Haunted Fixer-Upper, The (8 page)

“
That’s wonderful news,” I said as I took the paper from his outstretched hand. I glanced at the report, then looked up to Reed.

He flashed a little grin, but was there something else in his expression?
“Good news, huh?”

I nodded.
“Very good news.”

The inspecto
r moved toward the front door. “I have another appointment, but if you have any questions, please let me know.”

A noise c
ame from somewhere behind us. He glanced back, but I didn’t bother. I knew this place had to be haunted.

We followed him out onto the porch.
When he reached his truck, he turned to us.

Reed shook his hand.
“Thanks again.”

The man climbed into his truck and drove off.

Reed turned to me and grabbed me in an embrace. Apparently, I’d read Reed’s expressions incorrectly.

“What do you think of that?”
he asked.

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
It was exactly the news I had been looking for.

Chapter Eight

Weeks had passed since we’
d discovered the old plantation. We’d traveled back to Kentucky while waiting for the closing date on our new purchase. I still couldn’t believe I’d convinced Reed this was a good idea. But somehow I had and now we were making it a reality. The house was now ours—for better or worse. It had felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of me when we’d gotten the news. I couldn’t believe it. Joy and panic had overwhelmed me all at once. Was this really happening to us? Were we really going to do this? I had a feeling it would either end very badly or very well. I prayed for the latter. There was nothing in between.

After working on the place all day, we sat on
the front porch steps of our new place. Reed leaned over and placed his mouth against mine. His lips were soft and warm. His kiss started slowly, then progressed with a sense of urgency. He pulled me close against his hard chest and his tongue moved along my lips. The evening air had turned to sizzling hot within a matter of seconds. My legs felt like cooked pasta—and with the way I overcooked my pasta that was saying a lot. It was a good thing I wasn’t standing because Reed would have to hold me up if he kept kissing me like that. I ran my hands through his hair and met his tongue with mine. Just when things had reached a scorching hot level, the sound of a car caught our attention.

Who would be visiting us here
? Reed stood, then stepped to the edge of the porch to see who was coming down the driveway. A cloud of dust from the gravel path stirred in the wake of a blue sedan as it came to a stop in front of the house. We watched as the woman behind the wheel climbed out and stomped over to where we sat. The woman was small, but she moved with determination and purpose. She had small, dark eyes that looked like nothing more than little beads in her long face. Her glare packed a powerful punch. I wanted to avoid her glassy stare as much as possible. The short, tight curls in her charcoal-gray hair looked almost as strict as her expression. A scowl was plastered on her face as she looked at us accusingly. Had we done something wrong?

“
I heard you just purchased this house,” she said in a harsh tone.

“
Yes?” Reed replied as more of a question than an answer.

He moved down the steps and met the woman midway on the stone path. I followed
closely behind him in case he needed back up.

“
I’m Reed O’Hara and this is Alabama Hargrove. And you are?” He stuck out his hand.

She
quirked one of her dark, slightly uneven, drawn-on eyebrows as she eyed him up and down, then looked at me. She didn’t shake his hand. How rude was she?

“
My name is Evelyn Arlington and I’m President of the Cobb County Historical Society,” she said in a clipped tone. She spoke a little odd, as if she had something in her mouth. “I came to tell you that we won’t tolerate any defacing of this property.” She pointed and looked over my shoulder at the house. “Or should I say, any
more
defacing of the property. That awful man has already ruined two houses in town and I want to see to it that no one further destroys any other homes.”

I stepped forward. “I’m very sorry f
or what he did to the other homes, but I can assure you that we love historical properties and will do our best to keep everything the way that it should be.”

“Just see to it that you do. I’ll be around often, checking up on you. You can count on it.”
She jabbed my shoulder with her bony index finger.

I jerked my shoulder away and glared at her.
“With all due respect, why haven’t you fixed the house yet? If you want it done a certain way then I think you’d be the perfect candidate to restore it.”

Thank goodness it was too late for tha
t. We already owned the place. If her poisonous look was any indication, she wanted me on the ground gasping for breath.

“I may look rich, but I can assure you
that I’m not. I can’t restore every historic house in town.”

This meeting had not gotten off t
o a great start. The woman didn’t like me before she’d met me because of what she thought I’d do to the house, and now I’d made it even worse.

“I promise we’ll take good care of the home. We’ve restored a home before and it turned out great.” Reed looked to me and nodded, then gave the woman a reassuring smile.

She wasn’t having any of it though. That same venomous look oozed from her eyes. “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

She whirled around and stomped back to her car.

Reed shook his head. “She’s passionate about what she does.”

“That’s one way to put it,
” I said, as I watched her speed away.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Ree
d grabbed my hand. “I’m starving.”

As I moved toward the truck, I
couldn’t help but feel eyes watching me. It was the darn woods again. The last thing I wanted to do was look, but I couldn’t help myself. It was as if I was asking for punishment though because I glanced over toward the trees. Why couldn’t I just ignore the feeling and bury my head in the sand, or in this case, in the Georgia red clay mud?

If I didn’t see anything it would make it all go away, right? Everything would be just perfect. But no, I had to go and look. And I certainly was sorry for that when I looked over at the tree line and saw the man staring back at me.
His dark disheveled hair reached to his shoulders and he stood motionless with his arms at his sides. He looked like a man who’d been lost in the woods for several years. I had to say something to Reed.

