“Next time?” Ink laughed. “We haven’t finished this time yet.”
“Will one of you tell us what the damn tattoo is?” Daphne blurted and covered her mouth. Dice moved toward her but stopped when she held up her hand and backed away. “I’m sorry, but y’all smell so bad it’s making me feel sick. I’ll wait over here but talk loud so I can hear.”
“Okay, okay,” Walter said and looked at Buck.
“A number two pencil,” they said at the same time.
“But,” Buck said excitedly. “Instead of N-O-2 for Number Two, it will have N-O Ink for?—”
“No Ink.” Ink nearly doubled over with laughter. “I have to give y’all credit. That’s fucking brilliant.” Then, surprisingly, he looked at me. “You’re cool with it, right, babe?”
“As long as it’s not on your face,” I said and met Ink’s eyes. We seemed to realize what we’d said at the same time. “Well, we need to get ready for dinner. Great tattoo, guys,” I blurted and made a beeline for the elevator, tugging Ink along with me.
Ink’s stinky hand landed on my cheek, causing me to jerk away and wrinkle my nose in disgust.
“Sorry,” he said and pulled his hand back. “Ihavewashed them.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I said. “What if they still stink after you shower?”
“They won’t,” he promised and waited for the elevator doors to close. “I care about your opinion of me.”
“My opinion of you has nothing to do with the ink on your body,” I said sincerely, followed by a grin. “But I do like your face the way it is.”
“No worries. I promised my mom a long time ago that I wouldn’t ruin her Christmas pictures with a tattooed face. Before you say anything, it’s not what you think. She didn’t want the colors on my face to clash with her Christmas colors.”
“Our mothers can never be near each other during the holidays,” I said seriously.
“Says the woman who chose the Winter Wonderland room because it was the most Christmas-like.”
“You just wait until you experience one of my mom’s Christmases.”
“You said the same thing about her vacations,” he countered and waited for me to exit.
“We’re in a haunted castle,” I reminded him.
“We’re in a resort built in the shape of a castle,” he said flatly.
“You don’t think it’s haunted?”
“Do you?” he asked in surprise. “We’ve been here for a week, and the weirdest thing that’s happened is the bathroom light keeps going out at night, and that’s probably because the bulb needs to be changed.”
“The toilet flushes when no one’s in the bathroom,” I reminded him.
“Okay, two things,” he said as he opened the door to our room.
“Straight to the bathroom. I don’t want you leaving any of your stink behind.”
“I love it when you’re bossy.”
“Go!” I demanded with a grin.
“As I was saying, two unusual things with plausible explanations. They have what looks like top-of-the-line ghost hunting equipment, and we haven’t gotten a single blip. Yourgrandfather has motion detectors set up all over the third floor, and the only motion he’s detected has been from the people staying here. Sounds like a gimmick or good marketing.” He shrugged and stepped into the shower. “You never answered me. Do you think it’s haunted?”
“I guess it depends on what you mean by haunted. Do I think spirits can communicate? Sure. Do I think ghosts exist solely to scare people? No,” I explained. “If they exist, I think they have a purpose, maybe a message to send.”
Ink looked at me and placed his hand on the glass. “No more stinky Ink. It’s safe to enter.”
“I showered earlier,” I told him. “I’m going to change and go downstairs. I need to take the pies out, and I want to see if Mom needs any help.”
