“Wanna play chess?”
Jordan sighed. “Fine, but don’t think you’re off the hook.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t expect you to ever let me off the hook.”
They played a few games as the night wore on and the sounds of children quieted as they went home for the night. He beat her a few times, but she got better as they practiced.
Jordan paused while she was about to take his queen and looked around. “Do you smell smoke?”
Matt froze, focusing so he could use his senses. He could easily see and hear, but tasting and smell took a bit longer. The acrid smell of smoke burned his cool nostrils. He could hear the crackling of sparks as the flames grew near, though he couldn’t see them.
“Fuck, I think there’s a fire. We need to get out of here.”
Jordan looked at him, fear in her gaze.
“I know, baby.”
“But, Matt, you can’t leave. If the place burns…”
She didn’t finish, but he knew what she was going to say. If the place burned to the ground, he’d be lost forever.
“I have to get you out of here.”
“Not without you,” Jordan said, her tone filled with determination, though her voice quavered with fear.
“Please, Jordan.” He felt the door and coolness greeted his touch, and he cursed. He didn’t know whether it was from himself or the door.
Jordan followed his movements and did the same with her hand. “It’s not warm. We have time. Let me try to put out the fire with my magic. I’m not losing you, Matt.”
He wanted to kiss her, hold her, and get her the fuck out of the house. But all he could do was watch as she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. He cursed but followed her. A flicking light met him, but the bright yellow and orange glow warmed his cool body and scared the shit out of him.
Fuck. It didn’t look like they had a way out.
Smoke filled the room and the roar of the flames grew louder as the fire heightened, the flames licking the air and scorching the walls. Dust and particles fell from celling and lit up as they touched the flames. He looked up and would have paled if he were able to. The ceiling looked like it was going to go at any moment.
The old Marlow house had no hope. It would burn to the ground, and his tie to this world would be lost forever. He took a deep breath and fisted his hands. He had to get Jordan out. He might not be long for this world, but he wouldn’t let Jordan die for him.
“Jordan, we need to get you out. Now!” he yelled over the roar of the fire.
“Not without you,” she choked out as the smoke increased. She held up her hands, magic pouring out of her. The sparks and little balls of light flitted around her and formed a bright glow. Shockingly, he could feel the warmth.
Jordan flexed her hands and he watched her eyes narrow. The magic engulfed the sparks and edges of the bright orange flames. As the magic ebbed, the flames lowered slightly and pulled back. The flames would fight and Jordan would groan, shooting out more power.
“Stop being stubborn!” It didn’t matter if she stopped the fire now. It was too late for the house.
“It’s working, Matt. I can stop this.” She narrowed her gaze and focused on the fire. He could feel her magic like a static energy on his ghostly arms. She funneled her strength, and he held his breath.
“Jordan. Even if you do this, you need to go.”
“Matt, I can do this. I’m not leaving you. I love you.”
“I love you too, but—” The sound of Jordan’s scream cut him off.
Matt watched in horror as a fallen ceiling timber knocked her down and she crumbed to the ground, unconscious. He ran to her side and watched as her chest rose and fell.
Thank God she was breathing.
He pulled at the hunk of wood and cursed. It was too heavy for him. Fuck this. He needed to get Jordan the hell out of there. He took a deep breath, grabbed the timber with both hands and yanked. Somehow, it lifted off her, and he threw it to the side. He knelt beside her and tried not to freak out.
He couldn’t touch her.
She wasn’t part of the house.
The flames moved closer without Jordan’s magic, and he cursed.
“Jordan! Wake up!”
She didn’t move.
He screamed in frustration. “Are you fucking kidding me? All of this and I’m going to lose her because I can’t fucking touch her? She’s my everything, and you’re going to let her die because I’m a fucking ghost? Some fate I got in life, huh? This fucking sucks. Someone help me!”
Ghostly tears ran down his pale cheeks, and he reached, unconsciously, to trace her cheek. Her skin felt warm to his touch.
Wait. He’d felt her skin?
Matt put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Fuck. He could touch her. He didn’t know what had happened. Maybe fate, someone, anyone, had finally listened to him, but he didn’t care. He took her in his arms and stood. The flames were approaching, but he could see a path to the front door.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Once he crossed the threshold, he’d be gone. No more Matt Cooper. Once the fire ate its way through the house, there wouldn’t be anything left to tether anyway.
He kissed Jordan’s forehead and took a step toward the door.
“I love you, baby.”
He held her close, keeping the heat away from her, and walked through the charred and burned door. Wood splintered around them, sparking in the flames as it licked around him. He stared at the shocked expressions on his brothers’ faces and grunted. They must have shown up when they’d seen the flames, but Matt couldn’t focus on them.
He laid Jordan on the ground beside the porch, traced her brow with his fingers, and felt himself fading away.
He heard his brothers’ screams as he tugged and lashed out at the hands trying to carry him to away to the place he had disappeared to before. Tendrils of panic tore at him as he fought their control.
