“Like?”
“Salvaging any of the old barn wood I can for resale. I doubt we can rebuild with the old lumber, but we shouldn’t let it go to waste. Besides, unless someone in town would be willing to hire me, I need to make money somehow.” She looked at her hands, her back still to him as she leaned against the foot of the bed.
“I thought you had the trust,” he said.
“It covers the structures only. We can’t buy food with it, and I can’t keep relying on Polly every time I want to eat. We can’t buy clothes or new phones... oh, hey, check it out.” She pulled a small gray flip phone out of her pocket. “Look at the high-tech hardware that was delivered this morning. I have a phone again.”
There was something intimate about having her in his room. The memory of their kiss remained on his lips. He didn’t regret it, but she hadn’t mentioned it again, and so neither did he. Maybe he was foolish for thinking a powerful Goode witch could be interested in a werewolf like him.
Nolan swung his feet to the floor and laid the covers across his midsection. “There’s a guy in town, Garrett, who makes furniture. He owns Nail in the Coffin Carpentry. I can give him a call and see if he wants to take some of it off your hands.”
He was sure not too many locals would want a piece of Goode property in their homes or businesses, but he’d sure as heck try to sell it for her.
“That sounds like a morbid name for a business,” she said.
“His ancestors were the undertakers in Unlucky Valley.” He glanced around his room. When he stood, he took the sheets with him and tucked them around his waist. “Toss me a shirt from my bag?”
As she moved to his duffle bag, she said, “You can use the dresser. You’re here all the time now anyway.”
Nolan couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that a hint?”
“Yes.” She threw the shirt in his direction without looking and he leaned over to catch it. “I’m hinting that I want my own bathroom with its own hot water tank. I’ve decided I don’t like sharing hot water with everyone in the house, and it’s just going to become worse when we start having guests.”
“You still want to have the bed and breakfast after all that’s been going on around here?” Nolan slid the shirt over his head, wearing the sheet like a lavalava.
“Why not? Haunted destinations are all the rage, and I won’t have to pay people to fake weird things happening.” Her head turned to the side, but she kept her back to him. “The trust ensures the house and land will always be taken care of and remain in the family, but whoever set it up forgot to take care of the people living in the house.” She reached for the duffle bag and tossed it on the bed within his reach. “So, I’m creating my own loophole. Let the family trust take care of the remodeling and any damage done by guests. Let it pay the utility bills and the property taxes. The money we make will go toward groceries, and clothes, and a new car—nothing fancy—and eventually we’ll add Unlucky Valley ghost tours and history tours, and maybe build a series of cabins for those who want privacy and—”
“Whoa, Lily, take a breath.” Nolan finished getting dressed.
“I can’t explain it. I woke up today and everything is clear. First we get this house ready for guests. Then we form an LLC, hire some people, put up a website—”
“Don’t you think you need to be having this conversation with your brother?”
“Why?” This time she did turn.
“Because you’re planning a business with him.”
“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I forgot an important part of my plan.” She came toward him. “I’m going to need help. I love Dante, but I know him. Running a bed and breakfast is not his style. He’ll hang out for a while but then disappear when something else comes along. My sister, Jesse, isn’t ready for that kind of responsibility, and she’s refusing to even visit. Aunt Polly,” Lily pursed her lips and sighed heavily as she shook her head, “enough said.”
“So…?”
“Oh, sorry. You. I want you to be my partner. You know about broken heaters and pipes and wallpaper-y things.”
“Wallpaper-y things?”
“Yes.” Lily nodded. “If our work here—what little work we’ve managed to get done between hauntings and raccoon attacks—tells me anything, it’s that I know nothing about wallpaper-y things. I need a partner who does. You’ve said more than once that the city inspector gig is not really your thing, so I thought, if you were interested, we could form a partnership.”
Partnership. It wasn’t exactly the offer he wanted from her.
“Are you hesitating because of the kiss?” Her eyes dipped to his mouth, but she leaned back.
