Second To Nun (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery Book 2) by Alice Loweecey

two could be my wayward nephews. If I catch you distributing that bingo card to anyone else, I’m adding fifteen percent onto your bill.”
    At that, Giulia managed to turn a laugh into an unladylike snort.
    “As I was saying,” Mac scowled at the bingo players, “the family legend concludes with the hint that on windy nights or nights with a bright moon, the widow’s ghost wanders up and down the lighthouse stairs and Widow’s Walk, waiting for her husband to rise from the lake and join her.”
    “Bingo,” Joel and Gino whispered together.
    Mac didn’t acknowledge them. “That’s all I can tell you about any ghost who might or might not haunt Stone’s Throw. But no one really believes in ghosts, right?” She cut off any possible discussion by stepping through the glass door. “If you follow me to the gallery, I’ll show you the best view of Conneaut Lake you’ll ever see.”
    When Giulia stepped outside, the breeze hit her like a breath of winter. Ahh. She moved to the side, squinting against the glare of the sun on the water. The brown shingles of the B&B’s roof directly below her brought out the greens of the grass, and far ahead of her, the darker green of the pine trees lining the lake. The sky above her rose up forever and the breeze smelled of cool water and fresh hot dogs and cotton candy.
    Off to her right, Mac pointed out the spot in the lake where the long-ago Stone husband met his untimely demise. “Where Giulia is standing would be the approximate spot the young Mrs. Stone fell to her death.”
    Giulia looked down at the wide patio stones. She gripped the railing and shook it because that’s what anyone would do, even though she’d already performed this railing test last night.
    Mac said, “Every guest who stands in that spot shakes the railing.”
    Giulia conjured a faint blush. “It’s your storytelling skills, Mac. Plus my strong self-preservation instinct.”
    “This railing was one of the few things I changed in the restoration,” Mac said. “I hired a local woodworker to carve all the pieces in this swirl pattern. It reminds me of waves.”
    “What else did you change?” Giulia asked. “Authenticity is one of the charms here.”
    “Modern plumbing,” Mac said.
    Giulia pictured a quaint and malodorous chamber pot in her bedroom and shuddered. “I can’t argue with that.”

Nineteen

      
    “Mac?” A hassled voice came from the foot of the spiral stairs. “The cleaners are here.”
    Mac poked her head through the opening in the glass. “Be right down, Lucy.” She reentered the catwalk and gestured Giulia, Joel, and Gino in after her. “That’s the Great Stone’s Throw Ghost Story. What do you think?”
    Gino started down the stairs and Joel said, “It’s all wrong for a beautiful summer morning. I think you should tell the story over the bonfire, adding that the ghost sometimes crawls out of her grave when she hears her story being told. Then Lucy could creep up behind the newbies wearing a beat-up wedding gown all covered with dirt. Have her wear fake fingernails that are really long when she puts her ghostly hand on someone’s shoulder.”
    Mac paused by the suit of armor. “I may steal that idea.”
    “Anything for the baker of Sunday’s Bananas Foster pancakes.”
    They headed upstairs with Giulia behind them to retrieve her iPad. When she came down to the sunroom, two men and a woman had taken over the backyard. The woman, in a muted mauve plaid business suit, had to be the insurance adjustor. She and Mac conferred over several papers on a clipboard while the men walked around and over the patio. A third older man in jeans and work boots joined them. Giulia took several pictures with the iPad. Mac signed papers and the men attacked the cleanup. The insurance adjustor disappeared around the parking lot side of the building. Mac came into the sunroom and picked up two stray coffee cups from a shelf of board games.
    “They promise me I’ll have my patio