The Death Planner (Storage Ghost Murders Book 6) by Gillian Larkin Page B

There’s so much to plan. The food, the guests! Oh! What wonderful
news! I have so much work to do!” She clutched her clipboard tighter and
floated upwards.
    Grace
took a few deep breaths to steady herself. Frankie led her to a nearby chair
and sat her down. “Grace, speak to me.”
    Grace
waved a hand at him as if trying to say she was alright. Frankie knelt at her
side, concern etched on his face.
    Grace
finally managed to speak. “I’m sorry about that, Frankie. It was the shock,
that’s all.”
    “I
know. I was shocked myself when the idea came to me.” He laughed. “You know
what I’m like around women - so many women and not enough time.” His smile
faded. “But there’s something about Beth. I feel like I’ve been waiting for her
all my life. I don’t want to waste any more time. I know you’ve only met her
once but you do like her, don’t you?”
    A
sudden malicious thought came to Grace. “What if I didn’t like her? Would you
still marry her?”
    Frankie’s
face fell. “I … I’d have to think about it.”
    The
malicious feelings just as suddenly disappeared. Grace looked at her brother
and said softly, “I do like her, Frankie, she seems lovely. But it doesn’t
matter what I think, if you feel it’s the right thing to do, then you go ahead
and do it.”
    Relief
washed over Frankie’s face. “I’m so glad you said that. I’m not going to sell
the shop or anything. I’ll probably have to move out but I’ll never move away
from you, Grace. You don’t get off that easy.”
    Grace
smiled at him. He did look happy. He deserved to be happy. She was feeling
jealous, that’s all. She patted him on the arm. “I’m truly happy for you. When
are you going to ask her? And where?”
    Frankie
waved his arm around the shop. “I’m going to ask her here. She’s nipped out for
some lunch for us, she knows a specialist shop down the road that does organic
food. Whatever that is.”
    “You
can’t ask her here! It’s not very romantic, is it?” Grace tried to stand up.
“Why don’t you take her out somewhere? To the park, or go for a drive, or
something like that. I’ll look after the shop.”
    Frankie
pushed her back into her seat. “This place is perfect. I feel closer to Mum and
Dad here. I feel like they’re watching over us. Don’t you ever feel like
someone is watching over us?”
    Grace
nodded, unable to speak. Pearl had just appeared behind Frankie and was looking
at him fondly. That was unusual for Pearl as she normally looked at Frankie
with a mixture of disgust and annoyance.
    Frankie
carried on, “And you’re not looking after the shop again. I told you yesterday
that you were having the day off. Beth would kill me if I made you work again!”
    Grace
gave him a grateful smile. Speaking of someone killing someone else … She did
have her own work to do. She said to Frankie, “Why did you want me to come   here? You could have asked her, and then
told me later.”
    “Because
I wanted you to be the first to know. I know you’re my sister but you’re also
my friend. I thought you knew that.”
    Pearl’s
voice was choked as she waved a hand through Frankie and declared, “Why don’t
you tell her that more often, you idiot-boy!”
    Grace’s
words refused to come out again. She blinked away a tear and patted Frankie’s
arm again.
    He
gave her a little shove and grinned. “Stop blubbering. You know how awful you
look when you start crying.” He pulled her to her feet with a loud grunt.
“Bloody hell, Grace! Lay off the cakes will you!”
    Grace
wiped her tears away. “Are you going to ask her straight away? You’d better get
rid of Mrs Smith before you do.”
    Frankie
looked over at the old lady and waved at her. “She can stay. I doubt she’ll
hear us.” He patted his pocket. “Do you want to see the ring?”
    Grace’s
eyes widened. “You’ve got a ring? Already?”
    Frankie
gave her a sheepish look. “I bought it the same day that I met Beth. It was
just a