“We should probably discuss it.”
“Okay.” She looked at him expectantly.
Nolan wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. Did he tell her the truth? Did he tell her he thought about kissing her often? Did he tell her he wanted more than that? Did he tell her how he felt?
He finally decided on, “Maybe we shouldn’t discuss it.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want, we’ll pretend it never happened.” Lily’s eyes moved away from his. He studied her expression. Her smile fell. “What about the partnership? Did I mention it would be fifty-fifty?”
“No.” Nolan touched her arm, causing her eyes to meet his again. “I think sixty-forty.”
“You want sixty?” Her eyes widened in surprise.
“I want forty. This is your property, your house, your idea. You should have the majority. I wouldn’t feel right taking half.” He dropped his hand from her arm, even as he wanted to pull her closer.
“No. We’re looking at a lot of work. I’d need you to take care of the grounds and the maintenance. Fifty-fifty.”
“Sixty-forty.”
“Fifty-one and forty-nine.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Final offer.”
“Deal.” Nolan held out his hand. “Partner.”
“Really?” Her smile returned. When he nodded, she clapped her hands a couple of times in excitement before grasping his hand. “Yay!”
Her hand remained on his. Fear tried to creep into the happy moment. He knew he had to protect her. As soon as he could slip away, he was going to have a conversation with the town council to see who else they’d tasked with running the Goodes out of town so he could put a stop to it.
“You get started on a plan for,” she waved her hand around to encompass the house, “all of the construction stuff, and I’ll get working on a business plan so the lawyer can draw up contracts for us.” She let go and hurried toward the door. “I can’t believe we’re going to make Garden Gnome Bed and Breakfast a reality.”
Nolan started to laugh at her enthusiasm, but stopped as the name sunk in. “Wait, what?” He rushed after her. “I can’t own something called Garden Gnome Bed and Breakfast. Can’t we call it The Goode Estate? Lucky Valley Hotel? Werewolf Inn? Something more... manly?”
He heard her footsteps moving down the stairs and tripped on a gnome standing outside his door. The round-cheeked statue stared up at Nolan as he rocked on his back. Nolan picked the gnome up and placed him next to the wall.
He patted the statue on the pointy hat. “Sorry, buddy.”
“If you hurt her, I’ll set your hairy butt on fire.” Dante stood up from the stairwell leading to the third floor. He’d been sitting on the bottom step in the shadows.
“It was only a kiss,” Nolan said. “I would never hurt her.”
Dante arched a brow. “Kiss? I was talking about Lily’s business idea. She needs it to work. We no longer have jobs waiting for us in Washington and the funds are getting pretty low.”
Just how bad was Lily’s financial situation? It never occurred to him that a Goode might need financial assistance.
“Oh, ah, yeah, don’t worry. I won’t do anything to hurt the business. I think it’s a great idea, if we can get the spirits and gnomes to behave.” Nolan didn’t relish the idea of arguing with a witch who’d just received his powers.
&nbs
p; “Wait.” Dante approached, tilting his head to study Nolan’s face. “You kissed my sister, and she didn’t deck you?”
“I think that’s something you should talk to your sister about.” He might have let it slip, but Nolan was not about to kiss and tell.
“Wow. She must really like you, wolf boy. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she could be interested in you.” Dante slapped him on the arm. “Good luck with that. Better men than you have tried to crack through that armor. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lily took hold of Nolan’s arm, keeping him from walking into Stammerin’ Eddie’s. “The last time I was in town they chased me up a tree.”
“Two teenagers chased you up a tree. These are adults.” Nolan peered in the diner’s window. “Wait, no, I see what you mean. Five-year-old June Martin can be scary.”
“Are you making fun of me?” Lily hit Nolan’s arm playfully.
He pretended to shield himself. “Only a little.”
“This is Lucky Valley, so it’s possible those brown ringlets transform into snakes and she turns people into stone.” Lily tried to keep walking.
