Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Iago was starting to hate working all by himself.
He knew he was probably being a whiny crybaby butt-hurt asshole, but the fact that the guys just got up and left every day and went to Xander’s house, and he had to chime in on computer chat, was sucky.
Still, it was his job, so he reviewed the footage every day.
He did the research on anything he might be able to find, which so far was nothing, and he did a lot of other legwork for things like the haunted ghost ranch of Jack Harlan’s that Gent wanted them to explore.
By day three of working alone, he was ready to storm the castle, Xander be damned. He would just walk over there, stride inside the house, and say, “I’m here to work. Leave me alone.”
Just about the time he was ready to go squirrely on day four, a knock sounded at the door, and he thought maybe the guys had taken pity on him, although why they would knock he didn’t know.
Maybe it was Colton. He always did knock.
Or maybe it was Gent popping by before he left for whatever his next meeting was.
“Coming!” He unfolded himself from his chair and padded to the back door, opening it up.
“Hey.” Xander stood there, shoulders hunched, eyes on Iago’s left ear. He carried a cake dome in one hand and a box in the other. “I, uh, brought you lunch. Can I come in?”
“I don’t know where the guys are…” He opened the door and moved back to let Xander in. “I’ll go find them.”
“No. No, they’re eating at my place. This is for you. Can I talk with you a minute?” Xander stepped inside, setting the vintage cake carrier on the counter.
“Sure…” Iago didn’t know what else to say. He knew this was probably the, ‘Gee, I’m sorry you overheard me calling you a caffeinated squirrel,’ apology, and he’d have to be nice and accept it, because of work and small towns, but still…
Xander opened the bag of food and pulled out sandwiches and homemade potato salad and some kind of mixed vegetable salad stuff with feta and dressing. He kept his head down, his cheeks red enough that the freckles all ran together.
Then that green gaze snapped up to his. “Look, I’m sorry I was an asshole. I said stupid shit, and it was totally not okay.”
Iago nodded and shrugged. “I’m sorry that—”
What? That Xander didn’t like him? Was he supposed to apologize for being himself? For being nice? He didn’t know.
“It’s cool. I appreciate the lunch. It all smells really great. You didn’t have to do all this, but it really does smell amazing.”
There, that was nice, right?
He accepted the apology. He didn’t make a deal out of it. He thanked the man for the food. He didn’t apologize for being him, or promise to stop being himself, even though that was what he wanted to do,
His instinct was to say, “Okay, I vow not to be a caffeinated squirrel around you.”
Man, his feelings were really hurt, and he wasn’t sure what to do.
He couldn’t believe the guys had just deserted him here like this and put him in this position. They had to have known Xander was coming over. It wasn’t very fair.
Xander gave him a tiny grin. “The sammy has that salad on it you like. You know, the mayo and banana peppers and onions and red wine vinegar.”
He blinked a little bit. He didn’t think he’d ever mentioned that to Xander, liking that on his subs. But he’d had it once when he’d gone back East to visit a cousin of his foster family, and it was some sort of an Italian-American thing that really made his mouth water.
“Thanks.” He said it again because he meant it. It was amazing-looking food.
“What I’m most sorry for is that I hurt your feelings,” Xander said. “I didn’t mean to. I was just being a dick. I can do that, you know? I’m not a nice guy, and I feel awful.”
He shrugged, feeling squirmy and uncomfortable. “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say. You did hurt my feelings, and it’s not nice to know somebody doesn’t like you, and—”
“Hey, no, I want you to stop right there. I don’t dislike you.
In fact, I probably like you too much. And that wigs me out a little bit, because I’m not that kind of person usually.
I don’t find myself interested in anyone.
I know that sounds weird but it’s the truth.
” Xander started putting things on plates so that he had something to eat right in front of him.
“But you make me want to look at you and talk to you, and it’s not a comfortable feeling for me. ”
Iago had to admit that kind of bald honesty was new and, while he still wasn’t sure he was ready to forgive the hurt feelings, it kind of made him feel better to hear it.
“Okay, well, I don’t try to make you uncomfortable.”
“I know that.” Xander rolled his eyes, which made Iago want to smack him again, but at the same time it made him want to laugh.
