Кэти Дэйли - The Magic Of Halloween Night

“That would be something all right.”

Dave and I continued to chat until he needed to take a call. I checked my phone to see that I had a text from Cass informing me that he’d had something come up and wasn’t going to make it to the barn decorating party. He did still hope to make it to the shelter for our volunteer session. I usually worked with the dogs one on one for training before Cass arrived for our play session, so I texted him back and told him to meet me in the training room if he got there early. By the time I left, the barn was looking awesome. Fake cobwebs with fake spiders were made to look even more legit when intertwined with the real cobwebs and real spiders that lived in the normally deserted barn. All sorts of props, lights, and secret passages had been set up to create a horror house sort of setting that kids from twelve and up tended to enjoy.

“Before you go, can you help me carry the coffins in and set them up in the staging area?” one of the volunteers asked.

I agreed, realizing that the coffins he referred to weren’t the props used for vampires during the event but the coffin-shaped serving tables that had been refinished since the previous Halloween, upon which the food would be served.

“These look really good,” I said as we worked together to take the first coffin out of his truck.

“They do, but refinishing them was a lot of work. Looking back, it would have been less labor-intensive to just build new ones.”

“I guess that’s something to remember for next time.”

“These should be good for a few years. After that, I guess whoever is in charge at the time can decide what to do. The family and I are moving back to Vermont next summer, so I guess this will be my last Halloween here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I really didn’t know the man I was helping well. In fact, at the moment, I couldn’t even remember his name. But I found I was still going to miss him. How weird was that? I supposed now that I’d decided to stay in Foxtail Lake, I wanted everyone else to stay here as well. I realized that I really did love my life exactly as it was now.

After I helped with the coffins, I headed to the shelter. Naomi was helping out at the barn, but I knew exactly what to do and which dog to work with, so the fact that she wasn’t on the premises didn’t really matter. When I’d spoken to her earlier, she’d indicated that she’d most likely be back to the shelter before the play session Cass and I oversaw every Friday got underway.

“Have you seen Naomi?” One of the other volunteers, a woman named Lila, asked after I arrived.

“She’s still over at the barn helping out with the decorating. She indicated she’d be back around five. Did you need something?”

“The dog I’m supposed to work with got adopted. I was thinking about starting the new collie with a beginner’s session, but I wanted to check with Naomi first.”

“You can call her,” I suggested. “I’m sure she has her phone with her, and there’s good reception out at the barn. I used my phone while I was there this afternoon.”

“I’ll do that,” she said. “How’d the decorating go? I was going to help, but my boss wouldn’t let me have time off.”

“It went well. I think we’ll be ready to open tomorrow afternoon. Do you know what happened to the fifty-foot lead? It’s usually hanging on this wall.” I pointed toward an empty peg.

“I think the new guy took it.”

“New guy?”

“Tall, dark, and gorgeous. I have no idea what his name is. He introduced himself, but I was so busy staring at his abs that I totally missed it.”

“His abs?” I chucked. “He wasn’t wearing a shirt?”

She smiled. “Of course, he’s wearing a shirt. A very tight and formfitting t-shirt. I know you and Cass have a thing going on, but you seriously need to treat yourself to a peek before Cass gets here. The guy could be on the cover of a romance novel.”

“Cass and I are just friends,” I answered.

She snickered. “Yeah, right. Friends with benefits.” She giggled.

Actually, Cass and I weren’t friends with benefits, but we weren’t just friends either as I continued to insist that we were. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to classify what we had. I knew I cared about him. Deeply. I knew that if I was honest with myself, I loved him. But due to a family curse, which others thought silly, but I believed with my whole being, I’d vowed to never fall in love and marry, so whenever I was with Cass, I held back. We’d almost taken the step I so wanted to take but was terrified to really consider this past May. A tender kiss had resulted in a night of making out under the stars, but when it came time to move our make-out session indoors, I’d pulled back. I hadn’t wanted to, and for a brief instant, I actually considered ignoring the fact that my parents and grandparents had died because of the curse, but in the end, my fear won out, and I put a stop to things, effectively thrusting us back into the friend zone.

Of course, I knew that I was being unfair to Cass. I loved him but was unwilling to have a real relationship with him, yet I was much too jealous to stand back while he had a relationship with anyone else. I wasn’t sure where this left us. Forever in limbo, I supposed.

I really wished there was someone I could talk to about my conflicted feelings. Someone who’d really understand and not just think I was a silly woman with silly ideas. Aunt Gracie had made the same decision I had to stay single in order to avoid the curse. I wondered if, after a lifetime of loving Tom yet keeping him at a distance, she regretted that decision.

My training session went smoothly, but I was disappointed to see that Cass still hadn’t arrived by the time I’d finished the individual training and was ready to begin the play session. I supposed I could do it myself, but I might need to take out fewer dogs than we were able to handle together. I was trying to decide which dogs to take and which to leave behind when Cass and his dog, Milo, pulled up.

“I was worried you weren’t going to make it.” I bent over to pet Milo, who was also Cass’s partner.

He kissed me on the cheek. “I’m sorry that I’m late. It’s been one of those days, but Milo and I are off now. Have you already started?”

“I was just getting ready to select the dogs to take out for a run. Now that you’re here, we can take more. Maybe ten?”

“Ten works well. Is Naomi back?”

“I haven’t seen her, but she may have just gone straight up to the house. I guess you can call her if you need to speak to her.”

He nodded. “I actually do need to talk to her. Why don’t you let ten dogs into the fenced yard area, while I call her. I’ll join you there.”

“Okay. I’ll just throw some balls around until you get there.”

I had to admit I was curious about the topic of conversation Cass felt he needed to engage in right away with Naomi, but I also realized that it was none of my business, so I didn’t ask. Cass had joined me by the time I’d freed the ten dogs we planned to play with and had escorted them into the fenced-in play area.

“Is everything okay?” I asked in as nonchalant a tone as I could muster.

“Not really,” Cass said. For the first time, I realized how tired he looked.

“Did something happen today?” I asked, beginning to feel more than a little concerned.

“Bill Fuller was found dead.”

“Oh, no. What happened?” I asked.

Bill had lived in Foxtail Lake for most, if not all, his life. I wasn’t certain if he was born here, but he attended the same school as Cass and me from an early age. He’d graduated from Foxtail High a year before we had. After graduation, he’d gone off to college, but after living in LA for a few years, he’d come back to the area and had lived here ever since.