“Maybe we should check the place out again, just to confirm what we experienced,” he suggested.
While on the surface, Delia supposed that was a sensible enough suggestion, she wasn’t sure what it would prove.“What…you think if we go back, we might not sense anything at all?”
“I’m not sure,” he said.Nothing in his expression or tone seemed to indicate he was particularly invested in the idea, but she had a feeling he was right.No scientist worth his salt would ever publish his findings with only one data point, and although neither she nor Caleb were scientists, it just made sense that they should try to re-create the circumstances surrounding the phenomena they’d experienced a few minutes earlier.
And that meant they needed to go back to Angel’s Dream and see if the same thing happened.
However….
“The woman at the front desk said they were having a wedding at eight,” she pointed out, and Caleb only shrugged.
“Yeah, but those places are basically like conveyor belts, right?You come in, get the hour you paid for, and then have to move on.”
That was true.Delia had gone to a couple of quickie weddings of friends or clients over the years, and you paid your five hundred bucks or whatever your particular package cost, had the ceremony, took the photos, and then got out.Any receptions or other gatherings afterward had to take place in an entirely different venue — often the banquet room of a local restaurant or hotel.
“So we go back at nine after the eight o’clock ceremony is clearing out and see if we can find anything?”she asked, and Caleb nodded.
“That seems like the simplest plan to me.”
Since Delia couldn’t think of any better options, she said, “Okay, we’ll try that.”
It seemed they had a plan.Whether it would prove anything was an entirely different matter.
The manager — or whoever the woman working the front desk at Angel’s Dream was — looked startled to see the two of them reappear a few minutes after nine.They’d gotten there just in time to see a stretch Mercedes limo whisk away the happy couple, which made Delia think they must have paid for one of the deluxe packages.
The wedding guests had already headed out to their cars, so no one else appeared to be in the building except a cranky-looking guy in coveralls, probably someone on the staff tasked with going into the chapel and cleaning up whatever detritus people might have left behind.
“We wanted to take a look at the chapel again, if you don’t mind,” Caleb said easily, accompanying the request with one of his patented thousand-watt smiles.
So far, Delia hadn’t met many straight females who were immune to that smile, and it seemed the manager of Angel’s Dream was no exception.
“Oh, of course,” she said, smiling in return.“We have one of our staff in there cleaning up and getting ready for our first ceremony tomorrow morning, but you’re welcome to go in.Just know that he and I both leave at nine-thirty, so don’t stay any longer than that.”
“We’ll only need a minute,” Caleb assured her.
He looped his arm in Delia’s, and they headed into the chapel.The custodian was over on the other side of the room, bending down to pick up what looked like a dropped program.However, as soon as he caught sight of them, he sent them an annoyed look and disappeared through another door, one Delia guessed probably led into a supply closet or something similar.
Well, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about him interfering with the vibes in the space.
Still arm in arm, the two of them moved toward the dais.She could feel herself tensing as they approached, even though everything now felt utterly neutral, with no repeats of the strange, almost buzzing sensation she’d experienced when she’d first walked into the room.
And definitely no temperature drops…and no strange chorus of unseen voices.
Caleb’s brows drew together.“I’m not getting anything.”
“Neither am I.”
Still frowning, he gently released her arm and stepped onto the dais, then moved behind the lectern.Delia wasn’t sure what that was supposed to prove, although she thought maybe he was trying to provoke whatever spirits might be lurking in the place.After all, that was where the officiant was supposed to stand, not a quarter-demon interloper.
“Nothing,” he told her, then came down off the dais to join her.
“So, what…did we hallucinate the whole thing?”
An amused light flickered in his warm brown eyes.“I doubt it.But whatever’s here, it seems to be lying low for the moment.I assume you’re not hearing anything, either?”
“Not even a single whisper,” Delia replied.While she supposed some people might have been relieved by the utter lack of anything supernatural going on, she couldn’t help thinking something was seriously wrong here.
Caleb glanced up at the twenty-foot ceiling with its white-painted beams and smooth plaster, and shrugged.“Well, we weren’t able to duplicate what we first sensed here, so we might as well get going.”
