Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (6 page)

Elvis smiled—his usual polite self.
Well, what I imagined was his usual polite self since I didn’t
really know him. But from what I heard he was always a perfect
gentleman.

“
Okay, okay, that’s enough
with your audition, Mr. Fine. Save it for later, okay?” I yelled
over the noise.

What was with all the singing ghosts
lately? At least I’d finally found one with true talent.

Mr. Fine snorted, but thankfully
stopped his caterwauling.

“
I’m sorry about that Mr.
Presley. I picked up another ghost, er, well, another… anyway, he’s
been hanging around without telling us what he really
wants.”

I knew Elvis knew that he was a ghost,
but I hated to remind the ghosts of their status. It didn’t seem
polite. Did I really need to rub it in? It was like when my mother
reminded me that I hadn’t given her any grandbabies yet. I mean, I
was fully aware that I hadn’t reproduced yet, no need to remind
me.

“
Please call me Elvis. I’m
just Elvis to y’all.” He winked.

That was fine by me. Did I just swoon?
I needed to watch myself.

“
Um, you still haven’t told
me why you’re here. I mean, I know you said you were here for
Callahan. But why? Why not Memphis or Graceland? You just wanted to
visit with Callahan?”

“
I spend some time in
Memphis, but I go where I’m needed. Callahan needs me.” He crossed
his arms in front of his chest.

“
What? Is there something
wrong? Should we be worried?” How much worse could it get for
Callahan? He’d already been through so much lately.

“
He’s been through a lot, I
know. I couldn’t come before because there was another urgent
matter with Lisa Marie, but I came as soon as I could. I want to
make sure he’s all right.”

All right, since I was a psychic and I
was sensitive to a lot of emotions, I felt something wasn’t right
with his statement. My skills didn’t consist of only seeing the
dead. I felt others’ emotions too, and I knew he wasn’t being
completely honest with me. Maybe he didn’t want to say anymore for
fear that I’d tell Callahan, or so that I wouldn’t freak out and
worry about him, but I’d continue to ask Elvis until he opened up
completely to me.

“
Why is he here? What did he
say?” Mindy prodded.

“
He just wanted to visit
Callahan. You know, see his family.” I wasn’t great with my lying
skills. I think they saw right through me, but they kept
quiet.

We stood in silence. I stared at
Elvis, Mindy and Callahan stared at me, and Mr. Fine stared at
Elvis. The only one who seemed perfectly at ease was Elvis, which
didn’t surprise me. I mean, he was Elvis after all. Everything
about him was cool. Where did we go from here? Did I wait for Elvis
to say something?

When I couldn’t handle the quiet any
longer, I said, “Well, Elvis, um, I’m going back over to my
bookstore, if you’d like to join me?”

“
Nothing would make me
happier,” he said as he stood from the chair.

I almost let out a giggle. Elvis was
coming with me.

“
What did he say? What did
he say?” Mindy asked while pulling at my sleeve.

“
He said yes,” I said
through a giant smile.

“
So you managed to solve my
ghost problem in five minutes flat? I’m impressed.” Callahan pulled
me into an embrace. “You’re good, but then again, I knew that from
the moment I met you.”

He knew exactly the right words to
say. Before I could respond, Callahan pressed his soft lips to mine
and I nearly stopped breathing for a few seconds. Whew. His lips
made my body tingle in all the right places. I opened my eyes and
glanced at the ghosts. Yes, they watched us. Mindy, however, was
helping herself to one of the pastries behind the glass display
case. Her fitness classes burned a ton of calories. She could eat
whatever her heart desired without gaining an ounce.

After I somewhat recovered from the
kiss, I pulled Callahan to the side. “By the way, did you leave
that package this morning?”

He furrowed his brow. “What
package?”

“
I found it on the front
porch this morning. I thought you might have left it.”

“
No. What was it?” he
asked.

How did I explain this to him without
sounding weird? Okay, weirder. “It’s a pretty glass ornament. You
hang it up kind of like a sun-catcher. The story goes that it
collects bad spirits. They become trapped in the glass.”

He winked. “Well, maybe someone
thought you needed something to help with keeping the spirits
away.”

I didn’t tell him that I thought it
would be cruel punishment to trap a spirit in a glass ball. But
that was neither here nor there. I didn’t believe the thing worked
anyway.

I shrugged. “It was probably my
mother. She’s always sending little things like that.”

But why would my mother not
hand-deliver it if she had been at my house? Who had really left it
there? It had been too early for the mail-man. Regardless, I
wouldn’t worry Callahan with the small details. He’d had enough
stress over the last few days.

“
Anyway, I guess someone
will eventually come forward and tell me that they sent
it.”

He wrapped his arms around me again.
“Maybe you have a secret admirer.”

I snorted. “That’s the last thing I
need.”

“
You two do a whole lot of
those public displays of affection. Don’t you think you’re grossing
everyone out?” Mr. Fine tapped his cigarette ashes on my
feet.

If he’d been standing any closer, he’d
be on top of us. Personal space. Personal space.

“
I don’t think we asked for
your opinion,” I snapped.

Callahan smiled. “I take it someone
said something you don’t agree with?”

I nodded. “I’m ignoring him from this
point forward.”

Of course I knew that was a lie and
would never be possible. I was a little testy with Mr. Fine though.
My nerves still hadn’t recovered from the past events.

“
Are you ready, Mindy?” I
asked.

She licked the icing from her fingers,
then said, “If Elvis is going, then I’m going.”

After leaving Callahan in his shop,
Mindy and I marched back to Book Nook with the ghosts following
closely behind. I opened the door and flipped the sign letting
everyone know I was ready for business. I had thought the ghosts
were still following behind me, but when I reached the register,
Elvis and Mr. Fine were already standing next to it.