Matt didn’t want to die. He wanted a future with Jordan. He fought, tearing the hands from his body. It felt like he was underwater, the pressure intense as he tried to surface. He focused on Jordan’s face…on the future he wanted to have. With a kick and a twist, he took a gasping breath and looked down at his solid arms.
Solid.
Fuck.
“Matt!” Jordan threw herself into his arms, tears running down her face.
“Jordan?”
“Oh, God. How did you do it? You’re real, baby. Oh, my God. Is it over?”
He wrapped his arms around her, inhaled her smoky lilac scent, and choked out a sob.
“I think they let me go.”
“They? Matt, we didn’t see anything. We just saw you fighting and fading away.”
“I don’t know, baby.”
“What the fuck was that, Matt?” Jackson asked as he stormed over. He pulled Matt out of Jordan’s hold and held him tightly. “Don’t ever scare us like that again.”
Justin wrapped an arm around Jordan’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. Matt didn’t feel jealous. He was too relieved to feel much of anything else. Brayden cursed under his breath and slapped a soot-covered hand on his back.
“So, you’re a ghost?”
Matt gulped. “Uh, I was.”
“And you never bothered to mention it?” Jackson asked, his gaze stormy.
“I didn’t want to bother y’all.”
“Fuck that shit.” Justin scowled. “We’re Coopers. No secrets.”
“Next time I’ll tell you.”
“There better not be a next time, Matt,” Jordan warned.
“Okay, baby, anything you want.”
“Get you’re filthy hands off me!” Stacey screamed, and Tyler pulled her out from behind a bush. “My brother will have your badge for this.”
The sheriff shook his head. “Oh, I don’t think so, hon. You were standing by with matches and gas cans, and reek of the shit.”
“Language!”
“You have worse problems then my lang
uage, kid.”
“Get your hands off my sister!” Prescott screamed, and shoved through the crowd that Matt had just noticed.
Well, so much for his secret.
“Not this time, Prescott,” Tyler warned.
“I’m the mayor! You have to listen to me.”
“Not when you have soot on your pants.”
Prescott paled. “I’m…I’m surrounded by fire. What do you expect?”
“You wouldn’t have it on your pants if you were just coming on to the scene. You’re an idiot.”
“I demand you stop these vile lies! I’m the mayor!” Even as he said it, he started backing up. The crowed didn’t part for him this time.
Good for them.
“You know, I think it’s high passed time we change that,” Jackson drawled, a scowl on face.
“No one will run against me.”
“Oh, shut your capped mouth,” Jackson shouted.
“My teeth are not fake!”
“I capped them myself, you bastard,” Jackson said, frowning.
The crowd broke out in laughter, and Matt shook his head. These people needed to learn to stand up for themselves and not do what Prescott demanded of them. Maybe tonight would help.
“Prescott, you’re done!” Matt yelled.
“Never! I own this town!”
“No, you will now be a resident of the jail cell next to your pyro sister’s,” Tyler cut in.
Stacey screamed. “This wouldn’t have happened if the damn love potion would have worked. He should have been mine! Instead, he turned into a freak!”
Tyler stuffed the disgraced siblings in the back of his cruiser and slammed the door. The crowd cheered, and Matt shook his head.
Stacey had drugged him all those years go. That’s why he was a ghost.
“Oh my God,” Jordan whispered.
He pulled her into his arms, but she pulled away. “What baby?”
“It’s my fault. All if it. Oh, God, Matt.”
He tilted his head, utterly confused. “What is, baby?”
She looked up at him, her gaze emotionless. “That night I had made a vanishing potion. I wanted to stay hidden…to disappear.”
He grew cold. “Why would you want to do that?”
“Because I hated the way people treated me. Stacey must have stolen it after I refused to make her a love potion. Damn, I should have noticed it was missing, but I just didn’t care when I left. I left so quickly, I didn’t even count up my potion bottles.”
“And she laced my drink,” Matt said, putting it together.
“So you disappeared, literally. And it’s my fault. Fuck, Matt. I was so worried about me, I didn’t protect you. What kind of woman does that make me?”
He gripped her arms, fear crawling up his spine. “Human. It wasn’t your fault. It was Stacey’s. And Prescott’s for being an ass.”
She shook her head, her body frozen. “No, I have to go. I did all this. I need to go.”
“No, you can’t.”
She tugged free and ran, the crowed parting for her, sorrow and pity in their gazes.
“Jordan!” He started toward her, but Justin held him back.
“Give her time, bro.”
He tried to pull away, but Jackson held his other arm. “I need to go.”
“We know,” Jackson said. “We’ll get her back to you. She just needs time. You know our Jordan.”
Suddenly exhausted and overwhelmed be everything that had happened, Matt collapsed, his knees hitting the dirt. His brothers sat next to him silently. He watched as the firefighters worked on the old Marlow place.
It was gone.
Charred ruins and smoking embers. A memory of a time when he’d been someone else, and, just like the burning tomb in front of him, his heart felt as though it were fighting a losing battle.
He couldn’t lose Jordan.
Not again.
