Fearless, Abby Brooks [leveled readers .txt] 📗

whole thing.” Keeping an eye on those dark curls as he sauntered across the yards, I explained what happened, whispering in case sound traveled in unexpected ways. One accidental embarrassment was enough for the day.

Amelia leaned her head against mine. “Oh, Evie. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you remember it.”

“You’re right. It’s probably worse.”

“More likely, it’s something that happens to him all the time. I mean, you can’t look as good as he does and be as talented as he is and not have random women throwing themselves at you on a daily basis.” She laughed and I did too.

“I’m gonna miss you and your perpetual optimism.”

Amelia could be a lot to handle, but her irreverent positivity hid a woman who felt deeply and took care of her people. Without her, Wildrose Landing would feel bigger and less friendly, that much I knew for sure.

“I’m gonna miss you too. But the commune isn’t as bad as you made it out to be.” She winked and bumped her shoulder against mine as she waited for me to get the joke. “We’ll see each other more than you think.”

“That better be a promise.”

I was scared to be alone and she knew it, but neither one of us said anything. Fearless Eveline McAllister didn’t acknowledge anxiety, and happy-go-lucky Amelia Brown never gave it the time of day in the first place.

“You didn’t have to ask Darian to come get you. I would have been happy to drive you home.”

Amelia hit me with a look that cut through the bullshit. “Just because you don’t like my brother doesn’t mean you should lose a chunk of your day chauffeuring me around.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I picked at the dirt under my nails.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Darian. He just inevitably rubbed me the wrong way. The man was somehow both identical to and completely different from his sister. They knew who they were and had no qualms being true to themselves, but where Amelia was into signs from the universe and plant medicine, Darian fell squarely into logic, science, and mild assholery.

Amelia tossed an arm over my shoulder. “I get it. He’s exhausting with his need for proof and his inability to have a little faith in things he can’t see. But, he is my brother, Evie.”

“I know, love. I’ll try and be cordial when he gets here.”

“But not too cordial, in case sexy neighbor man is watching.” She giggled and the breeze flooded my nostrils with her essential oils. Maybe I’d buy some after she left.

“You shouldn’t have brought that back up. I’d almost forgotten you embarrassed me like that.”

“Yeah, right.” Amelia arched an eyebrow. “Like you’ve ever forgotten anything. Might as well call you Dumbo.”

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

An hour passed with us on the stoop, wrapped in friendship and conversation as red leaves see-sawed to the grass. Darian’s Tesla rolled to a stop in front of the house. He unfurled his long frame from the driver’s seat and let out a low whistle. “Okay then, Evie. What’s the catch?”

I stood and rested a hand on the handrail. “What do you mean, what’s the catch?”

“I mean, houses like this don’t just drop into people’s laps. Is it falling apart? Does it need new wiring? Plumbing? Are the neighbors running a meth lab out of their basement?”

My gaze bounced to Alex’s house. No meth labs. Just crushing good looks and a total lack of interest in me. “There’s no catch. Well, other than the loss of my Great Aunt Ruth.”

“The fact that it’s haunted is a pretty big catch.” Amelia shimmied in excitement as Darian rolled his eyes.

“There’s no ghost,” I said before he could eviscerate his sister.

Her jaw dropped. “Then how do you explain the lights? The lack of dust? Or what about the fact that the kitchen was rearranged when we got home yesterday? Or the shadowy figure everyone seems to see through the windows?”

“The kitchen wasn’t rearranged,” I explained to Darian. “We just couldn’t remember if we were slobs or neat freaks.” The rest I had no explanation for, other than the fact that small towns loved to gossip.

Amelia slapped my arm. “You have a clean ghost, and you know it, but you’re trying to look cool and impress my brother.”

“Evie doesn’t have to work to impress me. You know that.” Darian slipped an arm around my shoulder.

I shifted out of his reach to wrap Amelia in a hug. “Thank you for coming out here with me.”

She squeezed until I saw stars. “Thank you for letting me spend a night in a haunted house. And for not killing me when I let it slip that you have a massive crush on your super-hot neighbor.”

She dropped her bags in her brother’s car, hugged me one last time, then drove away, officially leaving me alone in the brand-new life I hadn’t wanted.

I watched them go, then returned to planting the daffodil, crocus, and hyacinth bulbs I’d been working on when Alex arrived. With the house fully furnished and my job situation sketchy at best, my desire to nest seemed destined to happen outside. The fruits of my labor wouldn’t appear until the spring, but the best things in this world took time. It was the wait that made it worth it.

At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

When I finally break out of my shell, it’ll be worth it!

When I finally publish a book, it’ll be worth it!

Maybe I’d been making excuses for myself all along and time was the slow erosion of good intentions.

The crunch of leaves under feet interrupted my thoughts, announcing someone walking up the driveway. Was it Alex? The ghost? Either option would make my afternoon. I spun, surprised to find an older woman headed my way, her salt and pepper hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck. A friendly smile lifted her lips while shrewd eyes raked over my face. A