“It’s all about me. I’m uncomfortable. You’ve done your best to make me feel comfortable, which is where I say you’re sort of like a caffeinated gnat on crack or whatever I said.
A squirrel? I think my energy makes you nervous, so you babble. ”
“No, I think you’re super pretty and hot, so I babble.” Redheads were his jam.
“Oh.” Xander froze, hands on his own sandwich. “Oh, wow. I mean. Okay. I, uh, brought you a coconut cake. Colton said it was your favorite. I thought you could hide it. The guys at my house got a pineapple upside down, so they don’t need yours.”
Now who was babbling?
“A coconut cake all for me? Are you sure?” Okay, that was fairly cool, to be honest.
“Uh-huh. I wanted to make sure you got it in time to tuck it away so Mason doesn’t steal it. I know his sweet tooth.” Xander’s blush was fading, but he still looked pink.
“Wow. No one’s ever made me a cake that was all mine before.” He hadn’t known people even did that. Cakes were for like, birthdays or potlucks, and a person always had to share them.
“Well, I hope you like it. It’s a new recipe for me, so it might suck, but I know the icing tastes good.” He got another smile, this one a little… shy maybe?
Hell, the guys might be right. Maybe Xander did like him.
“You want to sit and have lunch together? I’ve been researching your house, you know?” And it was incredibly unsatisfying.
“Sure. Thanks.” Xander pulled out a barstool and muscled up to the counter on it. “Did you find out anything?”
He grabbed plates and forks, shaking his head. “Nothing. Not a single thing. I mean, not even a whisper.”
“See, this is what I thought.” Xander bit into a sandwich, chewing meditatively. “My folks never said anything about weird stuff.”
“That’s because as far as I can tell, there isn’t any.
” Iago shrugged, picking out a piece of the salad in his sub and popping it in his mouth.
He closed his eyes and moaned as flavor burst across his tongue because it was so good.
He loved this salad, and it was really decent of Xander to make it for him.
Because it had to be for him. Xander had never made this before that he knew of.
“So what is going on then?” Xander asked.
He suddenly remembered to look at his laptop, because he was supposed to be on duty, and there were a few messages from the guys, but mostly about giving him dimensions of the kitchen and telling him what state the renovation was in.
He sent back a thumbs-up before he focused back on Xander. “I wish I knew, but that’s what the guys are over there looking for, right? We’re good at what we do, Xander. If we can help with this problem, then we will.”
Xander’s smile went wry instead of shy.
Oh that rhymed. He was on a roll today.
“And get a TV show out of it. I mean you really helped Sebastian. I just don’t particularly want to live in a ghost house.”
“Yeah, very few people do. I know some of them say they want to, and they buy a house, and then they regret it. It’s a thing. I’ve seen it more than once”.
Buyer’s remorse was huge in the haunted house market. People decided that they didn’t love the idea of ghosts throwing things or making noises at two a.m. The charm of having that “genteel” haunted house wore off quick.
“So the guys will do an actual recorded walkthrough, then they’ll take a bunch of readings and then go from there?”
He tried the potato salad next, and it was delicious.
A little mustardy but not overtly. Just enough to give it some tang.
“Exactly. We know when the activity started, and we know where. Really then we just need to figure out what.” He counted off his fingers.
“What, when, where, and why. Why they popped out now and not ever before in the history of the house.”
“That’s kind of depressing.”
Iago winced. “Well, if it just started suddenly, hopefully it’s not something intrinsic to the house. We find a lot of disturbances begin when you plan renovating, but usually there’s a hint. You haven’t done anything odd, like moved something antique that you didn’t tell us about, or—”
Xander shook his head. “I’m telling you this has been my mom’s house my whole life. I just removed the appliances and the cabinets. I didn’t even take out any built-ins.”
That was a bummer, because Iago couldn’t think of anything. Of course, just because he didn’t know, it didn’t mean anything. Whatever the cause of the activity was, it was discoverable, right?
Xander stared at him. “The guys were saying something about gas lines. There are ghosts in gas lines?”
Iago felt a little weird pointing out that lots of times what that meant was that old gas lines were leaking into the house and causing people to hallucinate ghosts.