Chapter 13
“I’m not going, Justin.” Jordan packed the last of her suitcases and turned away from the man who refused to leave her alone.
Matt hadn’t come.
She felt like a cliché, being one of those women who wanted the man to chase after her. That just made her want to leave even more. She didn’t like the person she was becoming. She’d find a job outside of Holiday and leave her mistakes here.
“You have to come. We’re doing a huge Cooper dinner at Jackson’s, and you’ll be missed.”
“I doubt that.”
“Okay, stop with this poor-me crap.”
Surprised, she turned. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Yeah, I get it. Life sucks. But you know what? At least you’re alive to know it sucks.”
“I hurt him, Justin.”
“No, Stacey did. Using something she stole. That doesn’t make it your fault. That makes Stacey a sociopathic bitch.”
“As much as I like hearing you say that, I still can’t.”
“You have to. Matt’s hurting, Jor.”
“And it’s my fault.”
“You can fix it by coming home. We’ll take care of you. You’re family.”
She shook her head as her heart hurt. “You guys have always been amazing, but what happens when I go back into town? Things can’t change that quickly.”
“You’d be surprised. Now that Prescott and Stacey are facing hard time, the town feels lighter. They knew you were in there, Jor. They tried to kill you. As for the town, I think it was mostly the two of them scaring people into submission. Their family had so much money invested in every part of the town that people were afraid to go against them. But things are changing, Jordan.”
“Justin, just let me go.”
“Nope. I can’t. You’re coming to dinner, even if I have to drag you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would.”
“Fine.”
“Good, because you’re being an idiot.”
She knew she was. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever actually leave. It had taken her all night to pack when it should have only taken an hour. She wanted to stay but was too afraid to say it.
Justin drove her to Jackson’s. He’d refused to let her drive herself because of her getaway vehicle. She rolled her eyes and winced. Her forehead still hurt from the fire, but she was getting better.
“He loves you, you know. We all do.”
“I know, Justin. But it was all my fault.”
“No, it was Stacey’s. Get it through your skull, Matt doesn’t blame you. We don’t either. You’re our sister. You can’t just leave us.”
He reached out and gripped her hand and she smiled. She loved all the Cooper boys. God, she missed Matt. Why the hell had she been packing? She loved Matt and wanted to be part of Holiday. How could she leave?
Jordan wasn’t going to leave. Not this time.
She couldn’t run from her problems again.
She couldn’t run from Matt.
They pulled up, and Matt ran to the car, pulled open the door, and kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth.
God, she loved his mouth.
“Subtle, Matt. Subtle.” Justin laughed as he walked inside, leaving her and Matt alone.
She pulled back and took a deep breath. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Don’t leave me like that again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it again.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
“And before, when you made that potion? This town shouldn’t have given you reasons to want to disappear. I’m sorry you felt that way, baby.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault. You were my only good thing back then.”
He kissed her again, and she melted against him.
“Marry me,” he whispered.
“What?” She could not have heard him right, though her heart sped up.
He laughed. “Marry me. Be my everything. You alr
eady are.”
“Yes. A thousand times yes!” She squealed, and he picked her up and twirled her around the front lawn.
“Hey, kids, stop goofing off and get in here,” Jackson ordered from the front porch. He tried to sound menacing, but Jordan could see the slight smile on his face he couldn’t hide completely. “I made dinner, and you know how often that happens. So get your asses in here.” With that, he stormed back in, and Matt laughed. Jackson always seemed to have a stormy outlook on life but Jordan didn’t know why.
“Ahh, I think he likes me,” Jordan teased.
“He loves you, just like the rest of my brothers.”
“Oh, really?” She quirked a brow.
“Not as much as me. And if any of them touch you, I’ll kill them.”
“Have I told you how much I like this whole caveman act on you? It’s cute.”
“Cute? I’m fierce.”
She patted his chest. “Sure, baby.”
Matt growled and led her to the door. “I’ll get you back for that.”
She brightened. “Really? With a table?”
He groaned. “Babe, we’re about to go eat with my brothers at the dining room table. Don’t put those images in my head.”
“I can’t help it. I like being bent over things,” she whispered.
“You’re a witch, you know that?”
She beamed. “And proud of it.”
“It’s about time you got here. I’m starving,” Tyler complained with a smile.
She sat, and they dove into their steaks, baked potatoes, corn, and rolls. A real man’s meal. She groaned at the perfectly cooked steak. Oh, hell, screw the man’s meal; a woman couldn’t have asked for a better meal.
Jordan looked up at Justin, who wasn’t eating. He was looking rather pale and sick. He looked a bit distracted and off-center.
“What’s wrong, Justin?” she asked.
He looked up, his gaze a bit off. “What? Oh, I’m just not feeling well, I guess. Don’t worry about me.”
She nodded but was determined to keep an eye on him. After all, he was going to be her brother. She felt at peace and warm at that thought.
As the rest dug in, Matt nudged her knee, an odd look on his face. “Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
Jackson put his fork down and took a sip of his beer. “There was a vote today on who should replace Prescott.”
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