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

Over breakfast the next morning Hank said out of the blue, “So, you never said exactly what you were doing up here in the first place—I mean, since you work in the city.”


“Oh,” I said. “I was going to visit with friends of mine. They were spending their vacation at the Highlands Spa. I was going to stay for a week—if I liked the place.”


Hank nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it. I hear it’s pretty good.” He grinned momentarily. “And you did take the wrong road.”


I smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I kind of gathered. Ever stayed there?” I asked the question before catching myself, and I cringed inwardly.


But Hank just shook his head. “It’s out of my financial range.”


I nodded. “Anyway,” I said, somewhat desperately, “I guess it’s for city types, people who want to get away from the stress of office jobs, get back to nature for a while.” I gestured toward the window that was blazing with sunlight. “What would you need with that?”


Chapter 23