Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (3 page)

“
She has a boyfriend,” Seth
piped up, folding his arms in front of his puffed out
chest.

Was Callahan my boyfriend? I didn’t
think we were quite at that level yet, but I didn’t remind Seth. No
need to open that can of worms right now. Anthony shrugged his
shoulders. I got the impression he didn’t care about my
relationship status.

“
It’s getting late, could
we wrap this up?” Seth asked with impatience.

I should have reminded him no one was
forcing him to hang around. All of a sudden, he was Callahan’s
watchman. Where had he been when Callahan had the nasty love spell
placed on him by the former bad girl in town?

“
I suppose if I asked you
all to go into the light, you wouldn’t, huh?”

They shook their heads in
unison.

Huh, well, that wasn’t going to work.
What kind of ghost hunter was I? Lack of confidence wasn’t my
style, at least not where ghosts were concerned—I needed to be
forceful with this bunch.

“
Can I ask y’all to be
quiet and leave the new homeowners alone?” I almost held my breath
with anticipation of the answer.

“
Sure, we can do that,” Mae
answered. “I’m a woman of very few words, but lots of action.” She
flashed a huge smile.

Just like that? I didn’t trust her.
Was she telling me the truth? “Starting now? No more
antics?”

“
Yes, starting right now,”
she said.

I could have sworn I saw Mae wink at
Anthony. I hoped they weren’t playing a trick on me. Before I could
ask, both spirits disappeared into the air, leaving nothing, not
even a misty residue. No puffs of smoke. No misty forms. Just gone,
as if they’d been on television and someone had turned off the
channel. The room was silent.

“
Good job, Larue. Callahan
really got a great catch with you.” Seth stood and plopped his
fedora back on top of his head. “So this is what you do in your
spare time. Interesting.” He moved toward the door, waiting for me
to open it. As if he couldn’t just walk on through.

Being psychic made my life unusual,
sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so much. Ghosts constantly
badgering me could be over-the-top annoying. The events altered my
life; there was no way around it. Having my date’s dead grandfather
hanging around was what I considered not one of the good aspects. I
hadn’t even met any of his living family members yet, for heaven’s
sake.

“
Larue, are you all right?
I’m worried about you,” Callahan called from the hallway, his voice
full of uncertainty.

“
I’d leave her alone if I
were you,” Mark’s voice carried through the door.

“
It’s too quiet. I need to
know what’s going on.” Callahan’s voice grew closer.

Uh-oh, trouble was a
brewin’.

Chapter Four

“
It sounds as if you’d
better settle my worrywart of a grandson down.”

I nodded. “Yeah, before he breaks the
door down.”

I grabbed the knob and glanced over my
shoulder one last time. The room remained empty and still. After
claiming they weren’t going anywhere, I knew this ghost-busting
fest wasn’t over. A gnawing feeling churned in my stomach—it felt
just like the time Mindy had served me expired cheese on a
cheeseburger, except this time, neither food nor negligent best
friends were involved. But the homeowners’ claims about an evil
spirit nagged at me. Surely Mae or Anthony hadn’t been the
responsible party. Maybe an unseen force still lingered in the
home?

As I stepped from the room, Callahan
met me.

“
Are you all right? What’s
going on?” he asked with an edge in his voice.

“
I’m fine. Just doing my
job. No reason to worry.” I smiled. “Come on. Let’s go back to the
others.” I looped my arm through his.

Mark moved down the hallway as I
turned around. “I told him you were fine.”

“
It’s okay, Mark.” I
smiled. “He’s new to all this, cut him some slack.” I released my
hold on Callahan, as much as I hated to, then grabbed Mark’s
arm.

I guided Mark back down the hall,
while giving a wink to Callahan. “I need to update Mark on some of
my observations.”

