His hands on her hips holding her close as he gazed down at her were a good sign. His silence as he just watched and waited not so much.

  “Are we okay?” she asked, half afraid of his answer.

  Maybe inviting her in, holding her close, were just his way of letting her down gently while he ended things between them.

  They’d been dating for over six months. They were in love. One little fight, not even a fight really, wouldn’t be enough for him to give up on them.

  Would it?

  She hated she wasn’t sure.

  Finally, Liam said, “We will be.”

  What the hell did that mean? They weren’t okay now?

  She’d said she was sorry. She was going to try harder. What more did he want?

  The confusion and fear, and admittedly a good bit of annoyance, that she felt to her core must have shown on her face.

  Liam drew in another breath.

  Letting it out in a huff, he said, “I just had a bad couple of days. We’re fine.”

  “Wait. What happened?” she asked.

  How could he have a bad day at the lab? It’s not like he could lose a patient. They were all already dead.

  “It’s just my research.” He pulled her closer. “It’s fine.”

  Things were making more sense now. He wasn’t one to vent, the way she so often did to him.

  Liam was more the kind to come over and try to cheer himself up in other ways after a hard day. Like in bed…

  He was getting amorous and she’d left him to go to the LADS meeting with Gabe. And then again when she’d taken the text from Harper. And yet again when Gabe had walked in on them.

  “It’s not fine,” she said. “You had a bad day and I wasn’t there for you. And I’m sorry. I’m here now. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “I do. Tell me. What are you working on?”

  She tried not to feel bad that she didn’t already know the answer. Short of his sawing into Gabe’s brain looking for brain damage from his high school and college football days, she didn’t know what Liam did.

  He sighed. “All right. There’s been some exciting documentation coming out of the Veterans Affairs laboratory in Boston from their study of white matter and the effects of trauma from exposure to repeated weapons blasts.”

  She frowned. “White matter?”

  “It’s like the wiring in your brain. That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I’m applying for a grant to study CTE in veterans.” He took one look at her face and answered her unspoken question with, “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

  “Mm, hm.” She nodded, like that cleared her confusion right up so he’d continue.

  “My study wouldn’t focus on veterans who’ve sustained a major traumatic brain injury from a single blast, but instead on those who sustained repeated low-level damage over a long period of time. We know repeated blows to the head in athletes can cause CTE, but the Boston findings are the first proof that just being in the vicinity of repeated concussive explosions over a long period of time can too.”

  “That sounds great, Liam.” It did, even if she didn’t understand it all completely.

  “Mmm. It would be if I didn’t just hear through the grapevine that another researcher is submitting a similar proposal for the same grant.” He scowled.

  “Oh. I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault,” he said, his lips pressed tight into a thin unhappy line. His dimple as elusive as his smile tonight.

  “I know it’s not, but I’m sorry, nonetheless. I can’t pretend I can fix your problem, but I could try to distract you from thinking about it.” She pressed closer and rose on tiptoe, putting her mouth closer to his. “If you want.”

  His eyes narrowed, giving him that dreamy, sexy look that always got to her. Like a shot right to her gut.

  “Yeah. I want,” he said, his voice low, almost a growl as he began to lower his lips to hers.

  “Oh, my. I think they’re going to…you know. Do it. Right here.”

  “Humph. Floozy! She’ll regret it. In our day, women knew you didn’t give the milk away for free if you wanted the man to ever buy the cow.”

  Natalie jumped, startled by the voices of the two old ladies standing inside the room with them.

  “True. But I did know of more than one young woman who got pregnant on purpose, just to get that wedding ring.”

  “Shameful. That girl was lucky. He could have just as easily walked away. Then where would she be?”

  “Sent away to the nunnery while supposedly visiting a mysterious aunt’s house, only to return months later. I knew one of those too.”

  The conversation between Ethel and Myra, the ghosts attached to Liam’s two elderly female cadavers, might have been amusing had Natalie been observing it at any other time and if the topic of their discussion hadn’t been about her and Liam’s impending sex.

  She tried desperately not to react but she must have stiffened or neglected to respond to his kiss with enough enthusiasm, because Liam pulled back. Then back farther.

  He shook his head. “You’re not into this tonight.”

  “No. I am. I really am. It’s just…” She paused.

  “What?” he asked, his jaw as stony as his gaze.

  At the hardness in the tone of that single word spoken by the man she loved, tears prickled behind her eyes, threatening as she fought to hold them back.

  “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t want to break the mood by telling you that we’re not alone. But if I don’t tell you, you’ll be mad at me again.”

  “Gabe’s here,” Liam growled out low.

  “No. He’s not,” she jumped to answer. “It’s your two old ladies.”

  She shot the two pinch-faced women, one in a pastel blue floral housecoat with snap enclosures and the other in a hot pink bedazzled sweatsuit, a quick sideways glance.

  “Who is she calling old?”

  “She won’t be so young and perky herself in a few years.”

  Enough was enough! Natalie spun on the two ghosts.

