by Rose Pressey
As if reading my mind, the gang appeared.
“I’m practicing on my own, at home. By myself.”
The look on Callahan’s face was priceless. In any other situation, it would probably have been funny but, right now, not so much.
Mae and Anthony snickered at my answer.
“Oh, dear. You shouldn’t lie to the poor boy,” Seth said.
Easy for him to say.
Callahan swatted at the air above his head, then touched his hair. He swiveled around in his seat, looking over his shoulder. Mae had dragged her long fingernails through his thick, dark locks.
“It’s so lustrous,” she said. “I couldn’t help myself.”
I sent a pleading look her way. She gave a sassy grin, then faded away. Daddy-O had pulled up a seat next to me. With his elbows propped on the table, and chin resting in the palms of his hands, he fixed his gaze on me. Little hearts rested in his ghostly eyes. Seth had wandered over to the dessert tray. It must suck not being able to eat chocolate. That would be like hell…forever doomed to stare at chocolate, but the decadence could never touch your lips.
Callahan smiled showing his bright white teeth. My stomach performed acrobatics. His broad shoulders bulged at the seams of his shirt. He reached over and placed his muscular hand on top of mine. The warmth from his skin radiated through me, reaching all the way to my feet.
Callahan yanked his hand away. “What the hell? Did you feel that?”
Doomed. Our relationship was doomed before it truly began. And I’d thought we’d started over. My cool cat ghost had slapped Callahan’s hand. Apparently, I had a jealous ghost on my hands. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a little bit of male jealousy as much as the next girl, but this was not going to fly.
I shook my head. “Feel what?” Yeah, my little Miss Innocent act.
“It felt as if someone smacked my hand. Did you feel that?”
Still feigning innocence, I said, “No, I didn’t feel a thing.”
My stomach twisted into a tighter knot with each lie that slipped from my lips. I felt ashamed for lying. But what choice did I have? Damn ghosts. I stole a glance at Anthony again. He smiled broadly and winked. He was handsome—I’d give him that. His eyes twinkled under the light, too. Wait. Why was I noticing a ghost’s good looks? I had a hot-blooded male right in front of me and his lips screamed ‘kiss me.’ Not literally, but they were so succulent…
My phone rang again, jarring me away from the thought. Yet again, I fumbled through my purse, pulled it out, and groaned as I saw the caller ID. Mindy again. The thought crossed my mind not to answer, but I’d worry something was wrong if I didn’t.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at Callahan. “I need to answer.” Next time, I’d place my phone on vibrate. Would there be a next time? And whom was I kidding? I was addicted to my cell phone as if it were chocolate. Turning it off would be like turning off my access to the world.
He smiled. “It’s okay. You’re a popular woman.”
Popular with confused spirits. “Yes?” I said when I clicked open the phone.
“You need to get to your store now. There’s a huge problem.” Mindy’s voice shook with panic.
Chapter Eight
Mindy hadn’t been kidding when she said there was a problem. Callahan and I pulled up to the curb in front of Book Nook to discover a couple of police cars with flashing lights, the glass in the front door of my store smashed almost completely out.
I hurried from the car, through the nosy people gathered on the sidewalk, and up to the entrance. Callahan followed on my heels. By now, he certainly had to think I was certifiable. No doubt he thought I needed to be in a little padded room.
I expected to look up and see a dark cloud hanging above my head. The autumn air had been pleasant until now. Instead, it felt oppressive and foreboding. My hands felt clammy and my face flushed. I guess finding your store vandalized would do that to a person. A nervous vibration pulsed through me and I couldn’t shake it.
Mindy stood by the door with a man I’d never seen before. Something sparked in my mind. He looked familiar. When our gazes met, it hit me. I saw the resemblance, and it sent a chill racing up my spine. The man had dark hair and chiseled features, but the eyes were the same as Brianna’s.
A couple of policemen talked amongst themselves in the far corner of the store, next to a pile of torn up books. My heart raced as I scanned the space. I tried to remain tough, but tears pooled in the corners of my eyes.