He gave a half-hearted smile. Which
was exactly why I wasn’t sure about him offering to come on this
investigation in the first place. After all, we’d only been on
three dates. He’d been under a love spell and almost married to
another woman less than forty-eight hours ago. Okay, so it’s not as
bad as it sounds. Don’t think I’m a home-wrecker. The evil witch
who owned the high-end designer fashion boutique across the street
had placed a spell on Callahan. Thank goodness with the help of the
local coven and their leader, Karyn Bentley, I’d been able to rid
him of the said spell.

When we reached the living room once
again, I pulled Mark aside. “I need to talk with you in private,” I
whispered.

The sensation of being watched sweep
over me. I glanced over my shoulder at Callahan. He observed us
with every ounce of his attention. If he read lips, I was in big
trouble.

“
Sure, we can go to the
kitchen, I guess. As long as you think it’s safe.” Mark looked over
his shoulder, as if he thought someone stood behind him.

“
I think it’s safe.” I
nodded.

Callahan’s gaze bored into the side of
my head. I acknowledged his stare with a smile. “Callahan, I need
to speak with Mark, then we can get out of here.”

“
Take your time,” he said
with a worried look. His expression didn’t instill confidence. He
looked uncomfortable. Once this was over, I hoped we could pick up
where we had left off. Continue a normal date—it wasn’t too late.
Yet. Although, the searching for a demon thing was definitely a
romantic mood killer.

Mark and I slipped into the kitchen.
The only light in the small space came from the hallway. I eased
next to the small table and leaned against a chair. “Mark, there
were two spirits back in the main bedroom.” I held up two
fingers.

“
Wow, what happened?” He
stared while his stance remained ramrod straight. “Tell me
everything,” he whispered.

“
You’re not going to
believe this…” I looked over my shoulder. “…but one of them was Mae
West.”

Mark scrunched his brow and leaned
back against the counter. “You’re right. I don’t believe you.
Larue, I don’t think this is the time for pranks. This is
serious.”

“
Look, I am serious. I just
got rid of Abraham Lincoln, what makes you so surprised that Mae
West would pop up?” My voice had gotten louder than I’d meant, so I
glanced back toward the hallway. No one appeared to be listening.
Thankfully, the oppressive feeling had disappeared. The spirits
must have truly meant what they’d said. Why was I suspicious of
that? The twinkle in Anthony’s eyes told me he never surrendered
that easily.

Mark moved forward and glanced out
into the hallway, then back at me. “No, it’s not that, but why
here? I mean, of all places. Why not Hollywood?”

“
I gave up on trying to
understand ghosts years ago. It’s worse than trying to figure out
men. No offense,” I said.

“
None taken,” he said
drily.

“
But anyway, the current
homeowners held a séance. Did they tell you that?”

“
Yes, they mentioned it. I
told them never to do it again,” he said.

“
I hate when people do
that. Apparently, they wanted to speak with Mae West, and they got
her. Man, did they ever. But she’s not the only ghost. There was a
man already here, and I think Mae is quite partial to him, if you
know what I mean.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“
Mae West has the hots for
another ghost who’s stuck in the house?” He chuckled. “This is
classic. If I didn’t know you so well, I’d think you were full of
shit. Excuse my language.”

“
You’re excused, and thanks
for the vote of confidence. Anyway…they were stuck in the house,
thank you very much. I’ve convinced them to move on.”

He leaned against the counter again.
“You’re good.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “What can I
say, I have a gift. When I ask a ghost to leave, they
listen.”

Chapter Five

Callahan’s car wasn’t large enough for
me, him, and three ghosts. Plus, Mae West’s hat took up a
considerable amount of room.

“
This backseat is too small
for all of us.” Mae twisted in the middle spot. Her curvy bottom
wedged between Seth and Anthony.

“
Why did you invite these
two?” Seth asked, then crossed his arms in front of his
chest.

