He hadn’t even picked up his phone to check for a text from Dina, nor, when he’d been sending emails to his colleagues, had he considered skimming through Facebook to see…well, to see if anything had happened. After all, last night was the bachelorette party.
But it didn’t matter. So what if he’d been able to put Marcie out of his mind for a few hours? Nothing had changed.
Oscar looked back at Teddy, then closed the door.She’dfound her heart’s desire today, whether the damned hot spring was sacred or special—or not.
Definitely not.
There was no such thing as magic—or ghosts.
One other thing he was grateful for: Teddy had been so engrossed in the idea of a magical wishing-well hot spring and her RBS idea that she hadn’t brought up the strangeness from last night.
Thank heaven for small favors.
* * *
The next morning, Oscar boiled water for tea because it made him think of his paternal grandmother, who always said, “There’s nothing can’t be helped by a soothing cuppa.”
He hadn’t slept well at all, because, well,hell—he’d been half expecting to hear that horrible, terrified nocturnal cry. After all, it had occurred both nights he’d been here—one of them while he was on the top of the lighthouse.
The fact that he hadn’t heard the awful scream should have been a relief. But instead, it made him want to know “why not?” on this third night—not to mention from where it had come the previous nights. And so he’d tossed and turned, waiting to be jolted from the slumber he couldn’t attain—and, once he’d finally fallen asleep, he realized he’d dozed later into the morning than he’d meant to.
Animals in heat,he reminded himself.Or maybe a peacock.
This new idea popped into his head as he stared out the kitchen window sipping from his mug.
He liked it.
It wasn’t unheard of for people to have peacock farms—and he knew the birds’ cries were bloodcurdling. That thought, along with the strong cup of Tetley (his grandmother’s favorite), did soothe him. He’d do a little checking to see whether there were any people who owned peacocks around here. Or maybe Wicks Hollow boasted a small zoo.
He washed out his teacup and noted that, once again, there was no evidence Teddy had been in the kitchen. Hmm. Had she really not eaten since erupting from the steaming pool yesterday?
It wasn’t any of his business.
But during his shower, he considered the situation.Let sleeping dogs—or busy writers—lie,he told himself as he scrubbed his hair with the floral shampoo that had been stocked in the bathroom. He should buy something else so he didn’t walk around smelling like a jasmine blossom. Not that anyone was going to get close enough to smell his hair anyway.
Except Teddy.
The thought, which popped into his mind with startling clarity—and was both visual and shockingly sensual—was terrifying and intriguing, and the distraction caused him to nick the corner of his jaw while shaving. Stanching the blood, which pooled and ran down into the shower drain like he’d murdered someone, Oscar managed to finish the rest of his shower without inflicting any other damage. But after vigorously brushing his teeth and dressing in cargo shorts and a soft blue cambric shirt, he found himself walking toward the connecting door to the lighthouse.
Let sleeping dogs lie,he told himself firmly. His hand reached for the knob anyway, and he turned it and walked through before he could stop himself. Everything was quiet and calm as he crossed the small vestibule.
He paused at Teddy’s door and heard the mad clicking of her typing. Well, she was still alive.
He knocked.
No answer. More click-clattering.
He knocked again, a little louder.
No answer. Incessant clicking, some clattering. A muttered curse.
He opened the door and peered in. “Teddy?”
No answer. A pause in the clicking, then a louder curse—followed by an emphatic thump when she slammed her hand onto the table and growled at the computer.
Oscar hesitated again, but damn, as far as he knew, she hadn’t been out of the room for more than twenty hours. Surely she needed to eat. Or…something. So he went in and said her name again, rather loudly and near her ear—which wasn’t covered by headphones this time.
She jolted and shrieked, spinning in her chair as she’d done the first time he startled her. “Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me.Again.Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