“Larue, thank God you’re here.” Mindy raced to my side, squeezing me in a tight embrace.
“I don’t know what to say. How did this happen? How did you know this happened?” I asked.
“I drove by, saw it, and I called the cops. It had to have just happened. Otherwise, I think someone else would have called.” She clutched at her chest.
“You think? Sometimes I wonder if anyone would bother to call.” My gaze scanned the area, trying to take an inventory in my mind.
“You should let them know you’re here.” Mindy pointed.
We turned our gaze toward the police officers huddled in the corner.
“Excuse me.” I interrupted their whispers. The uniformed men turned toward me. Their faces were scrunched up with confused looks as if they’d heard a nagging fly buzzing around their heads. They acted as if they didn’t know who I was. I knew differently. Officer Caldwell furrowed his brow and studied me for a second. He came in all the time to buy political thrillers.
Finally, the lightbulb clicked. “Oh, hi, Ms. Donavan. Didn’t see you there. You want to take a look around and tell us if anything’s missing?”
Five-foot-two wasn’t that short. How could he not see me standing there? Did I blend in with the books?
“Did they take my cash?” I looked toward the register, which sat in the middle of the store, against the right side of the wall.
“You had cash in the store?” The officer shifted his feet, his shiny shoes squeaking against the hardwood floor.
“A little bit under the register. I was in a hurry and didn’t take it to the bank.” I’d been in a rush to get to my date that had now turned into a complete disaster.
The officers exchanged looks of pity, as if shaming me would make the situation any better.
All right, so leaving cash in the store was not a smart move on my part. But I had a tendency to learn my lessons the hard way. Plus, my date with Callahan had caused the logical thinking section of my brain to malfunction. A guy as hot as him—that was enough to make any girl not think straight.
“Don’t let anyone touch anything, for Pete’s sake,” Officer Woods bellowed from the back of the store.
Why did I get the gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’d never figure out who broke into Book Nook? No doubt, this police force would bungle the entire investigation. This was small potatoes compared to the real investigations they usually took on—no need to worry about a little break-in at the local bookstore.
“We need you to sign the police report,” Officer Caldwell said. “We’ll also need a little information, if we stand a chance of figuring out who did this.”
Well, that was a real confidence booster.
Another tall, uniformed man approached. “Larue.” Deputy Fredericks nodded with a tip of his hat.
Michael Fredericks and I had attended the same school since first grade. It was hard to imagine him enforcing the law when he used to throw paper balls and eat erasers.
“How’s it going, Mike? Sorry, I mean, Deputy Fredericks,” I said.
Mindy snickered.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Maybe you can shed some light on what’s really going on here.”
“We’ll spend some time looking for fingerprints but, to be honest, I doubt we’ll find anything. It’s probably someone playing a prank. Things like this just don’t happen in Magnolia, you know. The downtown shops are pretty safe.”
I looked up at him just in time to catch his worried expre
ssion. Pretty safe…until now.
“Well, obviously they do happen in Magnolia because I’m staring at the mess caused by it.” I frowned.
“I understand your frustration, really I do. We’ll see what we can do to find out who did it. I’ll be back to talk with you later.” He patted my arm, then turned to leave.
I massaged my temples, then shoved my hands into my pockets. I didn’t know what else to do with myself.
Mindy cleared her throat, stopping the deputy before he got away. “Um, you know, Deputy Fredericks, I heard a couple stores have been burglarized recently,” she said.
He stopped in his tracks.
Why hadn’t I heard of this? I glanced from her to the deputy. “I thought you said things like this don’t happen in Magnolia? You said the stores are safe.”
Deputy Fredericks gave me a blank stare. A lot of good he was. Did he fib on purpose? But what reason would he have to do something like that?
Finally, he said, “Well, they don’t happen in the downtown stores. That’s why I said it. Those break-ins happened on the other side of town and we know the responsible party.”
