October Ghosts (A Southern Romance Monthly) by CJ Hockenberry

around the table?"  
    Chloe almost gasped. There hadn't been any chairs there earlier.  
    Matt spoke up. "Who moved the chairs back? They weren't here earlier."  
    No one spoke up. Phil looked around. "Oh come on guys, it's okay…all right. Fine. We'll leave them here and see if they show back upstairs again."  
    "Phil…" a young woman with a headset on stepped forward. "None of us touched these chairs. Matt told us not to so we didn't."  
    Chloe squeezed Matt's hand and he looked down at her and wiggled the fingers of his other hand in the air. "Spooky."  
    "Not funny, Matt," Phil said.  
    "Not a surprise," Dr. Coleman said and led them into the kitchen. "Now in here is where things move. And they go missing. When the Society moved in, a few members actually lived here to save money and to watch the house twenty four seven. They always complained of dishes breaking, the appliances sparking, and one or two of them swore they could see a fountain through the window and a little girl playing beside it." He moved to the window. "But as you can see, the fountain was removed nearly fifty years ago and the grounds outside have filled things in."  
    At the mention of the fountain and the little girl, Matt turned and looked down at Chloe. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "You're the real thing, Chloe. What you experienced was right."  
    She wasn't really paying attention to the doc, or to Matt. Her attention kept moving back to the twin doors by the fireplace. No one else seemed disturbed by the idea of children crying out for help. But she did.  
    In fact…every time she walked through the parlor to the dinning room, that feeling of danger she first experienced with Matt grew stronger.  
    But what did that mean?  

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

    After the run through, Chloe said she had to take Kevin home and wanted to stop by her shop. Matt wanted to go with her but had to remain at the house until everything was locked up tight. The work would start earlier on Friday morning, starting with a few radio interviews for Matt and Margo as well as a few local appearances at Haunted Houses around the Atlanta area.  
    Then they would be free for a couple of hours and back at the Barrett House by six to start the show.  
    It was the first time Matt felt constricted by a show. Usually he loved every minute of it, but now he just wanted to spend time with Chloe. They didn't even have to be in bed to do it. He just felt…comfortable when he was with her.  
    That and he was a little worried about Sarah. Sheriff Harhmon hadn't shown up at the test run so he called and left a message with the Deputy about Sarah. After giving her his cell phone number he turned from the house and watched as Chloe pulled away.  
    "So you think she's the real thing?" Margo said as she approached him.  
    "Yeah. I do. I saw it for myself. She knew about the fountain."
    "Is that what all the commotion was about in the kitchen earlier?"  
    He turned to face her. "Yeah. And then she touched me and read parts of my life. Especially something only I know about. So yeah…" he smiled. "I think she's incredible."  
    "Is that because you got to bone her?"  
    Matt released a short, irritated sigh. "Look, what is your problem? Where is it in my contract that I can't have a relationship with someone?"  
    Margo crossed her arms over her chest. "It's right there under the clause that says you can't engage in any behavior that will endanger the production of the show. And you getting involved with women could interfere. Look what it did tonight? You put us over an hour and a half behind schedule."  
    He'd heard the argument before. It wasn't new. And he'd always backed down and broke off what ever he was thinking of pursuing. But this time he didn't want to. He didn't want to keep going on alone. "Really? Would you like for me to recount all the times you've made us late? Two weeks ago your car broke down and your cell phone wasn't charged so no one knew