“Okay.”
“I’ll give ya a call later today and will let you know.”
“Thanks,” I say, and see him out. I finish my coffee, fear turning into anger. How dare something show up and scare me in my own house. The crying ghost girl, the freaky dream, Braeya’s warning…it all pisses me the fuck off.
I’m not the kind of person who gets scared and hides. Fear is important to staying alive, and when you’re not afraid of anything, you have an issue. But I’ve reacted better to fear before, met it head on and came up with a plan that was more than sitting around feeling the way I do right now.
I take another drink of coffee and then bring the mug to the sink, pouring the rest down the drain. I rinse out my cup, fill it with water, and chug the whole thing down. Then I go upstairs, make my bed, and get dressed in athletic shorts and a sports bra. I pull my hair into a high ponytail as I go down the stairs, putting on my shoes and heading outside. I warm up and stretch, then start running down the road.
I’ve fallen out of my normal workout routine, and it feels so good to be back at it. I gulp in fresh air, pushing myself just a bit harder. The adrenaline rush I get from running is the best, and my body is thanking me for putting it back into forward movement like this.
“Ace!”
I slow, turning to see Keri standing on her front porch waving at me.
“Ace!” She’s barefoot and still in her pajamas, which is nothing more than a short silk nightgown. “Do you have a minute?”
Letting out my breath, I stop and turn into her driveway, feeling my pulse. “Sure. What’s up?”
“I wanted to apologize,” she calls, wincing as she walks down her cement driveway. I don’t see any rocks or gravel that would hurt her feet. “I didn’t mean to act so shocked yesterday. I feel bad. I was rude.”
“Oh, it’s, uh, okay. A lot of people are surprised,” I lie. I want to get back to my run before my pulse slows.
“Yeah, but I still feel bad.” She hobbles down to the end of the driveway. There are rocks and bits of gravel here that got caught in car tires from the road. I move a few feet up. “And I didn’t want to say this in front of Robert because he can be a bit sensitive at times.” She rolls her eyes. “But damn, girl! You have two hot as hell boyfriends. I am a little jealous.”
I laugh. “They’re both great guys.”
“They seem like it. Especially the French one.” She wiggles her eyebrows and laughs. “Do you want to go out for lunch later? I still feel like I owe you. I didn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable.”
“Uh…” I’m about to tell her no, but then I turn and get a glimpse of my property line and the anger comes back. Getting out of the house might be good. I turn back to Keri. She’s still in her nightgown, but her hair and makeup are already perfectly done. She’s a few years older than me, has a happy home life, and as far as I know, isn’t trying to secretly help kill me.
“Yeah,” I say. “Lunch would be nice.”
