Shane cleared his throat. “Anyway, you free this weekend?”
Beau gave him a skeptical look. “You serious?”
“I’m dead serious,” Shane said. “If we wait too long, the trail goes cold.”
Whit nodded. “Gotta move fast. The Gloam’s a liminal zone. Stuff don’t stick around long.”
“Did you just say liminal zone?” Holden asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a real term,” Whit said.
“Yeah,” I added. “It means thin space. Between worlds. Places where the veil’s thinner, where weirdness bleeds through.”
“See?” Shane pointed at me like I’d just made his case for him. “And who better to explore a thin place than us? A podcast host with a burning need for truth and his rapidly domesticated cohost.”
I threw a marshmallow at him.
The marshmallow bounced off his chest and landed in the dirt, but Shane didn’t even flinch. He just grinned at me, eyes sharp behind the firelight.
I’d spent most of my life trying to outrun the things that haunted me.
But maybe it was time to look one of them in the eye.
CHAPTER 18
Beau
I wentto Rhett and Willow’s under the pretense of getting camping supplies…but Rhett knew why I was actually there.
Noelle was still asleep when I left, tangled in my sheets with her hair sticking out in tufts of dark brown, Milo curled up in my pre-warmed spot and quickly growing accustomed to her snoring. I pressed a kiss to her shoulder before I went, then locked eyes with Milo.
“You keep an eye on her, y’hear?” I asked.
He huffed a sigh in response.
By the time I pulled up to Rhett and Willow’s the sun was already burning through the last of the morning fog, turning their front yard a vibrant gold. I could see Rhett through the front window, Hazel in his arms, and he came out onto the porch to meet me with a smile.
“You here for the ring?” he asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “That obvious?”
He grinned. “Come on in.”
I followed him through the front door, the scent of breakfastwafting over from the kitchen. Willow leaned through the doorway, spatula in hand. “Morning, Beau!”
“Mornin’,” I said, raising my hand.
Her eyes flitted to Rhett, who grinned; Willow grinned back.
“Already?” she said.
“Just uh…want it handy, just in case,” I said. Jesus…this was one of the downsides to proposing with a family heirloom.
Everyone was in my damn business.
Willow winked. “Don’t forget to eat something first. Big day, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”
I felt my ears go hot as I ducked my head and followed Rhett up the stairs, Hazel bouncing on his hip like a particularly chatty sack of potatoes. She made a high-pitched squeal when she saw me, then buried her face in Rhett’s shoulder like she was in on the secret.
