EMMA DROVE to work with bats attacking her stomach. Normally she’d call them butterflies, but butterflies were too gentle, too graceful for what she was feeling right now. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. She told herself it was because a mad-nasty ghost didn’t like her. That would keep anyone awake.
Oddly enough, thoughts of being sucked into a paranormal vortex hadn’t bothered her.
It was one stupid kiss.
Okay, so she was a bit more nervous about seeing Ryan this morning than Casper the unfriendly ghost, but really, who could blame her? She had kissed a man who had run from her house the first opportunity he got. He was also the best friend of the man she was dating. God, what Ryan must think of her.
Relax, Emma, you didn’t force yourself on the man. He was the one who kissed you.
That’s right, he did! So maybe this was a good thing. Was it her fault Tag didn’t make her blood boil like Ryan? She wished things were different. Tag was certainly more approachable and a lot less moody. He was fun and kind. Nicole only liked Ryan better because he was comfortable with kids.
Maybe she should just give up on the whole idea of a relationship until her daughter went to college.
Oh, sure, look for the easy way out. She’d been doing that a lot lately.
Perhaps she reacted to Ryan the way she did because of his involvement in all the crazy things going on in the brownstone. Yes, she’d bet a week’s worth of mochas that was why she wanted to devour the man. It made sense too.
Determined, she walked to the job site, resolved to pretend nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. As if that kiss had never happened.
“Hey, pretty lady.”
Giving Tag a brilliant smile, she jogged up to meet him on the steps. “Hey there, handsome, you’re here bright and early.”
Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “I was hoping I could earn brownie points and take you out for coffee.”
Emma paused for only a second. “I’d like that. Let me go tell Ryan where I’ll be.”
“No need to worry about that, my dear lady—”
“My dear lady?” Bart shouted as he walked up the street toward them. “Are we to speak this way today?”
Emma snickered. “No, we’re just talking about going for coffee.”
“Oh, please, dear Boss Lady, I so wish to converse as an honorable workman from Queen Victoria’s time. It would be befitting with the house. I shall recite Shakespeare as we mend thy broken dwelling.”
Both Tag and Emma had tears welling in their eyes, they were laughing so hard. “That kind of talk was during Queen Elizabeth’s time, not Victoria’s,” Emma said.
“Nevertheless, I shall henceforth fetch my hammer and nails.” For some odd reason, Bart pirouetted up the stairs.
“You don’t use a hammer and nails to build a firebox,” Emma said, horrified.
Bart looked shocked, with his hand against his throat. “Dost thou not use them to hold the bricks jointly?”
“I’m going to find Ryan and tell him to keep an eye on this guy.” Chuckling, Emma went to scale the rest of the steps.
Tag caught her arm. “That’s what I was trying to tell you before we were interrupted by the Bard here. Ryan is on another job site today.”
Emma’s heart plummeted into her work boots. “He is?”
Her face must’ve been an open book. As Tag studied her, his expression hardened. “Yes. Why? Is that a problem?”
A problem? Yes, it was a fucking problem! Why wasn’t Ryan at the job site? Did it have anything to do with the kiss? Or did he think she was crazy now because she believed ghosts haunted this house? Was he avoiding her the way she was tempted to avoid him?
Fine. Let him be that way. She didn’t care. Emma surrounded herself in flippancy. “I’m just surprised. He’s been here every day since we started.”
Tag’s stance stiffened even more. “True, but he does have other job sites he needs to keep an eye on. You should know that better than anyone, considering you’re also a business owner.”
Yeah, but if he had other job sites, she didn’t know about them. Emma descended the front steps, but when Tag didn’t follow, she stopped and looked at him quizzically. “Aren’t we going out for coffee?”
“That depends.” He walked down until they stood eye to eye, his face reflecting uncertainty. “Is something going on I need to know about?”
Emma tried really hard to keep her gaze steady but found herself staring at his throat instead. “I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but as far as I know, everything’s fine.”
He nodded as he moved to the sidewalk, his stance slightly less stiff. “Okay. Come on, I’m sure you’re dying for a mocha. It must’ve been at least an hour since your last cup.”
Smiling tentatively, still unsure of his mood, Emma put her arm through his. “Lead the way.”
“There’s a very nice place on Montague Street. Is that okay?”
She smiled brightly. “Perfect.”
“You don’t mind walking, do you?”
“Art thou kidding me? Not even for a delicate sip of café would I relinquish the premium parking space I managed to procure this day.”
Tag relaxed during the walk to the coffeehouse. His natural good humor returned, and they talked easily together. As they found a seat in the crowded café, Emma sipped her mocha and studied him.
He really was a sweet man, handsome, successful, and always with a ready smile. But he liked being the center of attention, something she’d noticed the other night when he’d had dinner with her and Nicole.
He’d caught her off guard with the way he’d acted earlier, as if jealous. They had only gone out on a few coffee dates, dinner at her house, once—it wasn’t like they were committed to each other.
Probably nothing to stress over.
For the short time they were at the coffee house, Emma enjoyed his company. She forced the general contractor to the back of her mind, which, she thought bitterly, was exactly where he belonged.
***
“Odd how Ryan was ready and waiting for Emma this morning only to leave abruptly for another job site. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
Hilary peered out the window of her bedroom, watching the sweep and the electrician walk toward Montague Street. “I cannot change what they’re thinking any more than you can, witch.”
Ruby came up behind her. Hilary was sure, had she been human, she would’ve gagged from the scent of lilacs.
“I am not a witch, but I do have a few gifts you never had. I cannot make them change what they’re thinking. If I could, Emma and Ryan would be together right now instead of avoiding each other.”
Hilary spun around and glared at Ruby. “Avoiding each other? How do you know they’re avoiding each other?”
Ruby simply smirked and floated toward the door.
Hilary followed, determined not to be pushed aside by this mere low-life of a being. “I demand you answer me, you wretched woman.”
Ruby stopped just short of the stairs leading to the garden floor, taunting her to try to follow. “Have you not figured it out by now?” Ruby’s smile brightened the entire floor. “One of my gifts is, I can read minds—well—” she had the nerve to look down her nose at Hilary, “most minds. I can only read the thoughts of those worthy of my gifts. Minds filled with hatred are closed to me.”
It took a moment for Hilary to recover from the shock of what she’d said. “Too bad for you, Miss Van Leer. Otherwise you might have lived a much longer life.”
“I do not regret helping your daughters, even knowing the outcome.” Ruby settled her feet to the floor and paced. “But, yes, I have to admit, you did surprise me. I knew, of course, you were self-centered, snobbish, unkind. But a murderer? Someone capable of killing, and then burying the body in a fireplace?” She shook her head. “I shall be honest, it still stuns me.”
If Hilary were honest with herself, she would have had to admit it surprised her, too. She didn’t regret it, though. All she had to do was remember all the pain she’d suffered because of this woman and she was sure, if she could go back in time, she would do the same thing. Only sooner.
Now she didn’t care who she hurt, as long as it made Ruby miserable.
As Hilary turned toward the witch, the room filled with red mist, reflecting the hatred she felt. “I hope I scared Ryan enough to make him stay off this job site. Emma and Tag will remain together just long enough to keep Ryan away forever. He will live a long, lonely life, lost in his own cowardice and misery.”
“Just like you did, right, Hil?”
Ice surged through her being. If only she could hurt this woman the way she’d hurt her. If only she could at least make her feel real fear.
Ruby left before Hilary could do anything further. Probably to go hide in the kitchen.
The one place Hilary couldn’t touch her.