Laure Donavan 2 - Ghouls Night Out (31 page)

My father was in the back of the
police car. I ran over.

“
What's going on?” I
asked.

“
We just need you to come
to the police station to answer questions,” the officer said to my
father.

“
You can't do that here?” I
said, stepping closer to the vehicle.

“
You need them to look at
your neck,” my father said when he looked at me.

“
I'm fine.” I waved off his
concern.

“
Have them take a look,” he
pressed.

“
All right, but I'm fine,
really. Don’t go with the police without me,” I warned.

“
Don’t worry. They want
your statement, too. You didn’t think you’d get off that easy, did
you?”

“
No, I suppose I didn’t.
It’s never that easy.” I walked toward the ambulance, shaking my
head at the craziness of my life.

Life with the paranormal would never
be normal.

Mindy rushed over and grabbed me in an
embrace, her eyes puffy and red. The spell had worked—faster than I
ever imagined.

“
I missed you,” I said,
squeezing back.

“
Oh, my God, Larue. I can’t
believe this happened. If I get my hands on Becky, I’ll wring her
neck.”

And with that, Mindy was back. That
statement was from the Mindy I knew.

I frowned. “So Dixie explained what
happened, I guess?”

She nodded.

“
I need to go with my
father. Can you meet me at my house in a few?”

She quirked a brow. “Your dad? Where
the hell did he come from? Did you dig him up from under a rock?”
She looked over at the police car. “Do you want me to clobber
him?”

I smiled. “Maybe. I’ll let you know
for sure. Can you do me a favor, though? Find Callahan? Bring him
to my house?”

“
You know I love missions.”
She winked.

“
Are you sure you’re okay?”
I asked.

She nodded. “I think so.”

Dixie walked over to where we stood.
“Hey, Larue, I just got off the phone with Karyn’s mother. Karyn’s
awake and she’s going to be fine.”

“
I can’t believe it. I’m so
happy. We should go see her right away.”

“
Visiting hours are over,
darlin’. But you can see her in the morning.” She patted me on the
back. “And Martha just informed me that Cooper had nothing to do
with the magic. He’s innocent and Becky acted on her
own.”

“
So Cooper had nothing to
do with the black magic?”

Dixie shook her head. “It was just a
coincidence that he showed up when all of this
happened.”

It looked as if I owed Cooper Garret
an apology. He would love throwing this up in my face. Through all
of the chaos, I’d given thought to Karyn’s request and made my
decision. Back and forth with my thoughts, until I’d reached an
answer. Was it the right decision? I guess I’d find out the hard
way. But it seemed I never did anything the easy way anyway, so why
start now? Now that Karyn was better, she’d be leaving soon, so I
needed to tell her.

The best thing for the coven was to
find a different leader. Maybe someday in the future, I could help
lead them, but it wasn’t my time. They deserved someone who knew
what they were doing. Karyn might have thought I had natural
talent, but I knew the position needed more than natural
talent.

“
So what about the dark
shadow? I still don’t know what that was?”

“
Martha says that was part
of Becky’s plan. She wanted you to think you were responsible for
attracting a demon by practicing magic. She thought maybe you’d
stay as far away from the coven leader position as
possible.”

“
That’s one of the craziest
things I’ve ever heard,” I said.

Chapter Forty-Six

When I finally pulled up the driveway
and saw the front porch of my house, tears welled in the corners of
my eyes. Mindy and Callahan sat in the two rocking chairs on my
front porch. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was over. Really over.
The spell was gone and so was Becky. I parked the car and stepped
out from behind the wheel. Halfway up the stone path, I stopped,
looking at both of them. They smiled and my heart
warmed.

Mae, Anthony, and Seth followed as I
stepped up the porch.

“
Hi there,” I
said.

“
Hi, yourself,” Callahan
said.

“
How'd you guys get
here?”

“
I drove.” Mindy gestured
toward her car.

I'd been so distracted I hadn't
noticed when I pulled up.

“
I can't believe it
happened to me,” Mindy said. “I don't know why I did the things I
did. I mean, I remember doing and saying them, but the whole time,
it seemed right. I can't believe the things I said to
you.”

“
It wasn't you talking, it
was Becky. Please, forget it. I want to put this whole mess behind
us.”

Callahan stood. “Well, I can't believe
I was zapped with two different magic spells in this short amount
of time. My whole life I was unaware of this strange stuff going on
around me.” Callahan stepped closer to me. Just wait until he heard
what I was going to tell him. He really would think things were
strange. Would it be too much for him to handle?

Mindy hugged me. “I'm going to leave
you two alone. Call me in the morning. We need lots of doughnuts. I
believe I owe you a couple of blueberries?”

“
I love you,” I
said.

“
I love you, too.” She
squeezed harder.

“
And don't ever make those
wisecracks about me again.” I wiggled my finger.

“
Don't let me get around
evil witches again and I won't.” She laughed.

Callahan and I watched her step from
the porch and climb behind the wheel. After waving one last time,
she took off down the driveway. It was just the two of us now.
Well…technically not just the two of us. Mae and Seth had grabbed
the rocking chairs and were all eyes for what was about to happen.
Anthony turned his back like a small child sulking.

“
Can I come in?” Callahan
asked while looking down at his feet.

Having this gorgeous man in my house
would be dangerous. And that’s exactly what I wanted…Callahan. An
image of us in bed with clothes scattered around the room flashed
through my mind again. I wanted it to be more than a daydream, but
I didn’t know if Callahan felt the same way. I guess I was about to
find out. After opening the door, I stepped inside and he
followed.

