who live here.”
“Let’s get back to the office. I want to see all the research you did on this place. Then we can see what we can find about Peg and Marc Waller.” Cope took one last look at the house. The stately building looked exactly as it had when they’d pulled up.
Something bizarre was happening here, but Cope had no idea what it was.
10
Jude
“Da! Da!” Wolf sang before shoving Cheerios into his mouth. One stuck to his upper lip, while another sat on top of his hand. Jude took pictures of the little boy while Cope gave the spaghetti sauce a stir.
“Motherfucking ouch!” Cope twirled away from the stove, snapping the burner off.
“Are you okay?” Jude set the phone down and raced to his husband, who was holding his right wrist.
“Burned my fucking hand when the sauce spit at me.” Anger blazed in Cope’s eyes.
“Let’s run it under some cold water.” Jude led Cope to the sink. He tested the water before holding Cope’s arm under it.
“Leave me alone, I’m fine.” Cope snatched his arm away from Jude. Water droplets flew from his skin and splattered against Jude.
Jude watched as Cope threw himself into his usual chair at the table. His eyes never moved to Wolf, who was happily babbling and stuffing his little mouth with dry cereal. “We’ve made this sauce a hundred times. You’ve never once acted like this before when you got splattered.”
“Fuck off, Jude!” Cope was out of his seat, his hands balled into fists.
If Cope’s earlier behavior wasn’t like his husband at all, this aggressive posture was the last thing Jude expected. “Did you bring something home with you from The Beecher House?”
Cope took a step forward before his eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think the real Cope got switched out for whoever this guy is.” Jude set his hands on either side of Cope’s face. “It’s not like you to get so upset when you cook. You never yell at your employee-of-the-month husband, and you certainly don’t ignore the sweetest, happiest baby on the planet.”
Cope’s face crumpled.
Jude pulled him close. “Tell me what’s going on with you.” He could feel the pent-up anger simmering beneath the surface.
“I’m not sure.” Cope pulled back. “I was in a rage. I think I might have swung on you if you hadn’t snapped me out of it.” Cope held his hands up in front of his face. They were shaking.
“Your behavior at The Beecher House wasn’t really normal either. I’ve never seen you yell at a client before.” Jude was usually the one who go hot under the collar, never Cope. He’d been moody the rest of the afternoon in the office. Jude had chalked it up to missing Wolf and Marc being an asshat.
“I don’t know what happened to me.” Cope looked lost.
Jude led him to his seat at the table.
“Da!” Wolf held out a Cheerio with a chubby finger.
“Num, num, num!” Cope pretended to eat the Cheerio.
Wolf screeched with laughter. He went back to chasing the cereal around his tray.
“There. That’s the man I married.” Jude felt his shoulders slump in relief. Christ, this day had been a rollercoaster of emotions and the cars seemed to be speeding up on the tracks.
“I just checked myself over. I don’t sense any hitchhikers.” He reached out a hand to Jude. “I’ll check the wards and charms on the house after we eat.” Cope looked up at Jude with unshed tears in his eyes. “I’m okay. Just tired. I miss my baby.” Cope was out of his seat and moving toward the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water, chugging half of it down. Drops slipped down the side of his face and dropped onto his shirt. “I knew the day was coming when I had to go to work. I thought I was ready, but I guess I wasn’t. Everything’s changed now.” Cope’s eyes were on Wolf. “We had this whole routine. Songs we’d sing. Stories we’d read before and after naptime. Lunch with Disney songs.” Cope threw his hands up in the air. “Maybe I would have been okay if Marc hadn’t been so obtuse today.”
“Is that what’s bothering you?” Jude knew the man was keeping something from them, beyond the fact that Peg wasn’t home when they arrived. Had Cope picked that up as well?
“I think so. Something wasn’t right at that house. What I can’t figure out is what that something was. Is it Marc? The house? A spirit