I couldn’t help but grin at the dopey expression on his face. “What’s that?”
He lifted my hand so that the diamond engagement ring on my finger sparkled. “Getting engaged. That was a good idea.”
I scoffed. “Sir, it wasn’t a good idea.”
His face darkened with worry. “It wasn’t?”
“No. It wasn’t a good idea at all. It was agreatidea.”
Roan’s lips curled into a grin. “You almost had me, killer.”
I clicked my tongue. “Gotcha.”
As Ruth started unwinding Alice, Roan helped me put the ghost lights up on the tree. “Any leads to investigate?” he asked. “Or do you think this will be a quiet Christmas?”
I laughed. “At Christmas, a lot of ghosts like to gear up. Activity levels increase. You know, because spirits are restless.”
Roan quirked a perfectly delicious brow. My fiancé was tall with wide shoulders, brown hair and eyes and a set of full lips that looked good enough to nibble on.
I should know because I had.
He spoke. “Are you saying that spirits get depressed around the holidays the same as the living?”
“I am saying that.”
So in case you don’t know, my name is Blissful Breneaux and I’m a ghost hunter. Along with Alice and Ruth, we run a company called Southern Ghost Wranglers out of downtown Haunted Hollow, Alabama. We take cases that involve helping spirits head on over to the other side where they can finally find peace, or at least we hope so.
Roan was a demonologist, a gift that he had come into only in the past few months. He helped demons return to the dark hole that they had crept out of in the same way that I helped ghosts.
With our combined gifts, we made a pretty good pair, if I did say so myself.
Ruth dragged Alice over, leading her by a handful of bulbs. “I think this situation calls for reinforcements.”
Roan laughed as he started to unwind Alice from the lights. “How did just falling in a box do this to you?”
“I don’t know,” Alice whimpered. “Because I’ve got talent?”
“I reckon we should skip trying to untangle her and just plug her in and put a star on top of her head,” Ruth announced.
Alice’s eyes filled with tears. “You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”
I patted Alice’s shoulder. “Of course not. Ruth’s only teasing, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Ruth,” I warned.
She threw up her gangly arms. “Fine. We won’t put a star on your head, but we might have to cut you out.”
Alice’s lower lip trembled. “You wouldn’t cut me in the process, would you?”
“Of course not,” Ruth said. “Now just hold still and stop squirming. I’ll have you out of this in no time. Roan, get me the big knife.”
“No,” Alice screamed.
“Y’all, stop it,” I said, arms flaring. “Alice, Ruth is not going to cut you. Ruth, you are not to cut Alice. Have I made myself clear?”
Ruth’s lips smashed together, giving her a sour look. “Completely. Not that I was going to hurt Alice. I would never hurt my best friend.”