“Oh, please, we haven’t had a Medusa in town for decades.” He blocked her from fleeing. “If you want a business here, you need to make friends with the locals. Luckily, there—”
“No, don’t talk about luck.”
“Luckily,” he repeated, “there have been no more fires started on the lawn. Maybe they were just pranks and whoever did it grew bored when they didn’t get a bigger reaction out of you.”
“What if I bring my bad luck in there with me and make things worse?” Lily tried to keep walking, but he looped his arm into hers and swung her toward the glass door. If she tried to leave now, it would be obvious as there were people looking at her. Under her breath, she muttered, “I kind of don’t like you right now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I like you very much.” Nolan pushed open the door and stepped close to her back to force her inside.
“Nolan,” the woman behind the counter greeted. Her auburn hair was pulled back, and she wore black, rectangular, plastic glasses. The red polo shirt with the business logo held a nametag that read “Sal” in bold letters. Her eyes went to Lily, clearly seeing she had two customers, but she didn’t acknowledge the second. “Pick a booth, I’ll be right back.”
The front counter barstools were full of customers drinking coffee. A few of them eyed her as she walked past. She tried to smile, but that only seemed to make it worse, as their expressions became suspicious. The rectangular seating area, beyond the food prep station and stools, was long and skinny. Black-and-white tiles checkered the floor, and shiny silver lined the ceiling. Behind the counter, old-fashioned soda fountains, a soft serve machine, blenders, and the largest coffee maker she’d ever seen spread along the back wall. A serving window glowed red with heat lamps.
The low murmur of noise from patrons died down until stopping altogether. Red booths lined both sides of the diner, creating a walkway through the middle. Tin signs of 1950s food logos graced the walls. Of course, the only open table was near the back, so they were forced down the aisle lined with watchful eyes.
“Been awhile since we’ve seen you here for supper, Nolan,” said a bearded man, one amongst a table of many. The five men looked like a plainclothes Santa convention with varying depths of graying beards. Only there was nothing jolly about their expressions. They looked at her like she’d ruined Christmas.
“Gentlemen,” Nolan greeted the men. “How’ve you been?”
Grunts and small, disapproving moans answered him.
“Fish haven’t been biting,” the first bearded man muttered with a side-eye glance at Lily.
“I had three flat tires,” Santa number three added.
“Mm-hmm,” Santa four agreed. “He did. Three different times.”
“My niece set her kitchen of fire,” number five said. “I have to build her all new cabinets.”
Lily automatically looked at Santa number two, to see what his complaint would be. He merely lifted a bandaged hand that appeared to be missing a forefinger.
Lily had the insane urge to apologize, even as she knew none of it had been her doing. Before she could speak, Nolan ended the conversation. “Good seeing you, gentleman, we’ll let you get back to your meal.”
She tried to hurry to the empty table and managed to pass two more booths before June Martin’s father tucked her under his arm in a protective gesture. A redhead ducked behind a menu as if the laminated trifold could protect her. Conversely, the dark-haired man she was with didn’t stop staring.
“Maybe we should order to go,” Lily said softly to Nolan.
“Maybe she should take it and move out of town,” someone whispered a little too loudly.
Lily’s gaze darted to a middle-aged woman in a paisley dress.
Nolan pretended not to hear the rude comment. “I know you want to get back to work on the help wanted ads, but you need to eat. This new business is not going to get off the ground if you don’t take care of yourself.”
He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him but looked at her as if they had a private conversation. He led her to the empty booth, and she slid onto the red cushioned seat.
“Nolan—”
He cut her off by handing her one of the menus stored against the wall behind the salt and pepper shakers. “Eat first, business plan later.”
She leaned forward and whispered, “What are you talking about?”
He looked at his menu. “Wait for it.”
Sal appeared at the table with an order pad. “Haven’t seen you here in a while. We were about to send a search and rescue team out to save…” She glanced at Lily, and it was clear she amended what she’d been about to say. “Out to your house.”
