Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
KENNEDY
Iknow I shouldn’t assume, but I can’t help but think Theo cleaned the house…for me. He even called it my bedroom. He clearly wants me to stay with him, and now I feel ten times more guilty about considering Claudia’s offer to move in with her.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, but I’m nothing if not a great procrastinator.
That’s why I pounced on offering to help clean and decorate the house.
It’s not like this place couldn’t use a little feminine touch.
And besides, the living conditions need a serious upgrade.
If I weren’t dead, I’d be living in squalor.
Theo and I are still lingering in the kitchen, so I decide to take a look inside the antique fridge. It’s one of those rounded retro refrigerators with long silver handles that pull horizontally. I yank it open and find exactly what I was expecting: nothing.
“How long has this been here?” I ask only because it looks decades newer than the house itself. There’s also a bread toaster with big, shiny buttons, and though it’s missing its inner rack, I see modern dials on the oven.
Theo puts some distance between himself and the appliance in question. “Everything was updated in the sixties. That was the last time anyone lived here.”
The same year as the magazines by the door. “Are they the ones who had the subscription to TIME?”
He nods, quietly rubbing his hands together.
I know there’s more to the story. Whoever lived here must have had a big impact on Theo. I wonder how long they stayed. What made them leave?
“Well, they might be almost seventy years old, but these appliances look to be in decent condition,” I say with false bravado.
I don’t know why I said that. He almost definitely needs to replace everything in the house, but I’m more of a glass half full gal, and I don’t want to overwhelm him.
I take one of the tattered curtains above the sink between my fingers and inspect the fabric. It used to be brown gingham. “These should probably go.”
He chuckles. “Probably.”
“What about the living room?” I ask, brushing past him. Our arms clumsily brush as he moves out of the way, and I’m struck by that familiar tingling sensation again.
Every time we’ve touched, I’ve felt it. Even in our spirit forms in the void, I remember the feeling of my fingers falling asleep when he took my hand. I can’t explain it, but I’m tempted to reach out and touch him again.
Theo has his thumbs tucked beneath his suspenders as he follows behind me.
He waits patiently in the middle of the living room while I make my inspection.
The scratches on the hardwood are much more noticeable now that the thick layer of dirt and grime is gone.
It too will probably need to be replaced, but I say it’s got character.
The windows have been scrubbed, and it’s now much easier to see through the glass.
A nearby tree has split from the trunk because of the heavy ice and snow, and I can almost count the rings in the stump.
“I should start the fire,” Theo suggests, moving to the fireplace. Currently, it’s the dirtiest thing here, given the pile of soot that’s collected at the bottom of the grate.
Theo takes his time scooping and scraping the remnants of wood and ash out of the way. After making sure the area is free of debris, he places a new log in the center. He takes a moment, peering thoughtfully into the grate, as if preparing himself for something.
Then, out of nowhere, it catches fire.
I jump back. “Did you do that?”
His shoulders go rigid. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He gets to his feet and faces me.
I’m not sure what I just saw, but I’m pretty sure he just performed magic.
“You’re a witch,” I blurt out, backing away. I’m not scared of him, but I’m not exactly comforted either. “You’ve had magic this whole time?”
“My father was a warlock,” he explains, hands raised slightly as if in surrender. Or to possibly calm me down, because it feels like I just saw a ghost create fire.
“I have very little magic, but there are some things I can do,” he continues. “I don’t use it often. It drains my energy.”
“Okay, this changes everything.”
He scoffs. “Why?”
“Umm, hello!” I let out. “You could have snapped your fingers and turned this house into a resort spa.”
Now he’s actually laughing. His smile stretches all the way to his ears, and I can see all of his teeth. “I’m not that powerful, Kennedy. I just told you, I can only do small things.”
I stop my retreat and shuffle my feet. “Like starting the fire,” I suggest.
“Yes,” he says calmly. “And I may have charmed the mop to scrub the floor while I dusted.”
Now I’m laughing. “That’s some Disney Princess shit right there!”
“It’s silly,” he insists. “My magic is miniscule compared to those women who summoned you. It wasn’t worth mentioning.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and return to where I’d been standing before. “Sorry for freaking out.”
I watch the long column of his throat as he swallows. “You didn’t freak out.”
“I kinda did.”
He relents. “Yes, you did.” Our joined laughter fills the house.
Talking to Theo feels easier than ever before. But to be honest, I don’t think it was ever hard. Sure, he needed someone to force him out of his shell, but even in his moments of doubt, he was never cruel. He’s been kind from the start, and it’s a quality I’m beginning to grow fond of.
But above all that, there seems to be something else at play here. I can’t quite describe it, but whenever I’m near him, I feel a tug in the pit of my stomach. Almost like I’m being pulled toward him, the universe urging me forward.
I don’t understand it, but the more time I spend with him, the more I want to give in.