Page 91 of What Happens at Nightfall

Adam could remember a time in his life when ten was the start of the evening. “Party animals that we are.”

“Ha ha.” Jess took a Brita filter out of the fridge. “Don’t you need to get back to the kids?”

Adam leaned against the wall and tried to look casual. “Mel is at her friend Livvy’s house and Ben is having a sleepover with one of his new friends from St. Bonny’s. So, no. I wasn’t sure what time I’d get back. I mean, I didn’t want us to be rushed. In talking.”

“Uh-huh.” Jess handed him his non-euphemistic glass of water. Mostly non-euphemistic. Her hair was still rumpled and her cheeks very pink. “That’s a lot of talking.”

“We have a lot to say.” Adam gave up. “Okay, fine. I might have hoped . . .”

Jess lifted her own glass to her lips. “For a glass of water?”

“So to speak.” Adam couldn’t look away. “Um. I don’t want you to think I presumed. Hoped, yes. Presumed, no.”

Jess lowered her glass, looking at him closely. “So the demon didn’t make you do it?”

Adam set his glass down on the counter. “I’d prove it to you—but I’m not sure if he’s actually gone or not.”

Jess took a deep breath. “Then we need to make sure we get rid of him once and for all. What does that phone of yours say?”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Adam’s phone said many things, none of them useful.

“Should I be worried that the first thing that came up is a sponsored ad for professional curse removal?” asked Jess.

They’d settled on her couch with their glasses of water. Since Adam had his phone on his lap, it was only natural for Jess to lean against his side to peer at the screen. Adam lifted his arm to make room for her, balancing his phone on his knee and scrolling with one hand.

“I guess it’s like sofa cleaning? You want to go to the professionals. I like this one.” Adam read aloud, “The best way to get rid of demons and evil spirits is to change your life and become the kind of person they do not feel comfortable around.”

“That sounds like victim blaming. Also, I don’t want to know what I need to do to make the demon uncomfortable.”

“Become a Jehovah’s Witness?” Adam offered. “Show him lots of vacation slides until he flees to hell in pure desperation?”

Jess couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone on a vacation. She didn’t think the corporate retreat in Bali counted. She’d never left the conference center.

“Scrap that one.” Jess reached out to scroll down on Adam’s phone. “Next one down: Exorcising Your Ex: How to Get Rid of the Demons of Relationships Past.”

Under her cheek, Adam’s chest went very still. “Yeah . . . Not exactly what we’re dealing with here.”

Except it was, in a way. His wife had been a Vanderwilt.

Jess kept her eyes on the phone screen. “Did your wife know about the family demon?”

“If she did, she didn’t tell me.” There was a pause, and then Adam shifted in his seat, moving her more comfortably against his side. “I doubt it. First, she was fiercely protective of the kids, and if there was anything that potentially endangered them, she would have told me.”

“She loved them a lot, huh?”

“She and Melinda had begun to clash—they’re very alike in some ways. And the pandemic was hard on her. Her work suffered and she felt like I wasn’t doing my share of childcare. But, yeah, she loved them.”

The silence spread around them. Adam’s screen went that grayish color that meant it was thinking of turning itself off.

The lock screen, thought Jess. Protecting all that personal info. She wondered if this was it, if this was Adam’s lock screen. Jess could feel the alcohol draining away, leaving her cold and tired.

He liked her, he’d said. He wanted to watch stupid TV shows with her and eat ice cream with her and have Sunday brunch with her.

But those were just words. His real life—his real affections—had been with his wife.

“It’s okay,” Jess mumbled. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I get that it’s personal.”