Chapter 41
“Hey beautiful.”
My heart flutters, and I miss him even more just hearing his voice through the phone. He had to fly to New York to handle some things. Something about meeting with boring people—as he described it—signing paperwork with lawyers and relinquishing some rights or something. I don’t know.
It’s been four days.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m coming back this weekend. So, Saturday?”
“You want to borrow me?”
A long, drawn-out pause.
“No.” The sound of him letting out a breath, almost like a laugh, fills the void. “I want to keep you.”
I pause.
“Are you okay with that?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you want me there?”
I take a deep breath. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll be there.”
I can’t help but smile. A silly, giddy, schoolgirl smile. “Okay.”
“But just one thing?”
“What?”
“I know you’re really into this stuff, but I’m not dressing up, okay? I draw the line at pirate costumes.”
I laugh. “Deal.”
Since he’s been away, I’ve been in full-blown Halloween prep mode when I’m not busy working at the restaurant and doing homework for my class.
Not that I haven’t been preparing for months already, but with a little over a week to go, things are getting exciting around here.
This year is a big one, since it’s the first time Jess has decided she’s too old to go trick-or-treating.
Instead, she wants to stay home, turn on Halloween movies, and hand out candy to the younger kids.
I’ve also buried myself back into the obsession of the murder mystery house.
I took a deep dive the other night, trying to find out more about Sonny, but I couldn’t uncover a single thing.
It’s like he vanished. Or like he never existed to begin with.
The pessimistic side of me is starting to win out over the optimistic one, and I can’t help but think maybe the husband murdered both of them.
I really wish Jameson’s investigator would come through with something.
I messaged Dorothy to tell her what I’d found and to give her the name, but she said she’d never heard of him.
Then she thanked me profusely for updating her and continuing to look into it.
At this point, I want to crack this thing just for her sake.
She’s getting older, and I want her to have that peace, that closure.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to go almost your whole life wondering.
Thinking some awful thing happened to your friend.
And finally, yesterday, I stopped by the sheriff’s office before work and gave the picture and the name we found to Officer Bradley.
He thanked me and gave me a curious look, like he suspected I was investing a lot of time into the mystery.
He didn’t tell me to stop, though. He didn’t say much of anything.