“
I love your house. How old
is it?” he said, quietly.

“
It was built in
1831.”

“
You did a lot of
remodeling, I guess?”

“
Yes. Well, actually the
people who owned it before me did all the hard work. My grandmother
helped decorate it.”

Enough of the small talk. My heart
thumped and my stomach tumbled.

“
Well, it's great. Very
cozy. I feel like I could sleep forever here and then have a big
stack of pancakes in the mornings while watching the sunrise over
the hill back there.” Callahan fixed his gaze on me. The longing in
his voice made my stomach dance with desire.

I'd like nothing more than to see
Callahan first thing in the morning stretched out across my
bed.

“
Larue, I’m so sorry for
everything.”

“
What are you sorry for?
You’re the one who was attacked with another spell. I’d say this
magic is out of hand around Magnolia.”

“
When you explained what
had happened, well, the magic had already taken hold. My mind was
fuzzy.”

“
Don’t apologize. Um, about
that conversation that you overheard.”

“
Larue, you don’t need to
explain anything to me. We never said we were dating exclusively.
You’re a beautiful woman and I know other men would be crazy not to
be attracted to you.”

Well, he was taking it awfully easy.
How very mature of him. What did I want from him? For him to start
weeping uncontrollably? We’d only been seeing each other a short
time—still very shaky ground.

“
I understand that, but
before you go on, will you let me tell you the truth?”

He stared, then said, “Sure. I’m
sorry. Please continue.”

Was I really about to tell him the
truth? I paused. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“
You can tell me
anything.”

“
The truth is…I can speak
with ghosts. You know, like the psychics you see on TV. The Ghost
Whisperer. Please don’t think I’m crazy.”

“
What? Is that all? Why
didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Before I could answer, Callahan
scooped me in his arms and placed his lips firmly on mine. His
touch was warm and soft and my legs almost went limp with each
movement of his tongue. There was one last thing I needed to take
care of before things with Callahan went any further.

Chapter Forty-Seven

“
You know what time it is,
right guys? I have to make room for the next batch of ghosts.
There’s always a next batch.”

I stared ahead, absorbed in my
thoughts. So the time had come to convince the gang to move
on.

Seth stood beside me and I patted him
on the back for reassurance. Could he feel my touch? I guess it was
the gesture that counted.

“
You know, a girl needs her
privacy once in a while. And like I said, before long I’ll be going
on another investigation. You all know what happens on ghost hunts.
There’s not enough room in my life for any more
spirits.”

Seth had a sheen of tears in his eyes
and I wiped the moisture from my cheeks.

“
We’re going to do a little
exercise. Is everyone ready? Everyone picture the light, and then
envision your loved ones.”

“
I don’t see a light,”
Anthony said.

“
Clear your mind of all
other thoughts and try to envision the bright ray, and then when
you do, walk toward that light.” I pushed my hands forward as if I
was pushing them toward the light.

It was hard to look them in the eyes.
It never got any easier. As much as I complained, I liked my
ghostly friends. They were just that…friends. No matter if they
were living or dead. But sometimes you have to let friends go when
you know it’s the best thing for them. That’s what friendship is
all about.

They stared at the ground. Suddenly
their shoes were extremely interesting. I couldn’t say which one
I’d miss the most. Sure, I could do without Anthony’s constant
flirting, but he really was adorable. And Mae West. What could I
say? How many people would love to spend just a few hours with her?
Now I was sending her away.

“
If you picture the light,
it’ll appear. I promise,” I pressed.

“
How do you know?” Anthony
asked.

“
Because I’ve done this a
time or two,” I said.

“
How do you know what’s on
the other side?” Anthony crossed his arms in front of his
chest.

“
Well, I don’t for sure.
You just have to take a leap of faith.”

“
You sound like you should
be writing greeting cards.” Anthony smirked.

See, that’s why I’d miss these guys.
Always with the wry comments.

“
I’m sure you could always
come back, if it isn’t what you want.”

Listen to me! I didn’t need to
encourage them to return.

“
Yeah, easy for you to
say.” He scowled.

“
You’re right, Larue. I do
need to take a leap of faith,” Seth said. “It’s what you did, so I
need to follow my own advice. Where are all the other ghosts? I
mean, sure there are lots, but the fact that our loved ones aren’t
here haunting like we are tells me something. I worried about
Callahan before, but I know as long as he has you in his corner,
he’ll be okay. I’m going for it. I’m going to miss that ninja
warrior show.”

I laughed.

Seth moved forward, then all of a
sudden a bright light appeared. It formed above the bookshelf at
the top of the ceiling, and a long beam grew until it reached the
floor. Seth walked forward. Tears formed in the corners of my
eyes.

“
I’ll miss you,
Seth.”

“
I’ll miss you too, dear.
Tell Callahan I love him.” He smiled, then turned and walked into
the light. The glowing beam engulfed him, wrapping him in the warm
glow, then disappeared with him in it.

I hated to even look at Anthony, but I
couldn’t avoid it forever. When had I taken on a motherly feeling
toward my ghost friends? Why couldn’t they all be like Mrs.
Williams? She was the ghost who sang to me in the shower every
morning, and in bed, at the bookstore, in the car, well, you get
the point. She’d been oh-so-cantankerous, I’d practically pushed
her into the light. But who was I kidding? Even she had made me
feel a little sad when she left.

“
I’m really glad I met you,
doll.”

“
Oh, Anthony, I’m glad I
met you too.”