“What are you looking at, Jamie?”

I glance up from my laptop to find Kasey in the doorway of my bedroom. It’s late, and she’s been gone for a long time. I can tell by the rigid set of her jaw that she’s tense and frustrated, which I’m guessing means Will wasn’t there tonight.

We’ve discovered that the three-day timespan usually required for him to rematerialize is not, in fact, a constant. Our best guess is that using the ouija board communication method must take more out of him. It’s been five days since we’ve successfully made contact, and Kasey is clearly starting to get concerned.

The good news is, I definitely have a distraction for her. I unplug my headphones from my laptop and pat the spot next to me on the comforter.

It’s oddly sweet, the way that Kasey bothers to pull off her ghost shoes before she climbs up on my bed, like they could still get the sheets dirty. She nestles down by my side, peering over my shoulder to see what’s pulled up on the laptop.

“I’ve been doing some digging on the staff at the Bratton Collection,” I tell her. “Thought you’d probably want to see this.”

It’s a video, an interview. The man doing the talking is grey-haired and square-jawed, with horn-rimmed glasses and a tidy suit.

“This is Nicholas Coburn,” I explain. “He’s the chief curator at the museum.”

I back the video up to the beginning, already grinning to myself. It’s sort of fun when Kasey gets mad about history, and I know for a fact that she’s about to pop off. I also happen to know that the best way to take her mind off of something that’s bothering her is to just get her really mad about something else.

I press play, and Coburn’s voice floats up into the dark quiet of my bedroom.

“It was the incredible toil and sacrifice of our forefathers that gave us the America we know and love today,” he’s saying. “At the Albert Bratton Collection, we seek to celebrate that. The traditions and ideals of old are preserved in the objects housed here. People are drawn to them because they reflect our glorious past.”

“Um.” Kasey frowns deeply. “What?”

“Is there something for everyone, at the Collection?” the off-screen interviewer asks.

“Oh, yes,” Coburn answers cheerily. “I even think that girls might find some thrills in a visit to the Collection-”

“Um, what?” Kasey says again, this time a little louder.

“-where they can learn about the wives and mothers who braved the frontier-”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are women only defined by their relationship to men?” Kasey snaps, her dark eyes flaring.

“-so that the men could bring civilization and enlightenment to a wild, untamed land.”

“Excuse me?” Kasey is basically shouting, now. It’s a good thing that my neighbors can’t hear her. “So that they could do what?”

“What kind of objects are on view right now?” the interviewer asks, as Kasey grabs two fistfuls of her own hair.

“We have some American rifles, in incredible condition. They were used by frontiersmen for hunting, but also for Indian defense-”

“Indian defense!” Kasey tries to slam my computer closed, then lets out a half-groan, half-shout when her hand punches right through the screen. I set the laptop aside, trying not to laugh as she clicks her tongue in frustration. She’s not thinking about Will anymore, that’s for sure. “What sort of term?” she continues, outraged. “What the fucking - what - okay, let me chill. I’m fine, I’m cool. What the fuck, though! Where did that man get his degree?”

“Okay, but the point is-” I gesture to Coburn’s paused face. “He’s a stable, long term employee. He’s always at the museum. Well-respected within his circle, from what I can tell. He’s a known name.”

“Of course,” Kasey says, with a snort. “Is it weird that I want to hate-read whatever papers this man has authored?”

“Yes, it absolutely is, but listen - if we do end up going with the plan we’re kicking around right now…” I nod at Coburn. “This man right here, I think he’s our mark, right?”

“Oh my god, I am so sad that I won’t be there to see this,” Kasey complains, then stops, considering what I said. “Actually, though, you’re right. He’s perfect. We should run it by Aiden, but… I think Coburn is our guy.”