This didn’t seem to be that situation.
If it was, it was quite a shared hallucination, because the guys had gotten some really good readings the other day. He had a feeling they would get more now.
Now that Xander was out of the house, it would be interesting to see what happened.
“I think there can be all sorts of things in any conduit that brings stuff in and out of the house.” Iago beamed, because he thought that was a great answer. It was neutral enough to cover most eventualities, but specific enough to apply to Xander’s home.
“You’re used to being on TV.”
Iago blinked. “Are you teasing me?”
“Yes. I can be a decent guy, and I can be fun. I told you that you just make me a little bit wigged out, so I get weird when I’m already frustrated about something, like I was at the house.
” Those green eyes were just bright and intense, and every time Xander glanced up from his food, Iago felt caught by them.
“You know, I’m hardly ever on the TV. That’s not my job.”
Xander stared at him, and he nodded, encouraging Xander to listen to him. “I research. I don’t tend to be on the camera. That’s Mason and Colton exclusively, really.”
“Why? You’re pretty.”
Xander’s words made Iago’s entire body heat up. “I’m little and goofy, but thanks. I appreciate the idea very much.”
He dug into the food so he could shut himself up.
It was ridiculous, but Xander made him a little dumb. He wanted to chill, to just work very, very hard to avoid the ridiculous and to just go with calm and cool and friendly, but somehow the dumb just kept popping up.
Like an unwelcome haunted jack in the box someone had unearthed at a weird, spectral pawn sh—
Iago blinked at Xander. “Have you bought anything for the house from somewhere else, like something vintage, something new?”
Xander blinked at him. “Pardon?”
Iago rolled his eyes at himself. “I mean, something not new, but something new to you. Something pre-owned. Maybe Something fun. Have you brought anything into the house?”
Xander shrugged. “Well, sure, I guess. I love to garage sale; I do it all the time”
Iago held up one finger. “Hold that thought”
Then he got onto the group chat, using dictation to send it.
Guys. He does garage type sales. It’s not something he already owned; it’s something that got brought home
Xander sat there and stared at him, mouth open.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe we didn’t think of this; we just assumed, you know? That’s so common.” He clapped. “I think this is it.”
“Wow. I mean, does that happen? Do entities follow shit to a new home?”
“Yes! They attach to items as often if not more so than to locations. And so often now families just get rid of stuff that was so important to a loved one. I’m not saying I blame people.
We can’t keep everything, right? But wedding dresses.
Retirement watches. Childhood toys. Special pieces of jewelry or glass or china… ”
“Wow. I had no idea.” Xander carefully wrapped up half his sandwich. “We should have cake now to celebrate how smart you are.”
“Well, experienced, maybe.” He reluctantly put his remaining half of the sandwich away. It would be great tonight. “Cake sounds amazing. I’d love to.”
“Cool.” Xander actually bounced. Maybe the idea of being able to get the ghosts out of his house made him happy.
Hell, maybe he was just really eager for Iago to try the cake. He was a cook, after all. He loved for people to eat his food.
Xander lifted the cake carrier lid with a flourish. “Ta-da!”
The cake was a pristine white expanse of coconut on top of buttercream, and it had little rosettes piped around the edges with maraschino cherries in them.
God, he loved those things, and Xander knew it. He’d made cocktails with them in there one night, and Iago had extolled their virtues.
He applauded. He had to. It smelled like pure heaven. “This is gorgeous. I swear. It’s perfect.”
“I took a bunch of pictures. I hope it tastes good, you know?” Xander handed him a knife. “You cut.”
“Okay.” That he could do. Hell, he could even cook, but not near as well as Xander.
He did often forget to turn off the stove…
He grabbed the knife, two dessert plates and two forks. “Ta-da!”
“Woo.” Xander grinned back at him, and it felt… better. Like Xander really had just been rattled and thus being an ass. Not that he disliked Iago at all.
Maybe he was just being hopelessly optimistic.
Maybe he was just being stupid.
But maybe he was right.
They dug into the cake, and it tasted utterly delicious. Light and not too sweet and full of coconut and a hint of lemon to break up the richness. It didn’t taste like it had been baked with dislike. So, he was going to take that as a win.