I’d chosen the bedroom at the front of the house for my room. It had a large floor to ceiling window that opened onto a small balcony. The second room was the guest room, and I’d leave the third empty until I could figure out what to do with it. I probably didn’t need a second guest bedroom, so I’d thought about putting a treadmill and some weights in there if I got the job at the mental health center. At least that way I’d be able to tell myself that I’d workout.
The guys carried the bedroom furniture up the stairs. They kept grunting and flexing their biceps like a bunch of hairless gorillas.
“Get back to work, slaves.” Riley would yell at them while we carried in and opened my few boxes.
A few minutes later my phone rang. It was my Mom.
“Sammy dear, I’ve deposited a few hundred dollars into your account. It just occurred to me that you’ve got nothing for your kitchen except that microwave you bought at that place.” It was evident that my Mom didn’t approve of me shopping at Walmart.
“Walmart, Mom. I got a microwave at Walmart. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Don’t be silly, Sam. You might not do much cooking, but you’ll still need cups, plates, silverware, and such. Oh, and it’s enough to cover beer and pizza for your helpers. I’m assuming Riley had to call her man friend’s acquaintances in?”
“Yes, Mom. They’re finishing up now.” I said, and then realized I had been a bit of a jerk. “Thank you, Mom. I really appreciate it.”
“You're welcome, Sammy. Call us if you need anything.”
As soon as I disconnected the call, I heard a rapping at the back door. I made my way through the kitchen wondering if it was John or Kenny. I could hear Lance in the living room talking to Riley. I had no idea why they might have been in the back yard, but you never knew with guys. There was a large shed back there. Maybe they had been poking around in that or in the garage and were too lazy or tired to walk back around to the front door.
The door had a brand-new deadbolt that looked out of place on the old wooden door. Before I turned the lock, I pushed the faded yellow curtain covering the door’s window to the side to see who was out there. The glass was so old and etched that I could barely make out the silhouette of someone standing on the back steps.
“Who's there?” I had asked before I unlocked the door.
“Who are you talking to?” Riley asked from behind me.
She chuckled when she asked. It was most likely because this was the second time today that she’d had to ask me who the heck I was talking to, and I hoped I wasn’t losing my marbles completely. All three guys walked into the kitchen behind her.
“There’s someone at the back door. I thought it might have been one of you guys, but here you are. Perhaps it’s the man who rents the apartment next door.”
“Didn’t the real estate lady say he hardly comes here? It would be a pretty big coincidence that he’s here on the day you move in.” Riley said and took a step back for some reason.
“God, you guys are such girls,” John said and stepped towards the door. “You find out who is at the door by opening it.”
“Lay off, John.” Kenny piped up. “I’m sure that Sammy is more worried about nosey neighbors than she is psycho killers. Right, Sammy?”
“Open the door or move so I can,” I said and tried to sound brave.
The truth was that I’d felt a sense of dread creeping up on me as soon as I’d heard the knocking on the door. I had no idea why. There was no reason to be afraid of someone at the door, but the look on Riley’s face caught me off guard. She looked a little scared too.
I took a step back so that John could open the door. The guys immediately burst into raucous laughter. There was no one there. I must have imagined the knocking at the door and had gotten myself all worked up over nothing, but it still bothered me a little that Riley looked frightened too.
“I swear I saw the silhouette of someone standing out there,” I said when the boys quieted down.
John peeled the aging curtain back. “It was probably just a trick of the light. This glass is so old and in horrible condition. It must be original. You should get it replaced before it shatters. Try not to use this door until you do.”
“Great, I just moved in, and I’ll already be asking the landlord for stuff,” I said with a tinge of annoyance.
“It is their job,” John said. “And, the glass isn’t safe. That’s a liability. But, if you don’t want to bother them, you could always order a piece of glass, and I’ll install it. It shouldn’t be expensive.”
That made the other two guys start whooping and making kissy noises. John shot them a death stare, and they took off for the other room.
“Thanks. I’ll get online tonight and see about ordering the glass.” I said.
“You ladies can go back to your unpacking. I’m going to go out to my truck and grab a tape measure. I’ll measure the window and give you all the information you need for the order.”
Riley didn’t say much as we went through the boxes. I had absolutely nothing that belonged in the kitchen, dining room, or living room in them, so we started carrying stuff upstairs.
John saw us and decided to help while Lance called in some pizzas and Kenny took John’s truck on a beer run. With three of us, it didn’t take long to carry my meager possessions upstairs.
“John, what did you do with the box of stuff for the bathroom?” I called out from my room.
“I put it in the bathroom.” He replied from the guest bedroom where he’d gone to make the guest bed.
I walked down the hall past where he was putting a fitted sheet on the queen size bed and into the bathroom. There was no box. I checked in the closet, the cabinets, and even the tub, but there was no box in my bathroom.
“Did you leave it in the downstairs bathroom?”
“No, I left it in the main bathroom upstairs like you told me.” He said, and I heard the floorboards creak as he made his way down the hall to the bathroom. “Are you feeling alright?” He said from the bathroom doorway.