“Target acquired,” I say, and Kasey grins.

~~~~

“So, I’m gonna put in the windows tomorrow,” Raj is saying. I tuck my phone better beneath my ear, so that it doesn’t slip off of my shoulder. I’m trying to talk and stack the planting pots in the backroom at the same time, and it’s not going well. I finally give up and head to my cubby to retrieve my earbuds. At least this shift is purely for organization; we’re closed, and no customers are going to come in and startle me into dropping everything.

“Can the windows open, then?” I ask Raj.

“Yeah, I can make that happen. But you better do a great job on my yard!”

“I’ll do my best. Did the plants and stuff I ordered get there, yet?”

“No, they’re coming next week. By the way, are you sure this is enough grass? I was looking at how much you got, and it’s not enough to cover the yard. Not even close.”

I locate my headphones and plug them in. “It’s enough, trust me.”

“Okay…”

“I have a good idea, I promise! Your little - um - Raj-ling? Is gonna love it.”

“Rajling!” he laughs. “Oh, shit. Why didn’t you think of that before we shot the baby video?”

My phone starts buzzing the moment I set it back down on the worktable.

“Oh - hang on a sec, Raj. Stay on the line. Aiden is calling me, I’m just gonna make sure it’s not urgent.”

“No problem.”

I switch to Aiden’s call.

“Hey, you,” I purr, all warm and intimate.

“Um. Jamie. It’s still Raj. Is that how you guys talk to each other when we’re not around? Why am I turned on, right now?”

“Holy shit, oh my god. Gimme one sec!” I switch to Aiden’s call without fucking up this time, but my cheeks are burning. “Hello?”

“Hi,” Aiden says, and then - “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That just sounded a little - stiff?”

“Just being safe.”

“Safe, what?”

“Anyways! What’s up?”

“Will is finally back. Kasey made contact.”

I let out a relieved breath. “Oh, thank god.”

“Yeah, so we’re thinking of using the ouija board tonight, to ask him what the object is. Are you free after your shift?”

“I-” My phone buzzes again, and I lean over to look at the screen, setting down the stack of pots I was holding. “Hang on, Aiden, Noah is calling me.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.”

I switch calls again, adjusting my headphones. “What’s up, dumbass?”

“What?” Raj sounds offended. “What did I ever do?”

“Oh, god. Not you, Raj! Hang on.” This is too many damn things to be juggling at once, especially with the pots thrown in. I shove them aside, focus on my phone, and switch properly this time. “Noah!”

“Wh-? Yeah, man. Why’d you yell my name?”

“Just - making sure that it’s you.”

“As opposed to…? Nevermind, whatever. Listen, I took a look at your electrical situation in that shed - house - thing, where you and Aiden are always hanging out. Bang cabin?”

“Um! Get to the point, Noah!”

“The sitch is more fucked up than Raj led me to believe. I’ve got to order a part you’re missing, so can you go without the lights for another week?”

“It’s-” My head is spinning. “Can you hold on, Noah? I’ve got too many calls going at once. Let me go deal with at least one of them.”

“Fine.”

I click on Aiden’s call.

“Ugh,” I groan. “I’m having such a hectic day. I just wanna go home, get you in my bed, and lick every inch of-”

“Bro, what?”

“Wh-? Noah?” I stare down at the screen, horrified. “Oh, my fucking - okay, something must be going on with my phone, that was for Aiden, not you, and-” Oh, god. I’m dying. “Yes, okay, we can handle another week without the lights! Let me know when the part comes in, and we’ll go from there.”

“Sounds like you’ve already got all the parts you need, man,” he laughs, and I bend down to smack my forehead into the worktable. “Good for Aiden.”

“Noah! I’m literally going to kill you, and I mean actually, physically-”

“Chill, dude. I’ll hit you up when it’s here.”

I hang up the call, then double-check that I’ve got who I need back on the line.

“Raj.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll do your yard next week. Just let me know when the part gets here. I mean the ouija board. I mean the plants!”

“Are you having a stroke, Jamie?”

“I don’t know! Maybe!”

“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it. Text you when the grass and stuff arrives.”

“Perfect, okay, bye!” I hang up, and now, mercifully, Aiden’s is the only call on my screen. “Babe.”

“Yes, hi.”

“I’m trying to do too much.” I can hear the strain in my own words.

A pause ensues. When Aiden speaks again, his low voice is soft and calm. I close my eyes and listen to it, let it slow me down a little.

“Take a breath, Jamie. What’s going on over there?”

How to sum it up?

“Raj thinks that I don’t know how much grass a person needs, and I just accidentally had a dirty phone call with Noah.”

Aiden must have been taking a sip of something, because I hear him choke. “Sorry, what?”

“Nevermind, not important. I’m just - stressed out, that’s all.”

Another pause, from his end.

“Are you still at the shop?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool, give me like - mmm, ten minutes.”

“What? No, Aiden, you don’t have to-”

But he’s already hung up, and he arrives, as predicted, about ten minutes later.

~~~~

I open the door to let Aiden inside, then drop my forehead onto his broad chest. He gently eases me backwards until he can close the shop door after us. Cool night air is clinging to his clothes, his jacket.

“What’s going on?” he murmurs, smoothing his hands down my shoulders.

“Nothing.” I’m speaking directly into his shirt. “It’s just that Raj is putting in the windows tomorrow, which means that I need to do his yard, soon, and also plan another session with Ellen, and Noah is ordering something to fix our lights at the Ghost Office, but it won’t be here for another week, and I’m behind on what I was supposed to get done at the shop tonight, and there's the small matter of the fucking heist-”

“Jamie." Aiden gives my shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Everything is fine. I can make light for the Ghost Office until the part gets here, and Kent will understand if you’re a little behind at the shop, after everything you’ve helped him with.”