“You still should have told us,” Mindy scolded him. Just like in school when she ratted him out to the teacher.
His face pinched into a frown. I wanted to jab Mindy in the side with my elbow for pissing him off. “By the way, you have any enemies?” he asked me.
“Not now,” I mumbled.
“Larue doesn’t have enemies,” Mindy fumed.
Callahan moved from his spot by the front door, coming to stand next to me. He was a strong presence by my side.
“All right, we’ll talk later.” Deputy Fredericks nodded, then walked away.
“That wasn’t much help. The police in this town need to evaluate their hiring policy if they hire guys like Mike Fredericks,” Mindy frowned.
The sensation of someone staring caught my attention. The man standing beside Mindy took in my full appearance. I wanted to break free from his gaze, but I wasn’t sure how to accomplish that. It was as if his eyes had me transfixed.
“You know, Mindy told me about your ghost hunting. Have you ever considered that you might be bringing demons home with you? They can destroy lives. Cause a lot of bad things to happen.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met.” I frowned.
“The name’s Cooper Garret.” He stretched his hand toward me. “I’ve read a lot about demons. They can disguise themselves, you know. Even possess people and make them do crazy things.”
Chapter Nine
“I’m aware of what demons can do, thank you.” Please don’t let him be a know-it-all like his cousin.
“I’m sorry. Mindy was just telling me about your special talent.” He smiled.
Mindy looked like she’d actually seen a ghost this time. I prayed she had told him about my ghost hunting talent, not the talking to spirits talent. Whatever the case, I needed to stop this conversation. Couldn’t my ghost friends take a hint and wreak havoc? I was about to cause a distraction by flinging my body across the floor when Deputy Fredericks approached.
“Listen, Larue, we’ll keep an eye out. I’ll drive by a little more often, but I’m sure it was just a random incident. Just a few more things and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Thank you, Deputy Fredericks.” Callahan shook the deputy’s hand.
I had almost tuned out every word the officer said. This new guy had me intrigued.
“So, how did you two meet again?” I pointed at Mindy and Cooper. I didn’t want him to return to the last topic.
“Mindy here…” He draped his arm across her shoulders. “Was working and I stopped by for gym info. Unfortunately, it looks as if it’s not the right gym for me.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
The guy had been in town for mere minutes and he was already Mindy’s dear friend? I couldn’t believe she let him touch her. Mindy hated having her personal space invaded.
“You never know. You should give it a whirl,” I said. Pun intended.
“I bet you’d be better at it than Larue.” Mindy’s big brown eyes widened as she wiggled her eyebrows.
They chuckled in unison. Had she already shared the horror stories of my attempts at her fitness classes with him? I wanted to hide my red cheeks from Callahan.
By the look of Cooper’s muscular arms, he’d probably rip the pole right out of the ceiling.
Yeah, so I sucked at working that pole.
“I’m not really the athletic type,” I whispered to Callahan.
“It’s okay.” He grinned. “You have other talents.”
Why were we discussing pole dancing when my front door was broken, anyway?
I studied Cooper while he whispered to Mindy. He definitely had eyes like Brianna’s, which creeped me out a bunch. They had the same steely blue color, cold and sharp. Was he a witch, too? I needed to call Karyn Bentley and ask about him.
“Well, where are my manners? We haven’t been properly introduced.” I cast a glance at Mindy. “I’m Larue, by the way.” I held out my hand toward the new stranger in town.
Cooper Garret may be intriguing, and not necessarily in a good way, but that was no reason for me to be rude. I’d even been nice to Brianna until she played dirty, so it was no time to start being bad-mannered now.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, although I’d prefer it was under better circumstances.” He gestured toward the mess around us.
“Thank you. Me too.” I sighed.
He had held my hand in his strong grasp for a several seconds, then released his hold when he looked at Callahan. So far, his personality was nothing like Brianna’s sharp, snippy attitude.
“This is Callahan Weiss. He owns the coffee shop next door,” I said.
