Devils night, p.20
Devil's Night, page 20
But had Anvi and Tripp talked about Linden behind her back? Laughed that she was so easily fooled? She couldn’t stand the thought of it.
Linden kicked the side of her bunk, which only scuffed her boot and made her toes sore. On the little counter beside her, a canvas tote bag tipped over, its contents rolling onto the floor. Bottles of sunblock and bug spray. A couple of booster cans of supplemental oxygen, though she’d been fine with the altitude. There was a little can of bear spray, too, something she’d bought at the inn, thinking it was a mildly funny souvenir. According to Penny, bears weren’t likely to be visiting this canyon. But Linden couldn’t resist that snarling bear on the side. It had reminded her of Tripp, his beard that he let grow a bit too long. How his whiskers tickled her neck when he kissed her ear.
She didn’t bother picking up the bottles. Instead, she went back outside, walking a circle around their travel trailer. They’d parked about half a mile from the central Eden site, among a few ruined cabins that once lay on the outskirts of the town. The festival was over for the night. Two down, one to go.
For so long, she’d assumed her life would only get better. She adored going to work every day in their gorgeous Santa Monica building, just off Main and Ashland, a short stroll to Ocean View Park. There were so many things she loved about LA: the year-round flowers; the breezes off the ocean in the mornings; the perpetual yellow sun that bathed everything, even the ugliness, in light. In LA, she felt like she lived in the center of the universe. Well, New York had its attractions too, but that wan blue light made her feel anemic. Linden had never wanted to live anywhere but Southern California, and she still didn’t.
Yet this trip to Colorado had exposed the parts of her life that she hadn’t wanted to see.
Tripp had been good to her some of the time. In the past, she’d fought to get what she wanted, and she’d assumed that Tripp wouldn’t be any different. But maybe, all this time, he’d been playing her. Getting what he could before he moved on to something else. Someone else.
The shuttles rumbled on their way out of the canyon, taking the last few guests back to their offsite campgrounds and hotels for the night. Through the radio, she listened to the security guards do their last rounds and give the all clear. But still, no one had seen Anvi.
Had she gone back to Ashton on one of the shuttles? Did Tripp call her after Linden bailed on him? Were they together right now? That shouldn’t have stung so much, but it did.
Linden went back into the trailer. It was too late to catch a ride back to Ashton—nor did she want to. The only reason she’d booked a room in town was Tripp.
She grabbed her laptop, sat on her bunk, and pulled up her flight info. Tomorrow would be the last day of Devil’s Fest, and she was scheduled to stick around for a couple of days after. But maybe she could move the flight earlier. She’d drive to the airport by herself if Penny wasn’t ready.
There was a noise outside. A brief snippet of radio chatter. Her radio was on the counter, switched off. Somebody was out there—probably Anvi. Finally. Linden had locked the door, but Anvi had a key.
There was a loud knock. Linden jumped slightly.
“Anvi?” she said.
“Hello?” was the response. But that wasn’t Anvi. It was a male voice.
She glanced down at the can of bear spray. After a half second of hesitation, she pocketed the spray and went to the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me. Deputy Castillo?”
She exhaled, rolling her eyes at herself. Just Deputy Ray. He was moonlighting tonight on their security detail. She flipped the lock and pushed open the door.
“What can I do for you?”
The light from inside the trailer shone onto the ground. Deputy Ray came closer. He wasn’t wearing his sheriff’s deputy uniform tonight, but rather a windbreaker that said SECURITY in yellow letters at the breast.
“I just wanted to check on you before I took off for the night. Did Anvi turn up?”
“Not yet.”
“Huh. I’ll spread the word in Ashton. Maybe she forgot to check in with the shuttle driver.” That was their procedure, so nobody got left accidentally in Eden.
“That’s what I thought.” Linden nodded like this made perfect sense, though she was reeling. Were Anvi and Tripp together right now?
“But anyway,” Deputy Ray said, “I wanted to make sure you’re secure here. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a great idea being here alone. Some of those people at the festival—they get pretty worked up.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m completely fine. I was about to head to bed. Thanks for checking on me.”
“No problem. There’s something else, too. Unofficial, but the sheriff’s office got that forensic report. I tried to catch up with Penny today, but she was busy. I don’t blame her, all that stuff with Scott and that other woman last night. Really terrible. Penny’s sister was really upset. But anyway, did you want to hear about the report?”
That skeleton. Linden didn’t care. “I’m sorry, Deputy, but I’m exhausted. I’m sure Penny will be in touch tomorrow. Good night.” Hopefully, Penny was having some fun right now. Maybe she’d finally get Matthew in bed and out of her system. There certainly wasn’t much else to look forward to—for Penny or Linden—once they returned to LA.
He seemed disappointed. “Okay. Night.” Deputy Castillo started walking away, heading back to the parking lot.
Linden let the door slam shut. She dug around the cabinets until she found a bottle of white wine, one with a screw top. She was about to find a glass, but then muttered, “To hell with it.”
She unscrewed the cap, put it to her lips, and drank.
