“I don’t know.” He broke into a grin. “Wow. Glad that’s over.”
“Yousawit. You saw the spirit.”
“Oh yeah.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “I almost soiled my pants over it.”
I laughed. “I forget you’ve never seen one before.”
“Yeah. No. I’d never seen one.” He stared back at the tube. “That was a ride. Wow. We caught a ghost! That is cool, Blissful.”
He wrapped his arms around me, picked me and swung me around. I laughed as Roan yelled. “We caught a ghost! Blissful Breneaux catches ghosts! She is the coolest girl in the world!”
I laughed and laughed. Something bubbled in my heart, and for the first time I realized the depth of my feelings for Roan Storm. Roan stopped, his chest heaving.
I dipped my head down as he glanced up, his eyes shining and a beautiful wide smile plastered on his lips. My chest ballooned. I felt full, as if I had been pumped up with sunshine and rainbows. Nothing could burst this perfect feeling.
“You’ve got love in your eyes,” Roan said.
Nothing but that. My face fell. I swatted him. “Well, if I have love eyes, I don’t know what you have—maybe a funny face.”
He laughed and released me slowly. I slid down his body until our lips met. His mouth grazed mine. I sighed into him and felt safe.
When our lips parted, he hugged me. “You did it! You caught the ghost.”
I beamed at him. “Wecaught the ghost.”
“Ah hem.”
I turned to see Artie sitting on his stool. “Artie! You’re free. You can go now.”
Artie shook his head. “No, I’m not.”
Roan released me to floor. “What do you mean?” I crossed to the ghost, whose bowl was empty. No grits. Imagine that.
He shook his head. “You caught the spirit, but he’s only trapped. You didn’t break his spell on this place. There’s still something holding me here.”
I pressed at a worry line digging into my forehead. “What do you mean? He’s gone. You should be free.”
Never in my life had I heard of such a thing. When a spirit was caged, the power or control the spirit wielded was trapped as well.
Artie shook his head sadly. “I’m still bound to this earth. So’s Molly. Until you have a name, I’ll be forced to stay on earth. I can’t rest.”
“A name?”
Artie pointed to the tube. “His name. Until you know his name, I can’t enter the afterlife.”
ELEVEN
“Artie says we need a name.”
Roan and I were back at the inn. I picked at dessert leftovers. Dessert had turned out to be the best cinnamon rolls on the planet. Roan had even drizzled cream cheese icing on top.
He really knew how to make a girl fat.
Not that I was trying, but I’d certainly be gaining weight if I continued to date Roan.
Roan poured a glass of water and slid it over to me. “What name?”
“The name of the spirit or else he can’t leave the house.”
