Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dear Journal (NOT a fucking diary!),
I’m co-parenting a hellhound!
Never thought I’d say that. It’s just further proof of how fucking magical my life has become since arriving in Mystic Hollow.
I always wanted a dog as a kid. The movies made them seem like the most loyal companions, full of love and devotion. It’s not hard to see why that appealed to me, that’s for sure.
Our sweet girl traveled from another fucking dimension just so she could be loved by Hal. And fuck, you better believe I’d have done the same if I were her. She’s a smart one, I can tell.
My boyfriend and I are raising her together!
Can you believe that? We’re like a real fucking family.
I’m nervous but mostly excited. With Hal, I feel like I can do anything.
I’m sure Dr. P will have thoughts about all this, but I’m not worried.
Caring for an animal is a huge commitment, and I’ve always steered clear of having one for that reason.
But things are different now, and I bet Dr. P would agree.
Caring for Elvira with Hal just works for my new life in all the best ways.
Fuck, am I sounding super sappy or what? Whatevs. I’m going to hold on to these magical feelings that keep growing every moment I spend with Hal. And Elvira now, too.
—Skylar Wright’s Personal Journal
Skylar
Some memories aren’t easy to forget. Mine like to haunt me in my dreams.
Or rather, my nightmares.
I’m surrounded by darkness and pain engulfs my body. I know Damien’s attacking me, but I can’t see him.
I can’t see anything.
My breathing starts getting faster as I struggle to protect my head, my face, my stomach—my limbs can’t move fast enough to keep his fists and feet away.
Just when I’m ready to lose my shit and spiral into a panic attack, something warm and wet slides across both of my cheeks and my forehead.
I bolt upright in bed with a gasp, my heart pounding like it’s auditioning to be the drummer in a rock band.
Elvira, who’s sitting in my lap, continues to give my whole head a tongue bath—which, when it comes from a three-headed hellhound, is a real slobbery experience.
Hal sits beside me on the edge of the bed, his brow furrowed.
“Are you okay? You were having a bad dream. Elvira and I heard you cry out in your sleep, so we came to check on you.” He smiles softly when he looks at our new housemate. “Little Ms. here decided she needed to wake you up the only way she knows how.”
With a shaky hand, I rub the fluffy hair on her back and try to get my bearings.
“What time is it?”
“Five in the morning.”
“Sorry, I woke you so early,” I say, wincing. “I thought things were getting better, but I guess it takes a long time to get past the nightmares.”
Hal bites his bottom lip, and his big brown eyes fill with worry.
I feel bad. We only just started courting… dating… whatever you want to call it, and he’s already dealing with parts of me I’d hoped to keep hidden. At least for a little while.
He gently places a big, warm hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Everyone has nightmares from time to time.
And after everything you’ve been through, neither of us should be surprised after, you know, a portal to the Demon Realm showed up during our date and all.
It was a wee bit stressful there for a while. ”
I run a shaky hand through my hair and snort. “Not to mention the gang of fleeing naked gnomes. They were every-gnome-for-themselves-ing it! Fuckers kicked a bottle into my shin. Would’ve taken me out if I was their height.”
Hal chuckles and Elvira yawns.
After my nightmare, I’m hardcore craving a damn cigarette, but I’m not going to let some shitty memories mess with my habit-kicking progress. Instead, I lean over and grab one of Hal’s Craving Crushers from the small glass bowl on my nightstand.
He’s taken to refilling it every day for me and putting similar candy dishes around the entire B&B. Just so I can fill my pockets whenever I need to.
He’s so fucking special.
Sucking on the lozenge helps calm me down a bit, and I smile weakly at Hal and give Elvira’s center head some scritches. “Still kinda hoped I’d be past this by now though. I should be able to make my brain stop rehashing shit that I’d rather stayed dead and buried.”
Elvira swivels her heads a bit, and I start scratching her chins. It’s a bit of a slapstick comedy sketch happening in my lap as her three heads vie for my two hands.
