Chapter 4
Chapter Four
EWAN
Iwhistle as I clean bridles, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. The birds are whistling with me, and I’ve got an affectionate cat rubbing up against my leg. What more can a man ask for?
A good job I love? Got it.
Great place to live? Yep, got that too.
Hot, sweaty, athletic sex with a stranger? Had some last night.
See? My life’s perfect. How many people get to sit in a courtyard on a gorgeous spring day, cleaning tack after showing off their blacksmithing skills to a bunch of tourists… and get paid to do it?
I reach out for another bridle, feel the pull of overtaxed muscles, and grin. My bedmate last night was certainly energetic. I should have gotten his name and number, but he said he was only in town for one night.
There’s a bang from inside the stables behind me, but I ignore it. Daniel put the horses out in the pasture to graze this morning, so they can’t get startled by it, and I’m not going to feed attention-seeking behavior. If Johnny wants to waste his energy throwing a shit fit, he can go right ahead.
A laugh carries through the warm morning air, and I glance up toward the house.
Kieran, his bright hair aflame in the sun, is walking down toward me with some guy.
A tourist? Usually the drop-in crowd comes on the weekends, but occasionally we get someone during the week.
Or… wait, Kier was interviewing for Adele’s replacement this morning.
Maybe he decided to hire the guy and this is him.
That’d be great—he and Skye have been run ragged lately.
They come a bit closer, and I squint. The guy seems kinda familiar? Could he be a local? But I thought Kieran said he’d exhausted the possib—
Oh no.
I squeeze my eyes closed, just in case they’re playing tricks on me, then open them to look again. It was a mistake, because now the sun seems blindingly bright and I have purple blobs dancing before my eyes.
“…can meet Ewan first,” I hear Kieran say, and I blink rapidly to clear my vision. “Ewan!”
I get to my feet as they step into the three-sided courtyard, and yep, the guy with Kieran is none other than the man I fucked into oblivion last night, three…
no, was it four times? Are we counting the time I ate him out and then made him come with my fingers?
I didn’t get off that time, but it’s still sex even if you don’t come.
“Josh, this is Ewan,” Kieran’s saying, and wow, talk about awkward.
First because I had no idea what his name was before this moment, and second, what am I supposed to say right now?
Do I admit that we’ve met? Does it count as meeting if we didn’t know each other’s names?
If it doesn’t, and therefore we never really met, does that mean everything that happened last night never really happened?
Did I just turn a “hi, nice to meet you” moment into a philosophical debate about existence?
“Hey,” Josh says, his face a bit pale. “Good to see you again.” Having solved that dilemma for me, he turns to Kieran. “I actually ran into Ewan last night after I got into town. But I never caught his name.”
Ooh, smooth. That was one hundred percent truth, and yet never mentioned the fact that we met over tequila shots and then competed to see who could generate the most cum in the course of one night.
“If I’d known what you were here for, I could’ve given you some pointers,” I say genially. And, you know, then walked away as fast as possible. Because working with someone you hooked up with? Awkward.
Though it does present an opportunity. It could be nice to have someone so close to have sex with.
“That’s great.” Kier grins, genuinely happy that we seem to be getting along.
He’s the best boss I could ask for, but sometimes he can be kind of oblivious.
That works in my favor right now. If Skye was doing the intros, you can bet your ass he’d have picked up on the weird vibe.
“So, Josh, Ewan’s our blacksmith. All the metalwork you saw in the gift shop comes from his forge, and we can barely keep it stocked. ”
Josh looks over at me with an expression of respect. “Wow, you made that stuff? You’re insanely talented.” As soon as the words are out, his cheeks go pink. Possibly because he’s remembering the last time he said that to me.
“Thank you,” I say politely, restraining the urge to laugh.
“And Ewan and Daniel are responsible for looking after our animals,” Kier continues. “Is Dan around this morning?” he asks me.
“He’s got the guests picking lettuce and sowing seeds,” I say, jerking my thumb in the direction of the kitchen garden.
“Then he said something about taking them out to plow the back field.” The guests got really excited about that.
That won’t last once they realize what hard work it is, even when you have a horse to help.
“We’ll catch up with him later, then. You won’t get to talk properly with guests there.”
There’s another loud bang from inside the stables, and Kieran and Josh jump.
“Sorry about that,” I say. “Johnny’s in a mood.”
