Larue Donavon 3 - The Ghoul Next Door (10 page)

“
I’ll never be a Barbie. My
waist isn’t small enough and my hips are too wide. And I like it
that way.”

She took a drink of her soda. “You
know what I mean.”

The door rattled as Matt opened it.
“Cooper’s going to get a butt-kicking by the first demon he comes
in contact with and I’m not sure if there’s a thing I can do to
stop it,” I whispered to Mindy.

“
I guess he’ll learn the
hard way. Here they come.” Mindy smoothed down her shirt with her
hand, then wiped her forehead. “Fix your hair.”

“
Are you primping?” I
laughed. She was primping. We weren’t even on the show yet and she
was worried about her appearance.

I chastised Mindy, but I found myself
wondering if my lip gloss had smudged. I couldn’t help myself. Was
my hair frizzy yet? The humidity was at its daily high. I ran my
hands over my hair and rubbed my lips together, checking to see if
remnants of gloss remained.

“
I can’t believe Cooper is
here.” Candy Cherry said.

I whipped around and looked at her.
How did she know Cooper?

“
Look at this clown,” Mr.
Fine said. “He thinks he’s some kind of hot-shot.”

In spite of my frustration with having
to share the show with someone who obviously didn’t give a
grasshopper’s hind leg about taking his talents seriously, I had to
suck it up and work with the guy. If in fact that was why he was
there. But why else?

Matt Kelly, the producer closed the
distance between us with Cooper strolling closely behind him. Matt
was lean, but well-muscled and tanned. Probably from too much
vacation time. His white buttoned-up shirt needed at least one more
button secured. No one needed to see that much of his chest. The
gray in his salt-and-pepper hair matched his pants. He was what
Mindy referred to as a silver fox.

“
You guys found it.” He
moved toward us with big steps.

“
Well, we are from Magnolia.
It’s kind of hard
not
to know where everything is,” I said.

I eyed Cooper with a slight smirk. We
stared at each other as if we were in a shootout. No way would I
allow him to win.

“
Touché. Touché. Listen, I’m
really excited to get started.” Matt clapped his hands together,
then stretched his hand toward me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,
Larue. I’ve heard a lot of good things.”

“
Thank you.” I shook his
hand.

“
Larue, I’d like for you to
meet your new co-host, Cooper Garrett.” Matt gestured to his
side.

He knew good and well that we’d
already met. I stared the men down. “I know Cooper.”

“
Right, well, I thought he’d
be a good addition to the team. I met him last night at Homestead
Tavern. His ability to speak with spirits is spot-on, so I knew he
had to be a part of the show.”

Cooper winked. He could be such a pain
in the butt.

I couldn’t deny that I was a little
disappointed that I wouldn’t be doing the show alone. I was the
kind of person who liked to be in control of the situation. With
Cooper involved, I knew I wouldn’t be in complete
control.

Matt gestured toward the table.
“Please have a seat and we’ll go over a few details. Plus I have a
few papers for you to sign.”

Mindy and I reclaimed our seats. Matt
and Cooper sat across from us. My ghosts took a table closer to us
so they could eavesdrop. Cooper glanced over at them and smiled.
Candy Cherry winked at him. What was that all about?

“
This is my assistant, Mindy
Winters. She’s here to help. I hope that we’ll be okay?”

Cooper snorted. I wanted to kick him
under the table but he was sitting too far away.

Matt looked Mindy up and down, then
said, “Sure. That’ll be fine.” He handed us several forms. “Just
sign on the dotted line and we’ll be all set.”

I took my time reading over the pages,
but Mindy just signed as if the pen was on fire. Luckily for her,
as far as I could tell everything seemed pretty
straight-forward.

Matt took the papers and placed them
back in his briefcase. “We’ll go to the home tomorrow. It’s not far
away. We’ll come by your home and pick you up if that’s
okay?”

I nodded. “Sure, that’s
fine.”

“
You and Cooper will
interview the family. We have some tech guys who’ll run the
equipment.” He leaned back against the chair and folded his hands
together.

“
How will we know what to
do? We’ve never done this before. Well, I’ve never done anything
like this. I have no idea about Cooper.” I gestured with a tilt of
my head.

Matt shrugged. “Just do what comes
naturally.” His cell rang and he walked away leaving me with
Cooper.

“
So we’re doing the show
together,” I said, meeting his gaze.

Cooper flashed a wide smile. “It looks
that way. This can lead to many more opportunities, you
know.”

I snorted. “Do you know how many
people say that? We’ll get fifteen minutes if we’re lucky, and I’m
fine with that.”

He shrugged. “I disagree with you. I
don’t think I’ll ever get an opportunity like this again, so I’m
going to use it to my advantage.”

“
I doubt there’ll be any
advantage for you,” Mr. Fine said.

“
You should keep your
opinions to yourself,” Cooper snapped.

Candy Cherry glared at Mr. Fine and he
didn’t retort. She seemed to have some sort of hold over him. Elvis
wasn’t affected though. He looked as if he wanted no part of their
antics. I wanted to ignore Cooper, Mr. Fine and Candy, but I didn’t
have that luxury.

Mindy jumped up. “While you two
bicker, I’m going to place a couple calls. I have to tell the few
remaining people who don’t know that I’m going to be on
TV.”

I watched Mindy march out of the room,
then I focused on Cooper again. “You got this chance once. Who’s to
say it won’t come around again?”

He hesitated, then said, “We have to
make the most of this. I know you wanted to be the only host, but
it is what it is. You may not want to work with me, but if you want
the show to succeed, then we'll get through it.”

He had me there. “Why in heaven’s name
are you doing this show?” I crossed my arms in front of my
chest.