“That’s… true.”

“And why don’t you just bring Ellen, when you work on Raj’s yard? You can show her how to plant everything.”

It hadn’t occurred to me. I pull back to look up at Aiden, thinking it over.

“Oh. Yeah, that’s - that would solve two things at once.”

“Mhm.” He tucks a knuckle under my chin, peering into my eyes. “So - you okay?”

“I… am.” I reach up to touch a finger to his cheek, grateful for the first few deep breaths I’ve had in a minute. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Aiden leans down and gives my lip a gentle bite. I start to reciprocate, but he draws back. “Quick question. Did you really have a sexy phone call with Noah? Because I know I’m reformed and shit, but I’m not above kicking his ass.”

I let out a ragged laugh, shaking my head.

“He was an unwilling participant. I thought I was on the phone with you.”

“What did you say?” Aiden asks, wincing. “Do I even want to know?”

I tell him. He presses his lips together and shuts his eyes, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“I told Noah it was for you, though!”

“Well, that explains why he texted me a bunch of high-five emojis out of nowhere.”

“Oh my god. This is your fault, you know.”

Aiden tips his head to the side. “My fault.”

“Yes, because you make me crazy, every time we - and we haven’t even-” I hesitate, my cheeks on fire again. “I’m just saying, man, if this is the appetizer, what the hell is the main course going to be like?”

Aiden smiles, tracing his thumb along my jaw. “I know what you mean.”

“I should have known, honestly,” I mumble. “Melanie told me, she said - she said that the sex was really good. Um. With you.”

Aiden’s eyebrows lift in surprise, but then something else flashes across his face. The tiniest hint of a cocky smirk, before he controls his expression again.

“Okay… weird,” he says, with a casual shrug. “But - good to know that I come with positive reviews, I guess?”

We both stare at each other, then burst out laughing. All the remaining stress from today rolls off of my shoulders. I tip forward, wrap my arms around Aiden’s middle, squeeze him.

“Hope I live up to the hype,” he says, and I smile, my cheek pushing against his chest.

“That's one thing I'm not worried about.”

He eases me back, resting a hand on the curve of my neck. “You seem a little better.”

“A little bit, yeah.”

“Good. Okay if I hang out, the rest of your shift?” He starts pulling off his jacket.

“What? No - I mean, I would love that, but I still have two more hours left, you don’t have to sit around here-”

“I’m not doing anything else.”

“Aiden, you’re gonna be so bored! I’m okay, honestly, I was just a little overwhelmed-”

He drops his jacket on the counter and gathers my face into his hands. “Let me. Please?”

Some kind of sweet, complicated feeling spreads through me, wrapping me up like a warm blanket.

“Okay.”

He smiles, presses a kiss onto my forehead, and lets me go. I force myself to go back behind the counter, where I start tending to some of the shop's permanent plants. Aiden leans his elbows on the glass, watching me.

“So, come on, what’s the deal? You and Mellie just - got together and talked about-?”

“No, it wasn’t like that! We ran into each other when you first came back, and she mentioned it. Unprompted, for the record.”

“Hmm.” Aiden taps a finger on the counter. “I actually did try to talk to her. See if we could get together, so I could apologize for everything. She never texted me back.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, but - she told me she didn’t plan to.”

“Oh.” Aiden just looks at me for a moment, his expression falling slightly. "That's... fair."

I bite my lip, then add: “I told her that she should consider it.”

His frown drops away immediately.

“You did?”

“Yes. Even though the idea of you two meeting up made me stupid jealous.”

Now Aiden is grinning again, to the point where his cheeks are fully rounded out. Beaming, in fact.

“You were jealous,” he repeats.

I could deny it, but it's making him smile, so I won't.

“Yes, I was, okay? At the time I didn’t realize - oh, I never even told you! She’s engaged.”

“Is she? That’s nice. To who?”

I expected a stronger reaction than that, but the look on Aiden’s face amounts to nothing more than pleasant surprise.

“I don’t know, actually. She didn’t say.”

He pauses.

“Did she - seem happy?”

I think about Melanie’s adoring smile, when we talked about her fiancé.

“Yeah, she did, and she’s running her own business, too. I think things are good for Melanie.”

Aiden nods, thoughtful.

“Glad to know I didn’t fuck up everything, for her.” He looks down at his hands. “I do wish I could tell her how sorry I am, though.”

I reach over the counter and tap his nose with my finger.

“You tried, Aiden. That’s all anyone can ask of you. And... for what it’s worth, I’m so happy that you tried with me.”

He catches my hand before I can take it away. Turns it palm up. Trails his lips in featherlight kisses, all the way up my heart line, sending my heart cartwheeling.

“I am, too."