Chapter 5

5

Cash pulledinto the driveway of the old two-story farmhouse that had been in his family for nearly a century and killed the engine of his Jeep. It was still surreal to him that he’d ended up in Keating Hollow. When Harlow left him a year ago after they’d lost their paranormal ghost hunters show, he’d been devastated by her complete abandonment of their lives together. It hadn’t taken long for that devastation to turn to anger, and he’d been convinced that they were one hundred percent over. How could he ever trust anyone who’d just walked out like she had?

Not that she’d shown any interest in reconciling. In fact, she hadn’t contacted him at all. She’d walked away cold turkey and that, more than anything, had fueled his anger.

But then fate had stepped in when he and his brother inherited a great-aunt’s home. One that just happened to be in Keating Hollow. It wasn’t until he’d come to check on the condition of the house so they could decide if they wanted to keep it or sell it when he realized Harlow had settled there just a few months earlier.

He’d known it was a sign.

And Cash Moses didn’t ignore signs. Their paths were destined to cross again. He knew that plain as day the moment he ran into her and discovered she was working at Equinox. That’s when he knew he hadn’t been angry. Not really. He’d been hurt.

But so had she.

He saw that now. She’d asked him to give up ghost hunting, to leave it all behind, and he’d refused. He’d been adamant that they could pick up and start over. That all she needed was a little time. That she’d come back to him when she had time to think it through.

She hadn’t. Instead, she’d started over in Keating Hollow.

And now, so had he. Somehow or another, he’d find a way to heal them both from the devastation of the year before. He just needed to figure out how to gain her trust again.

Cash put all of his ponderings aside and hopped out of the Jeep, still wishing that Harlow would’ve let him stay with her for the evening. After the scene at the pub, he was more than a little worried about how the rest of her night would go. He knew she could handle herself if more ghosts showed up, but he hated the idea of her having to fight them alone.

Rubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw, he made his way into the farmhouse, clicking on the entry light when he was inside. The place was silent, but he immediately knew he wasn’t alone.

Spinning, he reached into his pocket for the iron chain and came up empty, belatedly remembering that it had been destroyed back at the pub.

“Whoa, big brother,” Shaun said, holding his hands up in the air. “There are no ghosts here.”

“Shaun? What the hell, man?” he barked out, his body trembling slightly from the rush of adrenaline. “You couldn’t have tried calling instead of startling me like that?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I needed to make an appointment to use my own house.” Shaun’s tone was flat as he narrowed his eyes at his brother.

Cash rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He crossed into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee maker. He’d missed his afternoon dose of caffeine and if he didn’t get his fix, he’d be nursing a massive headache in the morning. As he measured the coffee grounds, he glanced at his brother. “Why were you just sitting in the dark?”

Shaun shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t intend to. I suppose the night just snuck up on me.”

“Is your truck in the garage?” Cash didn’t for one minute believe that his brother just forgot to turn on a light. He hadn’t called to let Cash know he was coming, his truck was MIA, and he’d sat in the chair in the corner of the living room with no lights on, apparently just waiting for Cash to get home. None of that had been an accident.

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

Cash raised one eyebrow. “That’s interesting. Where’d you put the furniture?”

“What furniture?” Shaun asked slowly.

“Aunt Jane’s furniture. I put it in the garage before all of this was delivered.” Cash waved a hand at the living room. The first thing he’d done was clear out all of Aunt Jane’s 1970s furniture and replaced it with a new overstuffed couch and matching chairs.

Shaun muttered a curse under his breath. “Fine. You caught me. I didn’t park in the garage. I couldn’t even get in it because you have that padlock on it, and I don’t have the key. Why? I have no idea, but maybe it’s because my brother didn’t think to leave one for me.”

Cash ignored his outburst and asked, “So where is it?”

“Behind the garage. I figured you’d never see it there.”

“I wouldn’t say never,” Cash said. “But the real question is, why? Because if this was supposed to be a surprise, I’d say your tactics need a little work.”

“You were surprised, though, right?” Shaun walked over and poured his own cup of coffee.

Cash grabbed the cheese pastry he had sitting on the counter, and both of them took a seat at the kitchen table. He pushed the pastry tin toward Shaun and said, “Spill it. What’s going on?”

Shaun closed his eyes, took a sip of his coffee, and said, “I thought I had a premonition, but it turns out I was wrong.”

Cash sat up straight, giving his brother his full attention. Shaun didn’t have premonitions often, but when he did, they were usually spot on. “What did you see?”