“
What do you mean? It’s a
chance for me to be discovered for my many talents.” He wiggled his
eyebrows. “I’ll have fame and fortune.”

I scoffed.

“
Come on, Larue, I’m doing
it for the same reasons that you’re doing it.” He leaned back in
his chair. If the chair tumbled back and he landed on his butt, I
wouldn’t hesitate to laugh out loud.

“
Oh, and you know why I’m
doing it?” I scowled.

He eased forward in the chair. Now I
wouldn’t have the chance to laugh at him. Given time, he’d do
something else snicker-worthy. “Because it’ll be fun. A new
experience. Something we can tell our grandkids.” He
winked.

Well, Cooper did have me there. I
guessed he did know why I was doing it. It would be a unique
experience, and I couldn’t blame him for not turning it down. I was
just being selfish wanting to be the only psychic on the show. I
had better character than that, and I needed to apologize to him
for my snappiness.

“
What does he mean, your
grandkids?” Candy Cherry asked.

“
Not our kids together.” I
pointed between Cooper and me. “Our children in general… with other
people. And what do you care anyway?” I paused. “Never mind. I
don’t have time to listen to the answer, nor do I care.”

Cooper flashed a smile
again.

Apparently, he thought his smile was
infectious.

“
You’re right, Cooper. It
will be an awesome time and I’m glad you’re doing the show with
me.” I smiled. “Just don’t embarrass me, okay?”

“
You got it, sunshine. I
wouldn’t think of it.” The corners of his lips tilted up into a
devilish grin.

I shook my head. How had I ended up
dealing with a pain-in-the-butt living person? That was a job
usually reserved for the dead.

“
You don’t want me to invade
your paranormal turf, do you?” He traced the rim of the water glass
with his finger and looked at me for an answer.

“
Well, there has been only
one psychic in Magnolia for quite some time. Actually, forever as
far as I know.” I took a drink from my glass.

“
I won’t get in your way. I
promise.” He crossed his heart with his index finger.

“
Like I said, you’d better
not do anything to embarrass me,” I warned with a wave of my
finger.

“
Who, me? What could I
possibly do that would embarrass you?” He leaned back in the chair
again.

“
We’ll be on television. I’m
sure you’ll think of something.”

“
I’m insulted that you’d
think so little of me.” He frowned, pretending to put on a sad
face.

I snorted. “You are never
insulted.”

“
You’re right.” He looked
very pleased with himself.

“
I guess I’ll have to deal
with it,” I said.

“
There’s plenty of room for
both of us. We have slightly different talents. You see the spirits
better than I do. So you’re obviously the better psychic.” He
glanced over at the ghosts. Mr. Fine was singing to Elvis again.
Cooper shook his head.

“
What do you want?” I
asked.

“
What do you mean?” He met
my gaze.

“
You’re being nice and
flattering me. That means you have to want something.”

“
Nothing. Don’t be so
suspicious. Can’t a guy be nice?”

“
A guy can. You? I’m not so
sure.”

“
I’m not all that bad once
you get to know me.”

I quirked a brow. “I’ll be the judge
of that.”

Someone coughed from behind and I
whirled around.

Apparently, Matt had been listening
from behind us. “I love this. If you all could fight like this on
air it would be fantastic. You’ve really got some chemistry going
on and I think the audience would love it. Keep it going.” His
phone rang again and he took off.

I rolled my eyes. If he thought I was
going to fake anything just for ratings, he had another think
coming. I wasn’t the girl for the show if that was what he wanted.
And I’d tell him as much too.

Cooper leaned forward. “It’s not so
much chemistry as it is our difference of opinion. See, I think
differently about what we’re seeing. You’re probably picking up on
that difference of opinion. I believe most of what we’re
encountering is demonic. The spirits hanging around that she thinks
are so nice are really bad. The other ghosts that don’t talk are
just in a different dimension.”

I couldn’t believe what he’d just
said. “You have got to be kidding. I can’t believe you actually
think that’s logical.”

“
It’s what I believe.” He
shrugged.

“
Well, it’s not what I
believe. And maybe you should let me do all the talking to the
spirits. I’ve encountered many nice spirits. What about Abraham
Lincoln, Mae West and Callahan’s grandfather? Oh, and don’t get me
started about Elvis. Those are fighting words.”

Cooper looked over my shoulder at the
ghost table. “What about Candy Cherry over there and that other
Dapper Dan fellow?”

“
I don’t know about them,
but I know the others were nice.”

“
How do you prove it?” he
asked.

“
I don’t need to prove
anything to you.”

He smiled. I couldn’t determine if he
really believed what he’d just said or if he was just yanking my
chain.

“
So what do you think we’re
headed into? Do you think the demons that you’ve read so much about
are waiting for us? Are they from a different
dimension?”

“
Oh no, they’re from hell. I
suspect there’s a demonic possession from what Matt told
me.”

“
Well, he must have shared a
lot more information with you than he did with me. I didn’t get any
details.”

“
What’s going on?” I
asked.

“
Psychical attacks,
scratches, religious objects being thrown around the room by unseen
hands.”

“
Have you ever dealt with
anything like this before?” I looked around the room while waiting
for him to come up with his answer. Mindy was still on the phone
and Elvis looked as if he needed to be rescued from Mr. Fine. I’d
have to save him soon.

Cooper took too long of a pause, which
gave me the answer I was looking for. “I haven’t witnessed anything
first-hand, per se. But I’ve read extensively about it.”

“
How have you kept the
spirits away? I have to fight them off all the time.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve just
never had to deal with them.”

There was something he wasn’t sharing
with me. There was no way the spirits just stayed away voluntarily.
No one could be that lucky. “Just be careful,” I warned.