I reluctantly leaned forward so there was distance between us again. His hand fell from my hip to the stair railing. He did not holster his gun.
“That won’t work on a ghost.”
“Okay.” He checked the safety, then tucked the gun away inside his overshirt. “You didn’t answer me.”
“What was the question?”
“The thing that grabbed your dad’s ghost. What was that?”
“You two okay up there?” Myra called out.
“Fine. Just give us a couple seconds.”
“Are you kissing?” Jean shouted.
“No!” I yelled just as Ryder said, “Maybe.”
Jean laughed. “You better have your stories straight when you get back down here.”
“We’re checking the upper level,” I called out. “Come on.” I finished the climb, Ryder right behind me. I didn’t know if there would be any more spook action up here on the landing below the lantern room, but there would be more room for the two of us to stand and face each other and less chance of us being pushed down the stairs.
Here, the wall of windows carved a massive and beautiful view of the ocean, the steep metal ladder that shot straight up through the hatch in the ceiling set against the wall behind us. The wood floor and ceiling were painted soft beige, the railing and metal work that protected the windows, a forest green.
If I hadn’t just seen my dad’s ghost, it would be stunning, maybe even romantic, to be standing here alone with Ryder above the rolling blue of the ocean, the softer blue of the sky glazed golden and rosy with the slowly setting sun.
“Talk.” Ryder leaned against the window railing, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I heard Dad, or thought I heard him a few months ago right before the Rhubarb Rally. Once. After he was…after he died.”
“Were you here?”
“No. At home.”
“What did he say?”
“He called my name. Told me to wake up. Right after that, Dan blew up his own rhubarb patch.”
“Did you see him then?”
I shook my head.
“Did you see that darkness and claw then?”
“No. I saw it this time though. Dad and….”
“And? What was it, Delaney?”
“I’ve never seen one, but I think… I mean, Myra probably has a book that would tell us for sure….”
He pushed off the railing and stood in front of me, his hands rubbing down my arms and then stilling there below my shoulders, a solid, grounding warmth. “Just tell me what you think it was.”
I didn’t want to say it. Didn’t want to give the knot of fear in my gut actual words.
Ryder waited, his head bent so he could meet my gaze.
“A demon.”
He pulled his head back and blinked. “All right. We’ve established those are a thing. Seeing one isn’t good?”
