southern ghost hunters 02 - skeleton in the closet Read Free Page B

me take you out tonight."
    "No," Ellis and I barked out.
    Virginia Wydell looked ready to climb over six rows to get to us.
    Suddenly shimmying underneath the grandstands wasn't looking like such a bad option.
    Ellis cleared his throat. "I love you, brother, but sometimes you don't have the sense God gave an ant. What you had with Verity is over. You need to give up."
    Beau shook his head, rueful. "You have no idea. You never kissed a girl like her."
    Maybe I could just whack my head on the metal bleachers and hope to forget I'd met either one of them.
    "I've got to go," I said, sliding past the brothers, ignoring it when Beau ran a hand up my leg. Ew. I was done—with this, with him, with the whole blessed day. I had no more celebrating left in me. I was heading home. By myself, mind you.
    And if I had a wish left in heaven, nobody would follow me. Then again, if wishes were fishes, I wouldn't be eating ramen for dinner tonight.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    I HEADED STRAIGHT home to the antebellum house my grandmother had left me. It stood on the outskirts of town, on what had once been a working orchard. Over the years, my family had sold the land around the house, piece by piece, so that the rows upon rows of peach trees and even the grand front drive had given way to tidy bungalows lining the long road to the main house. Today, the surrounding front yards and porches sat vacant. No doubt the festival kept my neighbors occupied.
    When I spotted the white columns of my house, I felt that fist in my chest ease just a little. This place was safe. Mine.
    Sure, my home had seen better days. The paint on the front steps had chipped in places, and the roof over the veranda drooped like an elegant, aging Southern belle. But the freshly washed dollhouse windows sparkled, and the lilac bushes lining the front walk smelled like heaven. I ran my fingers along the leaves and blooms, my sandals clacking against the brick path.
    No place had ever felt more like home, especially when a furry little skunk dashed out from under the white painted porch.
    "Lucy!" I greeted her.
    She waddled, her body churning as she ran. I met her halfway, kneeling to let her nuzzle my palm as I stroked her soft head and white striped back. I tried to pick her up, but she was too excited. She turned in circles before flipping over into a backward somersault and popping back up.
    "Good girl!" I crooned, not because it was a particularly smooth trick, but because she'd done her best. A while back, I'd tried to teach her to roll over like a puppy dog, but it turned out she didn't have that kind of coordination and this was what she'd taken from the lesson. She seemed so proud every time she did it. Plus, I had to admit it was rather darling. "You want to go inside with me?"
    Lucy loved hanging out under the porch, but this time, she came eagerly into my arms. Even skunks needed girl time. "How about we find you a treat?"
    She wriggled and grunted happily. Lucy understood the word treat . She was actually due for a Vita-Skunk supplement, and when I sprinkled the added nutrition onto a bit of chopped banana, it became the Holy Grail of skunk happiness. 
    I cuddled Lucy close as we slipped past the cheery yellow front door, but two steps inside the house, a violent chill seized me. Lucy let out a squeak as we walked straight through it and into my sunny, warm foyer. 
    "Heavens to Betsy, little girl, what was that?" I brought a hand up to still my galloping heart while Lucy sniffed the air.
    I'd never felt anything like it.
    Dust motes glimmered in the light pouring in the widows. The hardwood floors gleamed. Nothing seemed amiss.
    I held her close. "I don't see anything." We glanced left into the empty front room, and right into the equally bare dining room. I'd sold every stick of furniture in the place to pay off my debt to Beau's mother, and the house felt cavernous without its customary antique decor. At least that made it easy to see that Lucy and I were