While traveling in a storm, Glen Harper takes a wrong turn and crashes his car. Unhurt but cold and wet, he decides to get help. Using a distant light as a guide, Glen discovers an uninhabited cottage, where he lights a much needed fire. Glen quickly warms up but soon becomes aware of a presence in the room. Hank Waterford is the caretaker of the estate where Glen found refuge from the storm. They meet when Glen, thinking he’s alone in the cottage, jumps into Hank’s bed. Both men are strongly attracted to each other, but they have to overcome a hurdle Glen never anticipated: the spirit of Henry, the estate owner’s son, who committed suicide after his unrequited love for Hank became too much to bear. Together Glen and Hank must deal with Henry, who haunts the manor house as well as Hank’s cottage. Can they find a solution that will allow Henry’s spirit to finally come to rest? Will he accept Glen and Hank’s relationship, or will he become a malevolent presence in their lives?

The Haunted Caretaker

“Now you,” said the man, “don’t you move a muscle and let’s get some illumination on the current situation, okay?” His voice was deep and gravelly, and he seemed strong enough that I decided not to attempt anything.


He released my wrists and shifted his knees, moving up on either side of my torso as he leaned down to one side of the bed. There was the sound of some fumbling, a match was lit, then a lantern. When he lifted this and held it between us, I saw the man clearly for the first time. He was handsome in a rugged way, with broad shoulders and sporting a day’s growth of beard, and he was wearing what I read somewhere is called a union suit, one-piece red flannel underwear. He vaguely reminded me of someone, but I was distracted from this when I noticed his top three buttons were undone, which revealed an impressive curve of pectorals and a disturbing amount of dark chest hair.


Chapter 12