“What do you mean?”
“The box is right there. You’re about to trip over it.”
“That’s crazy..” I trailed off.
The box was at my feet, and it was so close that my toes were touching it. As if I couldn’t believe the box was really there, I bent down to touch it.
“Are you feeling okay?” John asked as I turned around. “You look tired. Check that. You looked tired when we got here, you look exhausted now.”
“I’m feeling a little more tired than usual. I think this whole moving thing is more overwhelming than I expected. Plus, I still haven’t’ heard back about from Carver Mental Health about the job. It’s got me on pins and needles.”
“Maybe you should lie down for a while.”
“And miss the pizza? No way. I’m sure I’ll be okay once I’ve got some food in me. Let’s go downstairs.” I said when I felt his eyes looking at me the way John always started to look at me after we talked for more than a couple of minutes.
Don’t get me wrong, John is good looking and smart too. Any girl would be lucky to have his attention the way I do, but after the incident with Ryder, I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy his attempts at affection. Plus, moving, starting school, and worrying about the job had become overwhelming. I didn’t have enough mental energy left over for a guy right now, but I wouldn’t be mad if John was still interested when I did.
Chapter Three
The next morning, I woke up with my head splitting and my stomach on fire. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. It took a few moments for the feeling of complete disorientation to subside. Then I remembered I was in my new place.
The night before came rushing back to me as sunlight sliced into my pounding brain. I turned half expecting to find John in bed with me, but I was alone. I got up to look out the window and saw that Kenny’s car was gone. John’s truck was in the driveway.
I made my way down the hall to the guest bedroom, and t
he entire time, the walls around me and floor under my feet listed as if I were on a cruise ship. I reached for the wall to steady myself, and my stomach roiled in protest with every step.
There was no way I was this hungover from a few beers. Then, I remembered Kenny breaking out a bottle of tequila around ten. He’d had it in his car in case we decided to party beyond afternoon beer and pizza. Well, afternoon beer and pizza turned into six o’clock beer, and Chinese delivery which turned into ten p.m. tequila shots and a heavy make out session with John.
I’d stumbled upstairs and passed out, but I had no idea what time. When I’d gone to bed, everyone else was still downstairs talking and drinking. I made it to the doorway of the guest bedroom and thought for a moment that I must have been dreaming.
“What the hell?” I said and immediately felt my ears start to ring and my temples throb.
John shot up out of the bed as if he as though there was a snake under the covers with him. In truth, the only thing in the bed with him was Riley. Riley sat up groggily completely unaware of what was going on around her.
“It’s not what you think,” Joh said, but I could tell by the look on his face he didn’t know if that was true or not.
“Oh yeah, then what is it?” I could barely contain my anger. “Riley was just telling me how much she wants Tanner to come home, and now this? What about you, John, you’re supposed to be his friend. And, mine too.”
“It’s really not what you think, Sammy,” Riley said and got up. “Please stop yelling. Please.”
“Then tell me what it is, Riley. I’d love to hear this.”
“I came in here and slept because I didn’t want to sleep on the floor. That’s all. John was already asleep under the covers, and I laid down on top.” She had been on top of the comforter when I’d come in, and they both were fully dressed. But, it still didn’t make any sense.
“Then why didn’t you come sleep in my bed?” I asked.
“There was already someone in your bed.” She said, and then her mouth fell open when she comprehended what she said.
“What?”
“Wait, hold on,” Riley said, and I watched the wheels turning in her head as she pondered her statement. “Okay, so after you had gone to bed, John came up here and laid down. Kenny, Lance, and I stayed downstairs. I’m so sorry, Sammy, but they broke out a bag of weed, and we rolled a couple of joints.”
“You smoked in my new house?” I crossed my arms and gave her my most withering scowl.
“Like I said, I’m sorry. I was drunk, and we should have gone outside.”
“Go on.” I bit my lip to keep the wave of nausea that hit me from turning into a full-on vomit.
“Anyway, the stuff they had must have been laced with something because everything got really weird after we smoked up. We started hearing noises coming from the basement, and then it moved to the attic. Then there was something scratching at the basement door. After that, it got super quiet. As soon as it stopped, Kenny passed out on the couch, and Lance grabbed a chair cushion and laid down on the floor. I stumbled upstairs and saw you sleeping. I didn’t lay down with you because it looked like there was a man next to you. I figured it was John. When I got to the guest bedroom, John was asleep in the bed. At that point, I thought it must have been Kenny or Lance.”
“How would they have gotten upstairs before you, Riley?” I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“I don’t know, Sammy. Like I said, I was super drunk and stoned. I mean, I hallucinated a man in your bed. It was probably one of your three thousand fancy pillows.”
“You think you hallucinated a man in my bed?” I asked and felt my heart rate come down a little bit.
“Yeah, Sam. What else would it be? That pot must have been laced with something cause I doubt anything was scratching on your basement door either.”
