Jeremy grinned, though his eyes were red with exhaustion. “Upon request. Come on.”
Rafe followed Jeremy down into the valley.
As soon as they dismounted their horses, the door opened. A woman, wrinkled as a dried prune, waved a sunburnt hand at them.
“Come in, children. Leave the horses be. Granny will see to them.”
They went to the front door, and she looked them both up and down.
“About time you got handsome,” she said to Jeremy.
“Gingers are late bloomers,” he admitted.
To Rafe she said, “You were always handsome. But you need a bath.”
Rafe didn’t disagree.
“We’re going into the Ghost Town,” Jeremy said. “I was told you’d help us.”
“Oh, I’ll help you, all right. Someone’s got to. But first, you sleep and you eat.”
“We don’t have time,” Rafe said.
“Make time or you’ll be goners before your boots hit that cursed ground.”
Rafe and Jeremy looked at each other.
“Okay,” Rafe said. “One hour?”
“Two,” Granny said and neither of them had the energy to argue.
The cottage had a small second bedroom, where she sent them to sleep while she tended to the horses. It was a cozy room fragrant with the drying wildflowers that hung from the rafters and with clean, cold water in the basin.
“Better than the barn. Perks of being royalty, I guess,” Rafe said as he splashed fresh water on his face.
Jeremy fell backward onto the bed, fully clothed. “Fun. Straw mattress.”
Rafe crashed next to him. “You think Granny would give us an extra pillow?”
“I wouldn’t push our luck.” Jeremy rolled onto his back and patted his chest. “I’ll be your pillow.”
Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was something else, but Rafe took Jeremy up on his offer without hesitation. He rolled onto his side, threw his arm over Jeremy’s stomach, and laid his head down on his chest.
“Better?”
“Old times,” Rafe said.
“What is? You used to sleep on straw?” Jeremy asked.
“I was thinking how this is just like it used to be. Back before we were lost, you know. Crashing in your giant bed. Talking all night when we were supposed to be sleeping.”
“Exactly the same. Except I have a beard. Literally the only difference.”
“And I’m not scared.”
“Not scared of the Ghost Town?”
“Not scared of my dad.”
Jeremy was quiet a moment, then said, “I never told you this, but I…I tried to see you when you were in Brook Haven.”
Rafe raised his head and looked at him. “Brook Haven? That was eight years ago. What happened?”
“I walked in. Your dad saw me and lost his mind.”
“Did Mom—”
“No. She was back with you when it all happened. She didn’t know I was there either.”
Dad kept Jeremy from him? The one person he’d wanted to see more than anyone else in this world or any other, and his father kicked him out.
“Why?”
“Why didn’t I tell you?”
“No, why did you come to Brook Haven?”
“To get an oil change. Why do you think I went? To see you.”
