Paranormal with a little romance
Date Published : 09-07-2024
Gifts always come with strings… Just don’t get tangled in them. When Kat
Summers inherits a dilapidated house, she can’t wait to restore it. As she
breathes life into the house, something within her awakens. Shadows &
voices haunt the hallways & trigger her quest for answers. Jana Summers
has a spreadsheet for everything. So, when her wife quits her job &
begins restoring a money pit, she panics. There’s no spreadsheet on how to
handle a haunted house or a wife with the gift of sight.
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EXCERPT
“I’m sorry, what?” Jana replied. A slew of emotions and thoughts assaulted her as she processed Kat’s words. No way did Kat just say the house was theirs.
Kat beamed with excitement. She felt like Elsa looked while dancing in her ice castle. She would rebuild Haynes Manor to its original glory. “This place is ours. We own it.” Kat spread her arms and twirled in a circle. “All of this is ours.” She came to an abrupt stop with her arms out wide. “Isn’t this incredible!”
Jana remained speechless. Was this a joke?
“What do you think?” Kat asked. She knew this would be a hard sell for Jana, but she also knew that she’d get Jana to see the wisdom behind restoring this place.
“Wait, what do you mean? How is that possible?”
Kat took in a deep breath and unloaded, “When my aunt passed, the trust said that the house had to be owned by someone related to the original Haynes family. No one else wanted it. I was last in line, and the house was finally offered to me. I took it. This is all ours. The land, everything. Isn’t this incredible!”
The fact that Jana just stared blankly at her with an occasional blink worried her. She stepped closer and took Jana’s hand. “I know this is a lot to take in. I wanted it to be a surprise. What do you think?”
The acid in Jana’s stomach churned, threatened to burst through her flesh and dissolve any dead insect that lay on the dirty, poop-covered, water-damaged floor. Her heart raced as she replayed Kat’s words. Was it possible that this dump, this decrepit, poor excuse for a house was actually theirs?
Kat had never seen Jana so quiet before. She was near catatonic. Kat gave Jana’s hand a little squeeze, hoping it would wake Jana up from whatever nightmare was swirling through her head. “Please say something.”
Jana shook her head and blinked quickly as she awoke from her stupor. “You bought this house? Without talking to me?” She couldn’t believe it. Would never have believed that Kat would buy a house without consulting her.
“That’s the beauty of this. We didn’t have to pay a thing. This place was free. It’s ours, free and clear. We paid nothing.”
“You can’t actually believe that.”
“What? That it was free? Yes, it was free. F. R. E. E,” she spelled out. Why was this so difficult to understand?
Jana licked her lips and gazed around at the disaster that was now officially hers to restore. “This place is the exact opposite of free. It’s going to cost us millions. I can’t believe you made a decision like this without talking to me.
Que panic attack. Kat listened as Jana unloaded.
“What are the taxes? How much land do we own? We will owe taxes on that land. We’re close to the river. Do we need flood insurance? That’s going to be expensive. Insurance alone could be more than you make a year. Then, even if we go cheap and just make this place barely livable, I don’t see how that doesn’t cost us a million dollars. Will the plumbing need to be updated? The air conditioning? The units out there now are dead. This place is huge. Will we need two or three air conditioning units? Will the vents that run throughout the house need to be updated? The roof needs to be replaced. The window casings are crap. The floors are in terrible shape. Is the electrical actually up to code? My god, the list of things wrong with this place is never ending.
Kat nodded and tilted her head to show that she heard Jana. “I agree, this house will be expensive in the beginning. But this is a once in a lifetime chance to own a piece of history. This is a gift that we will cherish for our lifetimes and pass on to our children.”
Jana closed her eyes and inhaled. She focused on the breath raising her ribcage and filling her lungs. She shook her head in disagreement. “No, this is not a good gift. I bought you a pair of five-hundred-dollar sunglasses. That’s an acceptable luxury gift. We have a rule, right?” Jana pointed between herself and Kat. “We don’t spend more than five hundred dollars without consulting the other.” She motioned around the room, “This way exceeds our five-hundred-dollar limit. I can’t believe you didn’t talk to me about this. What happens if all of this fails? If we go into debt?”
“I know. And I usually agree, but this is different. I don’t expect a single penny, dime, quarter or nickel from you. I will pay for everything with my inheritance.”
“Okay, let’s say that I don’t pay for anything. We are married. I am legally responsible for your debts, whether you want me to be or not. I should have had a place at the table when you were making this decision.”
Kat was relieved that Jana was at least talking and not still catatonic, but she needed to allay Jana’s concerns. “I have three million as my inheritance in my trust. You’re right, this will be expensive, but I do have the money. There is nothing that you will be responsible for.”
“I can’t believe you’re still saying that,” Jana scoffed. “This affects me in every way possible. I assume that you think we’ll sell our house. We’ll pack up and move out of our home, away from our friends, and start this new life here, so we can live out the fairytale that’s in your head. How are you going to work on this place and teach? The drive is at least an hour each way. Do you really want to do that?”
Kat had hoped this wouldn’t come up right away. Jana wasn’t going to take this well either. She clenched her teeth in anxiety and then began, “I’m not going back to teaching. I quit.”
Jana squatted, resting her butt on her heels. “I need to sit down.” She held her face in disbelief. “Fuck, it’s so gross in here that I can’t even sit on the floor.” She stood again, both hands rubbed her forehead. After a few breaths, she moved her hands to her hips. “What do you mean you’re not going back to work?”
Kat put on her ‘everything is going to be fine’ face. Jana was teetering on completely losing it, and she just needed to keep her from going over the precipice. “You know about my family trust. I have three million dollars at my disposal. You and I, we’ve discussed how that money can help us retire early. You can quit your job in your fifties if you want. If we live wisely, we can live out our retirement in relative ease. And I want you to know that, even with this house, I have not veered from that goal.”
Jana made a sound that Kat wasn’t familiar with. She couldn’t decide if it was a show of frustration, anger, denial, or simply just the sound of a woman completely overwhelmed. But as Jana’s eyes locked on hers, she knew it was a blending of anger and disbelief.
Kat continued, ‘When we got married, we promised that we wouldn’t be like the other marriages out there. We wouldn’t lose our independence to make decisions. I can’t go back to teaching. You know why.”
“Fuck,” Jana mumbled. “Not losing our independence doesn’t mean completely disregarding the other person. We should have talked about this. About all of this.” She paced in a circle like a gazelle surrounded by a pack of hyenas.
About the Author
Karen lives in Georgia with her wonderful husband and twin daughters. She
loves traveling the world. Whether it’s to the heights of Yosemite,
the white sands of the Caribbean, or even Down Under, she’s always
ready to pack a bag in search of inspiration. She enjoys creating worlds
filled with unique characters that will delight and raise goose bumps on her
readers.
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