“From whom?” I jerked my head back. “Who would give me trouble?”
Worry filled his eyes. “Blissful, Lucky’s soul was taken. That’s not done lightly. If your father really stole it, he’s not going to give it up willingly.”
My hopes at a warm reunion with my father crashed to the floor. “So there might be a teensy fight. That’s not going to stop me.”
“As much as I hate to even think it, we can’t overlook the possibility. You have to be prepared for anything in this case.” He crushed me against his chest. “We have to be ready for anything that could happen. We have no choice.
“And then maybe after you return the soul, we can set a wedding date?” Roan said hopefully.
Here was the thing—agreeing to marry was one thing, setting a date something else. I loved him, I really did, but look at the daddy issues that I had. Would those get any better after I married?
I smiled brightly at Roan, forcing my biggest, sweetest expression onto my face. “We’ll be closer.”
His mouth dipped into a frown before righting itself. “One step closer to a date is better than going in the opposite direction.”
I curled my fingers into his sleeves and silently thought about my father. Whatever I had to face, when it came right down to it, I could do it—even if it meant hurting Dad.
The next morning,all of Haunted Hollow looked like a ghost and a Christmas tree had had a baby and that baby had puked all over town.
All down the main drag, Christmas decorations had been put up. Trees and wreaths sprinkled the doors, awnings and lampposts. Attached to the beautiful greenery were plastic ghosts and witches, goblins and ghouls.
Never had a stranger Christmas been seen, not even by me. It might have even outdone the year before.
The December air was chilly, and thick clouds covered the sky. It was my kind of day. The sun was gone, the wind was cold and the spirits were ripe for the hunting.
Call me a bit dark and creepy if you would; that was fine with me.
When I strode into Southern Ghost Wranglers, Ruth was already inside brewing coffee.
I unwound my scarf and draped it over my chair. “Where’s Alice?”
Ruth tsked. “Said she had a hard time waking up. I told her that we’ve got to take her to the doctor and get her blood pressure meds checked.”
“You sure that’s why she couldn’t get up?”
Ruth set two empty mugs on the counter and glared at me. “She couldn’t get up because she woke up, took her medicine and then fell back asleep because she got light-headed.”
“Oh, okay. Maybe she does need to get her dosage checked.”
“That’s what I said.” Worry filled Ruth’s face. “Stubborn old goat won’t listen to me. I bet if we got her boyfriend to mention it, she’d listen to him.”
“Ah, Mr. Hodges. And how is he doing?”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
My heart actually cracked a little bit to see Ruth so worried about Alice. A pang ofGod forbid,my own worry, filled me.
That emotion had been almost completely unknown to me before I moved to Haunted Hollow.
Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a tiny bit.
I draped my arms over Ruth’s shoulders. “It will be fine. We’ll make sure Alice is okay. Do you think she’s all right to drive?”
A moment later a horn beeped and Alice parked her big boat of a sedan in the only empty spot out front. She parallel parked like she was bobbing for apples—lots of bursts of speed and braking.
After about two minutes, she waddled out of the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Alice entered the store looking more discombobulated than a coyote who’d gotten his meal stolen by a fox.
“I’ve got them,” Alice said, “right here in my purse.”
