Chapter 23

23

“Thankyou for paying for the repairs,” Imogen said as she and Harlow walked out of the repair shop. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Harlow moved to stand next to the Mustang and ran a hand over the fender. “It’s good to have you back, baby,” she whispered to the vehicle. She glanced up at her sister. “A car her age always takes a little extra care. Let’s get her home so we can meet the boys for lunch.”

Imogen handed her the car keys. “You drive her. I’ll take your Subaru.”

“I’m not going to say no to that.” Harlow jumped into the Mustang and fired her up. All the way back to the house, the car ran beautifully and handled like a dream. Her blood hummed with contentment, and pure joy filled her heart at being back behind the wheel of the car she and Cash had loved so much. She couldn’t believe she’d actually sold it.

She’d made the excuse that Celia wasn’t practical for the Keating Hollow winters, but truthfully, there had just been too many painful memories. She’d done what she’d needed to at the time, but now that she and Cash were back together, she wanted the car back, too. She made up her mind that she’d offer to buy her sister a newer car in exchange for the Mustang. Then she could feel the hum of the muscle car beneath her bones any time she wanted.

When they got back to the house, Harlow didn’t cut the engine. She just waited patiently for her sister to park, run into the house to use the facilities, and then finally come back out and get into the passenger seat. Imogen barely had her seatbelt buckled when Harlow took off again.

“Where are you going?” Imogen asked with a laugh when Harlow turned right instead of left. “Downtown is the other way.”

“I wanna take this baby out and see what she can do. We have some time before we’re supposed to meet the boys. You okay with that?”

“Sure,” Imogen said, chuckling. “You always did handle this car better than me.”

“About that.” Harlow glanced at her sister. “I think I’m ready to buy her back from you. How about we go car shopping sometime this week and find you something reliable that you love?”

Imogen’s smile vanished. “I’d love to, Harlow, but I’m not ready to make payments. I was hoping to get my business established and then⁠—”

“You don’t understand,” Harlow said. “I’ll buy the car and we’ll just swap.”

“But that’s not a fair trade,” she said, frowning.

“Sure it is. Have you looked up how much these things are worth? I’m sure we can find you something great.”

Imogen blinked at her. “More than what I paid for it last year?”

Harlow nodded. “Yep. A lot more.”

“But…” Imogen narrowed her eyes at her sister. “You’re saying you gave me a sweetheart deal? Why, guilt?”

“Yes and no.” Harlow turned the car onto a stretch of road that was outside of town and rarely used because there were only a few houses at the end of the ten-mile stretch. “I couldn’t drive her anymore for personal reasons, but I didn’t want to see her go to someone else. So I sold Celia to you for cheap to keep her in the family. Now I’m ready to buy her back. But it’s not your problem I’m a terrible negotiator.” Harlow winked. “So I’ll buy you something that’s roughly on par with Celia’s value, and I’ll take her back. It’s a win for us both.”

Imogen scoffed. “That’s absurd. I can’t let you do that.”

“Sure you can. There’s nothing wrong with letting me use some of my ghost-hunting money to help my sister out, is there?”

“No, but I don’t want to be a charity case.” Imogen crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not here just because I had nowhere to go, you know. I missed my sister. Not her bank account.”

A lump formed in Harlow’s throat, and she had to fight off tears. It was exactly what she needed to hear from her sister. She reached over and squeezed Imogen’s hand before she forced out, “I missed you, too. Please just let me do this. After everything we’ve both been through, I don’t want money to be an issue, too. I want the Mustang; you want something more reliable. I can make that happen. It’s not a bribe or something I’m doing because I think I owe you. I just want to make it easier for you to start your life here. That’s all.”

Imogen’s eyes misted, and she did nothing to try to stop the few tears that rolled down her cheeks. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Harlow said. “Tomorrow. We’ll make it happen.”

Imogen grinned. “Sounds like a plan. Now let’s see what this machine can do.”

“Gladly!” Harlow stepped on the gas, and the two of them let out a whoop of joy as they flew down the road.

Harlow was in her element. Despite the worries about the spirits that seemed to be popping up recently, everything was falling into place. Cash was back in her life. She and her sister were rebuilding their relationship. And she was reunited with her first love, her Mustang, Celia.

Life was just about as perfect as she could hope for.

