He wiped his forehead
with the back of his hand. “You’re right about that.”
“
It’s hotter than a goat’s butt out here,” I said.
Reed shook his head
at my lame attempt at humor and pulled out his cell phone.
“
It won’t do any good. There’s no service out here in the middle of this forest,” I said, pointing toward the trees.
He looked at me and then at his phone. A devilish smile spread across his face, as if to say,
You want to bet?
He punched in the numbers on his phone.
“It looks as if you need a new cell phone service provider. I have plenty of bars on my phone.”
I rolled my eyes.
As Reed placed a call to heaven only knew which relative, I scanned our surroundings. We’d come to a stop right at the gravel road that I’d spotted earlier. Thankfully, Reed had been able to pull the truck off the main road. Not that there were any cars to worry about hitting us. This was the most remote place I’d ever been. There I stood in the middle of nowhere, sweating my butt off and wondering if snakes hid out in the woods. It was at least a few degrees hotter than hell. The devil had to come here to escape the heat during the summer. I moved toward one of the tall pine trees, hoping to get a little shade from the blazing sun. Birds chirped in the trees, but there wasn’t one bit of a breeze. What I wouldn’t do for that glass of lemonade right now.
Reed a
nd I had come to Georgia to visit his family and attend his family reunion. The thought of meeting his family had caused many a panic attack. Reed and I had been dating for a little over six months now. Obviously, things were going well since he’d asked me to make this trip. We’d met back in my hometown of Rosewood, Kentucky. He’d been my next-door neighbor when I’d bought a house to renovate. Reed had been a great help to me with restoring that house, although at first I had been reluctant to admit that. I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t handle things on my own.
Sure, I’d learned that sometimes you had to accept help, but I still li
ked to prove myself. I wasn’t sure who I was trying to prove myself to, but that was neither here nor there. I’d tried different money-making schemes over the years, as my mother called them, and very few had ever worked out. I still had a ton of makeup at my house after my failed attempt at selling cosmetics door-to-door. But when I’d discovered a rundown old house, I knew I had to try to bring it back to life. The house had been so sad, as if it was pleading for me to save it. I’d finally succeeded too.
I’d recen
tly sold the house. Okay, I sold it to my cousin, but still that counted too. So, as far as I was concerned, I counted that as a success. It hadn’t been easy either. I’d let a shady handyman steal money from me, found a few ghosts in the house, and discovered the previous owner murdered. I’d almost gotten myself killed too when the realtor who sold me the house went a little nutso.
But all of that was behind me now. To be honest, I was kind of getting the itch
to start another project. The right house hadn’t come along yet though. In the meantime, I’d been trying my hand at the home decorating thing again, plus, working at the local home décor boutique in town. Luckily, my boss had let me off for a whole month while she renovated the shop. I only worked part-time there anyway, so I doubted she’d miss me being around.
So
there I was in Bay Pine, Georgia about to meet Reed’s family for the first time. My makeup had melted off hours ago and my hair was a frizzy mess. My clothes stuck to my skin from the sweat. I was sure to make one heck of a first impression. Anyway, we had to figure out how to get there first before I had to worry about my appearance.
“W
ere you able to get the phone to work?” I asked, stepping back over to the truck.
He avoided my gaze
by staring down the road.
“
I take that as a no. It looks like you need to get a different cell phone provider too,” I quipped.
Reed stared at me, then starting laughing.
“I suppose I do.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It looks like we’ll be walking the rest of the way.”
“
How far is the rest of the way exactly?” I placed my hand above my eyes and shielded them from the sun.
“
Five miles.” He pointed down the endless road.
I almost choked.
“Did you just say five?”
“
Yes, it comes right after four.” The corners of his mouth twisted up into a wicked grin.
I felt like tossing my useless cell phone at him.
“I’ll get your things out of the car and we can get started,” he said as he moved toward the truck, ignoring my scowl.
I brushed the hair out of my eyes and set out down the shoulder of the highway for our safari. When Reed caught up
, he handed me my purse.
“
What’s down this road?” I gestured with a tilt of my head.
“
It loops around back to this road. It may be a little longer if we go that way, but not by much.”
“
Well, it’s worth it if you ask me. There are more trees over the road to give us shade at least.”
Reed shrugged.
“If you don’t mind maybe running into the ghost of the serial killer.”
I glared at him.
“I’ll get you back for this, you know?”
After a couple seconds of pondering my statement,
Reed seemed to take the hint. “Maybe my teasing about the killer’s ghost wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
“
You think?” I asked.
We started down the gravel road. Thank goodness I’d decided to wear sneakers instead of sandals today. Reed looked cute in his blue T-shirt and cargo shorts. It was as if we’d embarked on a nature hike
, but this definitely wasn’t for pleasure. I wished I’d packed a picnic or a canteen at the very least. I just hoped I didn’t need bread-crumbs to help us find our way back. Just how confident was Reed that he knew where this road actually led?
“
Have you been on this road often?” I asked as I wiped my brow with the back of my hand.
“
We used to come here as teenagers and go over to the old McKeeley Plantation. It was rumored to be haunted, so you know how kids are, especially around Halloween.” Gravel crunched under his footsteps.