Josh looks inquiringly at Kieran, who rolls his eyes. “Johnny is another of our ghosts. He was a stable boy here in the middle of the nineteenth century and died at the age of nineteen when the stables burned down. Unfortunately, he still seems to be in possession of teenage drama.”
“He’s sulking today because he missed the drama with the school group yesterday,” I add. “He’ll get over it, but I’m ignoring him until then.”
“Good call,” Josh says dryly. “Uh, Kieran, did you want to tell Ewan…?”
I look between them, suddenly intrigued. Tell me what?
“Yes, definitely. Ewan, Josh here is able to see and talk to ghosts even when they’re not manifesting.”
I blink. Then blink again. “Really?” Man, that would suck. It’s bad enough when they have the energy to get in my face. Imagine having to deal with that all the time.
Josh nods, eyeing me warily, and I hold up my hands to show I’m no danger.
“Are you a medium? Can you make them stop ‘helping’ me? I can never find anything in the smithy when Hattie and Maisie get it in their heads to come and ‘tidy up.’ And Johnny’s convinced the stables were perfect back in 1856 and keeps trying to reorganize them. It’s driving Daniel nuts.”
Johnny must hear me, because he comes flying out of the stables before Josh can reply. “They were perfect, you steel-hearted bastard! Everyone knows there’s only one right way to store tack, and you’re doing it wrong!”
“He calls me steel-hearted because of the forge,” I explain calmly to Josh, who’s taking Johnny in with only a little bit of surprise.
I’m impressed. Most people are shocked to see a stable hand ghost in nineteenth-century clothing with a neon green mohawk and multitudes of piercings.
Sometimes he likes to add tattoos too, and because they’re always changing, we never know what we’re going to get.
“Johnny, this is Josh. He’s going to be working at the house. ”
Josh gives a little wave. “It’s nice to meet you, Johnny. If you have a chance to talk to Hattie, you should. I’m going to be the new ghost liaison, and she can explain it all.”
Johnny loses the sulky pout. “Are you gonna fix it so we can have our own TV? Sharing with the guests is the worst.”
“No,” Kieran says.
“Ah…” Josh bites his lip. “Nobody mentioned that yet. Definitely you should talk to Hattie.”
“Tell her there’s no chance of your own TV,” Kieran adds, and Johnny glowers at him.
“You can’t treat us this way,” he blusters. “I’ve watched them movies. I know we got rights. How’d you like to have a union in here?”
I cough to cover my laugh.
“Most of the staff are already union members,” Kieran says. “You can remind Hattie of that, if you like.”
“It ain’t fair that we ghosts got no union.” Johnny crosses his arms and pouts. From the way Kieran pinches the bridge of his nose, I can tell this is an argument he’s had with the ghosts many times.
“Elect a representative from among you, and we’ll negotiate in good faith,” he promises. “I’ve told Hattie and the others this. But your demands have to be reasonable. A TV playing twenty-four seven in a room just for ghosts isn’t something I can give you.”
“That would be terrible for the environment,” I say solemnly.
Johnny watched one of Greta Thunberg’s speeches on YouTube over Daniel’s shoulder a few months back, and since then, he’s been obsessed with “preserving the planet for our future.” Never mind that he’s a ghost and won’t be impacted by environmental issues.
Sure enough, he perks right up. “Don’t worry, I’ll set them others straight. Twenty-four-seven TV! What were they thinking?” He starts off in the direction of the house, getting as far as the edge of the courtyard before he decides to flash the rest of the way.
Leaving the three of us staring after him.
“So… that was Johnny,” I say finally. “He’s a good kid, mostly. Loves the horses. Sometimes he’s even helpful.” I’m babbling.
“I might need to set office hours for the ghosts,” Josh mutters. Then he laughs. “That way their union rep can only bug me between nine and five.”
“Those negotiations are going to be fun,” Kieran agrees, sounding less than thrilled. “That reminds me, Josh, if you run into big problems during the night, you can call Ewan and Daniel for backup. They live in the old farm manager’s house.”
Shock sweeps across Josh’s face and is gone a second later. “Really? Where? Skye didn’t mention it.”
“It’s over near the dorm cabins for school camps,” Kieran says, pointing in the right direction. The barn’s in the way, so Josh won’t be able to see anything, but at least he’ll know which way it is if he needs to find us.