I nod and head for the float house. There isn’t a boathouse on the lake. It’s not that big. Instead, we have a shed tucked off to the side, hidden in tall vegetation, so it blends into the surroundings, that’s filled with various floats.
I pull out a tube with a seat in it. The kind where he can be independent and kick around, though I’ll never leave him out of my reach. They’re designed so that a child’s body keeps the float upright, but it wouldn’t take much to keep them headfirst in the water, either.
Ellory meets me at the water’s edge, and I help Sawyer into the float. Ellory follows us until I’m waist-deep and stops me, gripping my wrist. I meet his eyes.
“Do you want to find your biological parents, Malin?”
My chest gets tight, and I shake my head.
“I won’t continue to ask. I promise. But think about it. We’ll find out how Johnston got hold of you if you want to know.”
“You looked,” I point out. “When you brought me home.”
“We did,” Ellory agrees. “But you seemed disinterested at the time, so we dropped it. You’re ten years older now.”
“It was circumstantial,” I say, turning my attention to Sawyer as he splashes around. “If he knew, then good. I was never going to come across someone else who might know.” I shrug.
He wraps an arm around my chest, hugging me to him for a minute. “Think about it. There’s no pressure, Malin. At all. Ever. And yes, we can look in ten more years or twenty. Forty. Whenever,ifyou ever want to know. But something made you ask Clark, so just think about it. Okay?”
I take a deep breath and nod. He kisses my cheek and lets me go. I watch him from the corner of my eye as he walks back to shore before turning my attention to Sawyer. I bring him deeper into the water, Ryan’s image following.
“You were always mine.”
I sigh.
16
GRACEN
Malin’s shouldersare raised when he comes out of the bathroom. He looks tense. His eyes flicker to his left, and it appears as if he’s avoiding something as he hugs the edge of the bed. As soon as he climbs in, he pulls a pillow to his face.
While he’s hiding under the pillow, I examine the space beyond the bed. I’m looking for a shadow or an orb or maybe the distortion of the air. A hint of movement. Anything at all.
My gaze comes back to Malin when he pulls the pillow off his face.
I pull him to my chest and appreciate the way he immediately relaxes. His entire body seems to sag. His breaths come easier. I hug him close, cupping the back of his head as if I can protect him from the world.
It’s not the world that he needs protecting from, though. It’s a sinister ghost.
It’s been a week now, and I’m pretty sure I’m right. Ellory’s messaged me, and he agrees. He texts me every time he seesMalin do something that would indicate someone is there. We’re building our case while I search for the right psychic medium.
“Gracen?”
“Mm?” I answer.
“Are you tired?”
As if his words were a switch, I yawn. Then laugh. “Apparently, I’m tired.”
He nods, snuggling in closer to me.
“Are you not ready to go to sleep yet?”
“Um…” He pushes himself backward to look me in the eye. “I like touching you.”
I grin. “You can touch me if you want to.”
Immediately, his hand comes from between us, and he moves his fingers over my skin. I might not have noticed for quite some time, but when he comes into my arms, he almost never wraps his arms around me. They’re tucked to his chest or across his stomach between us, waiting for me to wrap him in my arms.
