“I’ll teach you.”
“Sounds great.” Once again, who was running my mouth? Those words weren’t supposed to come out. I was supposed to say,No thanks. I’ve got more important things to do, like get my life back.But for some reason that phrase escaped me.
“Why’d you save me tonight?” I licked a crumb from my thumb. “You could’ve left me to deal with the sheriff by myself.”
He hooked his hands behind his head and leaned back. “Because I know you’re not guilty. Tomorrow I’ll go in and tell the sheriff what I saw, but for tonight I thought I’d give you a rest.”
“He’ll be looking for me anyway. He’ll know I was there.”
“Sheriff’s a woman,” he said.
“Right. The voice was female. I stand corrected.” He studied me with that intense gaze of his. Would he stop looking at me as if he could read my soul? To distract myself, I took another bite. “Good.”
“What was it you saw out there?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
It was habit. My natural reaction whenever anyone thought I was strange or weird was to avoid all discussion. When people at parties somehow brought up the topic of ghosts, I always acted uninterested, even though I was secretly taking notes. Was there a ghost I needed to transition to the other side? Had they hurt anyone? Did they seem threatening? It was all part of the job.
But when someone point-blank locked on to my abilities, I clammed up. Just like that. It wasn’t something I talked about.
“You acted like you wanted to talk to Xavier.”
“He was dead. I was in shock.”
“But I don’t think that’s what it was.” Roan offered the plate again. I realized I’d wolfed down the first slice without even thinking about it.
“Then what was it?” I said.
“You’re a mystery, Blissful Breneaux. You say you’re here on business, but you end up chasing ghosts. Then you say you have to ask Xavier something.”
“I never said that,” I said quickly. Too quickly. Something lit in Roan's eyes.
“You did. I never thought I’d find myself asking this because it’s so stupid, but…can you see ghosts?”
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
“Nope.”
I laughed at how ridiculous that was. “You live in a haunted town. There are hundreds of documented encounters here. Hundreds. And you’re telling me you don’t believe in spirits?”
Roan grabbed his guitar and started picking at the strings. A serene melody drifted from the instrument. “I don’t believe in spirits. I know plenty of peoplethinkthey’ve seen things. But I haven’t. Not once. I’ve never seen a ghost.”
I nestled back into the chair. “So that’s it. That’s why you don’t believe in them? Because you haven’t seen them?”
“Right.”
“That’s stupid.”
He stopped strumming. “You don’t give anyone an inch, do you?”
“No. Not when you say something that makes no sense. Why do you live here? Not the B and B, but in Haunted Hollow?”
His gaze drifted to the rafters and scanned the room. “Grew up here. I inherited the place after my parents died. I hadn’t lived here in years, but I came back and decided to have a go at running the joint.”
I hooted with laughter. “That’s even better. You grew up here and you don’t believe in ghosts? That’s crazy.”
He strummed. “I’ve never, not once seen a spirit. My entire life.”