  “I’m sorry, but you are old. One of you literally died of old age. And God willing, yes, I will be as old as you one day. But where are your manners? Why are you standing there invading our privacy and calling me a floozy? You can’t tell me your mothers didn’t raise you better than this back in your day. Shame on you both. Shame!”

  She went so far as to waggle her finger at them to emphasize the point.

  “Jeezus, Natalie.”

  Ignoring the insulted humph from one of the ladies, and the grumbled, “Well, I never!” from the other, she turned back to Liam in time to see him running one hand over his face.

  “Liam. I’m so sorry⁠—”

  “No. Don’t apologize. And as for those two…” Liam hooked his thumb in the direction in which she’d hurled her rant. “I’m done with them. The truck is coming to pick up their cadavers this week.”

  “What? He’s returning us?”

  “In a truck! Like we’re garbage.”

  “They will follow their bodies, right? They won’t hang around here?” he asked, looking concerned.

  With a cringe, Natalie lifted one shoulder. “I’m still learning the rules, but I think so?”

  As the ladies continued to complain about Liam’s disrespect toward them, a thought hit Natalie. One that had her gut twisting.

  “Um, so are you done with just those two or...”

  “Don’t worry. I’m keeping Gabe,” he answered flatly.

  Was he keeping Gabe for her because he knew they were friends? Or for his research because Gabe had an interesting brain?

  She didn’t dare ask why, but relief flooded her.

  Meanwhile, the mood had been good and broken now, but she wasn’t willing to give up on this night completely yet.

  “They’re still in here complaining about you ‘returning’ them. Do you want to come back to my place?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yeah. And in the morning, I’m going to call and see if I can move up that pick-up,” he grumbled as he grabbed a jacket from a hook on the wall.

  “I’ve never seen such an overt lack of gratitude in my life!”

  “I seriously hope one day he donates his body to science and gets treated with just as much disrespect as he’s showing us.”

  “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” Natalie nodded in complete agreement with Liam’s idea to return the ladies sooner rather than later.

  Hand-in-hand, she and Liam headed for the door while she avoided eye contact with the two unhappy specters.

  Things were good again with Liam, or at least on the path to getting there. They’d go back to her place and get naked in her ghost-free apartment and all would be well.

  Outside as they walked in the brisk night air, with Liam’s arm now around her shoulders so the heat of his body warmed hers, her spirits soared—until she spotted the spirit of the train track ghost.

  And they were walking straight at him.

  Taking into consideration their current speed and trajectory and the ghost’s, she estimated they’d intersect in seconds.

  Given his messy demise—being hit by a train if she had to guess—and the state it had left him in for eternity—jawless, mangled and bloody—the last thing she wanted to do was walk into him even though she knew they’d pass right through.

  Moving Liam was like trying to redirect a barge. She leaned into him hoping to alter their path enough to avoid a collision with the horror headed straight for them.

  When Liam proved immoveable she leaned harder, using her body weight and all her might.

  That finally worked just in time and she was able to sway Liam two feet to the left. He stumbled in the process, but at least they crossed the track inches behind the ghost, who ignored them as he took his nightly stroll.

  After he regained his balance, Liam came to a dead standstill.

  Dropping his arm from around her, he turned to face her and frowned. “What the hell was that for?”

  It seemed all of her recent problems with Liam stemmed from her ghost ability and her own inability to just ignore it and them. She hesitated and considered her answer.

  She could lie and say she’d lost her footing. She was a klutz. He knew that by now. But she was trying to be more honest with him, to have a relationship built on truth and trust. In light of that, there was no avoiding it. She had to tell him.

  “We were about to walk through train track guy. I don’t even like looking at him. I definitely didn’t want us to walk through him. I’m so sorry.”

  Liam stared at her for what felt like a long time, an odd, hard expression on his face before he let out a breath and shook his head.

  “Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry.” He ran a hand over his face—he seemed to be doing that a lot lately around her—then he focused back on her. “Jeezus, Nat. Yeah, the ghosts can be a pain in the ass for me, but I forget how much of a burden this is for you. I’m a selfish bastard.”

  She took a step closer, resting her hands on his chest. “No. You’re just a normal human…who doesn’t see the dead. It’s okay.”

  “It’s not.” He shook his head. “And if I forget again, please remind me.”

  He covered her hands with his and looked down at her with that panty-dropping gaze that had won her heart even before she knew him. Back when she’d assumed he was a serial killer hiding bodies in the warehouse and even that didn’t make him seem any less attractive.

  “Okay,” she agreed. “For now, I can think of a way for you to make it up to me.”

  A tiny smile quirked up the corner of his mouth. “I can do that.”

  He glanced up to look toward the back door of the train depot a few yards behind her.

  “Is the way clear to the door?”

  She looked over her shoulder to check if their path was clear, then turned back to him, happy to report, “Ghost free.”

  His eyes narrowed with desire. “Good. Let’s go.”

  Before they could reach the back door of the train depot, another man rounded the corner of the building. This one alive.

  He lifted one khaki-clad arm to hail them.

  “Hello, Carson,” Liam said, though his voice lacked the warmth of a usual greeting.

