Will tripped over his feet for about the fiftieth time since he’d entered Frostville Mansion, but at least this time he had an excuse other than his typical clumsiness. The mansion at night was far darker than during the day, with dimly lit hallways and shadows around every corner. Will wasn’t a jumpy guy, but bein’ so outside of his comfort zone, a jolt would rock him any time there was even a flicker of movement.
Most everyone was either asleep or, like Maybelle, enjoying one of the few nights it wasn’t freezing. She’d told Will she was gonna go wander around outside, and he’d laughed it up so hard that he didn’t even notice her take a jacket and leave their room.
His feet fell heavy on the floor, his steps echoing in the empty halls of the mansion. The place felt big during the day, but there was a vastness to it at night that made Will truly believe the mansion had no beginning or end to it—just hallways and doors that led to more and more rooms and passageways and secret vaults behind bookcases and other worlds.
He’d never felt so far away from home.
The elevator stayed quiet as he passed it and headed toward a rarely used staircase—from what he could tell. Winter said she’d be just down a floor, the stairs leading right outside to a covered—and hopefully heated—balcony that gazed over the back of the mansion. Will had yet to see that particular area, and when she mentioned that it overlooked one of the gardens, he wondered just how many gardens she had. And balconies. And pools. And kitchens, bedrooms, and entertainment rooms.
No wonder she invited strangers in to enjoy it; he couldn’t imagine living alone with all this space.
The door to the stairwell didn’t make a single sound as he pulled it open, and he had to hand it to whoever was in charge of the WD40. The only chance his pizza shop had of being quiet was if he closed it down.
He took the stain-free, icy gray carpeted steps downward, smirking at the way the designs swirled together. It reminded him of Winter’s eyes; maybe the carpet was designed specifically for her.
When he got to the landing, the air got significantly cooler, and a chill ran up his spine and he pulled his heavy jacket tighter around his shoulders. There wasn’t a door, but a massive archway that led into a circular glass-made room—wall-to-wall windows and glass ceiling. Only the floor remained the same, and he stepped cautiously inside, eyes widening at just how beautiful it was. The stars were invisible tonight, but the sky was a breathtaking inky black, and with only the light from the stairwell filtering in, it was easy to see everything out the windows.
Will’s eyes dropped from the sky to Winter, who was leaning against the long handrail that encompassed the room. Her platinum hair broke through the darkness, along with her blue pajamas. Will felt the corner of his lip twitch upward as he got closer, noticing white, puffy clouds patterned on the fabric; she seemed to like the playful and young style, and he didn’t blame her. She looked stunning in it.
Her bolting, loudest laugh in the world greeted him. “You cold or something?” she teased, nodding at the way he’d turtled into his jacket. He grimaced and pulled his zipper up to his chin with flare.
“Not all of us are used to it being below fifty.”
“Oh, it is not that bad.”
“You ever been to Alabama this time of year? That is not that bad.”
The cutest wrinkle appeared above her nose, and she brought a finger to her lips. “Shh.” Her gaze fell to just out the window. “We aren’t exactly alone.”
“You’re just as loud as I am,” Will teased, but he took the few steps forward in silence to see what she was lookin’ at.
“They’ve been out there for about twenty minutes,” Winter all but squealed, her shoulders dropping in almost a sigh as she gazed down on Bells and Garreth. They were standing awfully close on a cobblestoned path weaving in and out of a lavish garden maze. When Will panned back, the greens reached back as far as the eye could see, gothic lanterns lighting up the hedges and different pathways, benches speckled throughout the gardens that hosted many, many early blossoming flowers. Bells and Garreth weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the privacy of the gardens; he coulda sworn he saw some tangled limbs in the distance, and he quickly diverted his gaze.
“Uh, you ain’t worried about them just looking up and catching us here?”
Winter rapped the softest knuckle against the window. “Reflective glass. Soundproof, too.”
“Then why were you shushing me?”
“Shh,” she said. “I’m spying here.”