“
There’s a man in the woods looking at us,” I said, without pointing to attract attention.

Reed paused and spun around.
“What? Where?” he asked.

“
Right there on the edge of the property.” I attempted to direct Reed to the man with my eyes.

When the man noticed Reed looking in his
direction, he ducked behind a tree and disappeared just as he had the first time I’d seen him. Reed took off in a sprint toward the tree line and I followed after him—a lot slower, I might add. I couldn’t let Reed run into the woods after some crazy man. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. No, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut.

“Stay there, Alabama,” Re
ed said over his shoulder.

Yeah, right. Did he reall
y think I’d follow that order? I’d never listened in the past, and I sure wasn’t about to start now. I ran into the woods after Reed. But after a short distance, Reed stopped and looked around, unsure of which way to go. Silence surrounded us. Even the birds were quiet. You’d think we would have heard the man running away in the distance.

“
Where did he go?” Reed asked.

I shook my head.
“I don’t know. He disappeared behind a tree when he saw you look in his direction.”

Reed turned to me with a smile on his face.
“Wait a minute. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to get me back for that serial killer ghost story.” He laughed. “Good one. You really had me going for a minute.”

I
looked at him with my mouth hanging open. “Do you really think I would try a stunt like that?”

He nodded.
“Yes, I really do. Come on.” He grabbed my hand. “Let’s go. You got me back. I promise not to mention the ghost again.”

“But I really saw someone,”
I said as we walked back toward the truck.

He nodded.
“Sure.”

I yanked my hand
away. He turned to look at me, but I didn’t smile in return.

“
I am not playing a game with you, Reed. I really saw a man out there.”

“
You’re not kidding, are you?” He furrowed his brow.

“
No, I told you I wasn’t kidding,” I said, not trying to hide the irritation in my voice.

Reed
stared at me, trying to read my expression. “You are serious, aren’t you?”

“
Yes, he was standing there by that tree watching us.” I let out a deep breath. “And it wasn’t the first time I’ve seen him.”

Reed stepped closer to me.
“What? When did you see him before now?”

I felt the
strain in his voice.

“
The first time we were here I thought I saw him.” I paused, then said, “I know I saw him.”

“Why didn’t you say
something?” His expression tensed.

“
I thought maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but now that I’ve seen him again, I know that he’s real and not a serial killer’s ghost. A serial killer maybe, but not a ghost.”

Reed moved
closer to the tree line again. I hurried over beside him.

Reed ran his hand through his hair.
“Well, I guess he’s gone now. I have no idea who it could have been. There’s not another house around here for miles. It’s not hunting season.” He stared out into the woods for several seconds, then turned to me. “Let’s get out of here for the evening. We’ll keep our eyes out for him. If I see him I’ll confront him.”

When we hopped in the car, I said,
“I can’t believe you thought I was joking.”

“
I’m sorry about that,” he said as he turned the ignition.

“
Maybe you’ll believe me next time.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Maybe,” h
e said in a teasing tone.

Who was this man? I glanced back in the mirror as we pulled away and saw him standing there again. What did he want with me?

Chapter Ten

The next morning I was still thinking about what had happened at the plantation—the weird paranormal encounter I’d had with the footsteps and then the man I’d seen in the woods. His behavior had been strange to say the least. Why hadn’t he come out and talked with us? Could he really be a ghost? He looked so real though. There was no way he was a part of the other world.

Ree
d and I had been staying at the little cottage on Reed’s uncle’s property again. It was cozy and rustic and made it feel as if we were on a camping trip. Okay, it was a little cramped and I was terrified that I’d see a snake, but I was making the most of it.

After pour
ing a mug full of coffee, I stepped out to the edge of the lake. The sun had risen over the water, casting shades of yellow and bathing the whole area in sunshine. I inhaled the scent of pine and let the warmth of the sun hit my face. The scenery certainly lifted my mood and took my mind off what I might be getting myself into with buying the house.

Sometimes—
okay, a lot of the time—I bit off more than I could chew. As my mother always said, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I’d always felt like Mama hadn’t had confidence in me; now I knew that wasn’t the case. She’d told me how proud she was of me when I’d saved her life from the crazed realtor. Okay, I’d gotten her into the deadly situation in the first place, so I should have helped save her. And technically Reed had been the one who busted the door down and stopped the killer, but I digress.

I’d thought Reed had gone for a morning jog, but
the sound of his voice drew my attention toward his uncle’s house. Unfortunately I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Lou was pointing and Reed was looking in the opposite direction. There was no way for me to sneak up on them, though I would have in a heartbeat. I wanted to know what the heated exchange was all about.

When I noticed Reed coming toward the cabin, I rushed inside. I didn’t want him to think that I’d been eavesdropping. I hurried into the shower before he had a chance to come inside. It would give him a chance to be alone with his thoughts.

As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, Reed reached out and grabbed me. He lifted me in the air and spun me around, the coffee mug falling from my hand.

“
What the heck are you doing?” I asked, clutching at the towel wrapped around my chest. Yes, I was still shy around Reed. I didn’t know if I’d ever stop.