“Not yet,” I said. The remaining pillar of wood wasn’t just wide; it was at least four feet high. I glanced at Landon. “That might be a great base for some sort of Halloween structure for the haunted house. It could help us do something really big, don’t you think?”
He shook his head in amusement. “You’re more artistic than I am. Unleash your artist friends on it and see what they come up with.”
We didn’t plant anything new in the cleaned-up garden, but I asked the mowers to keep one particularly happy patch of milkweed and other wildflowers intact for the butterflies. I liked the idea of using native plants as much as possible. And this was Milkweed Mansion, after all.
That said, once we cleared the vines from the area outside the back door, I found the remnants of a patio and a rose garden. Tough bushes clung to life, and some even still bloomed. One of the landscapers showed me how to prune them properly, and I found myself with a new obsession. I wanted to figure out what kinds I had and which roses I could plant to fill the holes. So in the evenings, I spent what little energy I had left looking up antique rose varieties on my laptop while Landon zoned out watching sports on television. After being together all day, we were weirdly quiet in the evenings, but it was a companionable sort of quiet. I realized that even at night, this was the most I’d ever seen my roommate.
Friday, I checked my girlfriends’ online message group, and everyone was buzzing about the haunted house, thanks to Sloane. Ez was in there, too, along with Penelope, a fabulous costume designer; Millie, who ran an event-planning business; Cali, a photographer and Sloane’s cousin; and Thea, a graphic artist who made cool sculptures out of paper.
Ez:Can we paint the whole house black?
Me:Not an option. We wouldn’t have the time or money anyway.
Ez:But that would look cool.
Me:[eyeroll emoji]
Sloane:We need stuff that’s cool but also fast and low-budget. Ez, maybe you can be in charge of the music?
Ez:I always get picked for the music.
Penelope:Because you’re a musician? LOL. And I’ll help with the costumes. Who you going to get to scare people?
Cali:Damien says he’s got a whole bunch of volunteers.
Sloane:At least they’re all Goth already.
Cali:Not ALL of them.
Penelope:I’m sure I can get some of the theater kids to help.
Millie:Want me to organize the scary rooms? You just have to decide how many.
Me:YES YES YES!
Millie:And you’re leading tours, right?
Me:Not me personally. I don’t have the right personality. We need actors. Hint, hint.
Penelope:Maybe Jace?
Cali:OMG!
Sloane:OMG!
Ez:You don’t have room for that many fangirls.
Penelope:He’s not THAT famous.
Me:Have you SEEN the box office for your boyfriend’s new spy thriller?
Penelope:He’s just regular people, girls. What if he just does the VIP party? He starts rehearsals for his new play in New York the next week.
Me:OMFG. That would be amazing. That will sell tickets like crazy. Not that we’re using him or anything.
Penelope:Maybe he likes to be used.
Millie:You are so bad.
