Ghostly Business

by Lily Harper Hart

  Ghostly Business

  A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 15

  Lily Harper Hart

  HarperHart Publications

  Copyright © 2020 by Lily Harper Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  17. Seventeen

  18. Eighteen

  19. Nineteen

  Mail List

  Acknowledgments

  Books by Lily Harper Hart

  1

  One

  “Are you sure you want an outdoor wedding?”

  Zander Pritchett, his nose wrinkled, fixed his best friend Harper Harlow with a serious look. He was doing his best to appear stern without being judgmental but, in truth, he really wanted to judge every decision she’d made when it came to planning for her big day.

  Harper didn’t bother to hide her sigh as she leaned back in her chair and flipped her eyes to the spinning fan over her head. When Zander had suggested a double date for dinner — her fiancé Jared Monroe and his live-in love Shawn Donovan along for the ride — she’d briefly wondered if it was some sort of trap. Since Zander had been her best friend practically since birth, she felt almost immediately guilty at being suspicious. Now she knew she had every right to be concerned.

  “Leave her alone,” Jared instructed, breaking a breadstick in half and handing Harper half. He was tall, broad shoulders and dark hair on display. He had angular features — the kind male models the world over would kill for — and boasted a set of killer eyes that often made Harper go weak in the knees. Despite being a fine physical specimen, however, it was his warm nature and loyal determination that earned Harper’s undying affection. Both were on full display today. “She’s allowed to have whatever she wants for her own wedding.”

  Rather than acquiesce and admit he was being something of a pill, Zander rolled his eyes. He and Jared often sparred for Harper’s attention (and competed for her affection on a daily basis) and it was clear Zander was in the mood to go to the mat tonight. “What happens if she plans a beautiful and ornate wedding outside and it rains?” he challenged, refusing to back down despite the warning look Jared shot him. “I’m looking out for her. I mean ... this is going to be the biggest day of her life. It’s supposed to be perfect.”

  Jared thought he was ready to argue with Zander to protect Harper’s interests, but the man’s words were enough to give him pause. “I ... .” He hesitated before sliding his eyes to Harper. “He might have a point.”

  Annoyance, fast and hard, flashed across Harper’s pretty features. “Um ... no.” Her blonde hair, which had been pulled back in a simple ponytail, bobbed as she shook her head. “I want to be under the stars.”

  Jared was taken aback. “Wait ... you want a night wedding?”

  She nodded without hesitation. “That’s exactly what I want.”

  “I’m not saying no or anything — really I’m not — but may I ask why you want a night wedding?”

  “Because she’s deranged,” Zander muttered under his breath. “She’s clearly lost her mind. She’s gone round the bend. She’s hearing the bees whisper and they don’t even have vocal cords. Honestly, I blame you.”

  Jared’s forehead wrinkled. “Me? What did I do?”

  “She was perfectly sane before you came into our lives.” He barely took a breath before continuing. “No, I’m being serious. She was a completely rational human being who didn’t want outdoor wedding ceremonies at night before you kicked in the front door of her heart and took charge of her sanity.”

  Jared made a face. “That’s not dramatic or anything.”

  Zander ignored the admonishment. “It’s the truth.”

  “I didn’t think I would ever get married until Jared came into our lives,” Harper reminded him. “It wasn’t even something I was considering, so that argument makes zero sense.”

  “I certainly hope not.” Jared slid her a fond smile. He loved absolutely everything about her, including her annoying best friend ... although he would never admit that in front of Zander. “If you were considering marrying someone else when we met, I probably owe him quite the apology since we were pretty much inseparable after that first date.”

  His expression made Harper laugh. “I didn’t mean that.” She rested her hand on Jared’s knee under the table. The beach restaurant they were dining at belonged to a friend. It wasn’t formal, but it wasn’t exactly low-key diner food either. Still, they were comfortable enough with the setting to be themselves.

  On impulse, Jared grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips so he could press a kiss to her palm. Whenever he was with her he felt a rush of emotions he couldn’t quite explain. She was his everything and he had no intention of letting her go. If that meant they would be married under the stars in the middle of a cemetery, he was happy to oblige her. “What did you mean?”

  “I just meant that I had no intention of dating anyone, let alone marrying somebody, before you came into my life.” The smile she sent him was small and intimate. “You changed that ... almost from the first moment.”

  His heart skipped a beat at her earnest expression. “You changed everything for me, too.”

  “Oh, geez.” Zander rolled his eyes and made a protesting sound. “You guys are so schmaltzy it makes me want to puke. Don’t worry, Jason. If it happens I’ll make sure people know it was these two and not your over-salty pork loin.”

  The comment was directed at the owner of the restaurant, Jason Thurman, who just happened to be passing by the table at that moment. He went to high school with Harper and Zander so he was used to the shenanigans constantly floating around them.

