Crouching, her butt in the air and tail wildly thumping against the inside walls of the crate, Hunny whimpered, barely able to contain herself as she waited for Chris to let her out. It wasn’t that she disliked being in the crate, she just liked being with Chris better.
“How’s my girl?” Chris greeted her as he knelt down to release his dog.
“You’re not going to let it out, are you?” Loyd gasped. Loyd and Simon had just been given a tour of Chris’s house, and the last room on the tour was his bedroom—which happened to be where he kept Hunny’s crate.
“She’s a sweetheart,” Chris told them as he reached to unlatch the crate’s door.
“Is that a pit bull?” Simon asked, taking a step back from the crate.
“Yes, she is, but don’t worry, she’s a lover.”
Gripping his cane defensively, Loyd took a step back, prepared to whack the dog if she came too close. “Chris, please don’t let her out.”
Still crouching by the crate, Chris paused a moment and looked up at his uncles. “I have to let her out, because she’s coming to work with me. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll put her on a leash.”
Chris stood briefly, much to the consternation of Hunny, and grabbed the leash and collar off his dresser.
“You don’t seriously take that dog to work with you, do you?” Loyd asked.
Once again kneeling by the crate, Chris opened the door and slipped the collar on the dog and then attached the leash. When the dog stepped out of the crate, Chris gave her the command to sit, to which she immediately complied.
Leash in hand, Chris stood and looked at his uncles, Hunny sitting obediently by his side. “Yes, I take her everywhere with me. When I go to Marlow House, I normally take her—both Walt and Danielle are fond of her.”
“But a pit bull? They can turn on you at any time,” Loyd said.
“It’s how you raise them, Uncle Loyd.”
“Why in the world would you even get a pit bull?” Simon asked. “If you wanted a companion, what’s wrong with something like a chihuahua?”
“I initially bought her because I wanted a guard dog.” Chris glanced down at Hunny and noted the way she looked up at him, with her head cocked, panting, her tongue hanging lopsided out of her mouth, flopping around with every pant, and her dopy expression. Yeah, right, guard dog, Chris thought. A chihuahua might have made a more aggressive guard dog.
“We’ve got to get rid of that dog,” Loyd told his brother as they drove from Chris’s house to the Glandon Foundation Headquarters. Chris had offered to take them in his car, but the uncles had insisted on taking their rental car, as they had some Christmas shopping to do after visiting the foundation headquarters.
“I didn’t count on him having a dog. And certainly not a pit bull!” Simon said.
“It would be nice if he was the one to get rid of it,” Loyd suggested. “If it was his idea. If the dog suddenly disappears or is poisoned, it could draw suspicion.”
“I don’t see him voluntarily getting rid of it. Did you see how he babies it?”
“But maybe if he thought it was dangerous.”
“You heard him, Loyd. He called it a sweetheart.”
“That’s what every dog owner says right before the family dog rips out their throat.”
If Heather had known it was bring-your-annoying-uncles-to-work day, she would have called in sick. To begin with, she thought it was stupid of Chris keeping poor Hunny on a leash just because the old codgers were afraid of the dog.
“What are you working on?”
Heather looked up from her keyboard. It was the older uncle, smiling at her in a creepy old man sort of way.
“I thought Chris was taking you on a tour?” she asked.
Loyd sat down in the empty chair next to her desk, using one arm of the chair to brace himself while using the cane to steady his descent. “Pshaw, I’m not going to walk all those stairs. I’ll let Simon do that. I thought I would stay down here and keep you company.”
Heather critically eyed the old man, finding him oddly friendly this afternoon, especially since he and his brother had made it perfectly clear the previous evening that they didn’t feel she was qualified to work for their nephew.
“He did show me the kitchen. Looks like a kitchen you’d find in someone’s house, not in an office.”
Heather shrugged. “This used to be someone’s home before Chris bought it.”
“He even has a full wine rack in there. Does he always keep it fully stocked like that?”
“I suppose.”
Loyd eyed her for a moment and then whispered, “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Uhh…yeah…I guess.” Heather glanced toward the doorway leading to the hallway and thought Chris couldn’t get back downstairs fast enough to suit her.
“My nephew has a little crush on you.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you play your cards right, I think you might be calling me uncle in no time at all.”
“What?” Heather frowned.
Loyd chuckled. “Come on now, you can’t fool me. What young woman wouldn’t see what a catch my nephew is? Handsome boy, richer than Croesus.”
“If you’re insinuating I’m after your nephew’s money—we’re not even dating!”
“Oh no! I’m not insinuating you’re after Chris; I’m saying he’s crazy about you!”
“No way.” Her frown deepened.
“It’s true. Before breakfast today, Loyd and I were in the library at Marlow House, looking at those portraits, when Chris came in and told us he thought he had feelings for you. Said you might be the one. Of course, the boy is gun-shy because of what happened between him and Danielle.”
“He told you about him and Danielle?”
“Just that he was interested in her, thought she felt the same way, but she didn’t. You see, the problem here, Chris is interested in you, but after getting burned by Danielle, he’s not going to make the move. You’re going to have to do it. If you’re interested in my nephew, it’s going to be up to you to chase him.”
