lived
with it. Well, we could too.
Trying to get my mind focused on something
else, I swept the floor in the study, removing the debris and dust.
I felt a sense of satisfaction that we had one room fairly cleaned
up. Next to the far wall was one row of boxes containing the books
we were going to look up to find their value. It was a shame to
store more piles of boxes in here after we’d gone to the trouble of
cleaning it out, but it couldn’t be helped. We had to sort
somewhere. In my mind I could see the room finished and
redecorated. Beautiful blue silk curtains, new coordinating
cushions on the window seats with matching pillows, the floors
sanded and refinished. I would keep the desk and some of the older
books, then add family heirlooms when we found them. Wishing and
dreaming about decorating, I jumped when I heard a sudden
knock.
I walked out to the living room to find
Connie letting Emmett and his crew in. They were all carrying
plastic, suitcase-type boxes and bundles of extension cords neatly
rolled on spools. As an afterthought, I realized I hadn’t taken a
shower after working in the study all day. Again, Emmett was going
to see me in less than stellar condition. Why did it even bother
me? What was I thinking? I wasn’t even fully divorced yet. Men
shouldn’t be anywhere on my radar. Of course, I wasn’t dead yet so
I couldn’t help noticing how blue his eyes looked with that navy
polo he was wearing, or how his entire face lit up when he smiled. Laney, you’re an idiot, I thought to myself.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the issue
at hand. “Hi, Sim—Emmett! What would you like to do first?” If
there was a rock nearby I would have crawled underneath it. I
couldn’t believe I’d almost called him Simon. What would he think?
Then I chastised myself even more—what did I care what he thought?
More likely, he probably didn’t care at all.
“Laney, these are my allies in the ghost
hunting business, Glen Alexander and Dean Adams.” Glen put his hand
out to shake mine. His grip was warm and comforting, his gentle
brown eyes friendly and intelligent. I don’t know what I expected
other ghost hunters to look like, but he was just a normal guy.
“Nice to meet you, Laney.”
“Dean Adams,” I said to the other cohort.
“You, I already know.” Dean had been in my class in high school. He
smiled as he stepped forward, tall, blond and muscular, he was
handsome if you like that Thor sort of look. Every girl in high
school had been crazy about him—I would bet most women still were.
At first I wasn’t sure who was more embarrassed as we gave each
other sheepish grins. He’d been the all-around jock—football,
basketball, baseball—and he’d been good at all of them. He still
managed to be humble, sweet and smart. There weren’t that many guys
like him. And now here he was a ‘helper’ to the local ghost hunter
I had asked to come investigate my house. Fortunately, after a
brief awkward moment, we both seemed to get over it and it was like
the years melted away.
“Laney, long time no see,” he said as he
enveloped me in a bear hug. “Still as pretty as always.” I blushed
and couldn’t come up with an appropriate response. I hadn’t been
popular in high school and no one ever thought I was pretty,
especially someone like Dean. On top of everything else he was just
plain gorgeous. If anything, the years made him even more handsome.
Obviously, he was still working out. I could picture him doing one
of those workouts on TV that made people really buff. He wore his
hair shorter now than in high school but it was still thick. Then
there were those big blue eyes.
“Yeah, right. Thanks, Dean,” I mumbled. Was I
totally incapable of not looking like an idiot every time I was
around an attractive man?
“I ordered pizza and it should be here any
minute,” Connie rescued me from further humiliation. “Should we
start with a beer?”
“Beer is always a good place to start,”
with it. Well, we could too.
Trying to get my mind focused on something
else, I swept the floor in the study, removing the debris and dust.
I felt a sense of satisfaction that we had one room fairly cleaned
up. Next to the far wall was one row of boxes containing the books
we were going to look up to find their value. It was a shame to
store more piles of boxes in here after we’d gone to the trouble of
cleaning it out, but it couldn’t be helped. We had to sort
somewhere. In my mind I could see the room finished and
redecorated. Beautiful blue silk curtains, new coordinating
cushions on the window seats with matching pillows, the floors
sanded and refinished. I would keep the desk and some of the older
books, then add family heirlooms when we found them. Wishing and
dreaming about decorating, I jumped when I heard a sudden
knock.
I walked out to the living room to find
Connie letting Emmett and his crew in. They were all carrying
plastic, suitcase-type boxes and bundles of extension cords neatly
rolled on spools. As an afterthought, I realized I hadn’t taken a
shower after working in the study all day. Again, Emmett was going
to see me in less than stellar condition. Why did it even bother
me? What was I thinking? I wasn’t even fully divorced yet. Men
shouldn’t be anywhere on my radar. Of course, I wasn’t dead yet so
I couldn’t help noticing how blue his eyes looked with that navy
polo he was wearing, or how his entire face lit up when he smiled. Laney, you’re an idiot, I thought to myself.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the issue
at hand. “Hi, Sim—Emmett! What would you like to do first?” If
there was a rock nearby I would have crawled underneath it. I
couldn’t believe I’d almost called him Simon. What would he think?
Then I chastised myself even more—what did I care what he thought?
More likely, he probably didn’t care at all.
“Laney, these are my allies in the ghost
hunting business, Glen Alexander and Dean Adams.” Glen put his hand
out to shake mine. His grip was warm and comforting, his gentle
brown eyes friendly and intelligent. I don’t know what I expected
other ghost hunters to look like, but he was just a normal guy.
“Nice to meet you, Laney.”
“Dean Adams,” I said to the other cohort.
“You, I already know.” Dean had been in my class in high school. He
smiled as he stepped forward, tall, blond and muscular, he was
handsome if you like that Thor sort of look. Every girl in high
school had been crazy about him—I would bet most women still were.
At first I wasn’t sure who was more embarrassed as we gave each
other sheepish grins. He’d been the all-around jock—football,
basketball, baseball—and he’d been good at all of them. He still
managed to be humble, sweet and smart. There weren’t that many guys
like him. And now here he was a ‘helper’ to the local ghost hunter
I had asked to come investigate my house. Fortunately, after a
brief awkward moment, we both seemed to get over it and it was like
the years melted away.
“Laney, long time no see,” he said as he
enveloped me in a bear hug. “Still as pretty as always.” I blushed
and couldn’t come up with an appropriate response. I hadn’t been
popular in high school and no one ever thought I was pretty,
especially someone like Dean. On top of everything else he was just
plain gorgeous. If anything, the years made him even more handsome.
Obviously, he was still working out. I could picture him doing one
of those workouts on TV that made people really buff. He wore his
hair shorter now than in high school but it was still thick. Then
there were those big blue eyes.
“Yeah, right. Thanks, Dean,” I mumbled. Was I
totally incapable of not looking like an idiot every time I was
around an attractive man?
“I ordered pizza and it should be here any
minute,” Connie rescued me from further humiliation. “Should we
start with a beer?”
“Beer is always a good place to start,”
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