They say still waters run deep.
In the tiny lakeside town of Midnight Cove,
still waters harbor dark secrets.
I love October! One reason is that my birthday comes along about the middle of the month. But I’ve always loved Halloween. Who doesn’t love something a little spooky this time of year? Like, for example, my spooky paranormal romantic suspense book, MIDNIGHT COVE.
Writer Bree Blaylock just wants a chance to catch her breath. Having finally escaped an abusive relationship, she’s relieved to have found a quiet place to finish writing her new book.
From the moment she arrives, she realizes that she’s not alone in her rented cottage on the lake. But she’s okay with that. In her experience, the living are always more dangerous than the dead.
Meeting handsome local lawman Jake Hanson wasn’t even remotely on her radar. Now that she has, maybe it’s time to take another chance on love.
But can he keep her safe when the past comes calling?
Here’s a brand new excerpt from MIDNIGHT COVE.
Back at her desk, Bree listened to Jake’s message and smiled. He really was very charming. Of course, Greg had been charming too, at first anyway. She chewed her lower lip and frowned at the thought.
Not everyone’s like Greg, she reminded herself. If I view with suspicion every man that comes along, he wins. And he doesn’t get to win.
She shook her head with a snap. “Fuck Greg,” she muttered, blocking the unknown number that had called earlier. “I’ll block every number he tries.”
Checking her word count, she decided that she’d made enough progress on the book for one day. And although it was about half an hour early, she decided to go ahead and make Murphy’s dinner, much to the dog’s delight.
As the yellow lab scarfed down his mixture of kibble, a healthy spoonful of canned food, and an egg, Bree thought about the chair Jake had mentioned. Making a tour of the downstairs, she checked the coat closet and the storage area beneath the stairs but came up empty. Another door revealed a wooden set of stairs that led down to an unfinished basement.
Grimacing slightly, Bree pulled the string that turned on a single bare lightbulb and forced her feet down the stairs. Basements always creeped her out, a holdover, she supposed, from visits to her grandmother’s house.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she chided herself softly. “You already know there’s a ghost in this house. And he’s nice. So just go find the stupid chair.”
But the basement was virtually empty. All she uncovered was a coil of spring-green rubber garden hose and a heavy wood patio set, items Mr. Meyer must have stored away until next summer. A door off the main area seemed promising, but it was locked fast, so she made her way back upstairs.
Tail wagging, Murphy met her as she returned to the kitchen. She ruffled his ears affectionately. “What do you think, buddy? Should we check upstairs?”
Claws clicking on the hardwood floor, the dog followed her to the second floor. Bypassing her own room, she wandered into the bedroom across the hall. It was set up with a pair of twin beds, perfect, she supposed, for the families who came to stay in the summer.
Curious, she crossed to the window that overlooked the front lawn. By leaning close to the glass, she could just see the back of her yellow bug parked in the carport at the south end of the house.
When she turned back, she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. As usual, her heart skipped a beat. She looked to Murphy, who sat looking in the same direction as the movement she’d seen, his expression curious. Shaking her head, she exhaled shakily and walked to the heavy wooden closet door. As she swung it open, she was not surprised to find the closet completely empty. Not a lawn chair in sight.
But it had made sense to check, she supposed. Maybe tomorrow, she’d make a trip into town. Undoubtedly, she would be able to find a camp chair at Meyer’s Hardware. She’d also noticed a tiny bookstore she’d like to check out just down the street from the market.
Feeling pleased with the prospect of finding a new book to read, she started to close the door when something caught her eye. Squinting slightly, she stepped into the empty closet and peered at the wall on her left. Positioned low, about the height of a child’s reach, something was scratched into the wall. Reaching above her head, she pulled the string that turned on the closet light.
Six letters were crudely scratched into the plaster. S-T-E-V-E-N, all caps. Gingerly, Bree brushed her fingertips over the name, feeling the grooves and raised plaster.
“This was your room,” she murmured.
Feeling suddenly like she was intruding, she stepped back and closed the closet door. She glanced around, trying to imagine the room as it might have been when a young boy lived there and wrote his name on the wall of his closet.
The sheer white curtain shrouding the closed window ruffled slightly. This time, Bree wasn’t startled.
“You know you’re welcome here,” she said softly. “You’re right. This is your house. I’m just a guest. I hope you won’t mind that Murphy and I are here. We’ll absolutely respect your space. You matter, Steven. We’ll try to help you figure things out.”
**
Standing in the bedroom he’d grown up in, Steven felt a lump in his throat as he watched Bree and her dog head back into the hallway. She’d acknowledged that he existed. For so long, he’d had a nagging sense in the back of his mind that maybe he wasn’t real at all, maybe he was merely a character in someone else’s dream.
Meeting Bree in her dreams was one thing–by the light of day, she might convince herself that he was simply a figment of her imagination. But she knew he was there, and accepted him without question.
She had no way of knowing what that meant to him. She’d said she wanted to help him.
He shook his head sadly. That would be great, only he didn’t even know what kind of help he needed.
Glancing around, he had a thought. It would be nice not to be stuck here in this house. If there’s a world beyond this one, maybe it’s time to find it.
MIDNIGHT COVE by Pandora Spocks
Pandora Spocks 