woman.â
Joseph shrugged. âOpinionated as all hellâand not at all averse to expressing those opinions, I guarantee you. But thatâs okay. I think she means wellâbut sheâs hell on me, and Morwenna. We love her anyway.â
âWell, Iâm forewarned. Iâm going to have lunch with her and be the best I can beâMegan loves her a lot.â
âThatâs true. Hey, need any help?â
âWhat? No, I, sorryâall set. I was just replacing a string when I met Martha. We do a couple of things without the sound boxes. Guitar and voice, thatâs it. Had a bad string. Itâs all set now.â
âHow long do you break?â
âTwenty minutes.â
âWhy donât you come to our table? Get something to eat.â
âWeâre already down to about thirteen minutes left, no time, but thanks.â
âCome over to the table, order for Megan and yourself, and your food will be there for your next break.â
Finn hesitated. Josephâs invitation made sense. Meeting Martha had made him feel more comfortable. But now that she was gone, he felt the touch of a lingering sense of unease. He wanted Megan away from all these people.
Stupid. People were being great. They were playing terrifically. It wasnât even an old place, it was brand new. No ghosts. Just ribs, fries, steaks, drinks, dancing, laughing, a good old time. They were making great money. Itâs what he had wanted. The college student working the register, Corey Vale, wearing a black cape over his white tailored shirt and jacketâthe former looking like a garment required for his position at night during the Halloween seasonâhad stopped by to tell him that heâd already sold a number of boxes of their CDs. He couldnât have asked for better. Finn thanked him, and told him he was more than welcome to one himself.
He wished to hell he wasnât here.
âFinn, you okay?â
âYeah, Joseph, Iâm fine, just thinking. Sure, I guess your invitation is a great one. Just donât let them put our meals on your checkâdinner for the two of us is part of the gig.â
âDonât worry. Morwenna has a talent for barely glancing at a dinner bill as if she couldnât possibly conceive of a server making a mistake. But trust meâshe reads it like a hawk in the two seconds she glances it over.â
âTerrific,â Finn murmured. He stood, then hesitated again and tried to sound casual. âWho else is with you two tonight?â
âNo one. Just Morwenna and I. We left the place with others tonight. Theyâre closing down and trying to set the shop to rights after so many people have been going through it handling everything. And heyâhowâs the hand?â
The hand hurt. Like hell. But Finn shrugged. âItâll heal.â
âYou playing okay with it? Dumb questionâyou sound great.â
âItâs just the palm. Itâs all right.â
âIâll buy you a beerâunless alcohol is part of the gig?â
Finn shrugged with a rueful grin. âNope. You can buy me a beer.â
âWeâre right over there.â
âMeganâs on her way back here with something liquid at the moment. Iâll come as soon as she returns.â
âShe canât miss usâweâre on the way back to the stage.â
âAll right, then Iâll join you now.â
Finn set down his guitar. He followed Joseph toward the table, then found himself suddenly pulled back as if a giant hand had reached down to grasp him by the hair at the top of his head. He winced, pulling back, then swore softly as he saw that he had been accosted by the same stupid prop that had snagged Megan.
Joseph must have heard his quick, startled curse. He turned back. âDumb thingâIâve seen people caught up by that monster all night. Here, Iâll give you a hand.â
Finn didnât
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