“I’m glad you did.” He had a toolbox in one hand and a flashlight in the other.
Now I felt ridiculous because the toolbox suggested he thought it wasn’t someone breaking and entering. Unless he was going to ask the intruder to help him with repairs.
His hair was as messy as mine probably was, and I resisted the temptation to run my hand through it.
“It might be nothing.” I hoped itwassomething, because how would I get over the embarrassment of calling him in the middle of the night?
I led him through the dark house, lit only by a lamp near the bottom of the steps. We were breathing in tandem, and afloorboard creaked behind me as we climbed the stairs to the second floor.
The door to the turret stairs was at the end of the hallway. I’d been up there once since my arrival, when Dray was assessing any damage.
“Want me to go first?” He reached around me and gripped the doorknob. His scent assailed my nostrils, and I leaned on the wall, gathering my strength.
“No, I can do this.” The narrow staircase was swallowed in darkness, and when I flicked the light switch, nothing happened.
“It’ll be the bulb.” Dray turned on the flashlight and the shadows parted.
We climbed the stairs together, but the space was narrow, not really wide enough for two people, and his shoulder brushed against mine. I wanted more than a shoulder nudge.
The flashlight beam bounced off the walls, but with Dray at my side, the darkness was no longer creepy. He flashed the light around the turret windows and the sloping ceiling. I couldn’t see anything out of place until the scratching started again. I jumped and Dray put an arm around me, whispering that he was here and everything was fine. He smelled so good, even in the middle of the night.
His beam lit up a branch that was pressed against the glass. With each gust of wind, it scraped on the window.
A scorching burn spread over my face. “Just a branch?” I said in a small voice.
“The window seal has frayed which is why the noise was amplified.”
“Okay.” I was so embarrassed and glad for the darkness hiding my blush.
“Old houses make weird sounds. I’m glad you called me.”
I glanced around the space and the memories came flooding back. “I spent most of a summer up here when Mom was in thehospital. Dad couldn’t take time off work, so Aunt June looked after me.”
“That must have been scary.”
It had been. “I used to come up here and pretend I was a knight or a wizard and I lorded over my subjects because I had no control over my mom’s illness.”
Dray let me talk and didn’t interrupt.
“Aunt June would bring our lunch up and we’d just be. She didn’t try to remove my fear, but she’d listen and hold me until I could move past it.”
“She understood what you needed.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I keep expecting her to walk in with a crystal she swears will fix everything.”
Dray looked around the turret. “Maybe she left you something better than a crystal.”
“Huh?”
“This place. You have a home and a new life. You can reinvent yourself if you want, but June has given you the opportunity to do it.”
Maybe she had. Leaving me the house set me on a path to meeting Dray.
“The view's good at night from up here.”
Without saying anything, we slid onto the floor with our backs against the wall. The window looked out over the lights scattered in the distance and the stars beyond.
“I used to make wishes on stars up here. Aunt June told me the universe was listening.”