He chuckled at her nonsense, liking how it looked on her. He never thought he’d be attracted to that, being that he was enough nonsense himself. It was why he tended to flirt with the shy, quiet women, liking how they blushed and bit their lips, how quiet their voices were and how timid they seemed at first, then shocked at themselves when they did something bold.
Winter was just… bold. She spoke loud and with authority. She called him out and teased, and, heck, she was pretty darn funny. Will found it frustrating… almost as much as he liked it.
“We should go down there.”
He jolted back. “What… down there?” He pointed at his sister, who was now standing so close to Garreth he was surprised he couldn’t see the sparks between them.
“Mmhmm. We could hear what they’re saying.”
“Y’all outta yer mind.”
A slow smile spread across her face, eyes gleaming in the dim light of the room. She wrapped a hand around his wrist and confidently strutted toward the stairs, pulling him with much force.
“Come on,” she said when Will dug his feet into the carpet just enough that she nearly sprung right back into his chest. She let go of his wrist just to cross her arms and jut her hip out, giving him a look that made him fall right off his feet. “This is part of my process. I swear we’ll be quiet.”
“What’s wrong with observing from a safe distance?”
“I can’t hear them.” She sighed and slapped a hand back on his arm. “Looks can be deceiving. Like right now… if someone were watching us, they may think we like each other.”
A thrum went through his chest cavity, and he lifted an eyebrow. “How’s that, exactly?”
She titled her head. “My hand is on your arm. You’re constantly smiling. We keep leaning in to talk to each other even though no one is around.” Her hands flew outward in a circle, and Will started to laugh only to catch himself and force his lips straight. Had he been smilin’ tonight? He hadn’t noticed.
“A’right, you got a point.”
A victorious grin fell onto her face, and he’d be darned if it wasn’t the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “Perfect. Then let’s go.”
She didn’t need to pull him this time to get him to follow. Will found his feet falling into step next to hers almost naturally. Her pace was probably fast for her, normal for him with their height difference, and he stopped his smile yet again before he let it crawl back onto his face at just the small, unimportant things he kept getting amused by with her.
“There’s a light sensor out the back door, so we’re going to have to take a side—” Winter’s voice was cut off with a guttural oof! She’d run straight into a wall, making Will bolt out a laugh he felt deep in his gut.
“Even you don’t know your way around your own house.”
She frowned and rubbed her nose. “There’s usually not someone standing in my way.”
Will’s brow furrowed and on closer look, apparently Winter hadn’t just face-plowed into a wall, but a wall of a person.
“Sorry, Princess,” Michael said, stepping out of the shadows. There was a slight grin on his lips, but his eyes looked defeated, sadness etched into every line of his face.
“My fault,” Winter said, her head tilting to the side. “You okay?”
His sad smile grew to something forced and, if possible, more upset. “Yep. Just enjoying the gardens.” Then something changed entirely in the air, Michael shaking off whatever was going on and looking up at Will. “Hope you’re treating her well,” he said with a nod toward Winter. “I never should have let her go.”
Winter snorted. “Stop it.”
Will’s shoulders relaxed. For a good while there, he’d forgotten he was surrounded by actors. This little improvisation here was only that—an act. He silently laughed at himself for almost getting jealous over an ex-boyfriend of someone he barely knew.
Michael plucked Winter’s hand up and kissed her knuckles. “Have a lovely night, Princess.” Then he strolled past and up the stairwell, his shoulders back to slumping when he was nearly out of sight.
“So…” Will said, eyes turning toward Winter again, “was that all part of the act, or you guys really got somethin’ goin’ on there?”
She bobbled her head back and forth. “I don’t know what you mean,” she lilted, and then kept moving out toward the gardens. Will only chuckled, deciding not to push it.
Winter slid open the sliding glass door slowly and carefully, only leaving enough room for her body to slither through. Will gave her a look and pushed it all the way open so he could fit. A tinkle-like sound came from her nose, and it took him a minute to realize that her laugh had transformed from cathedral bells to hungry mice. That must be her stealth mode, which was better than he could’ve done, for sure.
“Okay,” she whispered, “they are on the other side through the hedges here. Stay on the path until you hear her, then jump behind something like your life depends on it!”
