* * *
The thoughtof Penny as my girlfriend chased around my head that night. Usually I aim for a solid seven hours of sleep a night. I barely slept thirty minutes.
Penny was bright and cheerful the next morning when she picked me up. Impressive organ music blared out of the car speakers when she pulled up.
"This is to hype you up!" she shouted over the music.
Was that what we were going to do? We were just going to pretend that what I’d said the previous night had never happened? Fine. I could do that. But I had spent the night a little too hyped.
"I’m fine," I growled.
"You need to be in a better mood than that," she retorted. "We need to make a good impression on Sebastian. Do you have another, friendlier version of yourself? Maybe we could lie and say that Archer is you. People like him."
"I’m likable," I said.
"Really? Give me your best ‘Happy Halloween’!" she shouted, clapping her hands.
"No."
* * *
Sebastian was scheduledto be there at lunch. Before he arrived, Penny put some more finishing touches on the decorations in the lobby and my office. It was like a haunted house. I was smacked in the face with a ghost when I walked down to the lobby to wait for Sebastian.
"We should take some of these down," I said, trying to untangle fake spiderweb from my tie.
"Wait until you see the conference room," Mace said. "It's very festive. Puts you right in the spirit." He was struggling not to laugh.
Maybe I would have Davy hide worms in his bed, though I didn’t want to do that to Josie. Maybe when she was out of town…
"He’s here!" Penny said and hurried outside. I followed her as a car pulled up in front of the building and a tall brown-haired man stepped out. We shook hands with Sebastian and led him into the lobby.
"This is intense!" Sebastian said, smiling broadly as he looked around.
"Halloween is a big holiday in Harrogate. We have a fall festival and everything!" Penny gushed.
Sebastian smiled down at her. I felt that he held it several beats too long to count as a strictly professional smile.
"I can tell," Sebastian said. "I love all those quirky things about small towns."
"We’re all full of quirks!" Penny said with a laugh. Was she flirting with him?
"I was walking along the art trail earlier," he said to us. "It was very impressive. I can't wait to bring my little brother out. Though, there were these two twins—"
"Creepy? Pasty-white skin? Look as if they belong in a horror film?" Penny asked.
Sebastian nodded.
Mace nudged me and whispered, "I think we should just hang back and let her charm him."
Sebastian did seem charmed, all right, I noted in annoyance. He was staring at Penny as if she was a tasty Halloween treat.
"They’re not paid actors, believe it or not," Penny was saying. "They’re honest-to-goodness local characters."
"Like Ida?" Sebastian asked as we walked up to the conference room.
"We should have locked her up," Mace said to me under his breath.
"I hope she didn’t manhandle you!" Penny exclaimed, touching his arm lightly. I was seriously going to throw someone out the window.