“It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t real. I knew it the moment I walked into the house, but I still needed to be sure. That’s why I was sitting in the dark, waiting to make sure nothing happened. When you walked in and no ghost appeared, I knew for sure.”

“I don’t understand,” Cash said, frowning at his brother. “You came here because you had a premonition that a ghost was going to attack me?”

“Yes,” he said simply and took a bite of cheese danish.

Cash grinned at his brother. “So you really do care.” He pressed a hand to his heart and pretended to swoon.

“You are my only brother. I guess it would be nice to keep you around,” Shaun said.

“Tell me about the premonition. What did you see?” Cash asked, unable to help himself. He knew Shaun didn’t like talking about them if he could help it, but Cash had to know what he’d seen.

“This one was really weird. So weird that I’m not sure I didn’t just doze off a bit and dream the entire thing.”

Cash was silent, waiting for the rest of the story.

It took a few seconds, but Shaun did finally elaborate. “This one was so weird because I saw it from what I thought was your perspective, almost as if I was seeing the scene through your eyes.”

“That’s unusual,” Cash agreed. Usually he just saw his premonitions like a mini movie. This sounded like he was in the premonition instead of just seeing it.

“Yeah. Anyway, you came into a dark house, headed to the kitchen, and reached for the coffee pot. The moment you touched it, things just started flying all around. Nothing you did could stop it, and within moments I felt you get clobbered over the head with something heavy. Then everything went dark.”

“You mean I was knocked out?” Cash glanced around the room, his eyes landing on the old kettle he’d kept because he liked having something of Aunt Jane’s in the kitchen, even if he’d never use it. Was that what had taken him out in Shaun’s vision? Maybe.

“Yeah. But like I said, I knew it wasn’t true the moment I walked in here because the place looks nothing like what I saw in the premonition. The kitchen was much more modern and had all stainless steel appliances. This”—he waved a hand at the cabinetry—“is much more traditional. Classy, but traditional.”

This was Shaun’s first visit to Aunt Jane’s house since he was about five years old. The fact that he hadn’t remembered what the kitchen looked like wasn’t a surprise. Cash had sent him a file of pictures, but knowing his brother, he hadn’t taken any time to look at them. Prior to showing up in Keating Hollow, he hadn’t shown much interest in the old house.

“Okay, that settles it then. I’m voting it was a dream,” Cash said, knowing that Shaun’s premonitions always came true within a few hours. “But I’m not going to complain that it got you here. Let me take you on a tour of the house.”

Shaun followed him around the house, not saying much until they paused at the room that Cash had fixed up for him. One wall was painted stormy gray, Shaun’s favorite color, while the rest was white. He’d put in a queen-size bed with a new mattress and added an armchair by the window. It looked nice if Cash did say so himself.

“You’ve done a great job fixing this place up,” Shaun said finally. “Mind if I stay a while?”

“It’s your house, too. No need to ask me,” Cash said automatically as he suppressed a smile. Having his brother there with him wasn’t what he’d expected, but he definitely wasn’t complaining about it. It had been years since they’d spent any significant time together. Maybe this was just what they needed to reconnect after years of them both working too hard.

Shaun shook his head at him. “I know it’s my house, too, but you’re the one living here full time. Also the one who’s taken over fixing it up. I didn’t want to just barge in on you, especially if you’ve patched things up with Harlow.”

Cash pressed his lips together in a thin line and shook his head. “We haven’t patched anything up. But we’re at least on speaking terms.”

“You haven’t?” Shaun’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t…” He shook his head again and let out a barely audible groan. “I swear, my seer ability is in the toilet. I thought for sure I saw a vision of her kissing you. Not the sweet innocent kind either. This one was just this side of an R rating.”

“Maybe it’ll still happen,” Cash said, unable to keep the hope from rising in his chest.

“Maybe, but it won’t be tonight—” Shaun suddenly stopped talking, and his eyes became unfocused as he gripped the doorframe.

“Dammit!” Cash immediately wrapped his arm around his brother’s waist when he recognized the signs of an intense premonition. Shaun’s body swayed, and if Cash hadn’t been holding on to him, he would have face-planted in two seconds flat.

Cash held Shaun up for what felt like hours but was likely only about thirty seconds. But when someone you care about looked like they’ve been possessed, thirty seconds felt like an eternity.

Finally, Shaun’s eyes fluttered open. He looked over at Cash, blinking to focus, and then said, “It’s Harlow. She’s in danger.”