  “Liam.” Carson nodded. “Natalie, I’m glad I found you. When no one answered the door at the depot I figured I’d check the lab.”

  “Is there bone news?” Natalie asked, curious in spite of the fact that it was apparent the mood was once again broken.

  At least this time it wasn’t her fault.

  Carson nodded. “Can we go inside and talk?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll put on a pot of tea.” Natalie sighed and moved to lead the way.

  This bone was definitely detrimental to her sex life.

  Chapter Seven

  “Good morning,” Harper practically sang when she entered the shop bright and early the next day.

  Natalie let her friend’s cheerfulness at such an early hour go without comment since Harper came bearing three coffee cups with the Honey Buns bake shop logo on them. She could only handle such peppiness when fully caffeinated.

  As Harper put the cardboard cup holder on the counter she said, “You look tired.”

  Natalie nodded. “Late night. Deputy Bekker stopped by.”

  Get two former Army men together and it seemed they never ran out of stuff to talk about.

  “With news?” Harper asked.

  “Yes. Whatever tests the county coroner ran confirmed it’s definitely a human bone.”

  “Which Liam had already told us,” Harper chimed in.

  “Exactly. But he also wanted me to know that the crew should be here today to start digging to see if they can find more.”

  “Do you think the rest of the body is here?” Harper asked.

  Natalie shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  “I guess we’ll all find out soon,” Harper said, looking too excited about the prospect.

  “You’re going to write this into a book, aren’t you?” Natalie asked with resignation.

  “Good chance.” Harper grinned. “By the way, you have a very vocal raven sitting on your roof right above the front door.”

  Jules, who was in early to help unpack deliveries, emerged from the back of the store and moved to the counter.

  “Hey, Harper. Ooo, for me? Thank you!” Jules plucked out the cup bearing her name in black marker and asked, “What exactly is the difference between a crow and a raven?”

  Natalie, finally finished counting the day’s starting cash, slammed the vintage register’s drawer and turned to gratefully take her own coffee. “Thank you for this, by the way. I need it this morning. And I’m not sure what the difference is, Jules. You’ll have to Google it.”

  “I’m not sure either but raven sounds more literary than crow so…” Harper shrugged, reaching for her own cup.

  “Ooo. We should name him if he sticks around. We already have Mr. Darcy the cat in honor of Jane Austin. How about Poe the crow?” Jules suggested.

  Harper shook her head. “I’m not sure we want this bird to stick around. A very aggressive Blue Jay nested above the back door of Agnes’s house last year. He’d dive bomb anyone coming or going. He hit Stone in the head so hard once he bled. I started carrying an open umbrella for protection.”

  “Besides the threat of potential aerial attack, I’m not sure we have to assign every animal in the vicinity a name. And particularly not a bookish name. Taco the dog doesn’t exactly fit into your literary theme,” Natalie pointed out.

  “Yeah. Sorry about that.” Jules cringed. “I didn’t realize we’d have a literary theme when I named him.”

  “I suppose we could go in a different direction for any future animals. This is a book and wine shop. Merlot would be a great name,” Harper suggested. “Or Chardonnay. Pinot.”

  “Too bad we don’t sell hard liquor. Tequila would be a kick ass name. Right, Taco? Do you want us to get you a friend?” Jules asked the chihuahua at her feet.

  “Or Don Julio. Jose Cuervo…” Looking excited, Harper began ticking off possible names.

  Natalie held up one hand to put a stop to it. “Nope. We’re not getting any more animals around here, nor am I going to start carrying anything more than wine, so no need for more names.”

  Besides, there was something more important for them to discuss before the day’s customers began to arrive.

  “Jules, Carson Bekker stopped by last night,” she repeated to the girl who hadn’t heard because she’d been in the back.

  Jules turned to give Natalie a silent wide-eyed stare at the mention of the deputy. Whether that was because he was male stripper hot in his tight khaki uniform or because he might have news about the mysterious bone, Natalie didn’t know.

  “And?” Jules asked, hesitantly.

  “They confirmed the bone is human,” Natalie began.

  “Which we already knew from Liam, so that’s not news,” Jules said, repeating Harper’s words almost verbatim.

  “Yes. Exactly. But what is news is that today is the day they’re scheduled to start digging up the back yard looking for the rest of her… or him,” Natalie rushed to add to cover her error.

  She had no proof that the Roaring Twenties girl in Harper’s house was the source of the bone. It was just a gut feeling. But one worthy of further investigation.

  That was exactly what she intended to do—investigate—but first she had to make sure Carson’s excavation project wasn’t going to lose her business.

  “I think we—meaning you, Jules—need to put something out on social media. Maybe like please excuse our appearance…” Natalie suggested.

  “…while we look for the rest of the body parts.” Jules cocked up on attitude-laden brow. “Something like that?”

  “No. You’ll figure it out, I’m sure,” Natalie said to the cocky teen before turning back to Harper. “We might need another meeting of the LADS. See if anyone found out or remembered anything that could help identify the bone.”

  “Mmm. I haven’t heard anything but the old biddies are never opposed to another meeting so…” Harper wobbled her head. “Sure. We can plan one.”

 

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