Callahan stretched his hand toward Cooper. It didn’t take a bulletin board for me to realize Cooper didn’t want to partake in pleasantries with Callahan, though. Cooper dropped his car keys, as if by complete accident, but I knew better. He bent to pick them up, but when he straightened, he didn’t offer to shake Callahan’s hand. If he thought I’d believed he dropped the keys by accident, he had another think coming. Sure, maybe I was being overly suspicious because of Brianna, but that was one murky gene pool, so why not be guarded. Anyone would wonder if he was up to no good, not just me.
“I don’t like this guy,” Seth said from over Cooper’s shoulder.
Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t.
“I don’t like the dirtbag either.” Anthony neared as I gave him a warning glare. I hoped Cooper didn’t think I was sending him dirty looks. I might not trust the guy but, as I said, my mama didn’t teach me to be rude.
Mae sashayed a circle around Cooper, her ghostly hands inches away from his muscular body. If only he could see Mae West gliding around him...
“I don’t know…,” she purred. “He’s got ‘bad boy’ written all over him, and I like it.” She puckered her lips and blew Cooper a kiss. “I like a man who's good, but not too good. The good die young, and I hate a dead one.”
“Hey, I heard that. I thought you loved me,” Anthony said.
Mae laughed.
I knew she was itching to run her fingers through Cooper’s thick, dark-chestnut hair. Having a little fun with my ghoulish friends was tempting; I should have motioned for her to go for it, but I refrained. Seeing his reaction would be priceless, though. Maybe he’d think the unseen presence was one of those demons he’d claimed to have read so much about.
Cooper noticed my expression and furrowed his brow. He stared for a beat, then focused his attention on Callahan again. “I am so sorry about my cousin, Mr. Weiss. I hope you won’t hold my relative’s actions against me. Brianna always was the black sheep of the family.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. You had nothing to do with it. I can’t blame you. I’m trying to put it behind me. It’s still fresh in my mind, though.” Callahan’s expression turned as he looked down at his shoes.
Perhaps the magic spell had a g
reater impact on him than any of us could possibly understand.
“Well, again, I’m truly sorry, Mr. Weiss.”
“Call me Callahan, please.” He shoved his hands in his pants pockets, a sign that he was putting a distance between him and Cooper.
“Doesn’t look as if you’ll be opening for business in the morning,” Cooper said, turning his dangerously dark gaze on me.
A nervous lump formed in the pit of my stomach. I shifted from one foot to the other, then answered, “Not until I can get all these books picked up, but I think I’ll be ready for business as usual.” I let out a deep breath.
“Can I help you?” Cooper asked with his stare intent on me.
Wow. That was a very sweet gesture—very much unlike Brianna. So why was I being so suspicious? It was common for us Kentucky folk to be guarded around strangers and, after what Brianna had done, I doubted anyone would blame me for taking that stance. But I didn’t think having this Cooper character around for very long was such a good idea.
“That’s very kind of you to offer, but I couldn’t possibly take up any of your time. It’s not as much work as it seems. I just need to board up that door and get the books picked up.” I pointed around the store. “It doesn’t look as if any of them were damaged. Well, except for that one.” I pointed at the book with the pages ripped right from the spine.
Callahan leaned in closer to me. “I’ll fix the glass in the door for you. I have some scrap boards next door from when I opened.” His spicy scent launched a tingle through my body. Even at a moment such as this, he made me feel full of life, as the butterflies tumbled in my stomach.
“Thank you so much.” I had suspected Callahan was special, but the more I got to know him, the more he proved it. With the crazy things he’d seen from me, he had to be extraordinary.
Speaking of my outrageous life, I spotted my three ghoul friends in the corner talking amongst themselves. No doubt, they were deliberating my terrible plight.
“Excuse me for just a second.” I stepped away from the human crowd in order to better eavesdrop, but before I heard a single word, Callahan gently took my arm, guiding me away from Mindy and Cooper.