Mindy looked around the room. “So what
does this Mr. Fine guy want?” After all this time, she still
thought she’d see the ghosts. So adorable.

“
He’s being tight-lipped.
Well, I take that back, when it comes to his reason for being here
he won’t talk, but he won’t stop butting in with his opinion when
it’s not wanted.” I glared at him.

He shrugged and gave me an ‘I don’t
care’ look.

“
No offense, but I’m glad
he’s following you around instead of me,” Mindy said.

“
None taken, sweetie. I know
what a pain in the ass they can be. I’ll take care of him. Whether
he likes it or not, he’ll eventually tell me why he’s here. They
always do.” I smirked in his direction.

Mr. Fine stood beside Mindy, invading
her personal space. She hated having her personal space invaded as
much as I did. “I had no idea how much she didn’t want me around.
Maybe I’ll go harass her again.”

“
You’ll do no such thing,” I
warned.

“
What? What did he say?”
Mindy’s big brown eyes grew wider.

“
Nothing. It’s not
important.” I stacked books on the counter.

She quirked a suspicious
eyebrow.

“
Okay. I have to teach a
class, but as soon as it’s over I’ll be right back here and I want
all the Elvis details. Don’t you leave out a thing.” She grabbed a
pad of paper and pen from the counter. “Here, write down everything
he says.”

I took the items from her outstretched
hand. “I’ll make sure to do that.”

Elvis laughed.

***

What was left of the day went by in a
blur. Not because it was busy, but because, well, I had Elvis to
keep me entertained. This was without a doubt the craziest thing
that had ever happened to me. And I thought when the local coven
had asked me to be their leader that was the craziest. This topped
that by a long stretch.

I’d caught Elvis in the biography
section. Yes, he’d noticed the unusual number of Elvis books. What
could he expect, I was a fan. Elvis was looking at a book that
featured his many performances.

“
Do you miss being on
stage?” I asked.

He nodded softly. “I do miss it. But I
stay busy with helping others. It’s the same reason I loved
performing. Making people happy.”

I smiled. “That makes sense. Many
people loved you then and they still love you now.”

The bell on the door chimed and broke
our conversation. True to her word, Mindy had returned at the end
of the work day.

“
I have one last class, but
I had to pop back in real quick before it starts. I have to know
what’s been going on.” She rushed over to where I stood.

“
It’s been a very uneventful
day,” I said nonchalantly and walked back to the
counter.

Mindy hurried along behind me. She
quirked a brow. “Why do I not believe you?”

“
It’s true.” I shut off the
computer.

“
Are they still here?” she
whispered and looked around.

“
Yes.” I nodded. “Elvis is
in the corner and Mr. Fine is standing behind you mocking you.” I
gestured with a tilt of my head.

She whirled around and swung her arm
through the air. “Take that, you jerk.”

He chortled, then
disappeared.

“
He’s not there now.” I
handed her a piece of paper.

“
What’s this?” she
asked.

“
Notes. What Elvis said
today.” I pushed the page toward her again.

Her mouth dropped open, then she burst
out in laughter. “I can’t believe you actually did
that.”

“
What are friends for?” I
laughed.

She glanced at her watch. “I’m going
to be late. I’ll read this while I wait for the ladies to prepare
for class.” Her eyes were lit up with excitement as she glanced
over the page.

“
I guess I’ll be on my way
home now,” I said, gathering up my things.

Mindy stared at me with her mouth
agape. “You’re going home with Elvis?”

“
Well, yeah. He’s following
my every move now. Kind of pointless not to take him with me since
he knows I can talk to him and Callahan is with me so much
anyway.”

She let out a snort. “Lucky. You know
you love it that he has to talk to you.”

I shrugged. “I won’t lie. I’m not
hating it.”

“
Well, I’m off to teach my
last class for the evening. Hey, why don’t you come—”

“
Let me stop you right there
because if you think I’m pole dancing in front of Elvis, then
you’ve got another think coming. There is no way.” I waved my hands
through the air. “I draw the line.”

“
You had Abraham Lincoln
wait in the car while you did it, why can’t Elvis wait in the
car?”

“
Because it’s different.” I
lowered my voice. “He’s Elvis.”

She stared for several seconds without
saying a word. “You’re crushing on a ghost.”

“
Okay, I’ll admit I want him
to hang around him for a little bit. But I am not crushing.” I felt
the heat rush to my cheeks.

“
He’s a dead ghost,” she
said.

“
That’s a redundant
statement. If he’s a ghost, then you don’t need to say he’s dead
because he couldn’t be a ghost if he wasn’t dead.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. I’ll let
you off the hook for tonight, but don’t think you can get by with
that lame excuse every night. ‘Oh, I can’t come to class because I
have to hang out with Elvis.’” Mindy imitated my voice as she
walked toward the door.

“
Love you too, Mindy.” I
snorted.

If I knew her, and trust me I knew her
because we’d been friends since dinosaurs roamed the earth, then I
knew she wouldn’t ease up on the fitness class thing. She was
determined to whip me into shape.

“
It’s time to close.” I
called out to the ghosts. “I guess you all will be coming with me.”
I made my way toward the front door and flipped the sign to
Closed
.

I had no problem with Elvis coming
home with me. That was one ghost I actually liked having
around.

I never thought I’d be in this
situation—I guessed with my life I shouldn’t be surprised— but I
was riding down the road with Elvis Presley in my passenger seat.
What would we talk about? Where did I start? Music would be the
obvious first choice. There were so many questions. Luckily, he’d
taken the front seat. He glanced over at me occasionally as he took
in the scenery.