They agreed to meet at the flip house the next day to go over some flooring samples, and then she walked him to the door and waited there as he got into his charcoal-hued Mercedes and backed out of the driveway.Once he’d turned the corner, she shook her head at herself.
Coward.
The next morning, she had to be up earlier than usual, since the client she was meeting at a prospective property couldn’t be there at any other time except eight in the morning.Although Delia hadn’t been up particularly late, she was still a little annoyed by the disruption to her regular routine, since normally, she didn’t get to the office until around nine.
Or maybe she was just irritated with herself because of the way she’d allowed things to end the night before.
Of course, she’d been a real estate agent long enough that she would never allow any of her inner turmoil to reveal itself to a client, and was briskly cheerful as she showed the house to the prospective buyer, a single man who’d told her he worked in security.It would be a cash transaction, making her wonder exactly what kind of “security” he was talking about, but long ago she’d learned not to ask too many questions.The provenance of people’s funds only mattered if they were selling their house and the transaction was dependent on those funds for escrow to close.
Once she was done with the showing — the man said he was interested but needed some time to think things over — she headed back to the office.Her mother probably wouldn’t be in for at least another half hour or so, giving Delia some necessary space to get her head together and try to figure out if it really was wise not to say anything to Olivia about the chapel.Sure, the wedding was less than a week away, but wedding chapels were pretty thick on the ground in Las Vegas.Her cousin could probably find another venue without too much trouble if Delia decided to stick her nose in it and issue a few warnings.
On the other hand, neither she nor Caleb had sensed anything strange when they checked out the place a second time.Which was the true impression?Those odd whispers and the other phenomena associated with them, or the serene quiet they’d experienced during their last visit?
No way of knowing, of course, which tended to be the problem when dealing with anything supernatural.There were always so many variables involved, many of which didn’t even reveal themselves right away.
It’s going to be fine,Delia told herself.That chapel probably hosts seven or eight weddings a day, maybe more.If there was anything weird going on, don’t you think someone would’ve noticed something by now?
Maybe.However, she’d already learned that there were huge chunks of the population who didn’t have a psychic bone in their bodies.And even if someone had a tendency to be sensitive, it was very likely that they’d push aside any feelings of foreboding or odd flashes, believing them to be something their own minds had conjured up rather than being caused by some sort of external phenomenon.
Also, even if everything was just hunky-dory with the chapel, and she and Caleb had picked up on psychic emotional residue and nothing more, there was also the teeny little wrinkle of her asking him to be her plus-one.
Smooth move, Delia.
Not that she would have gone with anyone else, but she could have attended the wedding alone.She’d been single since she and her ex-fiancé Bill had broken up several years ago, so it wouldn’t have looked too strange.
But she knew things were getting serious with Caleb, and not inviting him would have been even more awkward.Her mother already knew they were seeing each other, and Delia assumed Linda must have passed that information on to Delia’s father at some point, although in general, he tried to stay out of his daughter’s personal life.
They probably would have asked if she’d shown up alone.
No, it would be fine.
For now, anyway.Delia knew that if she and Caleb continued to see each other…if their relationship continued to progress…then at some point, she’d have to tell them the truth about him.
With his permission, of course, but since he’d told her from the beginning who and what he was, she sort of doubted he would want her to withhold that information from her parents.After all, if the relationship progressed to its logical conclusion, then at some point, they’d be his parents, too.
God knows he could use connections like that in his life.Although he hadn’t talked about them very much, Delia got the impression that his mother was a cold woman, more concerned with appearances than providing any real emotional support to her son, and Caleb’s father?
Well, it sure seemed as if everyone was better off with him safely banished to Hell.
One step at a time,Delia told herself.From what she’d been able to tell, her mother already liked Caleb a lot, and she had no reason to believe her father wouldn’t like him, too.Once he’d been established in her life and her parents had gotten to know him better…well, maybe that would be the time to reveal the truth.
However, that was all far off in the future, and Olivia’s wedding was only a few days away.While Delia was more and more inclined to believe what Caleb had said about psychic residue, she also thought it couldn’t hurt to reach out to the one person who could do a little digging and maybe see if there was some reason to believe things at the Angel’s Dream Wedding Chapel weren’t exactly what they seemed.
She reached for her phone and went over to the messages, then looked up the text thread with her best friend Pru, who just happened to be a private detective and was great at this sort of thing.
Pru?If you have some time, could you look into the Angel’s Dream Wedding Chapel for me?Who owns it and for how long, that kind of stuff.
Because it was so early in the morning, Delia doubted she’d hear from her night owl friend until closer to noon.
That was all right, though.
When Prudence Nelson was on a case, the truth always came to light.
ChapterThree
Delia seemedtense the next afternoon.Not that Caleb could really blame her after the strange but utterly inconclusive goings-on at the Angel’s Dream chapel the night before, but he couldn’t help thinking something else must be weighing on her mind.
“I don’t have to go to your cousin’s wedding if you don’t want me to,” he said.All morning, he’d been wondering if Delia had invited him out of obligation and not because she really wanted him there, and he figured he might as well give her an easy out in case she was having second thoughts.
