Early the next morning, Susan awoke to find herself draped across her husband’s chest, with her head tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Glancing down at her hands and lower arms, she groaned at the sight of the freshly scabbed over cuts. Stretching her arms as much as she could in her current position, she realized that was only the second night they had both spent in their new home without being disturbed by a spectral visit. The first had been the night they moved in. Tilting her head back she kissed his jaw line, the stubble tickling a giggle out of her.

Trying to free herself from Justin’s imprisoning grasp without waking him, she lifted her weight off his chest. When his arms tightened around her, she chuckled and said, “You looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you.”

Leaning up, he kissed the tip of her nose and said, “Then you shouldn’t have moved.”

Gazing down on his sleep softened face, she asked, “How’d you sleep?”

Releasing Susan, Justin stretched his arms over his head and replied, “Good.” Then with a chuckle he said, “I’d almost forgotten what a good night’s sleep was. We could use some more of those.” When she moved off of his chest to lean against the headboard, he sat up and asked, “How’s the wounds?”

Flipping back the covers to examine her feet, she answered, “Well I can’t attest for my face. But, my hands and feet look like their healing.” Reaching into the beside table’s drawer, she retrieved a pair of thick, soft wool socks and pulled them onto her injured feet, “I should be able to shuffle around by myself.”

“Good,” he smiled, “You really are quite heavy and difficult to carry around the house.”

Smacking his arm, she laughed, “You’re such an ass sometimes.” When he playfully lunged for her, she awkwardly scrambled off the bed and limped toward the door, calling back to him as he chuckled, “I’ll go make some coffee.”

Climbing out of bed, Justin scratched his belly and called, “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

When Justin came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Susan was in their room buttoning her jeans. Grabbing up the T-shirt he had thrown on the bed, he hung it over his shoulder and followed his wife downstairs. As they entered the parlour, she looked at the rubble from Archibald’s attack and said, “I’m going to clean up this mess before I start reading over all of the data from John.”

He looked at the circle of glass and saw some of her dried blood mixed in with the fragments. “I’ll help you clean up the glass before I start working myself.” While Susan grabbed the cleaning supplies, Justin turned on the portable radio, tuning it into a local station.

The couple worked quickly to clean up the debris, humming along to the songs being played. They had almost completed their task, when the station took a news break.