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Kyle came through the door a few minutes after six. I led him to the candlelit dining table, where I’d set two places and poured two glasses of cab. The chicken rice casserole steamed in the center.
“Romantic,” he said with a teasing note.
“I figured since it’s just you and me...” I ran my fingers through his dark, wavy hair.
He smiled. “You know I like Nora, but I’m not sorry she decided to go home early.”
As tempted as I was to delay dinner in favor of amorous distractions, I took my seat and handed him the spoon to help himself. He sat beside me and dished a portion of the casserole onto my plate before he heaped some on his own.
Kyle told me about his day, how the Hazelton kid had TP’d the house where the high school quarterback lived. A creepy scarecrow in the park remained motionless until someone approached, at which point he stopped passersby to take selfies. I laughed, watching the animation in Kyle’s slate-blue eyes, admiring the scruff sprouting on his jaw. After our difficult break up over the summer, our renewed relationship filled me with hope.
He took the last bite from his plate and chased it with his remaining wine. He exhaled a satisfied sigh and leveled his attention on me. “You okay after what happened today?”
The moment of truth. Nora had expected he’d ask, and I suppose I had, too, as much as I’d hoped he might forget what Jason had said to him. “You mean with my cousin?”
“Not sure I’d be charitable enough to claim him as family after the way he treated you.”
Kyle, my champion. “To be fair, he’s trying to protect his family. He has a baby on the way. I’m told people can go a little overboard when they’re expecting.”
“Way past overboard, Brynn.”
To his credit, Kyle hadn’t batted an eyelash when Jason hurled the insult, but that didn’t mean Kyle didn’t have deep-seated feelings on the subject. “What about you?” I asked. “You caught some of his ire, too.”
Kyle took my hands in his. “I don’t care what names he wants to call you. To me, you’re just Brynn. The other stuff? I don’t suppose that’s a whole lot different than me putting on a uniform when I go to work. Some people respect it, some people don’t. It doesn’t change who we are, and Brynn, you are a good person regardless of what you can or can’t do. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you otherwise.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “You never know. I might have enchanted you, the way that woman did.”
He shook his head. “Uh-uh. I know the difference. I was the one who was enchanted, remember? I’m fully in charge of my faculties with you. No hocus pocus needed.”
I dropped my gaze and warmth bloomed in my cheeks.
He lowered his voice. “I do have a question, though.”
“What’s that?”
His face screwed up as if he wasn’t sure how to continue. “Well, Halloween.”
I laughed. “I asked Nora the same thing.” Most people didn’t want to know the secrets I knew, but Kyle had said he understood. Judging by his question, he wasn’t afraid of the answers. “This is relatively new to me, too. Nora says today is for honoring those who have gone before.” As I spoke, a shadow took shape beside Kyle’s chair. I gasped and jumped to my feet.
Kyle sprang to my side to shield me while he surveyed the room. “What is it?”
The specter looked like Kyle’s Aunt Polly who, a little more than three years ago, had come after me with a gun. But it couldn’t be. Polly was currently institutionalized. She and Kyle’s mother, however, were twins—Kyle’s mother who had died when he was a toddler.
I glanced at him, and then at the shadow of the woman beside him. He couldn’t see her.
“Brynn?” He took my arms and studied my face.
I took a trembling breath. “They say at Halloween the veil between life and death is thin. Nora said those who have gone before are able to make themselves known to us today.”
Gooseflesh rose on Kyle’s bare arms. He pulled away, then brushed his face with his hand. “Trick or treat?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“So now you’re telling me you see ghosts?”
How would he react to knowing his mother stood beside him? As it turned out, I didn’t have to tell him. The shadow whispered his name.
Kyle.
He screwed his eyes shut, as if unwilling to look.
The shadow held out her hands, but Kyle kept his eyes closed.
The voice echoed in my head. “Tell him love doesn’t die. Tell him I’m sorry for all he’s suffered. Tell him I’m proud of him.”
I nodded, and the shadow returned my nod.
I refilled Kyle’s wine glass, took his hand and wrapped it around the stem. He opened one eye, his expression wary.
“Nora and I did this earlier,” I told him. “I thought you might want to, too.” I tapped my glass to his. “To those who have gone before. To your mother.”
He held my gaze and took a drink.
I drew a breath to relay the message I’d been given. “Love continues beyond death. Those we love remain with us, even when we can’t see them. I know your mother would be proud of you, and even if she’d survived, I doubt she could have shielded you from the trials you’ve had to go through, but I know she would have tried.”
He relaxed. “I’m sure your parents would have done the same.” He touched his glass to mine. “To your parents.”
We both took another drink, and I ventured a glance at the shadow. She folded her hands over her heart and faded away.