Good Buy Girls 05 - All Sales Final Read Free

to town.
    “Maybe,” Ginger said. “But are you willing to risk it?”

Chapter 2

    Sam Collins was waiting outside the station when Joanne pulled up to let Maggie out. As always, Maggie’s heart beat a little faster at the sight of him. His brown hair was peppered with gray, and his bright blue eyes had crinkles in the corners, but he was still as big and strong as he had been when he was eighteen and Maggie was seventeen and they’d fallen in love the first time around.
    More than twenty years and a lot of living had kept them apart but Sam had moved back to St. Stanley after retiring from the Richmond PD. He was sheriff for their small town and as circumstances had thrown them together over the past year and then some, he and Maggiehad discovered they had unfinished business. Now they were getting married. It boggled.
    As Maggie climbed out of the car, Ginger quickly grabbed her and held her still. Then she took off the cross she always wore around her neck and pressed it into Maggie’s hand.
    “Just in case,” Ginger said.
    Maggie rolled her eyes but draped the necklace over her head to hang around her neck just to make her best friend since preschool happy.
    “Text us,” Claire said. “ASAP.”
    “Yes, anytime,” Joanne added. “You know I’m up all night.”
    “It’ll be fine,” Maggie said. “But yes, I promise I’ll check in.”
    She waved as the van pulled away. Sam joined her at the curb and gave her a quick hug.
    “What’s up with the thrifty three?” he asked.
    “Ghosts,” she said.
    Sam frowned at her. “Whose?”
    “Ours. They are concerned that we are looking at a haunted house,” Maggie said.
    “The Dixon house?” he asked. “Nah, it just needs a little love, or possibly a wrecking ball.”
    Maggie laughed. “I like your flexibility. Let’s not keep Marcy waiting. I swear she almost swooned when I told her we would look at it.”
    “Did you tell her we were bringing a third opinion?” Sam asked.
    “No, I thought I’d leave that to you,” Maggie said.
    Sam smiled. He led Maggie to the car and opened the door. Curled up on the passenger seat waiting for them was Marshall Dillon, Sam’s cat, who was now their shared cat. A gray tabby with a distinctive stripe in the shape of an M on his forehead, he liked to ride around in Sam’s squad car and spent most of his days in the station. Maggie was pretty sure Sam would have deputized him if he could.
    Maggie scooped Marshall Dillon up and then sat down, replacing him on her lap. Sam took the driver’s seat and they buckled up and headed over to the historic part of town.
    The Dixon house was one of the oldest houses in St. Stanley. It wasn’t as big as some of the mansions on the street but it was a beautiful two-story Victorian with a wraparound porch and arch-shaped windows on the upper level. Maggie had always admired it and she had even occasionally daydreamed about having a place like this of her very own.
    The grass was freshly mowed and the bushes had been trimmed back, but it still had an untamed air about it. The house badly needed a coat of fresh paint and the windows longed for some elbow grease but the bones were all there. Like any aging beauty, with a little upkeep, Maggie felt certain it would be spectacular again.
    Sam pulled up in front of the house. Maggie carried Marshall Dillon to the front porch where Marcy Hayes was waiting.
    Marcy was a very earnest woman, a single mom with two teenagers. She worked seven days a week doinglistings, showings and open houses, all in an effort to provide since her husband ran off with a woman half his age and was selfish enough to clean out their bank account on his way out of town.
    Maggie glanced at Sam as they climbed the steps to the porch. He didn’t seem the type to have a midlife crisis but then she was pretty sure Marcy would have said the same thing about her husband. She glanced at the house. If Sam did leave her, would she want to live here alone?
    Marshall