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I raised my eyebrows before shaking my head. “Believe it or not, Idon’tgo around touching people, just to make sure they’re not a figment of my imagination.”
“Well…” He shrugged. “Maybe you should start.” And reaching out slowly with one finger, he very pointedly poked my arm before he released a relieved breath. “Whew.”
“Funny.” I rolled my eyes dryly, only to argue, “I spent the entire night keeping her company. I think I would know if she was real or not.”
Hudson shrugged. “Oaklynn lived with Archer’s sister for over a month before realizingshewas a ghost.”
Wincing, I leaned closer to him and Faith so I could admit, “No offense to Vargas, but I still can’t believe it took her that long to figure it out.”
“The mind, I’m telling you,” Hudson answered with a sad shake of the head. “It’s a wacky, freaky thing. It’s amazingly easy to convince the brain to believe a preposterous idea with only a small amount of evidence to support it.”
I blinked at his philosophical comment before slowly saying, “Thank you, Dr. Ivey.”
Hudson winked. “Hey, you’re welcome. I’ll send you my bill in the mail.”
Before I could respond, Parker came storming into the front room with Thane not far behind.
Jarring to a halt when he saw me, he breathed heavily before saying, “So you’re here.”
“Yeah.” I instantly rose to my feet as the guilt slammed back into me all over again. “I heard about what happened. You doing okay, man?”
He barked out a hard laugh, and his eyes went a little moist. “Yeah, I’m fine. Everyonearoundme seems to drop dead without any problem, but I’m just fuckingfine.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault,” I had to tell him, even as I knew he wouldn’t listen to a word I said. “There was no way to know that would happen.”
“I should’ve just fucked her,” he growled, his chin trembling with emotion. “She was so wasted; she wouldn’t have known the difference. I should’ve just snuck her into Ivey’s room and kept her there all night. That way, she wouldn’t be fighting for her life today, and she’d still have a fucking sister. But no. She hadyouwritten all over her. And I thought of you instead of myself.”
Feeling the responsibility of the accident weigh heavily on my shoulders, I opened my mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come on the first try. So I swallowed and tried again, rasping, “I’m sorry. I?—”
“Sorry don’t bring back the dead, Union,” he hissed. “God.” Shaking his head in disappointment, he swept by me and slammed the door on his way out.
“Fuck, I better…” Behind him, Thane motioned toward the exit, letting us know he wanted to follow his best friend.
I nodded in understanding, and he paused to clasp my shoulder. “Don’t take anything he said personally. He blames himself. Not you.”
“I know.” With another nod, I motioned toward the door. “You should?—”
“Yeah.” He patted my back in farewell and raced off after Parker.
When the door shut behind him, I took a breath and glanced at the couple still sitting on the couch.
Hudson lifted telling eyebrows. “Always a fun time at Archer House, eh?” Then, he leaned back and glanced over his shoulder at Faith. “As soon as I’m out of this cast, we’re moving into the love nest for some peace and quiet.”
The love nest was what he called Faith’s apartment since it was located above a shop named Jezebel’s Nest, but they hadn’t been able to stay there since his accident because he couldn’t climb all the steep stairs up to it in his condition. So they’d been lodging here, instead, where Hudson was renting a room from Damien.
“Whatever you want, baby,” Faith answered just as my phone rang.
I pulled it from my pocket, only to see my sister Amy’s name on the screen.
“Shit,” I muttered, suddenly remembering I was needed elsewhere this morning. “Hey,” I answered her, even as I waved at Faith and Hudson and motioned toward the door, mouthing, “I gotta go,” to them.
They waved back, and I hurried from the house.
“Are you planning on coming home any time today?” the fifteen-year-old immediately scolded. “Because I thought you were taking Brey to her soccer meet so Mom could take me shopping for a new dress for my sweetheart dance.”
“I am. I am,” I assured as I hustled my way to my truck. “I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy morning, but I’m on my way now.”
“Well, hurry,” she demanded before hanging up on me completely.