Things went a bit downhill from there. The same self-defeating thoughts kept swirling in her mind, images of Tripp and Anvi together in his hotel room. She landed heavily on her bunk. A sound came out of her—a heaving, heartbroken sob—and it wasn’t like anything she’d ever uttered before. Linden did not fall apart this way. She was above such maudlin antics.
Once again, there was a noise outside. Like a boot scraping in the dirt that surrounded the trailer.
“Shit.” She wiped at her face, forcing the tears to stop. Had Ray heard her? Had he come running back to check on her again? God, this was mortifying. She started inventing excuses as she went to the trailer door. But when she opened it, Ray wasn’t there. She didn’t see anybody.
But she could feel someone watching her. Somebody was out there in the dark.
“Who’s there?” she asked. “Ray? Anvi?”
There was no answer in words. But she could hear breathing. She grabbed the bear spray from her pocket and held it out. She’d had enough. She wouldn’t let anyone treat her this way. In the heightened energy of that moment, she realized exactly how to deal with Tripp—she and Penny would start their own firm. Screw the Sterling partnership agreement. Nobody, not even Tripp Sterling, was going to brush them aside.
“I can hear you,” she yelled. “You’d better show yourself or get the hell out of here.”
Linden stomped out. She realized she was still holding the white wine bottle. She took a drink as she aimed the bear spray into the dark.
“Whoever’s out here, you better run. I mean it. I’m armed.”
She walked farther out, her boots crushing the dried-out grass. Then she spun around. Someone was behind her. She’d felt it—a presence, the moving of a shadow.
“Show yourself.”
She added a few choice swear words, but there was no answer. She was panting, the wine bottle clenched in her left hand, bear spray in the other.
For endless seconds, nothing happened.
Then she heard footsteps in the brush. Coming at her. Fast.
She forgot the bear spray. Forgot everything. She dropped what she was holding and ran.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Penny lay awake, staring at the ceiling of the Larsens’ spare room. She couldn’t stop thinking about her conversation with Matthew. It hadn’t been an argument, exactly, but neither of them had been happy.
But that kiss…she touched her lips.
Her stomach was burning, and she doubted it was the red wine.
Matthew wanted her to “help people” with her ability. She now realized that might be possible. Maybe, somehow, she could stay herself and also be the medium her dad described in his book. But what would that even look like? She’d hire herself out as a psychic for money? Go searching for ghosts every day, letting them take up residence in her mind? Sharing in their sorrows and regrets that could never be remedied? She didn’t want that to be her life.
She couldn’t be the person that Matthew wanted her to be.
Her phone buzzed. She rolled over and picked it up. Matthew had just texted.
Hey Penn, forgot to tell you. Ray was looking for you earlier. Some news about the skeleton you found. Sorry, distracted. Blame it on the concussion. Milking that excuse for all it’s worth. Thank you again.
“Oh, Matthew,” she whispered at her phone.
She wanted to know Ray’s news, at the very least because she was curious. From what she could tell, the festival’s second night had gone smoothly. Thank goodness. But at this moment, her biggest concern wasn’t Devil’s Fest or Eden.
She hated that Matthew had been so isolated from his father and his siblings these past years. Penny had been mostly alone, too, in all the ways that counted. She had Linden, some casual friends, her colleagues at work. There’d been a few Tinder hookups that Penny wasn’t proud of. A boyfriend or two. But all that time, the one person who mattered most had been missing from her life.
She could’ve told him that. Instead, she’d stomped off, acting petulant, as if he’d done something unforgivable by voicing his opinion.
She couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. Feeling it. She’d never wanted anyone more than she wanted Matthew—both then, and now.
He was obviously awake, like her. Right across the hall. And for the first time, they were completely alone—together. This is probably a bad idea, she told herself, even as she was kicking off the covers.
His door was cracked, and the light was on. Still, she knocked softly.
“Matthew?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
She pushed open the door. He sat on the edge of his bed wearing an old pair of sweats and a tee, both emblazoned with “Ashton High Eagles, Class of ’10.” His injured arm was still in the sling.
“Can I come in?”
His eyes traced over her. She wore one of his old t-shirts—it said “Project Prom” in bubble letters—which she’d found in a drawer. Her legs were bare.
“Unless you’re tired?” she added.
“I’m not tired.”
That wasn’t exactly an invitation. But she walked into the room, keenly aware of her body, the distance between them.
“I’m sorry I got upset earlier,” she said.
“No, I shouldn’t have pushed you about the ghost stuff. I just thought…”
“It’s okay.” She didn’t want to talk about ghosts anymore. Though her own past haunted her. Everywhere she looked, she saw the life that she hadn’t known she missed. Penny touched the books on his shelf. Ran her fingers over his old clothes, hanging in the closet.
She turned around, and Matthew was still watching her intently. He scooted back on the bed, leaning against the headboard.
“I think you outgrew those.” She pointed at the several inches of ankle that his sweats didn’t cover. The shirt was tight across his chest. Her pulse increased.
He looked down, smiling. “I guess it’s been a while.”
She’d been here earlier without him, and already the room felt more lived-in. The place smelled like him, the way it used to. Never in her life had she been in this room at night. Wearing not much more than his old t-shirt, no less. This was the stuff of her teenage fantasies.