  “Thank you, Zander,” Jason replied dryly, shaking his head as he stood by the edge of the table. There was a time Zander’s words would’ve irritated him. Now he was simply used to the man’s over-the-top attitude and condescending nature. “Your dinners won’t be much longer. I apologize it’s taking so much time, but we’re down a cook tonight.”

  “It’s fine,” Shawn reassured him quickly. He was always on edge around Jason because he knew that Zander went out of his way to make the restaurant owner uncomfortable. As Zander’s boyfriend, that meant Shawn felt as if he should smooth ruffled feathers whenever the opportunity arose. “We’re having a good time talking. There’s no rush.”

  “Actually, I might be starving to death,” Jared countered, sliding his arm over the back of Harper’s chair and enjoying the way she leaned against him. “If you could light a fire under your chef, that would be great.”

  “You’ll survive,” Jason shot back, winking at Harper before focusing on her fiancé. He enjoyed poking Jared whenever the opportunity arose, which was quite often. When he first returned to Whisper Cove as an adult almost a year before, he was hopeful he would have a chance to pursue Harper. They dated in high school and he’d never truly forgotten her. Unfortunately for him, it became apparent right away that Jared and Harper were a dedicated unit and he’d been teasing Jared about stealing his girlfriend ever since.

  “Have I mentioned how great the service here is?” Jared draw
led. “Oh, wait, I haven’t? Yeah, I think there’s a reason for that.”

  Harper lightly elbowed him in the stomach and pasted a bright smile on her face. She was genuinely fond of Jason. She also understood that he and Jared enjoyed teasing each other. She was in no mood for testosterone boasting this evening, though. “We’re munching on breadsticks,” she reassured him. “We’re fine.”

  “And talking about our wedding,” Jared added pointedly. “Do you want to plan for the big day with us?”

  “You mean the day where you officially steal the woman I love from me and get to do a dance of triumph?” Jason deadpanned.

  Jared nodded without hesitation. “That would be the one.”

  Jason snorted, his good-natured personality on full display. “I would love to hear about your wedding.”

  Jared tilted his chin, surprised. “You would?”

  “Only because Harper is happy when she’s talking about it. I don’t care if you’re happy, but she means something to me.”

  Because he knew it was true, Jared simply nodded. “She wants an outdoor wedding at night.”

  Now it was Jason’s turn to be surprised. “I thought you were having the wedding here.” He was plaintive when he turned to Harper. “That’s what we talked about. I said I was fine with it and I meant it.”

  “I want to have the reception here,” Harper clarified. “I want to have the actual ceremony on the beach at the back of the restaurant. I think with the water right there it’s going to be all kinds of romantic.”

  “Oh. I see.” Because he didn’t see, Jason flicked his eyes to Jared. “Is that what you want?”

  Jared felt put on the spot. “I want what Harper wants.”

  “That was a very quick and diplomatic answer,” Jason offered. “The thing is, I’m not sure I believe it’s true. You don’t look overly happy with the outdoor wedding suggestion.”

  For the first time since bringing it up, Harper realized Jared indeed looked uncomfortable. At first she chalked up his reaction to the fact that he was sparring with Zander, which was normal. Now, though ... . “You don’t want an outdoor ceremony, do you?”

  Jared balked. “I want whatever you want.”

  “No, but you don’t. You don’t want to get married outside.”

  Jared internally kicked himself that he was unable to cover better when it was something this important. “Heart ... .” He hesitated as he decided what he wanted to say. “I love you,” he started after a beat. “I love you more than anything. In fact, I never thought it was possible to love anybody as much as I love you.”

  “Now I’m going to gag,” Jason muttered as Zander wordlessly lifted his hand in agreement so they could bump fists.

  Despite herself, Harper was amused. “I know you love me. That’s not in doubt. You don’t want to get married outside, though. It’s okay. You haven’t asked for anything specific when it comes to the wedding. You’ve given me everything I’ve asked for ... and a few things I’ve only hinted at. If you don’t want to get married outside, it’s a reasonable request.”

  Disappointment etched through the fine lines of her face, making Jared distinctly uncomfortable. “No, Heart, it’s just ... Zander had a good point.” He immediately cringed as the words escaped his mouth. “And there’s something I never thought I would say.”

  Harper pursed her lips to keep from laughing at his reaction.

  “What if it rains?”

  She shrugged. “Then we’ll get wet. We don’t have to get married on the beach, though. It was just a suggestion. We can get married inside the restaurant.”

  Zander was already shaking his head before she finished the statement. “You’re not getting married in a restaurant. You’ll get married in a church.”

  “Church?” Harper and Jared both said the word at the same time, and with the same uneasy glance at each other.

  “No offense, Zander, but we don’t go to church,” Jared said once he’d recovered enough to wrap his head around the notion. “I mean ... I have nothing against church.” He looked around to make sure nobody was staring at them. “I get religion and have no problem with it. I just ... we don’t go to church.”