“Hey, Sally. Yeah, I took a second job at the Goode Estate and they’ve been feeding me pretty well.” Nolan smiled at the waitress before turning back to his menu.
Sal looked at him like he’d just announced he was growing a second head.
“Don’t you have that memorized by now?” Another woman joined Sal. She was older but wore the same red uniform with the nametag “Edna” on her shirt. Her short black hair was curled around the top of her head but cropped short by the ears and neck.
“How are you doing, darlin’?” Nolan stood and gave the woman a hug. Lily arched a brow at the way his tone changed.
“Now, you stop that, Mr. Nolan Dawson. You know my Eddie is the jealous type.” Edna swatted his hand, but the smile never left her face.
Sal backed away, waited for a few seconds, and then went to check on her other tables. Lily was aware of the surrounding quiet as everyone tried not to stare at them.
“Who’s your friend?” Edna’s was the first genuinely kind smile she’d seen from the Lucky Valley townsfolk. As Nolan introduced her, Lily waited for that expression to change.
“I would like you to meet Lily Goode. She has some big plans for the Goode Estate.” Nolan slid back into his seat across from her.
“We have big plans,” Lily amended.
“She has me doing construction,” Nolan said.
“I heard somewhere you were looking for help? What kind of help? People always need jobs,” Edna said. “Maybe I can send them your way. Everyone comes in here eventually.”
Lily glanced at Nolan, who merely grinned. Since walking through the diner was the first time hiring people had been mentioned outside the house, it was pretty easy to figure out when Edna had heard the rumor.
“Lily’s going to open up a bed and breakfast—”
“We,” Lily inserted.
“—and try to bring tourism to the area. She has big plans,” Nolan said. “Can I get a coffee, chocolate milk shake, and a Big Eddie burger?”
“Sure thing, hon, you want fries?” Edna asked.
“Always,” he said.
“And for you?” Edna turned to Lily, not w
riting the order down.
“Coffee, vanilla shake, and the Stammerin’ Sandwich with fries.” Lily put the menu back by the wall.
“You don’t want that,” Edna said.
“Oh, ah…?” Lily looked at the menu but didn’t pick it back up.
“Trust me, Eddie bought a new hot pepper sauce and it will set your mouth on fire. Everyone is staying away from that sandwich.” Edna shook her head. “It will strip the paint off a car.” She gestured toward the Santa table, leaned forward, covered her mouth and said, “How do you think Stanley lost his finger?”
Lily paused, unsure if it was polite to laugh.
Edna waved her hand in the air. “That last one was a joke, dear. How about you let me make you something special?”
Nolan’s eyes widened, and he shook his head slightly in denial. But Edna was looking at her expectantly, and she was being so friendly, that Lily found herself saying, “That would be great, thank you, Edna.”
Edna nodded. “Be right back with the coffees.”
“Edna will spread the word,” Nolan said.
“I hope it’s a good word.” Lily tried to slide down in her seat a little to hide from the prying eyes.
“It will be. She likes you.” Nolan rested his arms on the table.
“How can you tell?” Lily kept low in her seat without trying to be obvious.
“She didn’t let you eat the tongue-melting sandwich.”
Sal returned with the coffee cups and a small bowl of creamers before leaving again. The waitress didn’t say a word.
Lily lifted the cup and sniffed. “I really hope this is better than last time.”
“Best coffee on the planet,” Nolan assured her.
“Apparently you don’t remember what the Goode-Crawford curse did to the coffee machine.” Lily dared a sip, bracing herself for something horrible, and was pleasantly surprised. She sat up straighter and took another sip of the hot liquid and nodded her head. “Oh, wow, that is a really good cup of coffee.”
“Maybe luck is turning around.” Nolan barely got the words out before a loud pop sounded behind the counter.
Better Haunts and Garden Gnomes_A Cozy Paranormal Mystery Page 13