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

I looked up at him. He had placed the lantern on the floor, so I couldn’t see his face too well, but enough to see he was grinning.


“Thanks,” he said. Then, “Uh, consider your debt paid.”


To which I said, before I could stop myself, “Are you sure?”


His eyes widened, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Well, we’ll see.” Then he winked at me and laughed. “I do have to say, though. I was sure in need of that.”


I wanted to say, Me, too. But I held myself back, and still he sat there, looking down at me. Then he shrugged and lay down beside me, on his side facing me with an air of finality that indicated he was going to sleep. He put an arm casually over me, and I shifted onto my side, too, my back to him. He pulled me back against him and grunted with satisfaction.


Chapter 14