Healing Begin
“NO,” TUCKER mumbled as Josh and his son, Andy, helped him out of the front of the truck.
“No, what?” Josh asked good-naturedly. “No, you can’t explain what happened, or no you’re not going to the hospital?”
“No hospitals,” Tucker said firmly. He’d always seen ghosts, but until today, he’d never been afraid of them. Seeing ghosts in a hospital was a terrifying thought. “Just take me inside. I need to rest. I’ll be fine.”
“Want to tell me what in the hell happened?
“I visited the graveyard,” Tucker muttered. “There was… waste. Someone had dumped antifreeze on the ground—I tripped and fell in it.”
“Then you’d be dead,” Josh said. “Here, Andy, link hands with me under his ass.”
“Sure, Dad.” Andover was a good-looking kid—a muscular chest like a barn, his mother’s plainly pretty looks with haphazard dirty blond hair and big brown eyes, and his father’s guileless smile and square jaw. He could probably hoist Tucker over his shoulder and keep walking, but that wouldn’t do much for Tucker’s self-esteem, would it?
“Okay, I’d be dead,” Tucker muttered, leaning on Josh more than he wanted to. “But I’m not. I just need to rest. To eat. To—”
“Stay away from ghost-infested graveyards,” Andy said baldly. “Jesus, what did you think? All that toxic yellow smoke was swamp gas?”
“What toxic yellow smoke?” Josh asked suspiciously.
“I saw actual individual spirits,” Tucker said with dignity. “How is it you saw yellow smoke and your father only saw a small broken graveyard?”
“Mom’s got witchy blood,” Andy said. “And if this is a witchy thing, you’re going to need your own house, even if it’s haunted as fuck.”
“Andy!” Josh complained. “Language?”
“Dad, even you can see it’s creepy. Tucker here should have stayed away unless he had a medium. Or some help.”
Together the two men walked up the long driveway and the porch steps, taking Tucker through the grand ruin of the front entrance. “There’s a small bedroom past the kitchen to the left,” Tucker said. “It’s got a bathroom and a bed and my computer, but not much else. Sorry, guys. No butler serving cookies.”
But Andy was as smart as his father and as intuitive as his mother. “Did you have help, Mr. Henderson?”
Tucker grunted, everything in his body aching, including his heart and head. “Kid, I am the help.”
Andy and his father deposited Tucker gently on the bed, and Tucker leaned over, fully clothed, and put his head on the pillow. Every wrinkle of his clothing chafed, but he was not yet so depraved that he’d undress totally in front of this pinup model of a kid.
Andy crossed his arms. “Huh. Are you really?”
“What are you talking about?” Josh said, sounding confused.
“Dad, didn’t you ever wonder why Ruth stayed here alone, all these years? I delivered her groceries from the time I was twelve until I got out of high school. She talked to me sometimes.”
“Maybe tell me about that later,” Josh muttered, obviously not comfortable. “First, Tucker, is there anything you need?”
“Advil and a swimming pool full of water,” Tucker muttered. And a shower—but again, not in front of Andy and his father. “Ice water. I’m parched.” The burns had faded, but the aftereffects of having healed from something that had sapped him of all moisture remained.
“Dad’ll get it,” Andy said promptly. “I’ll go get a chair—”
“From the kitchen,” Tucker said weakly. “Don’t bring anything in from the house.”
“’Kay,” Josh said. “Andy, keep an eye on him, okay?”
“What does he expect you to do?” Angel asked acerbically. “Jump up and dance?”
Tucker smiled tiredly. “Don’t worry, Angel. I’ll be fine.”
“That was very, very dangerous, Tucker.”
“Aw—she’s worried about me,” Tucker replied. “Did you hear that, Andy? She’s worried about me.”
“Tucker!” Angel gasped.
It took him a couple of breaths to figure out why.
He opened his eyes and looked to see Andy squatting next to the bed and looking around.
“I know he’s here,” Andy said, his voice deep. Oh, he really was adorable. Nice chiseled chin and eyes of this amazing deep brown.
How long had it been since Tucker had taken a lover he’d wanted?
Unfortunately, it couldn’t be this kid.
“He is awfully cozy for someone who didn’t just save your life,” Angel sniffed.
Tucker laughed and turned his head toward the wall. “Andy, what good will it do if you know? I appreciate your help,” he said, suddenly sore and exhausted in ways he didn’t know he could be. “But your dad doesn’t need to know what’s going on here. He doesn’t need to know there are ghosts, or that Ruth spent