Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Chapter 4
The Eight-Legged Test
LUKE
Exhaustion gnawed on Luke’s bones as he shuffled to his brand-new home on Sleepy Hollow Road. It was kind of sad that he didn’t have the energy to enjoy his first night in his new place. After signing the lease and leaving, he’d gone to Jacob’s to get his duffel bag of clothes and toiletries. His intent had been to return to his new room and unpack. Enjoy a quiet night in and get some reading done.
But no.
The manager at Burger Hut had called to say that one of his coworkers had called in sick and another had quit, leaving the restaurant desperately shorthanded. He’d needed Luke to pop in for a couple of hours to help with the lunch rush. With money so tight, Luke hadn’t been able to pass it up.
The lunch rush had turned into the dinner rush. At least he’d gotten out of there before his boss could convince him to stick around for the evening cleanup and prep.
However, as he’d headed over to the bus stop to catch one of the last buses to run near his new home, Lydia at Sinful Soaps had called in tears. A new shipment of soaps had arrived, and it was all wrong. The supplier was refusing to take them back, claiming she ordered five boxes of Lavender Lover and Orchid Orgy, or some such nonsense. She’d needed Luke to stop by and help her reorganize the shelves.
He'd opened his mouth to say no, but then she’d offered time and a half.
Besides, it would take them only an hour. Maybe two.
Four. Fucking. Hours. Later.
So, on his rare day off that should have been spent settling into his new rental space and getting some much-needed homework done for his classes, he’d ended up working nearly fourteen hours. But at least his bank account was going to be happy, and he had a chance of surviving off something other than ramen, trail mix, and Harper’s charity sandwiches.
As he reached the giant house, he saw only two lights left burning in the windows. A single bulb glowed on the front porch. It did little to push back the overall darkness, providing him with enough illumination to see the door and the lock.
He dropped his duffel bag onto the porch with a heavy thud and fished around in his pockets until he located his new key. It slid home with no problem, and the lock gave a satisfying click. The door moaned out a loud creak as it swung open, reminding him vaguely of pretty much every haunted house movie he’d ever watched. Thankfully, he loved horror movies, so this was amusing rather than unnerving.
With a sigh of relief, he shouldered his bag and stepped inside. The entire house was silent as a tomb. A couple of small lights glowed along the hallways and at the top of the stairs as if one of his new roommates had left on nightlights for him. That was considerate.
Or maybe they didn’t want their new tenant to fall down the stairs and break his neck on the first night.
The latter. Definitely the latter.
His right foot had just touched the first step when he spotted it. A spider. A big one, too. Easily bigger than a daddy longlegs. Was that a banana spider? He remembered seeing pictures of them as they’d threatened to overrun Florida a few years ago. The spider was a few inches long, with black, spindly legs and a black-and-yellow striped body.
“Well, no place is perfect,” he muttered to himself. He dropped his backpack and duffel bag by the stairs and pointed at the spider. “You stay right there.”
With as much energy as he could muster, Luke jogged to the kitchen and flipped on the bright overhead. After searching through every cabinet and drawer, he finally came up with a plastic bowl and lid. He took his find to the stairs, where the spider was kind enough to wait for him.
It took a couple of tries, but he got the spider into the bowl with the lid on.
“Look, I’m new here, so I think it’s only fair that I give you a warning,” Luke said to the spider in the bowl as he walked to the front door. “Growing up, we had a basic rule. If you found a spider outside, you’d leave it alone because outdoors was its home. But if we found a spider in the house, it got squished and flushed because that was our house. You stay in your house, and I’ll stay in my house. ’Kay?”
He slipped outside, cringing at the loud creak of the door. At the edge of the porch, he removed the lid from the bowl and dumped the spider into the closest bush. “There. Make a nice web. I’m sure you’ll catch a better dinner out here.”