Courageous Love - Jerry Cole Page 0,9
place. It’s the least I can do for all the people who trusted me and my family to watch over their loved ones.”
“You really love this place, don’t you?” I knew the answer, but I liked how firm and sure of himself he was sounding all of the sudden. I made something tighten in my chest. I wanted to hear it more.
“It’s my home,” he said with a smile. “And I’m the caretaker. It’s important to me.”
I wanted to ask him how he managed to care so much about a place so terrifying to the average person, but I had stuck my foot in my mouth enough for one night. I thought I might come here, satisfy my lingering curiosity, and then go back to spending my nights here in hell bored. But I just had more questions about Cecil and his life here. I realized I wanted to come back.
“I think I ought to head home, I have a job to think about now,” I said while making a show of yawning and stretching. I was tired but I felt a buzz in my chest that wasn’t going to let me sleep just yet.
“You did get a job?” Cecil asked.
I smiled. “I’ll tell you about that next time.”
He turned away, but I thought I caught him mouthing the words after me: next time?
He turned back. “Next time.”
I felt a rush at the promise. “Goodnight Cecil.”
“Goodnight Adam.”
I flashed a peace sign and turned back around to head back to the house. I felt an energy in my step that wasn’t there before. I guess I was more excited to see him again than I would have thought. He was just so interesting. At least, that’s what I told myself.
***
I thought I was very sneaky getting back into the house close to three o’clock in the morning, but as I crept up the stairs and into the hallway, suddenly the lights flipped on and Stacy stood at the end of the hallway in her pajamas with bags under her eyes and her arms crossed.
“Hey—” I began but was quickly cut off by a glare.
“Where did you go?”
“The cemetery.” I decided it was best not to lie, she could see right through them.
She looked lost for words for a moment and continued to glare at me, only now the glare was confused too. “What do you mean you went to the cemetery?”
“I made friends with the groundskeeper,” I said, not sure if that was Cecil’s title or not.
“You are going to get murdered in this creepy town,” Stacy ranted. “I’m supposed to be watching you and making sure you don’t do the kind of dumb shit people in horror movies do.”
“I promise you Stacy, he’s nice and the same age as me. He isn’t some axe wielding zombie man or whatever you are picturing, I promise.”
She squinted her eyes. “It’s still dangerous to go out at night alone.”
“I’m an adult Stacy. And the only thing keeping me here you have no control over. I promise it’s fine.”
“I want to meet this “groundskeeper” sooner than later,” she said firmly, clearly ignoring my previous points.
“Fine, fine.” I raised my hands in defeat. “I’ll invite him over some time for our homemade delivery. It will be fine, he’s my friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have friends.”
I said stuff like that about myself all the time, but for some reason this time I felt a tightness in my chest.
“Yeah,” I agreed and looked away.
“Of course you’d manage to pull something like this,” I barely heard her mutter to herself. She spoke up again after pinching the bridge of her nose, “Get to sleep Adam. You have work and if you are late for your first actual shift, I’ll have to have a meeting with your groundskeeper about buying a new plot.” With that she turned sharply and went back into her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.
I didn’t know Cecil well enough to invite him to dinner, did I? It didn’t stop me from thinking about it though. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it either.
Chapter Six
Beth said I could wear jeans so I wore the only pair my father had packed and a cropped yellow button up which you couldn’t even see the front of due to the apron which was a little disappointing but that was what let me sneak it past Stacy that morning so it least that was something.
The worst part was waking up in the first place. It was