He stared down at her for a moment, taking in how lovely she was in the early morning light, taking in her gentle curves.

He had to convince her this could work, that he was a good bet, because he was fairly certain he didn’t want to go back to life before Sylvie.

He stretched and decided to let her sleep. He’d kept her up for a long time the night before. He found an old pair of sweatpants and dragged them on before heading into the kitchen to take a quick inventory. There was instant coffee, but he would need hot water for that to work.

He couldn’t even make her coffee because Charles was an asshole.

He would go and get the boat ready and take her to breakfast. He hoped someone was at the marina this early in the morning, because both of their cell phones had died in the night. His mother was likely worried, and she would have called Sylvie’s mom, who would have started talking to the spirits to find them. But only after she called the sheriff, because Momma Marcelle believed in covering all the bases.

He would steal some coffee from the marina because his wife liked her coffee in the mornings. He made sure she had a big mug before she walked out the door because she could be a bear before her coffee.

Of course he found that side of her cute, too.

The sound of a board creaking caught his attention. It sounded like something was on the porch.

He moved into the living room, not too worried because the cabin was old and things creaked, but he wanted to make sure there wasn’t a critter waiting to welcome his wife. Sylvie wouldn’t faint at the sight of a wild animal, but she also wouldn’t be happy if Otis decided to bask on the porch. He would have to shoo the big guy away.

The curtains were closed, but he could plainly see a shadow move across the window, and it wasn’t a critter.

Unless that damn rougarou that had everyone up in arms was real and walking across his porch. A chill went up his spine because the figure didn’t stop at the door to knock. The shadow knelt briefly and then stood again, walking back the way it had come and disappearing from sight.

He moved across the living room and threw the door open in time to see someone in all black make the turn around the side of the cabin, going back toward the waterline.

“Hey,” he said as he came through the door and started across the porch. There were several small islands out here and families who lived on them. “Do you need help?”