Page 117 of Hot Ghost Summer

“There’s something of mine I’d like back from in there,” I direct.

The watery light from the small and grimy window barely brightens the little galley kitchen. Nothing’s changed. Theo trails his fingers over the chipped countertop.

“In the cupboard above your head is a canister of tea; it has sentimental value.”

He’s already got the cabinet door open when he chuckles, “Only you.” He hefts the engraved tin in his hand, as if testing its weight. “What makes this one special?”

There’s no judgment in his tone, just a gentle curiosity. But that’s Theo. No matter if they’re human, bovine, or ghost, he treats everyone the same.

“It’s blended with the dried petals of the Alpine Rose that grows on my family’s estate. We decorate the graves of fallen hunters and family members with them, and it’s tradition to drink Alpine Rose tea whenever we lose someone.”

Theo unscrews the lid and inhales deeply.

Its gentle, floral fragrance triggers a longing ache somewhere deep inside. “I’d drunk a cup not minutes before we met.”

“When we get home, we should drink t’ you.” His quiet voice resonates like a lament.

The clouds break then, and a warmer glow fills the tiny space. Golden light reflects from the silvered canister in Theo’s work-hardened hand, and I let it wash over me too, lifting me from the trenches of grief.

I risk manifesting in my slightest form to brush a gentle touch to his cheek. “Am I lost?”

Theo wrinkles the bridge of his nose while he thinks, then he shakes his head.

“No, Baby. I’m not lost. Not anymore, not since you found me.” His skin is warm under my palm, and his pulse strong. “Thank you for retrieving it, but that’s not why I wanted it.”

“It’s not? Then why?” he asks.

“Because I took it from my Oma, and we should probably return it when we visit.”

Theo’s mouth falls open. “You want t’ take me t’ meet your family? In Austria?”

I hook my spectral finger under his chin and gently push up to close his mouth. “Well, we are… what did you call us yesterday? Ghost-married.”

He chuckles, temporarily distracted. “Ha! Yeah, I did say that.”

“Which makes you my husband, Theo. Of course I would take my husband home to meet my family. To take tea in the sunroom and meet all the wee ghosties.” I manifest fully then, and press a kiss to his cheek while he stands there in shock.

“Ah, Theodore, here you are. Ted said that you—” Gerald’s voice chokes off with a startled splutter as he rounds the corner. Wide, milky-blue eyes dart from me, to Theo, and then back to me. “H-Hollis?”

I straighten and step beside Theo, locking my spine and raising my chin. “That’s Herr Nachtmann to you.”

He leans against the doorframe for support, colour draining from his face.

“Are you okay, Mister Pickett? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Ah, Theo. My beautiful brat.

Gerald’s jowls wobble when he shakes his head in disbelief. “Don’t you…? Can’t you see him? He’s…”

He raises a tobacco-stained finger and points it right at me. I shoot a bolt of high-voltage electricity at it with a loud crackle, and Gerald pulls it back and cradles it close to his chest.

“My mum always used t’ say that it’s rude t’ point,” Theo adds casually.

I let the hostile silence stretch between us until Gerald steps back from the threshold under the weight of my contempt. When I agreed to Theo coming here today, it had been for him to gain closure. It had been Gerald who’d failed to train him, Gerald who’d sent him out to an ill-vetted haunt site, and Gerald who’d told him to leave me to die. Of everything, that’s what haunts Theo the most.

But now that I’m here, now that I’m staring at the tight pull of Gerald’s shirt as it stretches under his arms and around his gut, I find myself with less restraint than I’d thought I’d have. The angry buzz of static floods the sockets, and the surrounding air fills with a sharp, metallic tang.

Theo’s warm hand settles inside mine. Grounding. “You, um… you wanted the Plot Forty-Seven case closed by today, Mister Pickett. So I came t’ return your equipment and let you know that the job’s done.”