Landon quickly made friends, as was the Landon way, and soon he was drinking beer and joking around with not just Gary and Alex, but video blogger Duncan (who came with Thea), sand sculptor Bennett (with Millie), and pro surfer Wyatt (with Cali). Landon seemed completely unintimidated, even by the most famous of the bunch, Penelope’s actor boyfriend Jace. I wished I had that kind of comfort with people, but this crowd made it easy even for me.
Except for Thea, who was enjoying a Bohemia Brewing Company ale, the rest of the gals were carrying around clear plastic cups with a bold cabernet as we wandered through the recently cleared paths of the garden.
“So what’s this? A UFO landing site?” Thea, her curly red hair loose and wild in the warm afternoon breeze, was staring at a big, round, dark spot in the yard near the cliff.
I regarded the obvious gap in the landscape. “That’s where the gazebo used to be. Landon got someone to take it away yesterday.”
“Aw, that’s too bad,” said Cali. She had a camera over her shoulder and her straw-colored hair in a ponytail. “Wish I’d gotten a shot of it.”
“I’m sorry. It fell apart as soon as the front-loader touched it,” I said. “I got a couple of video shots, and it’s 4K, so I can pull pictures off of it for the historians. We’re having a new one delivered before the haunted house. Donated. Someone Landon knows. He seems to know everyone. And he already has permits in the works for everything. We’re supposed to have electricians and plumbers out this week to get the basics taken care of.”
“Landon, huh?” said Penelope, whose pretty blond hair had a pink streak and whose pink retro dress had white polka dots. There was a gleam in her green eyes when she mentioned my roomie.
I raised an eyebrow back at her. “He seems to think renovating this place will be a feather in his cap. I have to admit, there’s no way I could do this without him. But don’t get any ideas.”
“You’re the one who should be getting ideas,” said Ez, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes.
“I think she is. She’s getting all red,” said Millie, whose Betty Boop cheeks were pink, too.
“Am not.” I totally was. I could feel the heat in my face.
“Leave Kayla be,” Sloane said. “Time will tell.”
I snickered. “Yeah. We might kill each other before this is over and populate the house with real ghosts.”
“Kayla!” Sloane said while the others laughed.
“So when do we get the tour?” Penelope asked.
“How about now? Do you all mind if I film a little of it? Maybe get some moody silhouette shots and the occasional scream?”
Thea let out a blood-curdling scream that made us all jump and had the guys running over. “Just practicing,” she said, the corner of her mouth turned up.
“You scared me to death, darlin’,” Duncan said in his adorable Scottish accent.
“We thought we’d do a tour,” I said. “Landon, do you want to take the lead? I’ll bring up the rear so I can get a few shots.”
Landon bestowed us with the Fireworks. “I’d love to. Let’s leave the library for last, OK?”
“Sounds good.” I shot him a questioning glance, wondering what he was up to. I grabbed my video camera out of the car as the others deposited their beverages on the picnic tables and gathered on the porch.
At our request, since the forecast was dry, the bug guys had left the windows open yesterday morning when they’d removed the tent, so there had been plenty of time for the poison gas to dissipate. The house felt eerily quiet as we went through the rooms, much as Landon and I had done when we first toured the house, only this time there were no treacherous holes in the stairs or floor.
Cali snapped photos, exclaiming over the appealing decay of the kitchen and the upper bedrooms, while I shot some moody video at Dutch angles, capturing feet climbing stairs, creaking doors and the occasional scream on demand. At one point in the tower, Thea and Penelope had a scream-off that had the guys running for cover and the rest of us holding our ears, until the whole house seemed to creak and sigh, shutting everyone up.
“I have a second sense about these things,” Penelope said, “and that was fucking weird.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t scream anymore,” Thea added.
“That’s ridiculous,” Ez scoffed. “There’s going to be a lot of screaming for the haunted house anyway.”
“I just don’t want to make fun of them,” Penelope whispered.
“Who’s them?” Sloane asked, looking alarmed.
“Stop it,” I said. “You’re freaking me out. Let’s get down to the library. I think Landon has something in mind.”
When we got down there, the women who hadn’t seen the library yet ohhed and ahhed while Duncan handed out cups of whiskey. “From my dad’s distillery,” he said. “The good stuff.”