I lean into Hal’s side and he wraps an arm around my shoulders, grounding me and making me feel safe. “Give yourself time. Healing is a process.”
“You sound like Dr. P,” I jokingly grumble.
Hal chuckles. “I will take the comparison to your therapist as the compliment I’m sure you intended,” he teases. Then he sobers a bit. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?”
“Nah. You can go back for another hour or two though,” I say. “I think I’ll just head down and get started on the day early.” After all, I need to get the online booking system up and running on my website now that opening day is almost here.
Hal gets up and helps me out of bed. “Come on.”
I stare at him in confusion. “Where are we going?”
He grins. “We’re going to watch one of my favorite nature documentaries before our days have to begin. That should take your mind off all this. And maybe a nice herbal tea or mocha instead of your usual coffee this morning?”
I don’t know if it’s the lingering terror from my dream or what, but all of a sudden I’m on the verge of tears.
“You…” My voice falters. “You don’t have to do that.”
Hal’s answering smile is bright and beautiful. “But I want to. Skylar, I care about you very much, and now that I’m your…” He blushes and clears his throat. “Now that I’m your boyfriend, I’m taking that role seriously. Please, let me take care of you.”
“Let’s go with the mocha then. If I’m getting up at the ass crack of dawn, I need fortification.”
Hal chuckles. “Besides, you know how much I love fiddling with that espresso machine Ryder bought me. Before we start getting more guests staying here, I need to be a pro at using it.”
I should probably fight him more on this. Just because I can’t fucking sleep anymore, I shouldn’t mess with his rest, but I can’t deny that the idea of watching some nature documentary and drinking a mocha sounds a whole lot better than being alone with my thoughts.
“Lead the way to the mocha, babe.”
Hal’s eyes sparkle. “You called me that last night too. No one’s ever called me babe before. I love it.”
“I’m glad. It just felt natural and right. To call you that, I mean. Cuz I care a lot about you too.” I wink at him. “Just in case you didn’t know.”
Hal sighs happily, and I swear he damn near floats down the stairs as I follow behind him, Elvira hot on my heels.
Fucking hell, the adorableness factor of this giant teddy bear of a sasquatch is gonna kill me in all the best ways.
The house is quiet as I trail Hal into the kitchen. Elvira appears to like this early morning adventure because she’s prancing along, all three tails wagging.
Hal fiddles with the espresso machine and milk frother to make my fancy mocha while I help out by getting some toast going so we can have it with his homemade preserves.
While the bread’s toasting, I sneak some leftover chicken from the fridge to give Elvira a treat, which she scarfs down with enthusiasm.
She’s so goddamn charming, she could almost give Hal a run for his money. Not exactly like the kind of dog I imagined having when I was a kid, but her arrival through that portal was some type of cosmic destiny, if you ask me.
Elvira’s also super fucking smart. She must sense I’m still a bit rattled from my nightmare because she jumps into my lap once I sit at the kitchen table, and I have to stifle a grunt while she makes herself comfortable.
Even though she’s only a puppy, she probably weighs a good forty or fifty pounds.
I have to wonder how big she’ll actually get.
When she finds the exact right spot in my lap, she curls into a ball and nestles into me. The sheer trust has me all choked up again.
Do not turn into a snotty, crying mess.
Gently, I stroke her fur, admiring the soft, silky texture as I run my fingers through it. There’s something soothing about petting her, and I kind of zone out and just focus on the warmth of her presence in my lap. Parts of my body that I didn’t realize were tense start to relax and let go.
“You’re fucking magic,” I whisper to her. She makes a snorting noise of agreement.
“All set here,” Hal says, tray in hand. “Let’s move to the living room.”
Elvira opens one eye but doesn’t move from my lap.
Hal chuckles. “I haven’t forgotten you.” He dangles some homemade dog biscuits in the air, and Elvira’s happy to get up for that.
