Page 127 of Meet Cute Reboot
“As far as we know,” Benjamin says, “the hauntings here started when the wonderful caregiver and wife, Betsy Conrad, fell down the stairs and broke her neck. She likes to call out to Joey sometimes at night, and despite the destruction of Joey’s medicine cabinet during a kitchen remodel, she continues to retrieve Joey’s medicine from the new cabinet at regular intervals.”
“Nope. Just no,” Nana hollers from the backseat. “You live here, Luke? I’d hire a priest.”
“Well, that went dark real quick,” Granny mumbles.
“That’s not even the half of it,” Benjamin says.
Luke braces himself. “Here goes.”
“While excavating for the inground pool last October, workers came across two skeletons. DNA testing is still pending.”
“Cassie!” Nana yells. “You’re dating a guy with skeletons in his backyard! What kind of crazy is that? They’re probably in his closet too.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mom asks, shock raising her voice a few notes.
“Cause if I told you, you’d never swim in the pool!” I say.
“Got that right,” Nana says.
Luke salutes. “Ever seen that moviePoltergeist? Yep. That’s me. That’s my pool.”
I twist around in my seat. “They’ve been respectfully relocated.”
“That pool’s haunted,” Madison says.
“No, it’s not.”
“One day you’ll be doggie paddling and some demon will reach through the drain and pull you under,” Nana says.
I look at Luke. “Told you. They’re never coming over for a pool party.”
“I promise I’ll have the entire backyard smudged,” Luke says.
“Pfft,” Nana responds.
“Anyway,” Luke says, “there’s one more notable historical fact about this house that you forgot to mention.”
“Absolutely,” Benjamin says. “I’ll let you take over from here.”
I shoot Luke a confused look as he tugs on my hand.
“C’mere,” he says.
“Did you find bones in the crawlspace too?”
“No.”
We slide off the seat and step onto the pitted asphalt.
“Something is about to happen that this house will never forget.” Luke grins at me as he pulls a box out of his coat pocket.
My heart starts to race. It’s a velvet ring box. My hand involuntarily touches my lips. Time slows as Luke bends to one knee.
“I meant to do this years ago,” Luke says. “But the time wasn’t right.” He bows his head. “We both know why. I messed up. A lot.” He refocuses on me. Light catches his brimming tears. “Our love...is stronger than my mistakes.” Watching him struggle for words makes the tears in my eyes flood their banks. “That’s not because of me. It’s because of you and your wonderful, forgivingheart. You gave the new Luke a second chance, and I can’t let you get away this time. Cassie...will you marry me?”
I press my hands to my chest. “Yes, Luke. Yes!”
“Not maybe?”