“There’s a haunted plantation?”
My eyes widened at the words
haunted
and
planation
.
Reed
glanced over at me. “Get that excited gleam out of your eyes. I heard they tore the place down years ago.”
My shoulders slumped.
“That’s a shame. You know how I am about historic properties. It hurts to see something so beautiful and with so much history destroyed. I mean, it tears my stomach up, you know?”
Reed took my hand in his.
“I know you have a big heart, but we can’t save them all.”
“What happened to t
he place?” I asked eagerly.
My anxiety mounted. It always happened when I thought about a potential fixer-upper.
“I heard lightning hit it.” He released a sigh, then continued. “It wasn’t salvageable. There’s nothing you could have done to save it.” He squeezed my hand lightly.
I didn’t respond. He
was right though. Sometimes it was unavoidable. That didn’t make me any less sad though. A noise sounded from my right and I jumped, moving closer to Reed. I’d use him as a shield if I had to.
“
What was that?” I clutched my chest. “I swear, Reed. Why did you have to put ideas in my head?”
“
Me? You had ideas in your head long before I came along.” He chuckled.
I snorted.
“It was probably just another deer,” he said, taking my hand again.
“
Yeah, that or Bigfoot coming to make us his lunch.” I scanned the area like a skittish animal.
“
Do they eat humans?” Reed asked.
“
How the heck should I know? But I sure don’t want to take a chance on finding out.” I picked up my pace. “Come on. Let’s try to get out of here before we’re something’s lunch.”
“
We’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly.
Up ahead was another gravel road.
Overgrown bushes almost completely concealed the area. Trees lined the path like guards watching over the entire area. What adventure would that road lead us to?
“
Where does that lead?” I asked as I pointed in the general direction.
“
That’s the driveway for the plantation.” I heard disappointment in his voice. He cared about the old houses too. Whether or not he wanted to admit it.
Oh
, great, we had to walk past the thing so I’d feel even worse. Or walk past what was left of it. That family reunion was sounding better by the minute. I hoped they had a lawn chair under a shade tree for me with plenty of lemonade.
I swatted at a bug.
“How old was the place?”
He shrugged
. “I think it was built sometime around 1810.”
“
Why is it out here in the middle of nowhere? Why aren’t there any other houses?”
“
It was one big farm. I heard they’re trying to develop the area. It won’t be long before there are plenty of houses around here.” A hint of disappointment tinged his words.
“
I just hope they don’t take down too many of these beautiful trees.” I looked skyward toward the top branches.
We neared the
gravel drive and I spotted a tall iron gate. It had intricate details of roses and leaves swirled within the whole thing. Both sides stood open just a little so I stepped closer, then turned around to look at Reed.
“
I know that look in your eyes. We’re already really late. Are you sure you want to spend even more time wondering around the ruins of a haunted plantation?”
“
Six months together and you still have to ask me that question, really?” I shook my head.
He nodded.
“Good point. I guess a few more minutes won’t matter. Heck, maybe they’ll send a search party to come find us.”
“
We couldn’t get that lucky,” I said around a forced smile. It was hard to feign enthusiasm.
I pushed the gate open wider and moved through. The long driveway was shaded by tall oak trees and more pine trees behind
them. It was like another world—a private secluded world tucked away from the hustle and bustle.
As I soaked in the scenery,
I pictured myself spending a lot of time in a place like this. Never mind that the nearest Piggly Wiggly was a good drive down the road. It would be worth it for this kind of peace and quiet, although if the serial killer’s ghost came around I’d probably think twice. I didn’t mind ghosts, just not ghosts of serial killers. If I didn’t want to run into a serial killer in real-life, I sure didn’t want to meet one in the ghost form either.
I wiped the back of my neck and fanned myself as we
continued toward the ruins. It was a good length down the driveway until I spotted something up ahead. I’d never seen anything like it.
Chapter Three
What was I seeing between the trees
? A part of the house?
“
I thought the house had burned down?” I asked as Reed moved along beside me.
“
That’s what I heard,” he said.
W
e stepped close, and that was when the full scope of the home came into view. Every inch of it appeared to be intact. Well, except for the sagging roof over the porch. It was as if the house had just jumped out and yelled
surprise
.
“
It looks like it’s all there to me,” I said as I tugged on Reed’s arm.
I was
practically bouncing with each step. The place was stunning with a stone and brick façade, giant columns and a wrap-around porch. The house was stately and breathtaking. But most of all, it looked lonely. If Reed wouldn’t think I was completely bonkers, I probably would have broken down in tears right then. That house needed me. I knew it the minute I set my eyes on it.
“
This place is amazing,” I whispered.
“
I must have gotten the wrong information,” he said as we stepped closer.
Sure
, the place was run down and in need of a lot of attention, but it was still standing and as far as I could tell, there was no fire damage. That was more than enough to work with.
“
Let’s go inside,” I said as I started up the steps.
Reed grabbed my arm.
“We don’t know how unstable the inside is.”
I looked at
him. “Well, there’s only one way to find out, right? How will we ever know if we don’t go inside?”
“
Why don’t you let me go in first?” Reed asked with an exasperated look.