I couldn’t answer. Not without
Callahan thinking I was one buckle short from being permanently
placed in a straightjacket. Darn it all. I’d just gotten rid of a
gang of ghosts and now I had three new ones. And what was with the
famous ghosts? Didn’t they have souls to entertain in heaven?
Performing in heaven had to be better than being stuck between
worlds. My number one priority was to get rid of them as soon as I
got home.

“
Are you hungry?” Callahan
asked as we headed down the highway toward Magnolia, the little
town we called home.

We both had shops in the quaint and
cozy historic section of town. It was lined with stone buildings
and brick sidewalks. Huge planters sat along the sidewalks with
overflowing flowers. Some of the shops had awnings covering their
entrances, while others had clever signs dangling gently over the
doors.

“
Yes, I’m
starving.”

Forget the delicate act. I needed
nourishment and I wanted it now. Hiding my hefty appetite for much
longer wasn’t an option. It would eventually show itself anyway,
blueberry doughnut crumb covered and all. One of my favorite things
was blueberry doughnuts from the little shop in town. I prayed I
didn’t have to stop eating them since Callahan sold pastries at his
coffee shop. His place was adjacent to my bookstore. Only a brick
wall separated our shops. His front door was a few steps away from
mine.

Another aspect of my life would
eventually show itself as well, the fact that ghosts talked to me
and I talked back. For right now, I would ignore that predicament
and concentrate on my date. I’d worked hard for my night out with
Callahan, darn it. Now I wanted to enjoy it. Never mind the fact
that the backseat of his car was suddenly a portal to the Other
World.

Anthony cleared his throat, attempting
to capture my attention. I’d gotten good at ignoring ghosts over
the years. I didn’t even bat an eyelash when he spoke.

“
Did you know your hair
shines even in the dark? When the streetlight pops up, it gives me
a glimpse of your beautiful face. My stomach does cartwheels.”
Anthony sighed.

Normally I’d be flattered by those
compliments, if not for the fact they came from a ghost. I wanted
so badly to turn around and tell him to button his lip.

“
So I was a little
surprised by the investigation. I thought you’d use more
equipment.” Callahan steered around a curve.

“
Normally, I would have,
but I didn’t think it was necessary in that situation. Sometimes
people just have an overactive imagination. Most of the time that’s
the case.”

“
So that was what was going
on back there?” he asked.

“
Yes, no haunting going on
there that I can tell.”

Nope, no haunting…anymore. The
haunting was now in Callahan’s backseat.

The next little town we came to
boasted a large sign for Mimi’s Café. “Down home Southern cookin’
at its finest” proclaimed the sign out front. It sounded perfect to
me.

“
How’s this?” Callahan
asked, flashing his pearly whites.

“
It’s perfect, thank
you.”

“
Oh, what I wouldn’t do for
some chicken ’n’ dumplings,” Seth said.

Callahan pulled the car in front of
the building, put it in park, then climbed out.

As he made his way over to my door, I
took advantage of the precious few seconds of alone
time.

“
All of y’all need to
skedaddle now. We had a deal.” I pointed at Anthony.

“
No deal, we never promised
anything, kitten,” he said with amusement in his tone.

“
Did you say something?”
Callahan asked as he held the door open for me.

“
Oh, um, no. I didn’t say
anything.” I glared at the aggravating apparitions when Callahan
turned his back, but they all smiled innocently.

As we walked toward the restaurant, a
breeze whipped by, blending the aroma of southern cooking with
Callahan’s masculine scent. It made my mind hazy and my stomach
tingle. Callahan had an effect on me. He didn’t need magic to cast
a spell on me.

We made our way across the parking
lot, and I glanced back at the car. All three of the misfit ghosts
had disappeared. Naturally, I didn’t trust them. They’d followed me
here—I didn’t think they’d leave now without a fight.

Callahan and I entered the café and
the few people sitting at tables and booths glanced up. Curious
about strangers in their town, I suppose. Tables sat crammed into
the small space, topped with simple white cotton
tablecloths.