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“Off with you! You’re scaring off my catches anyway.” He tutted, a glint of mischief in his lined eyes.

“Wouldn’t want to get in your way,” she said.

He waved her off as she dove under.

Why do men have to get more stubborn the older they get? she whispered beneath the surface, deciding to give him a helping hand. A fish came right to her, unaware of the danger of her call. Once secure in her clutches, she carefully approached the fishing line and gently added the fish to the end of his hook. He wasn’t the worst fisherman, but the sea brought him peace after he lost his wife. With a gentle tug and some back and forth, she released the line, wanting the warlock to have to earn his dinner a little. She hurried off and resurfaced far enough away to evade suspicion.

When she surfaced with her net bags filled with fresh lobsters, she heard him cheering.

“See, I got one!” Darius shouted over the water, and she waved back, happy to see him turning toward the dock. Pulling herself out of the water, she stacked the crab and lobster crates so they would be easier to carry through town.

“Good morning,” Aerin declared her presence as she walked through the back door of the fish and chip shop, where she found Mr. Humphries, who was prepping for the afternoon rush.

“Good morning, Aerin. What delights have you managed to bring me today?” Mr. Humphries beamed, wiping his hands on a damp rag. The oysters in the bucket made her mouth water. If only she could be paid in seafood. She swallowed her hunger and placed the crates on the stainless-steel counter.

“As promised, I’ve got your fresh lobsters and crabs caught this morning. Sorry I didn’t get to bring in another load last night. I’ve been rather busy,” Aerin said, avoiding the need to tell him that getting drunk with sailors didn’t seem like a valid excuse for breaking a promise.

“No need to apologize; I’m very grateful for your help. You always bring me the best selection for the best price, and I had more than enough to tide us over for the dinner rush with the last lot you brought in, we all get caught up now and then.” Mr. Humphries winked, taking the crates from her, and placing them in the large sink filled with cold water to keep them fresh. Except she wasn’t caught up with work, but was drinking herself silly not only because of her family’s anniversary, as she had told Gideon, but because she had forgotten about it for the first time in seventy years. There she had been in the Costume shop picking up some decorations for the haunted house: a few fake cobwebs, some driftwood and dried seaweed to make the inside of the house look like a shipwreck, and a fake treasure box. Only when she saw the gravestones did it hit her. Gideon was right; she was punishing herself for living on without them, but what kind of monster must she be to have forgotten them because she was so wrapped up in her own life.

“My pleasure. I hope your son is recovering well. I’m sure he’ll be back out fishing in no time,” Aerin asked, recalling how he had hurt his hand pulling up some rusty cages out of the harbor that got tangled in his fishing nets.

“You’re so kind to ask,” Mr. Humphries said, handing her some cash for her work. “His hand is healing nicely, and we can’t thank you enough for picking up the slack while he has been recovering. He’s itching to get back out there, but the stitches can’t get wet.”

“He’ll be back on his boat soon enough. The more he rests, the quicker he’ll be back.”

“He’d probably listen to you more than us, but next week he gets the stitches out, so hopefully he’ll be a little less insufferable.”

“Hard workers make for the worst patients,” she said, knowing she was guilty of it herself, recalling how her mother used to scold her for fishing with her grandfather, even if she had a fever. Her grandfather argued that the sea air was the best thing for her.

“Don’t I know it,” he said, handing her back the empty crates for the next delivery.

“Thank you for this, and I’ll see you next week as scheduled,” Aerin said.

“Before you go, I forgot my wife wanted to give you some pickled herring and sardines,” he said, catching her at the door with two jars in his hands.

“No one makes them better than Mrs. Humphries.” She beamed excitedly, her mouth watering at the sight. “I can never get them right.” Aerin eagerly accepted the gift and put the jars in her bag.

“She’s happy to do it. When you run out, just let us know. She always makes more than we can sell,” he told her.

“Tell Mrs. Humphries thanks again, and I’ll definitely be her best customer,” she said, heading out the door.

“How long were you planning on avoiding me?” Gideon asked, sitting on the porch swing when she finally decided to face the music. She had hoped he would still be sleeping, but she wasn’t that lucky.

“I wasn’t avoiding you, but if you were going to sit out here and wait, I would’ve asked you to sweep off the leaves,” she said, looking at the amber and yellow leaves scattered all over the porch.

“I’d be happy to sweep up the leaves if you tell me why you’re avoiding me. Why didn’t you come back last night? Leaving me like that scared the hell out of me,” he confessed, resting his elbows on his knees.

“I needed to swim off the day, and after what happened between us, some space to think. As for why I didn’t come home, I fell asleep in the caves, and then I had to drop off some shellfish at the Humphries fish and chip shop. I had to pick up the decorations I left at the Kraken’s Keep last night,” she said, waving the bags in the air.

Gideon looked at the bags, but she left out the part about going to see two movies to kill time before she had to go home.

“I don’t think we need much since the house speaks for itself, but I also got a load of long thin candles that we can melt on the window sills, and with the flickering bulbs I’ve yet to replace in the chandelier in the foyer, it’s going to look extra creepy,” she rambled on, “best part of all, I’ve only used up half the cash the sirens gave me, so all I’ve left to get is our costumes and fake blood, and the rest will go into the house fund,” she said, proud of her budgeting. “Maybe the house being so run down wasn’t a bad thing after all.”

“You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

“I’m not nervous. Why would I be nervous?” She scoffed, pushing open the front door. “Can you help me with these bags?”

“Okay, so you aren’t avoiding me, but we’re going to avoid talking about what happened last night?” he asked, taking the bags and placing them on the porch.