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 told Hank about this. He raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly.


“Sometimes,” he said, “the phone rings up at the manor house. I pick it up and the line’s dead. Before they cut off the line they had all the latest electronic stuff. It’s probably still there in some room or other.”


I stared at him. “What are you saying? Yousent the text message?”


He shook his head. “I don’t use that stuff. Never learned how. The cell phone’s enough of the devil’s instrument for me.”


“Then—who?” I stared and then opened my mouth. “You mean—?”


He looked at me and shrugged. “Who else?”


“He was always very clever, that kid. Very tech savvy. He was the one who got me the cell phone, so he could phone me. But I kept it turned off. Didn’t make him very happy. I told him I didn’t like technology.” He shook his head sadly. “Like I said, I didn’t want him to get hung up on me—given the situation, you know.”


Chapter 27