  Zander’s eye roll was pronounced. “Oh, geez. You’re such an idiot sometimes. Of course you don’t go to church. I don’t go to church either. That doesn’t mean you can’t get married in a church.”

  “Um ... I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means,” Harper countered. “I haven’t been inside of a church since we were kids and your mother made us go to Mass because she was convinced I was possessed. She kept flinging holy water at me every time I walked down the aisle and screaming ‘the power of Christ compels you.’”

  Jared was horrified. “What?” He made a gasping sound deep in his throat. “I thought you were tight with Zander’s mother — although I’ve yet to meet her and am starting to wonder if she’s imaginary — but that story suggests otherwise.”

  Harper’s smile was crooked. “It was a joke.”

  “Oh.” Jared found he was relieved. “I guess it was kind of funny.”

  “It wasn’t funny at all,” Zander countered. “My mother has loved Harper since the day I first brought her home from school. She doesn’t think she’s possessed. There have been times, however, when she’s questioned whether or not I’m possessed.”

  “And she’s real,” Shawn added. “We had dinner with her three nights ago. I was starting to think she was imaginary, too. Turns out that’s not the case.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Jared moved his hand to Harper’s back so he could rub idle circles to soothe her. She remained tense after the outdoor wedding conversation fizzled. “How did your first meeting go?”

  “Great,” Zander replied enthusiastically.

  “It could’ve gone better,” Shawn countered, ignoring the sharp look Zander shot in his direction. “She’s a little ... intense.”

  Harper laughed at Shawn’s word choice. “She is definitely intense,” she agreed. “She’s a good person, though. Once she’s loyal to you it will last forever. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Except she’s not yet loyal to me.”

  Harper shifted on her chair, confused, and pinned Zander with a pointed look. “What does he mean?”

  Suddenly, Zander found something on the wall to stare at. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. The meeting went perfectly fine. There’s no reason to get worked up. Things are awesome.” He delivered the words in a robotic manner.

  “Oh, geez.” Harper made a face and turned back to Shawn. “What happened? I thought for sure she would love you. She’s the gossipy sort, but she really is loyal. She’s hated all the other guys Zander has dated over the years. I just assumed you were a shoo-in.”

  “I assumed that, too.” Shawn was calm on the surface, but the way he tapped his fingers on the tabletop told Harper that he was well and truly agitated. “Things were fine at first ... and then she asked when I was going to propose.”

  Harper sucked in a quick breath. Proposals were a tense topic in the house Zander and Shawn shared these days. “You didn’t, Zander,” she chided, horrified on Shawn’s behalf.

  “What?” Zander’s look of innocence was exaggerated. “Why do you assume I did something? Perhaps my mother was simply curious.”

  “Yeah, that’s what it was,” Jared muttered. “Dude, seriously, you have to let this go.”

  “I’m not doing anything!” Zander was shrill, and after searching faces for a sympathetic partner in crime, he surprisingly settled on Jason. “I didn’t do anything.”

  Jason was obviously out of the loop because he looked caught. “Okay. I believe you.”

  “Oh, he did something,” Jared countered. “He’s been bucking for a proposal for weeks. Ever since Harper told him he should focus on his own wedding — and she meant in the future — he’s been unbearable.”

  “Hey!” Zander extended a finger and leaned across the table so Jared had nowhere to look but directly in
to his furious eyes. “I didn’t do anything. My mother simply took it upon herself to pressure Shawn. How can you possibly blame me for that?”

  Harper sympathetically clucked her tongue and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Shawn. That had to be horrible. I love Zander’s mother but ... she can be intense when she gets something into her head. I truly am sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Shawn offered up a haphazard wave. “It’s ... fine.” He said the words, but it was obvious he didn’t exactly feel them. “Zander and I had a long talk. He’s promised to back off about pressuring me for a proposal.”

  The table fell into silence as Zander stewed. Because he was a people-pleaser, Jason was the first to try and ease the uncomfortable vibe. Unfortunately, he went about it in the exact wrong manner.

  “You really should give it some thought, Zander,” Jason offered. “I mean ... do you want to come across as a needy chick? That’s exactly how this is starting to sound. Can you imagine Harper begging Jared to propose? He would’ve run the other way. Am I right?”

  “No.” Jared made a face. “First off, she wouldn’t have pressured me because that’s not who she is. Secondly, I would’ve been fine if we talked about it before I bought the ring. I was nervous and it would’ve probably made me feel better to know she was open to the question.”

  “Were you really nervous?” Harper couldn’t decide if that news was surprising. “You seemed ... relaxed.”

  “Well, I was nervous.” Jared smiled at the memory. “I enlisted Zander to make it as perfect as possible. That should’ve been a dead giveaway that I was feeling the pressure.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “It was the perfect proposal, if that counts for anything. It was private ... and heartfelt ... and it made me cry.”