Double Dating with the Dead by Karen Kelley (best fiction novels to read .txt) 📗

blame you if you had. Very yummy.”

“He’s my enemy,” she muttered, but she didn’t sound as convinced as she had been a few days ago.

Dixie laughed. “I think I’m going to miss you when you leave. We’re a lot alike.” She smoothed her hand across her skirt. “It gets pretty lonely with just Wesley for company.”

Selena worried her teeth against her bottom lip. “You can cross over.”

“You’re talkin’ about the white light and stuff, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“We can’t. Not yet. Not until…” She straightened. “It’s not so bad here. And if we left, we couldn’t watch you and the fella try to get one up on each other. Shoot, that in itself makes it worth hanging around.”

Before Selena could open her mouth to reply, Dixie was gone. So now they were one big joke.

She wasn’t laughing.

And what had she started to say? They couldn’t leave until…until what?

Chapter 10

“She’s b-a-c-k.” Trent drew out the words as he stood beside one of the front windows.

Selena came down the stairs. Now what? She glanced at Trent. He’d gotten dressed, but hadn’t shaved yet. Probably because she was in the bathroom and all his shaving gear was in there. She should’ve been really mean and shaved her legs with his razor.

Tacky, tacky. Must be the company she was keeping.

“Who’s back?” she asked.

“The witch,” he answered.

“Paige?”

“Your mother.”

Selena frowned. “She’s not a witch.”

“I thought she was.”

He was trying his hand at humor again. Not funny. “She’s a psychic.” Or at least she thought of herself as one. Mom just didn’t quite have the knack for supernatural communication. But her heart was in the right place.

“Whatever, she’s heading this way with a foil-covered dish.”

Meddling again, that was what she was doing. She always had to know what was going on. Her mother couldn’t leave well enough alone. Of course, that was obvious because of the predicament Selena now found herself in.

Selena opened the front door. “Mom, I thought we discussed you not coming by today?”

“It’s a good thing I did. You look like you’ve lost weight.” She cast an evil eye in Trent’s direction as she came inside.

“Mom, this is only our third day, and I ate pizza yesterday. I’ve probably gained weight, if anything.”

She sniffed. “You look thin.” She glared at Trent. “Stress, no doubt. My home cooking will make you feel better. I brought enchilada casserole. I know how you love it.”

Selena sighed.

Ready-made right out of the box, but she guessed if her mother dumped it out, put it in a disposable foil pan, then that was good enough for her because she was sure her mother had added a heaping dollop of love.

“Don’t share,” her mother whispered loud enough that Trent was bound to hear. She beamed in Selena’s direction as they walked toward the kitchen.

“Mom, be nice.”

“Nope, I’m fifty now. When you reach fifty you can damn well say and do as you please.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded, her bright orange curls dancing around her head. “It’s an unwritten law. Everyone fifty or older knows about it.”

Her mother set the casserole on the counter and faced Selena. Selena laughed and hugged her mother. “Do you know just how much I love you?”

“I think you’ve mentioned it on occasion.” She returned the hug, then moved away, her expression turning serious. “Have you seen any ghosts?”

“There are two haunting the hotel. Wesley and Dixie. They’re from around the 1800s as far as I can tell.”

She clapped her hands. “I knew it! I could feel them on that first day. They’re very strong. Once you’ve been a psychic as long as I have, you’ll be able to sense when they’re around before they make themselves known.”

Dixie chuckled. She was sitting on the counter right next to where Selena’s mother stood. Selena cast a warning look at Dixie.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to scare your mother,” Dixie assured her. “She’s kind of cute. Fancies herself someone who can talk to us, doesn’t she?”

“Yes,” Selena told Dixie.

“But you’re getting better at early detection.” Angela patted Selena’s hand.

Carrying on one conversation with her mother and one with Dixie was confusing.

Her mother moved around the kitchen, arms stretched out. “I can feel them now.” She took a deep breath.

So deep that Selena grew nervous when she saw her mother’s face turning red. She exhaled at the last second.

“Ghosts from beyond. Neither here nor there. Caught betwixt and between worlds.” Angela spoke in a deep voice, then spun around in a circle.

When she came to a stop, she was weaving. Selena hurried to steady her before she toppled over. As soon as her mother gained her balance, she smiled and raised her hands above her head.

“Spirits, show yourselves to the unbeliever who dares enter your…your…”

“Sanctuary?” Selena supplied.

“Sanctuary,” her mother continued, never losing her momentum. “Show yourselves so he will stop spewing his lies, his evil!” She ended with a wave of her arm, bracelets jingling on her wrists.

Dixie smiled and pushed a packet of sugar off the counter. It landed with a little splat on the floor.

“They’re here,” Angela screamed.

This was great. She sent Dixie a look that said she wasn’t amused. Then noticed Trent standing in the doorway. Now he would really think her family was off their rocker.

Angela’s eyes grew round, and she pointed a finger in Trent’s direction. “See and believe!” She then pointed toward the packet on the floor.

Dixie raised her hand.

Oh, no.

Selena sent Dixie a silent warning not to encourage her mother. After all these years around Angela James, Selena knew her mother didn’t need an ounce more of encouragement.

“Can you deny the packet fell to the floor?” Angela asked him.

Trent shook his head. “I wouldn’t even try.”

Angela smiled. “Good. Selena, get your things and we’ll go back to your apartment. We could do some shopping on the way. There’s this really big sale at—”

“I didn’t say I believe in ghosts. Just that the packet fell to the floor. The way your shawl was flapping around, I would imagine that’s what knocked it