Page 8

I tightened my grip on his hand, much to Ryan’s surprise, and began leading him along the corridor and down the stairs, prattling all the while. “Well, thanks so much for stopping by the Last Resort. We’ve very much enjoyed your visit and we hope you enjoyed your stay. Please do not forget to leave us an excellent Google review. We’ve been receiving some unfair press online, you know, and every little helps!”

Ryan dug his heels in at the reception desk and I could tug no longer, even when I threw his arm over my shoulder and yanked with all my might, my body practically horizontal.

I dangled from his arm, panting with exertion, my glasses slipping down my nose.

“Are you done?” Ryan asked, face blank. “Can I have my arm back now?”

“Are you leaving?”

“Nope.”

I cuddled his limb. “Then no. You can’t.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at me. “Can we stop with the dog and pony show here? You called me in to deal with your ghost problem.”

“I didn’t. This has all been a big misunderstanding. My family called you without my consent.”

“Because you’re being haunted.”

“Happily haunted! Charmingly cursed! Ecstatically eerie! I told them I was doing fine.”

“Yes,” Ryan said slowly, looking at me crossways. “You are clearly possessed of all your faculties.”

“Positively possessed,” I said weakly.

“Look, I don’t know the ins and outs of this weird family drama. I just know I have a job to do and if I don’t do it, then I don’t get paid. Or worse, I possibly get fired, and I have a lot of bills to pay, okay? So me leaving isn’t an option unless you’re willing to pay the company for my time and we can say no more about this.”

I shifted on my feet. “Do you accept IOUs?”

Ryan scoffed. “Okay, please step aside and let me work.”

I clung tighter to his arm. “I’ll still get them to pay you for your time! Just give me a day to talk it over with them! They just need to understand my point of view.”

“That you like living in a house that’s about to fall off the cliff and have become weirdly attached to the ghosts that haunt it?”

The words stung. Right down to my core.

I let go of him like he was on fire.

It wasn’t exactly his fault, but I felt disappointed that yet another person had come along who couldn’t understand even a speck of what I saw in this place, in these friends I had met.

His eyes skipped over my face like he was reading the emotions on it. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and spreading flour around. “I’m in a tough spot right now. I need this job and I need the money. I’m sorry, okay?”

I understood hard times. I wasn’t exactly doing great myself. I was pretty sure the bank was about to come knocking at the door any day now if I couldn’t come up with the payments. What I couldn’t understand was giving up on the things that meant something to you just to get by.

I put my nose in the air. “Well, we’ll see what happens, then.”

Ryan raised a brow. “Is that a threat?”

That he was questioning it probably meant it hadn’t been delivered well. Bother. “And another thing!” I powered on. “There’s not another place to stay for fifty miles, so I’ll take your booking now and you can pay in advance.”

I moved around the reception desk and stood in front of my ancient desktop, which was embarrassingly covered in dust. I could barely see the ON button.

“OH LOOK!” I pointed to somewhere behind Ryan. He turned swiftly and I used that moment to blow the dust away, raising a cloud as thick as the flour I’d pelted him with earlier. I felt a little bit bad, but he also kind of deserved it, so…it evened out.

Ryan sneezed, waving a hand in front of his face. “What the—”

“Are you planning on sleeping in your van?” I asked.