Page 18 of Bump in the Night

Understanding dawns on her pretty face as we reach the meeting point for tonight’s tour. A chalkboard is set out on the cobblestones, scrawled with meeting times for today and a list of the day’s encounters.

Singing heard at shipwreck.

Invisible hand on shoulder.

Strange lights bobbing out to sea.

Beyond the chalkboard, a boat bobs beside the harbor wall, rocking in the gentle waves. A handsome, bearded man stands beside the gangplank, arms folded over his chest, watching the tourists line up with no expression. He looks stern and weathered, though it’s somewhat hard to tell. Flecks of seawater keep blurring the lenses of my glasses.

Penny snorts as we join the back of the line. “This is about ghosts. Unless you think I have a hidden interest in sexy boat captains?”

Leaning down, I murmur in her ear. “I think you do when they’re head over heels in love with their perky little tour guide.”

Penny practically fizzes beside me. “Oh my god. He is?!”

Indeed, and my morbid bride can’t fool me. She has a new interest alright, and it’s L-O-V-E. Because Penny hasn’t mentioned it once over the last year, but since we got together, the stack of novels she keeps on her nightstand have steadily changed from pure creepy horror to a mix of horror and paranormal romance. She’s been reading love stories with fangs and scales and claws and wings, but love stories nonetheless.

And here, we can watch one of our very own Belladonna Bay romances unfold in front of our eyes. Hopefully, anyway, because that boat captain has it bad.

My chest aches with sympathy each time I catch him staring at the young woman moving down the line, collecting tickets. He forgets to blink.

“Oh, wow,” Penny whispers. “Do you look at me like that?”

“Every second when you’re near.”

A pointy elbow digs into my ribs. “Oh, shut up.”

“It’s true.”

Yes, it’s true, and I’m not embarrassed. Any man who won the jackpot that is Penny would feel the same. She’s the ultimate prize, and I’ll never forget that. It’s my life’s mission to earn this woman, and to make her happy.

Starting with a shipwreck tour with a grizzled, lovelorn boat captain. I squeeze Penny’s hand as we shuffle up the line. “Ready for ghosts and tangible pining?”

She laughs softly and squeezes my hand back. “Always.”

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