Where The Heart Is: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations story

disappointment in her eyes. “Just kind of informal, you know?”
Sighing, she plopped onto the living room sofa. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Me neither,” Ron chimed in, strolling out of the kitchen with two bottles of beer. He handed Dean one and took a swig from the other. “You doing this because it’s a cool haunted house case, or are you just looking to get laid?” He shot Dean an evil grin. “Again.”
“Hey, I’m a professional. I’ll only let him fuck me off the clock.” Dean put the mouth of the beer bottle to his lips and took a long swallow.
Ron snickered. Kerry turned big, sad eyes to him. “Are you still gonna hang with us some?”
“Of course.” Dropping onto the couch beside her, Dean pulled her into a one-armed hug. “Don’t look like that, hon. I promise not to let the investigation take up too much of my time.”
“What about Sommer?” She pulled back, watching his face. “I mean I like Sommer a lot, I really do, and I don’t want to sound selfish, but I hope you don’t spend all the rest of your visit with him.”
Ron sprawled in the big, cushy chair across from the sofa. “Relax, babe. You’ll get your Dean fix.”
Kerry rolled her eyes at her husband’s teasing grin. “Shut up.”
“Y’all could help me investigate,” Dean offered, ignoring for the moment the fact that he had no idea what they would actually do since he had no equipment other than his camera.
Ron’s eyes lit up. “Oh man, that would be cool.”
“It would. We’ve never done a paranormal investigation before.” Kerry gave Dean a look halfway between cautious and hopeful. “You don’t think Sommer would mind?”
“I can’t imagine he would.” Dean shrugged. “You know him better than I do, though, what do you think?”
“He won’t care,” Ron piped up before Kerry could answer. “So when do we start?”
Dean shook his head with a smile. Ron had always been one to jump into anything new with both feet. “Well, Sommer and I are going out tomorrow night to talk about the case—”
Kerry snorted. “Talk. Uh-huh. Sure.”
“Talk about the case,” Dean repeated, nudging Kerry’s shoulder with his. “I guess we’ll go from there, but I’m hoping I can really dig into it Tuesday, so let’s tentatively plan on starting our investigation then.”
“Sounds good.” With a little squeal, Kerry grabbed Dean’s arm in both hands and bounced in place. “Oh my God, this is exciting.”
Dean laughed. “Wow, that was a quick turnaround. One minute you’re mad at me, the next you’re all excited.”
“I wasn’t mad,” she protested, dropping Dean’s arm.
“You were kind of mad,” Ron interjected.
Kerry shrugged, a sheepish smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Okay, well, maybe a little. But it really is exciting to get to investigate a haunted house. I’ve always sort of wanted to. Plus this way, we get to spend more time with you.”
“And I get to spend more time with y’all too.” Leaning over, Dean kissed Kerry’s cheek and stood. “Okay, since I have helpers now, I’m going to call Bo and see if he knows anyone local who can rent me some extra equipment.”
“’Kay.” Kerry heaved herself to her feet. “Well, since I can’t have a beer like some people, I’m gonna go fix some tea.”
Dean patted her back as he headed for the front door. Out on the small covered porch, he set his beer bottle on the arm of the porch swing and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. He sat in the swing and dialed Sam and Bo’s home number. He was about to give up and try later when Sam finally answered. “’Lo?”
Sam sounded distinctly out of breath. Dean grinned. “Hi, Sam. Did I interrupt something?”
“Not what you’re thinking, no. We just got back from a run.”
“How do you know what I was thinking? I know y’all run all the damn time for some unfathomable reason, maybe I already guessed that.”
A snort sounded through the phone. “Somehow I doubt it.”
“You know me too well, Sam.” Dean picked up his beer and took a swig. “Could I talk to Bo for a sec? I want to ask him something.”
“Yeah, sure, he’s right here. It’s good to talk to you, Dean.”
“You too.” Dean took a long swallow of beer while waiting for Bo to come on the line.
A few seconds passed before Bo’s voice came through the phone. “Hi, Dean. How are you?”
“I’m great. Having a fantastic time wallowing in nostalgia and making new friends.”
Bo chuckled.