meet you, J?rgen.” I was one hundred percent butchering his name, but I hoped the way we communicated fixed it. “We’re staying here for a week and would appreciate if you stayed out of the bedroom and bathroom to offer us some privacy.”
He blinked. “Oh, yes, of course! I wouldn’t look! I—”
I hurried to stop his protests, “Thank you, that means a lot to us.”
J?rgen just nodded and slowly sat down on a chair that faced a window overlooking the forest to the right.
“Everything okay?” Dylan asked behind me.
I turned and whispered, “Old ghost, seems harmless and a tad confused.”
He sighed. “We can’t get another cabin, they’re fully booked. We would need to get a hotel room instead.”
“Noo!” I whined. “I want a cabin.”
“Then we’ll just have to share with the ghost.”
I gave my understanding boyfriend a soft smile and leaned in to kiss his cheek.
“Want me to ignore him while we’re here?
” I felt awful even suggesting it. Others would’ve ignored him, too.
J?rgen was the one who’d decided to remain here, alone, in this small cabin.
And I was now starting to get really curious as to why.
“Come,” Dylan, grabbed my hand and dragged me into the small bedroom that was basically just a big bed with a little bit of floor space.
The bed was pushed against two walls, making it cozier.
I wouldn’t mind sleeping against the wall, especially not since the wall was padded.
I would feel so safe and protected sleeping there.
We worked side by side, slowly unpacking our things and placing them in the small closet.
“I want hot cocoa before dinner,” I said, thinking about what our first meal here should be. We would need to do some shopping before bed, but it was still early evening so we had time to get warmed up before venturing outside again.
Back in the living room slash kitchen, I found J?rgen sitting on the same chair, staring outside the window.
Because he was ignoring us, I let myself take in the small cabin.
There was a bookshelf next to a huge window, and just under the window stood a comfy couch, in front of the couch, tucked into the corner, was the wood stove, already lit and warming up the space.
There was a small wall mounted TV and we’d already been told it had several apps installed so we could stream on it.
The kitchen was small and all dark wood with black counter tops.
There was a small platter with chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us.
Some were covered with white chocolate dipped in coconut flakes, some in milk chocolate with sprinkles, and some dark chocolate with white chocolate swirls on top.
Dylan groaned behind me. Then moved closer and hugged me from behind, his chin on my shoulder. “Now I’m starving for those strawberries.”
I chuckled. “Me, too. Want to eat them on the couch and just enjoy the view?”
He kissed my cheek, his hands moving inside my sweater to palm my stomach. “That sounds lovely.”
We sat and watched the snow-covered trees, wondering aloud about the distance of the forest and how vast it was. It sadly wasn’t snowing, but it had snowed during the night, making the area covered in fresh snow.
“Imagine if we see animal footprints outside in the mornings,” I gushed, already looking forward to morning cocoa and a nice walk around the cabins.
Dylan smiled at me. “It’s nice seeing you this happy again.”
I all but melted. “It’s thanks to you, Dyl. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed this. Thank you.”
“Anything for you,” he whispered, then kissed my lips softly. “I’ll make you some hot cocoa and then I’ll go buy food for tonight and for our breakfast. You stay here and rest.”
I shook my head. “You can’t carry all of that with your stitches. I don’t mind going, and we can always warm up with some cocoa afterwards.”
He just smiled. “I have my backpack I can use. No strain on my hands, I promise.”
I squinted my eyes at him. “Are you trying to get away from me?” I teased.
He just winked and went to kiss my cheek, but once he’d kissed me, he whispered, “I’m trying to give you a chance to talk with the ghost. Perhaps you can help.” He then rose to stand. “But I don’t mind you joining me if you prefer that.”
Smiling at him, I shook my head. “I think I’ll stay here. Just promise not to pull your stitches.”
Dylan gave me a fond smile. “I promise.”