Page 37 of Unexpected You

“I caught you sending something last night, but I couldn’t stop you, so you might want to see if you did something foolish,” she said, giving it to me from where she’d been charging it.

Well, shit. I hoped I hadn’t done anything embarrassing.

I unlocked my screen and checked my messages.

Looks like someone is having a good time the message read. From Eloise. I’d sent a blurry, drunken picture of myself to Eloise last night.

As far as pictures went, it was fine. My tits weren’t out, and I was smiling. Actually, I looked pretty good, arm raised as I laughed at something while dancing.

I’d only sent her the one picture without a message. What had I been trying to do? No idea, but not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Sorry about that! Hope I didn’t wake you I typed out and Sent.

No problem. See you on Monday.

That sounded like a dismissal, but I sat there with my thumbs preparing to type something out. To ask her if she’d done anything fun on Friday night. If she was doing anything in particular today. I knew the rest of her schedule during the week, but her weekends were still mostly a mystery. She was probably with Camille and the kids. Maybe at the park or the zoo or something. Eloise absolutely adored those kids. They were pretty damn lucky, in my opinion. How cool was it that your godmother was a famous author? Not too shabby.

Hunter dragged me out of the house and to the antiques market. We liked to go on weekends and see the most ridiculous thing we could find that was likely to be haunted. Sometimes one of us would buy it and bring it home and sometimes the item was just too terrifying, and we left it alone.

“What do you think?” Hunter asked when she showed me a tarnished ring with a huge black stone.

“Oh, definitely haunted,” I said.

“But how haunted?” she asked, peering at it and turning the ring in the light.

“Not as haunted as that,” I said, pointing to a vintage doll that was missing one eye and half of its hair.

“Oh yeah, that’s much better.” Hunter put down the ring and went to pick up the doll before we discarded that and moved on, but not before taking pictures and sending them to Reid for her assessment. She’d had a dance class earlier and said she needed some alone time today. Neither of us minding when Reid asked for space. Her job drained her so much that it was a wonder that she was able to talk to anyone in her off time.

Besides, she was seeing us tomorrow for brunch.

On an impulse, I sent Eloise a picture with the words Haunted or not haunted? of a painting that Hunter and I had been staring at. It was a painting of a little girl holding a doll, which wasn’t so bad, except that the little girl’s face was off, and the doll had no eyes. It was also painted poorly (maybe on purpose?), which added to the unsettling quality.

I sent it to Reid, too.

Reid wrote back begging for us to stop sending her creepy pictures. Eloise responded after we’d moved on from the painting.

Oh definitely haunted. You going to buy it?

I snorted. Not this time. I already have a few haunted paintings and don’t want to press my luck too much. What about you? It would look lovely in your foyer.

If you bring that abomination into my home, I will put your employment contract in the shredder and incinerate your computer. she sent, and I burst out laughing.

“What’s funny?” Hunter asked, poking my shoulder.

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head.

I sent her more haunted items and she kept making more and more hilarious threats and Hunter was getting annoyed at me being distracted.

“Okay, this is it,” she said, stopping in front of an old photograph of a house that had a threatening aura. The house itself was run down, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“Yup, definitely,” I said. The picture was fifty bucks, way out of our agreed-upon price range of thirty bucks max.

So instead, we took pictures and then Hunter dropped me off at my place.

I didn’t send you the most haunted thing we found today. You’re welcome. I sent to Eloise.

I appreciate that. You may keep your job.