“I’m sorry, Sammy,” John said. “I didn’t know she’d passed out here, or I would have brought her into your room.”
“It’s okay. We should see about some breakfast. I’m suddenly famished.” I said as the relief washed over me.
“You’ll have to take me home first. Tanner is expecting to Skype with me this morning. You two can go get pancakes or something.” Riley said as she stood up. “Jeez, Sammy. Do you have a sweater I could borrow? It’s freezing in here.”
I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing in my new home and shaking off the rest of the hangover from hell. John and I returned the moving truck after breakfast, and then he took off for work.
My mom came over late Sunday afternoon with a trunk full of kitchen wares and place settings from the fancy department store she loved. I helped her carry it all into the kitchen and put it away despite having some lingering stomach and head issues.
“You didn’t have to do all of this,” I said as I put the professional grade pots and pans away. “I don’t even cook much.”
“Well, maybe these will inspire you. If not, perhaps you’ll find yourself a man who will use them.”
I groaned, but she was right. A man who could cook would be a blessing considering that I could burn water. I found my thoughts drifting to whether John could cook, and then chastised myself internally. I wanted to believe that nothing had happened between him and Riley, but it was just another reason not to get involved.
After she had left, I took a nap. When I woke up, it was morning, and I had to get ready for class. About the time I was grabbing my keys and heading out the door, I remembered that my car was still parked outside the dorm. I’d never gone back to pick it up.
I called John and asked him to pick me up on his way to class. He showed up a few minutes later with hot coffees from a local place. It was clear he was still trying to make up for the other night.
“I’m sorry I had to call you.”
“You don’t ever have to be sorry that you called me, Sammy.”
His earnestness and sincerity, coupled with the fact that he’d picked me up for school with no notice, were enough that I’d practically forgiven him by the time we got to the campus. I really didn’t have anything to be mad at him for anyway. Even if he had been with Riley, it wasn’t like he was my boyfriend. That mess would have been between him, Riley, and Tanner. Still, a part of me was glad that he remained an option.
My first class was a humanities elective that I’d been putting off. I’m not sure why I’d never signed up for one because it was the last non-nursing class I needed to graduate. I guess it’s because I’d already taken psychology and sociology and nothing that interested me had been offered.
Since I’d put it off, I had to take what was available. That turned out to be a theology class. It wasn’t Intro to Theology but was a class about religion and psychology. I had to get the professor to sign off on me taking the class since I hadn’t taken the prerequisites.
Professor Hobbs stopped me on my way into the classroom and told me that he’d paired me up with another student who had taken the prerequisites. In fact, Cameron was a theology major and had agreed to assist me with any background information I might not be familiar with since I’d never taken any classes on religion or divinity.
“Did the professor blackmail you into helping me?” I said as I sat down next to Cameron.
“What do you mean?” he responded with a confused smile.
“Did Professor Hobbs threaten to give you a B or something if you didn’t help me?”
“Why would he have to do that?”
“Because helping me is extra work for you, and we’re all just trying to get out of here in one piece.”
“I didn’t really look at it that way.”
“Oh, right. Are you becoming a priest or something?”
“That’s a long story that I’ll have to tell you another time because it looks like class is about to start.” He said and smiled at me again.
It was then that I appreciated the fact that Cameron might end up being a distraction this semester. He was devastatingly good-looking and had this swee
t, innocent demeanor that was utterly endearing.
The first class went by in a flash as Professor Hobbs laid out how he intended to present the class and what the work expectations were. We got a homework assignment to write a brief essay on an experience we’d had with religion.
This was when I remembered why I didn’t want to take a humanities elective. We had to write an essay for our first assignment? I had my nursing classes, which tended to be intensive and time-consuming, plus labs and clinical practices. That didn’t even account for work if I got the job. If I didn’t get the job at Carver, I’d have to find a job somewhere else.
“What does the rest of your day look like?” Cameron asked me when the class was over.
“Hmm. I have nursing classes until around three, and then that’s it since it’s the first day. Normally I’d have lab or clinical, but we don’t start that until next week.” I found myself wondering if he was going to ask me out, and it caught me off guard that I was actually hoping he did.
“Oh, you’re going to be a nurse?” He said and turned toward me so that our knees were almost touching.
“Well, technically I am already a nurse. I went ahead and became a Licensed Practical Nurse after my sophomore year even though I’m going for my bachelor degree. I’ll take the state licensing exam to become a Registered Nurse after graduation.”
“Wow, so are you working anywhere?” He said and then blushed a bit. “I’m sorry, Samantha. I’m being really nosey.”
“It’s okay. I’m actually waiting to hear back from the Carver Mental Health Center about a position.”
“Oh, you’re going to be a psychiatric nurse, then.” He said and smiled. “That’s so cool.”
“I think so too,” I said feeling elevated by his interest. “I’ve always loved psychology, but I had no desire to be a doctor. I want to be involved in direct patient care.”
Devil Hour: A Samantha Hainsley Cozy Ghost Mystery (Things That Go Bump in the Night Book 1) Page 3