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Halloween was coming.

With every day that passed, the distance between our worlds was getting easier to cross, and I already knew what waited for me when the time was right.

When the time came, there wouldn’t be a damn thing subtle about it.

My woman was going to see me, hear me, and know exactly who had been standing beside her all this time.

In due time, baby.

Chapter seventeen

Lakelyn

We had been living in the mansion for two weeks, and everybody had finally settled into something resembling a routine.

Granny was comfortable, Willow was handling her work from home, and Kaidence loved his new school.

Thankfully, the trouble he’d had with those boys on his first day hadn’t continued. Actually, the little boys had started being nice to him. One of them had shared his snacks, and another had asked Kaidence if they could be friends.

I had no idea what had changed their attitudes so drastically, but I damn sure wasn’t complaining.

Kaidence had already asked if they could come over one day. I told him maybe. I still wasn’t ready to start having company at the mansion when I was barely getting used to living there myself, so I suggested something else instead. Halloween was only two weeks away, and I told him maybe he could go trick-or-treating with them.

He liked that idea even better once I mentioned we could start looking for his costume.

My phone started ringing.

It was Nyelle.

I smiled.

We had texted here and there since I made it to Hallowridge, mostly quick check-ins to make sure I was alive and updates about Granny, the fire, and where we had ended up staying, but that was the first time we had actually talked on the phone since I left.

I answered. “Hey, girl!”

“Well, damn. I was starting to think you forgot how to speak.”

I laughed. “We’ve been texting.”

“Texting is not talking. I need to hear a voice every once in a while so I know you haven’t been kidnapped.”

“Who the hell is kidnapping me?”

“I don’t know. You living in that big-ass mysterious mansion now. Anything could be going on over there.”

I leaned back on the stool. “Here you go.”

“How’s the family?”

“Granny is doing better… still taking it easy, but she’s a lot better than she was after the fire. Kaidence is back in school, he loves it. Already making friends and planning Halloween like he got somewhere to be.”

She laughed. “That sounds like him.”

We talked for another ten minutes about nothing important, which was one of the things I liked most about Nyelle. We didn’t have to fill every silence or speak every day to know we were still good. She had her life, I had mine, and when we did talk, nothing ever felt awkward or forced. Before we got off the phone, she mentioned that she didn’t have any plans for Thanksgiving and was thinking about coming down to see me. I told her to come on. She was more than welcome, and honestly, I’d be glad to have her.

I hung up still smiling and set my phone beside the laptop.

I still hadn’t heard back from any of the jobs I’d applied for.