Strange events are heavy on Barker Christian's mind this summer at Northshire Inn along Lake Erie. Although the inn feels sleepy, romantic, and hidden, innkeeper Barker knows all its annoying in and outs, and supernatural and grating secrets. Barker's very much aware of the drug use that occurs in room 202, and there are disturbing ghosts in room 112 that haunt the paying guests. Nor can he forget about Radcliff Roberts, the famous horror writer in room 210, who is up to something naughty during the evening hours. Two other strange events occur: Matty Lavender, lead singer of The Thorns, is missing; and a watercolor artist appears on the opposite side of the pond that some guests can see and others can't. Barker stays grounded by his interest in Cal Pipp, the inn's maintenance man. Cal is breathtaking, easy on the eyes, and someone Barker's heart desires. Only problem is Cal doesn't know Barker likes him. Until summer heats up, ghosts materialize, and a different side of Cal appears ...

The Men of Northshire Inn

Nighttime arrived, welcoming an abundance of fireflies and almost ten in the evening. A few lights hummed, hanging off the inn’s slanted rooftops, causing circles of limited illumination on the ground. Sticky heat dragged across the lawn. David was inside the main area of the house, working the books, cashing in his holiday earnings, hopefully preparing to pay me. I walked from the gazebo to the tool shed, tending an unused hose, placing it away in the tool shed, when a silver-white beam of light caught me directly in the eyes, and Radcliff’s familiar voice, deep and grating, called quietly through the semi-darkness, “Barker…Barker, is that you?”


Chapter 14