“Chase him?”
“It’s the only way. And if he doesn’t seem interested, don’t give up. Because I know he’s crazy about you; he told Simon and me so.”
“So you’re saying Chris is interested in me, but because of Danielle, he won’t make the first move?”
Loyd nodded. “Exactly.”
“And if I do show an interest in him—let’s say show up with his favorite cookies—or buy him something special for Christmas—or start wearing provocative clothes around him, he will pretend he isn’t interested?”
“Precisely. It’s up to you to keep pursuing him—if, of course, it’s what you want.”
Heather stared at Loyd for a moment, a slow smile forming on her lips. She leaned toward him, patted his knee, and then whispered, “Thank you, Uncle Loyd; I will take your advice.”
“I’m sorry if you’re annoyed at me for what happened at breakfast,” Marie said. “But, dear, for a minute there I seriously thought he saw something.”
“Like I said earlier, maybe he did get a glimpse—which is why you shouldn’t be pushing it unless you want the Bishops to start telling everyone Marlow House is haunted when they leave.” Danielle sat in the parlor with Marie, Walt, and Eva. The Bishops had taken off about an hour after Chris left the house with his uncles.
“Didn’t you always say a haunted house might be a good marketing strategy?” Walt teased.
“It’s not so haunted since you joined my side,” Danielle reminded him.
“What am I, chopped liver?” Marie asked.
“Not to mention we have been seeing Eva more these days,” Walt reminded her. “Although I suspect she spends more time with our neighbor down the street.”
“It’s only because the view is so much better down there,” Eva said with a wink.
“Should I be insulted?” Walt teased.
Eva flashed Walt a smile and then said, “If I did decide to settle in one place, I do believe I could pull off quite a spectacular haunt.”
The next moment the doorbell rang.
“Do you think that’s one of your guests?” Eva asked.
“I doubt it, they all have keys.” Danielle walked over to the window and peeked outside. “It’s Heather. I wonder why she isn’t at work.”
When Danielle opened the front door a few minutes later, Heather marched in without saying hello, pushing past Danielle. “We need to talk.”
“Uhh…okay…is everything alright?” Danielle shut the door and watched as Heather anxiously paced the entry.
She abruptly stopped and turned to Danielle. “Is Eva or Marie here?”
“Umm…yeah, but how did you know?”
“I figured they would be here if they weren’t with Chris—which they aren’t. Those two spirits are the nosiest things, and I know they have been dying to check out Chris’s wacky family.”
“I wouldn’t say dying exactly. After all, they’re both already dead.”
Heather flashed Danielle her signature don’t-be-stupid glare and then without a hint of humor said, “Haha.”
Danielle shrugged and said, “They’re in the parlor with Walt.”
Heather turned abruptly and marched to the parlor, Danielle trailing behind her. Once in the room, she looked at the two spirits and Walt and said, “Do you know Chris has a secret crush on me?”
Silence. They all stared at Heather.
“Oh yes. It’s true. He’s mad for me, but Danielle left him damaged, so I need to pursue him.”
More silence. Danielle and Walt exchanged glances, as did Eva and Marie.
“Did you all know?”
Marie started to say something, but Heather cut her off.
“You didn’t know, I didn’t know, and do you know why that is?” Heather asked.
Danielle started to say something, but Heather cut her off too.
“It’s because it isn’t true!” Heather flounced to the sofa and flopped down, kicking off her shoes.
“What in the world are you talking about?” Walt asked.
Heather glanced around the room, making brief eye contact with each person—and each ghost. “For some reason, Chris’s crazy uncle wants me to believe Chris has a secret thing for me, and he encouraged me to pursue him. I know the jerk doesn’t like me, so what is he up to?”
Danielle walked to the sofa and sat down next to Heather. “Maybe you can fill in the pieces a bit. What exactly are you talking about?”
Heather let out a sigh and then recounted her conversation with Loyd at the Glandon Foundation Headquarters office twenty minutes earlier.
“I was in the library when they were looking at those portraits and Chris came in. I heard the entire conversation and, well—they never discussed you,” Eva said.
Heather’s smile widened. “Chris called me after he left his house to tell me he was on his way over to the office and bringing his uncles. He told me about breakfast here this morning and how both Marie and Eva had been here. I figured, if he had talked to his uncles this morning in the library, as dear old Uncle Loyd claimed, I was fairly certain one of you might have overheard the conversation. I didn’t believe him for a minute—but he is an old dude, and I wasn’t sure if maybe Chris said something about me, and he took it wrong.”
“But you weren’t mentioned at all,” Eva said.
“Which means the old coot didn’t misunderstand something Chris said—he made the entire thing up,” Heather said.
“But why?” Walt asked.
“Could it be the uncle is simply playing matchmaker?” Marie asked.
“Which would prove he hates Chris,” Heather said with a snort.
“That’s kind of a harsh thing to say about yourself,” Danielle said.
Heather turned to Danielle and rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, we were both at Pearl Cove. Those old dudes thought I was some sort of freak. And they made it clear they didn’t think I was qualified for my job. No, there is something else going on here, I just don’t know what.”