Page 9 of Painting Ghosts

Natalie nodded. “I do, but Serge would miss me. He only has us, and he doesn’t want to leave here because his mummy is still alive. He says when she joins him we can all be together in the Etherey. I can meet up with Mummy and Daddy and Grandpa will come with us.”

“Sounds like a wonderful plan.” Theo agreed as his hand squeezed mine. “I think I’d do the same if anything happened to Tyler here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere he wasn’t.”

I glanced up as he said these words and the affection in his eyes was breath taking. We had a moment where anything outside of us meant nothing and the world stopped turning. My chest felt heavy, the goosebumps along my spine tingling.

What the hell is this?

In the background, Bob and Natalie said something. I blinked, and life returned to normal. Bob and Natalie were looking at us both with a sly smile and a knowing look in their eyes.

“Ooh,” Natalie preened. “Tyler and Theo sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

“Now Nat,” Bob warned with a grin. “Don’t embarrass the lads now.”

Theo laughed, a joyful sound that sent shivers coursing across my body. “Maybe later. For now, let’s focus on right now.”

I was still trying to get over the image of Theo and me kissing. His full lips on mine, warm tongues twisting in each other’s mouths, hands finding bare skin and finally being free of all clothes, sinking onto a bed and making love until morning.

And wait a minute —what did he mean, maybe later?

“So you’ve heard our story.” Bob leaned back in the chair. “Now tell us yours.”

I considered my reply, but not for long. “Erm, we’re best friends, have been for ten years, although Theo abandoned me to go abroad, and we don’t really talk about that, and then he came back a few months ago, and I truly hope he’s here to stay.”

Theo punched my arm. “Hey, no fair. We did discuss this, remember? You all but shoved me away and told me to go find myself and ‘follow the art’.”

I scowled. “I know I did because it was your dream, but I didn’t think you’d be gone so goddamn long. I mean, I know I got a few decent weekend trips to Cyprus out of it, but it wasn’t ideal.”

Theo’s face fell. “Honestly? Do you think I wanted to stay over there, away from you? I would have been back earlier, but then I signed that contract with the art gallery out there to be their artist in residence and after that...” He sighed heavily. “I couldn’t leave earlier because they’d have owned all the art I’d produced as an early termination penalty clause, and I wasn’t having that.”

I stared at him in stupefaction. “You never wanted to go in the first place?”

Bob guffawed. “Sounds like you two didn’t communicate much. What is it with blokes? Useless, we are.”

Natalie clapped her hands. “They like each other a lot, huh, Grandpa? They should get married, like Serge and me will.”

My face flamed. “Not like that way, Natalie. We’re friends.”

Bob stared hard at me, then at Theo, who was fidgeting with his hair as he did when he was uncomfortable or upset. “You two delude yourselves about that, but this old man sees something different.” He chuckled again. “Hell, even my granddaughter can see it, and she’s only ten.”

“Well, maybe you both need glasses,” I grumbled, glancing at Theo. He was staring at me with a strange look on his face, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Yeah, maybe we do too,” he said softly. “Maybe we haven’t been seeing things the right way for a long time.”

My throat clogged up at the look of tenderness on his face, and like I usually did in emotional moments, I changed the subject.

“So tell me how you two and Serge have managed to remain here for so long without anyone finding about you. How’s that work?”

Natalie and Bob shared a mischievous glance. “Who says nobody else knows about us?” Bob winked. “We’re just good at convincing people who visit here to keep secrets.”

My mouth opened but nothing came out. Theo laughed softly and closed it. “Dork.”

Bob grunted. “We’ve had visitors over the years, not many, to be sure, but they come here and take photographs, visit the rooms, sometimes stay over as part of a ghost hunt. The management trust that owns the house now that there isn’t a Prestonwich living here permanently needs the money to keep the place running.” He made a moue of distaste. “We don’t appear to them ghost-hunting sort. They’ll have it all over the bloody interweb thing you young’uns love.”

His ghostly fingers tapped the table. “Don’t ask why, but Natalie and I have a sort of sixth sense about who we can trust to keep our secret and who we can’t. If we don’t like their sort, we stay out of their way. Most people, though, are like you two. Decent, with respect for the dead and a willingness to keep the matter quiet. Of course, others probably wouldn’t believe them anyway if they did tell about us.” He gave a wry smile.

“Are there still a few Prestonwichs’ about then?” Theo asked.

Bob nodded. “Oh yes, quite a few. The line has carried on through my brothers and sisters. They come here infrequently. They know about us and to be honest, it’s why most of them don’t want to live here. Of course,” he scowled over at Natalie who giggled, “it could all be due to the two mischievous little people who find fun in scaring them half to death in the middle of the night.”