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

“Odd,” he said. “It was working just last week.” He shrugged. “Still, you never know in the country.” He looked at me apologetically, but I felt another tingle go down my spine. Somehow, I’d had a kind of premonition the phone wouldn’t work, and a surreal feeling of being trapped began to steal upon me. I shrugged.


“Tell you what, tomorrow I can take you into town. You can use the phone there.”


“Sure,” I said. But I was thinking, That is, if your car works. 8: About Henry


“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “What say we raid the main pantry?”


“It’s okay. I got permission to take what I like.”


So we went down into the big kitchen and the adjacent pantry, which was really several rooms, including a walk-in freezer.


I followed him in, distracted again by that Perfect Ass.


“Pick out whatever takes your fancy,” he said.


Chapter 17