Beau chuckled, shaking his head. “No bodies. No experiments. I’m just…me. Grew up here. Stayed here. Try to take care of people when I can. Fix what’s broken.”
“That your job or your coping mechanism?”
He paused. His smile dropped just enough to let something real peek through. “Bit of both.”
We went quiet for a moment, then Beau cleared his throat.
“You want the real answer?” he said. “It’s…you’re gonna think I’m crazy.”
I snorted. “Beau, I’m aprofessional paranormal investigator. I promise I’ve heard worse.”
He laughed softly, but I could tell he was being serious—so I tried to match his energy, reaching over to cover his hand with mine.
“I’m listening,” I said.
Beau sighed.
“Okay,” he started. “The thing is…my family was cursed until about a year ago now.”
I had to stop and process that for a second; he said it with full confidence, like heknewit was true. I inhaled…tried to come up with something to say…
“Meaning?” I asked.
He gave me a wry smile. “There was a witch trial in this town like three hundred years ago. My great-great-great grandpa accused her; she ended up gettin’ killed. And as she was dyin’, she said no Ward would ever keep what we loved, so I just…never dated.”
“Hold on,” I said. “You didn’t date because you thought your family was cursed?”
Beau shook his head, reaching up to rub his eyes. “I know it sounds ridiculous.”
“It does, but I get it,” I said. “I mean—do you have proof?”
He shrugged. “In a manner of speaking. All my grandfathers died young…lots of widows in our family. My brother was engaged ten years ago or so and she died in a freak accident—or, I guess we know it was murder now, but that’s a whole other story. And my parents…they died in a car crash when I was fourteen. My grandma, the one who took us in after that, she always blamed the curse.”
I didn’t laugh. Maybe he expected me to, but I didn’t—because I understood how it could make sense to blame the supernatural when bad things happened.
That curse…it was his Shadow Painter.
“But you’re not cursed anymore?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nope. Guess my brother and his wife had sex in the woods and made it all better.”
NowI laughed. “Are you serious?”
Beau grinned, but there was something sheepish in it—something that made me think hewasn’tjoking, or at least not entirely.
“Dead serious,” he said. “They didn’t know it at the time, obviously. Just…went out there after a big storm and, uh…did the deed. But now…he’s married, has a baby—and my second oldest brother Silas just got engaged, too.”
I blinked. “So the moral of the story is…fuck in the woods, break ancient generational curses.”
“Apparently.” He shrugged. “Can’t argue with the results.”
I shook my head, still laughing, even as something in my chest tugged hard. “You’re either messing with me or you’ve got the weirdest family on earth.”
“Why not both?”
That made me smile again. I reached for the pan and stole another bite of mac and cheese, chewing slowly.
“I don’t do this either, you know,” I said finally.
