“You really are a psychic?” He asked.
“Ireallyam.” Grace tried to use her pleasing tone that her momma taught her, but her answer probably came out more Quinn style. He’s allowed to be a skeptic. She reminded herself. Most people are.
“I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay.” Grace gave him a reassuring smile. “She’s showing me her locket. Is that significant?”
Sam cut into his omelet and lifted the bite to his lips. “I bought her a new one to replace the one that was stolen.”
“One was stolen?” Grace asked him and looked up at Annie. “I’m sorry.”
“It was my fault,” Sam said, taking another bite. He didn’t elaborate until he swallowed. “She insisted on giving me a graduation party, and one of the people attending, stole it.”
“Did you ever figure out who took it?” Grace asked.
“Nope, but the entire wedding party was there that night,” he said, clearing his throat.
They ate a hurried breakfast, in easy banter, after that conversation. A few of Sam’s other dead relatives floated around the dining room, but after the look he’d given her upon hearing about Annie, he might have busted a blood vessel knowing other relatives had shown up. Maybe ghosts at weddings weren’t as normal for everyone else as they were for Grace’s family.
Sam held her hand as he walked her back into the lobby where his brother and the rest of his groomsmen were waiting. He slowed and pulled her into his arms, smiling down at her face. “What are you going to do today?”
“Maybe hang out by the pool, take a nap, or talk a cowboy out of his hat.”
Sam’s lips twisted into a smile. His eyes sparkled as he stared at her. “I’m sure that wouldn’t be too hard, but don’t bother. We can pick one up in town tonight after dinner. I thought it would be nice to show you the town since you’ve never been here.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” she grinned.
Chapter Seven
Grace leftthem in the lobby and hopped on the elevator to head back to the room. She had some hours to kill, and that would give her plenty of time to finish the book she’d started.
As the doors to the elevator opened to her floor, she was greeted by a loud, ear-piercing scream. She stepped out directly into the path of a woman shrieking, a towel haphazardly pulled around her body. Grace barely caught the woman and herself from falling on their asses.
“Are you okay?” Grace asked.
The woman’s face was covered in a green goop beauty mask that had hardened to look like concrete on her face. It was complete with cracks that reminded her of the roads back home. Her chest washeaving as she looked back toward the open door of her room. A look of horror was etched across her face.
“I had just stepped into the shower when I heard a noise. I opened the shower curtain and a ghost was standing there watching me.” The woman clutched the towel tighter to her trembling body. Goosebumps covered her bare arms.
A peeping ghost. Perfect. There went her idea for a pleasant afternoon of catching up with a certain hero. The ravishing would have to wait.
“I’m Grace Thatcher, room 404 and I’m a medium. It just so happens to be your lucky day. I know how to get rid of ghosts. Do you want me to kick his ass out?”
She nodded as if words eluded her.
Grace walked in through the opened door to find the layout of the woman’s room was identical to her own. The curtains were pulled closed. The light was on, as was the television. The lady in the towel stood at the door as if afraid to cross the threshold.
“He was in the bathroom.” The woman’s voice came out as a squeak.
Grace headed for the bathroom to find the ghost still in there, as if he’d been waiting for the woman to return. “Listen Perv, that lady doesn’t want you here, so you’re gonna have to go.”
The ghost turned toward her with a sheepish grin on his face.No.
She heard the word loud and clear in her mind, as if the ghost had said it out loud. “Fine. You want me to do this the hard way?”
The ghost’s laughter rang loud in her head.
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Grace spun on her heels and left the room. The woman in the towel followed her across the hall and into Grace’s room.