Right up until the Mustang sputtered and jerked and then died.

Harlow and Imogen looked at each other, both of them speechless.

Finally Harlow said, “Well, that sucks.”

“Majorly,” Imogen agreed.

Then they both reached for their phones.

“I don’t have a signal,” Harlow said. “Do you?”

“Nope.” Imogen climbed out of the Mustang and started moving the phone around in the air, trying to find a signal.

Harlow joined her, and when neither of them accessed any cell service, Harlow stuffed her phone in her pocket and said, “Well, I guess it’s time to get walking.”

Imogen groaned. “And here I thought things were going better.”

Chuckling, Harlow said, “I was just thinking that when the car broke down. Maybe I jinxed us.”

“Oh, so it’s your fault,” Imogen said with a teasing tone.

“Looks like it.” Harlow stood on the road and glanced around, trying to figure out the best course of action.

“There’s a house up there,” Imogen said, pointing to a house on the side of the hill. She squinted. “Looks like maybe that’s the road to it.”

“If they have a landline, that would work,” Harlow said. “They’d probably have to if there’s no cell service here, right?”

“Probably. Or wi-fi. If it’s password protected, that could be a problem.”

Harlow thought it over and said, “We could try that option first. And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll head to town. What do you think?”

“Yeah, okay.”

After Harlow locked the Mustang, the pair of them headed up the steep road. By the time they reached the driveway, they were both clutching their chests and barely able to breathe.

“I think I’m going to die,” Imogen gasped out.

“You’ve made it this far. Stay with me,” Harlow panted.

“I’ll try.”

Harlow led the way up the stairs to the beautiful, modern house. She wasted no time knocking on the door.

“It’s just our luck no one is here,” Imogen said, sounding defeated. “I can’t believe we climbed that mountain just to find the house empty.”

Harlow chuckled. “Mountain? It wasn’t that intense.”

“It felt like it.”

“Don’t give up yet.” Harlow peeked in the windows. No one appeared to be around. But she did see a landline phone sitting on an end table in the living room. “Jackpot. There’s a phone.”

Imogen joined her, looking in the window. “It doesn’t do us much good if there’s no one here to let us in.”

“True.” Harlow chewed on her bottom lip. “Let’s go around back and just make sure there’s really no one here.”

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” Imogen complained.

“Nah. I just got you back. Why would I do that?”

Imogen gave her a hint of a smile and followed her around the property.

As it turned out, there wasn’t any sign of life. It was hard to say, but Harlow guessed that maybe it was a second home that wasn’t lived in full time. It just didn’t look like anyone had settled in.

“Okay, enough of this. There’s a phone in that living room, and I vote we just go in and use it,” Imogen said.

“You mean break in?” Harlow asked her sister, both eyebrows raised in question.

“Not exactly. I mean, we won’t be breaking anything. Or stealing anything. We’re in an emergency situation. It’s warranted, right?”

Harlow wasn’t sure it was exactly an emergency situation, but they were about ten miles away from town and it wasn’t like they’d seen another car on the road they’d taken. Walking back to town would take three or four hours, and part of that would mean walking along a two-lane highway. She didn’t love the idea of trespassing, but the alternative wasn’t attractive either. “Okay, we’ll try to find a way in, use the phone, and then leave everything the way we found it.”

Imogen nodded, reached for the knob on the back door, and, without warning, hit it with a bolt of magic. The shimmering light wrapped around it and seeped into the crack at the doorframe. An instant later, Harlow heard the slide of the dead bolt. Imogen grinned at her and then walked in the back door.

Harlow glanced around one last time, praying they weren’t caught on any security cameras, and then followed her sister into the house.

Instantly, the door slammed shut and the wind picked up, roaring through the house, sending a clock from the wall flying. Harlow ducked and it flew over her head, crashing into the wall behind her. “Imogen!” Harlow cried. “We have to get out of here.”

But there was no answer.

Harlow glanced around, frantic to find her sister through the flying debris. She wasn’t in the kitchen. Inching forward with her head down, Harlow slowly made her way to the living room. Once she stepped through the door, the wind intensified.

Harlow could barely see through the tears caused by the wind, but then she blinked and saw Imogen right in the middle of the room, her face frozen in horror.

“Imogen!” Harlow cried. “What is it?”

Her sister stared right at her and mouthed, Cora is here.