He gave her a thumbs up, not trusting his voice to come out at a low enough volume. Getting caught spying on his sister while she flirted with some guy was not high on his wish list.
Winter crouched as she walked under an archway that led to a giant fountain of a mermaid and fish singing or something. Will pursed his lips together, begging his comment to stay inside his throat though it nearly pained him not to be sarcastic right then.
“You are so loud,” she said over her shoulder. Will put his hands up.
“I haven’t said anythin’.”
“Your feet are talking enough.”
He looked down at his shoes thunking against the ground and tried to make himself lighter footed. After a couple of different tries, Winter’s laugh brought his attention back to her.
“What?”
“You look like you just got off a horse.”
He stopped in his tracks. “I’m gonna just head back, then, Princess. You can fill me in on this escapade tomor—”
Her hand flew to his mouth, her body instantly a breath away. Will tried to figure out what she was listening for, but his mind was suddenly a mud pit, his thoughts slogging through to try to make their way out. Her face was so close to his, but how? She was so short… Maybe she was on her tiptoes? A cinnamon and vanilla scent wafted through the air—a perfume that was making thought process that much harder. The icy gray swirls in her eyes was so captivating, it took him too long to realize that it was panic.
Sound finally made its way back to his ears—the sound of a laugh he was all-too-familiar with. He snapped a hand around Winter’s wrist and pulled her deep into one of the hedges, losing his footing and falling rear-end first to the ground, taking Winter with him.
A high-pitched squeak escaped her, and this time, Will put a hand over her mouth just as Bells’ voice got much closer.
“… he must’ve been a giant if he was taller than you,” she said, and a deep, throaty voice chuckled right after. Something was digging into Will’s right butt cheek, but he wasn’t gonna move. Winter’s normally perfect hair was caught up in the canopy of branches surrounding them, but she held stone still as well, the cover from the hedge only enough for the both of them if they held perfectly still.
“I am tall,” Garreth said, and Will tried with all his might to concentrate on their conversation and not the way Winter’s body pressed into his and how he wasn’t cold anymore. Heck, he didn’t even remember what cold felt like. Her eyes locked on his, but he wasn’t sure if she was thinking about him or listening in to Bells and Garreth. He wondered what her parents’ eye colors were; he’d never seen such a diamond-looking set of eyes in his life.
He swallowed hard, and those eyes widened at the sound he’d made. She dropped a finger to his lips, and it was only then he realized his hand was no longer on her mouth, but stuck between their chests.
His heart beat kicked up, and he shot his gaze somewhere just above Winter’s head into the green leaves and thin branches of the hedge. He was not going to think about where his hand was and what it might or might not be touching. He wasn’t going to think about how warm she felt or the cinnamon perfume that still hung in the air or how he hadn’t given a second thought about that branch digging into his butt.
Concentrate on Bells, Will.
But he couldn’t. His thoughts were still swimming in mud, and he had no idea how to make sense of things until there was a lot more distance between Winter’s body and his.
A second or a year later, Bells and Garreth’s voices faded into the distance, and Winter’s tense body relaxed atop him as her stomach shook with silent laughter.
“Oh my… I’m so glad we came out here.”
Will jerked beneath her, half-wanting her to explain exactly what she meant by that and half-wishing she’d laugh against him again.
“Huh?”
She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “Garreth… he’s not the brightest crayon in the box, wouldn’t you say?”
Will must’ve given her the most dumb-founded look because she let out another laugh and said, “Oh come on, don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”
“Uh…”
She rolled her eyes and settled her hands on his chest. His heart tripled in speed as she pushed off him and squirmed her way out into the open. As soon as her body left his, Will’s mind finally decided to show up.
“Well,” she said when he’d climbed from the hedge as well, “you talk to him tomorrow and tell me I’m wrong. We’re running short on time here.”
He muttered some kind of unintelligible word that made her laugh and turned back to the mansion.
“I think you need some sleep,” she said.
Will nodded, even though she wasn’t lookin’ at him anymore. Sleep and food were definitely what he needed, because for a second there, he really had believed the place was haunted.