As if in silent sync, the three of us curl up together on the couch under one of Hal’s cozy afghans. While he pulls up the documentary on the television, I sip at my mocha, complete with whipped cream, and nibble on my toast.
He’s seriously spoiling me, but I’ve got no complaints.
“Mmm. This is fucking delicious,” I tell him around a mouthful of strawberry jam.
He beams. “Glad you like it.”
The documentary starts, and after a few moments, I look at him in surprise. “Penguins?”
He gets that bashful look on his face that I find so fucking adorable.
“I love them. Always have. I don’t entirely know why, but I find them fascinating.” He gets a dreamy look in his eyes. “And I think it’s so romantic that some penguin species tend to mate for life, or as close to it as animals get.”
I nod slowly. That makes a whole lot of sense, especially given what I know about Hal’s super sweet romantic fantasies and the fact that he never quite fit in among his family or his own kind.
Here in Mystic Hollow, he’s made a home for himself and found community and friendship.
The only thing missing is that one special person to share his life with. His very own penguin.
My heart races with a combination of uncertainty and hope when I consider the possibility that maybe I could be that for him. I’m already falling for him.
Hal deserves his own penguin. Right now, he’s taking care of me like none of the past assholes in my life ever dreamed of doing. He deserves the same treatment.
And I want to take care of him right back, but that’s something easier said than done.
Can I be who Hal needs as a partner? Fuck if I know, but I have discovered a few little things about him.
He likes endearments, and our date was going awesome until a fucking demon portal decided to open a few feet away from us.
Still, I’ve got some stuff I can try to build on.
As we watch the documentary and I sip my mocha, I lean into Hal’s side, resting my head on his arm since I don’t quite reach his shoulder. The show is actually pretty interesting. I never knew there are some male penguins who mate with other males, and some even try to raise offspring together.
When I mention my surprise to Hal, he damn near vibrates with excitement.
“Isn’t it amazing? There have been a number of cases of male penguins even selecting rocks that resemble eggs, which they then try to incubate. Others have raised abandoned young or those who lost their birth parents.” He blushes. “Just like our good girl.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Hal, I know I said we’re becoming a family. But this is next level. We’re gonna be the most epic penguin dads to Ms. Elvira ever.”
Hal and I high-five in silent agreement and the last traces of my nightmare vanish into thin air.
Elvira lets out a snore.
We both look down at her sprawled on her back, half in my lap and half in his, her feet in the air and belly on full display while she snoozes away.
How did a schmuck like me get so lucky to have them in my life? Maybe I earned it after all I’ve been through. I’m making a promise to myself to never take either of them for granted.
Elvira squirms awake between us and starts to give me kisses. I laugh and try to dodge, not very successfully, her three eager puppy tongues.
“I love it when you laugh,” Hal says softly.
That surprises me into a realization. “You know, before I came here, I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud. The last year was dark, a fucking awful blur. But ever since I moved to Mystic Hollow, it’s like I’ve reclaimed a part of myself I thought I’d lost.”
This is a big new insight Dr. P will be happy to hear about.
“You’re just like a plant that needed some TLC to blossom beautifully once more.”
I swallow hard. “Well, if anyone deserves credit for most of that TLC, it’s you.”
Hal waves his hands, looking all kinds of flustered. “Oh, no. I can’t possibly take credit. Mystic Hollow has a powerful effect on people. Lots of folks who came here have been healed by this special place.”
It’s more than the damn town, I’m sure of that. But Hal handles compliments about as gracefully as I do. I’ll just have to work on showing him my appreciation for all he’s done for me in the most boyfriendliest way I can.
I clear my throat. “So… uh… what’s on the docket today?”
“We have a festival planning committee meeting in a bit. Can you still join us this afternoon?”
Now this is something I’m seriously excited about. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Step One of Operation Being a Good Boyfriend: Help Hal and the others make this year’s festival unforgettable.