All Chapters of Haunter: Chapter 101 - Chapter 110

It wasn’t a quiet weekend like I’d expected. The Ley Lines crew had everything ready to leave on Tuesday morning, and the remaining Haunters would hit the road a week later to start their tight shoot schedule. So Brandon wanted to make sure everything was settled and ready, down to the last detail, for the three projects. We would be traveling with the Ley Liners for two or three weeks. Then, we would head back to the Manor, where Brandon had to finish setting up the guesthouse to start shooting interviews about June 25, and all the way into July.On Saturday, I took on the kitchen to let Guadalupe work. When Brandon saw me wearing an apron, sitting at the isle with my laptop on watch to keep the sink empty, he went back to his office, saying, “Hey, guys, last time we made a mess. So today, if you guys want anything from the kitchen, you go wash your stuff and use it again, okay?”An hour later, I was taking a swim in

I woke up in Kujo’s closet, lying on his sleeping back, pretty much inside of him, given the way I was all wrapped up in his heat like a cocoon. The place had no windows, and the door was only ajar.“Kujo?” I muttered, rubbing my face.“Fran.”“You okay, my boy?”“Good.”“Great.”“Fran good?”“I don’t know. I guess.” I sat up and he moved to stand up and keep me wrapped in his heat. I rubbed my arms with a chill. “Thank you. Here’s colder than in LA. Did you eat while I was out?”“Yes.”“Well done. Where’s Amy?”“Hallway. Gina.”“The children are okay?”“Yes.”“You saved them, right?” I rested my back against the wall and brushed his shadowy body. &ldq

The Blotters behaved like stepping on eggshells when they saw me come back home so soon, with Amy and without Brandon. Guessing they were just too proper to ask openly about it, I decided to clear any doubt.“We broke up ‘cause I chose saving Kujo’s life, over a two-week roadtrip to watch the shoot of Trisha’s show.”“I’m sorry,” said Edward, always the epitome of a gentleman, while the touchpad beeped on the tablet.“Well, I’ve found a Márái Sándor book you haven’t read yet,” was the output.Gotta love Joseph’s humor.It was already dinner time, and Amy and I called it a night early, exhausted after the three last days. She left after breakfast, and all of a sudden I was like I’d longed to be about ten days earlier, during the shoot of the interviews: all alone with the Blotters in the Manor, like back in the good old days.

The weekend of the Fourth was a nonstop juggling to keep my catastrophic emotional state in check. It was anyway a blast. The Blotters had the time of their lives, Susan was so excited to have them over that she worked the whole weekend straight, and my Blotters were the most discreet ghosts in history. We’d agreed they would retreat to the guesthouse with me if the living Blotters got too loud, but they didn’t. They too were happy to have members of the family all over the place, for the first time since Lizzie’s brother Stephen had passed and the Manor had ended up in Miss Grace’s keep.They arrived on the evening of the third, Wednesday, just in time to drop their stuff in their rooms and have dinner. At the main dining room, of course, even though they ate in the kitchen for breakfast and lunch.They insisted I joined them on Thursday, and off we went on two rental boats all over the Quabbin. That night, Edward Jr. and his future in-law helped Mike bring out the wooden picnic tabl

I was back to the Manor on Monday, happy after spending two days with Kujo. And three days later, the two last Haunters arrived in one of their trademark rental black SUVs. It was almost dinner time, so I sent them to say hi to the Blotters while I finished cooking and set the table.When they joined me in the kitchen, I could tell they felt awkward, there with his friend’s sort of ex. Like they weren’t sure what they could say or talk about.“Hey, guys, let’s clear this out of the way,” I said, bringing the shepherd’s pie to the table. I sat down with them and spoke while I filled their plates. “Yeah, Bran and I broke up. Yeah, I still have feelings for him. Yeah, it still hurts. But I can hear his name and even talk about him in a rather rational way without having a breakdown.” I smiled, shrugging. “What can I say. Shit happens.”Ted raised his beer to me.“Shit happens,”