“Your room looks pretty much the same,” she said. “Too bad we couldn’t read each other’s minds back then.”
“I used to think about you here. All the time. I imagined us together.” His voice was dreamy, his eyes closed.
Her heart rattled her ribcage.
“I thought about you, too. I still think about you.”
Those blue eyes opened, fixed on her. Her heart raced, the beats so fast they blurred together.
She sat beside him. Leaned in; she couldn’t help herself. Their lips met. He sat up, returned the kiss and intensified it. The stubble on his chin scratched her palm. This was why she’d come in here. Not to talk. Definitely not to think.
Then Matthew pulled back, breathing hard. His gaze swept over her. It held the same heat that she remembered from six years ago, and from the living room that evening. But she saw indecision, too.
“What are we doing?” he asked softly.
“I have no idea. You’re probably supposed to be resting.” She started to get up. He held her wrist.
“I want this to happen, believe me. But I need to know what it means.” He ran a fingertip along her arm, setting off waves of tingles across her skin.
“Penn, I’ve loved you maybe since the day we first met as kids. I never stopped. But if you don’t feel the same way I do, just tell me. I can take it.”
She put her hand on his chest. His heart thumped in time with hers. He seemed to be holding his breath.
“I’ve fallen in love with you so many times, I lost count,” she said. “I’ve never loved anyone but you.”
He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she stood up and backed away. Heat rose from her skin, her whole body heavy and aching with desire, but she didn’t want him to misunderstand.
“I’m not moving to Ashton, though. It’s just not going to happen.”
“Okay. Then I could…try moving to LA.” He sounded hesitant. Like he’d only come up with the idea a second ago.
She laughed without a trace of humor. “You don’t want to move to LA. Your friends are here, your job. You just got back into your house.”
“You’re not even giving the idea a chance?”
“Because I don’t think you’re serious.” And even if he was, he’d already sacrificed so much for his mom. She couldn’t let him do that again. There was always the long-distance thing. But that just seemed like drawing out their goodbye.
Matthew got up and crossed the room toward her. Penny’s back touched the window, the glass cold through her thin t-shirt. His eyes were intense on hers. He was taller than he used to be, broader. He could surround her, if she let him.
“I’m serious, Penn. I love you. And you just said you love me. But you’re acting like how we feel doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it does.”
He braced his left hand against the window, leaning over her. His scent and his heat were all she could think about.
Back when they were kids, the future was an amorphous, abstract thing. She’d just wanted Matthew to touch her. Undress her. Of course she’d wanted his love, too, but it hadn’t mattered that they might not be “forever.” Why did that have to matter so much now?
“Can’t we just love each other, in this moment,” she said, “without worrying about tomorrow? I don’t know how to make this all work. I just want you, Matthew. So much.”
He slid his arm around her waist. Pulled her to him. His mouth found hers. Holding onto her, he stumbled backward toward the bed. Matthew sat heavily. Penny straddled his lap. She felt how much he wanted her, too, pressing against her inner thigh through his sweats.
Lost in his kiss, she put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed, forgetting all about his injury. He hissed in pain.
“Oh, crap, I’m sorry. Should we stop?”
He took off the sling and tossed it aside. Gritting his teeth, he fisted his shirt with his left hand and then pulled it off in a single, unpleasant-looking movement.
“Worst is over now. Come here.”
She stared at the constellation of bruises on his neck and right arm and down his torso.
“What about your concussion? I don’t want to hurt you.”
He lay back carefully, then reached up and pulled her down against him.
How many times had she imagined them together, in this very bed? Every other man she’d compared to Matthew, how it might’ve been with him. Part of her was still that eighteen-year-old, wishing he were her first.
They laughed as they undressed each other—the old sweats, the prom t-shirt. When her skin was completely bare, Matthew ran his hand along her collarbone, then down to cup her breast.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured. “It’s killing me.”
Then his hand moved down farther, and she sighed, tipping her head back and closing her eyes.
Slowly, they made their way together. Sometimes she paused, just looking down at him, wanting to memorize everything about these moments. His spiced scent, the cool roughness of the sheets on her knees. His palms on her hipbones. The way he bit his lower lip when she began to move. She kept holding back, wary of his injuries, but he didn’t want to be gentle. Soon there were no coherent thoughts at all, only sensation. Breath. Rhythm. The whole world was only Matthew.
After, she lay her head against his chest. His lips touched her forehead at the hairline.
So this is how it feels with him, she thought.
Maybe it would’ve been better not to know—because no one else would ever live up to this.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After he left Linden at the trailer, Ray started toward the parking lot. But then he looked back at Main Street. Something bothered him, though he couldn’t say what. Maybe it was all that caffeine from the can of Dark Energy he drank. He was going to have trouble getting to sleep.
One more check of the perimeter wouldn’t hurt. He walked back toward the old buildings.
There’d been plenty of speculation in Ashton about the incidents last night. Apparently, there’d been some accidents in Eden over the years. Add in the legends about Devil’s Night and the book by Penny’s dad, and you had an endless source of gossip. Almost everybody, it seemed, had a ghost story to tell about the place. My cousin’s high school boyfriend said…
