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The yacht pulls up to the island, and it’s all I can do to not bounce up and down. The trees and brush have taken over much of the landscape except where large outcroppings of rock jut out of the ground. A path winds its way through the forest, lit by small lanterns on the ground.
“Danny, hurry up! I want to be the first up to the party.”
“Chill, Janice. The party will be there whether we are first or last getting to the building.” Danny stands at the side of the yacht looking out over the island.
“I know, but I love Halloween and the decorations. I want to see what Marty did.” I pull at his hand. “Please?”
He smiles at me and lets me lead him to the ramp that leads down to the dock. “If you weren’t so damn cute when you’re excited, I would make you wait till we were the last people off the boat.”
I look over my shoulder at him and smile, “I’ll make sure you are well rewarded for humoring me.”
Once down the dock, I start squealing. “Look, Danny! There are skull lanterns!” The path was lined in skulls every five feet with a candle in each one. They light the path enough for us to see where to set our feet but not enough to see into the woods.
“Um, yeah. I guess. It’s more creepy than cool. You can’t see anything out here.” Danny looks nervously into the woods.
“Oh, pooh! Don’t be such a ninny. It is an abandoned island. With how many people have been traipsing around out here the past few days getting all this setup, if something odd was out here, they would know.”
“Janice, I know you love Halloween and all that it comes with. But I don’t love this. I agreed to come more for you and Marty than anything else.” Danny isn’t a small guy. Easily six feet tall and with muscles to spare, it’s rather funny to see him looking over his shoulder and jumping at every noise.
I take his hand, bring it to my lips, and kiss his knuckles. “I promise you, I won’t leave your side. Once we get up to the party you’ll feel better about this.” I pause for an instant. “It’s kinda cute how you are all ‘frontier’ man when we go camping, but get you onto an abandoned island on Halloween, and you’re like a six-year-old in a haunted house.”
Danny rips his hand out from mine and starts to stalk up the path away from me. “Wait! Danny! I was teasing. It’s cute and makes me love you more.” He stops but doesn’t turn around. I wrap my arms around him and put my head against his back. “You really do hate being freaked out, don’t you?
He sighs, and I feel his arm lift as he runs his hand through his hair, his classic frustrated pose. I realise that he’s never watched a horror movie with me, or even anything remotely scary. And anything with tension in it, he prefers to watch at home.
“Yeah, I do. I don’t know why, but being scared, unable to control things . . . not knowing what to expect. All of that is more than I can take. I get nightmares for weeks.”
I walk around him and look him in the eye. I really want to go to the party, to go on the haunted tour, but I want to make this work more. “Danny, do you want to stay on the yacht? I’ll stay with you. We don’t have to go to the party.”
He smiles down at me and kisses my nose. “You have been looking forward to this for weeks. Let’s go boogie the night away. The outside party will be enough for me, and if you don’t mind, I’ll skip the tour.”
I smile, “Deal!”