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

He shook his head. “Let me finish.”


I shrugged, feeling uneasy. Was the guy married? Maybe he had a wife and seven kids. All manner of horrors began to crawl about my mind.


“For—keeping you—incommunicado.”


“What!” A cold chill passed down my spine. Newspaper headlines leapt into my mind’s eye. Body of city investor found buried, cut into a dozen pieces. Then I shook my head. No, it wasn’t possible.I leaned forward and took hold of his hand. “Go on!”


This action seemed to give Hank courage. He nodded and said, “I—I resolved just to do it for a day or two. When you wanted to go into town, I was going to give it to you.”


I stared, uncertain how to interpret this.


Hank moved his free hand on the table in a fretful way. “I just wanted—well, to ensure that—to give it, us, a chance—” He broke off and put his hand over his eyes, evidently fighting off tears. At last he mastered himself and continued. “I didn’t want to lose you, too.”


Chapter 26