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I marched over to Johnny with the flier in my hand. He was talking to some tourists and ringing up their ghost tour tickets. As soon as they cleared out, I stepped up.
"Dude! Paige! Tell me you brought some cinnamon rolls!" Johnny rang a little silver-colored call bell on his counter like we were at a diner and his order was up.
"Johnny, I'm not bringing you anything until you tell me about this ghost hunt through the old cannery," I said, waving the paper at him.
"Isn't it rad?" he replied, delighted. "Totally Echo's idea. But, like, he saw how everybody dug the séance idea, so he was like, 'Where can I go that is super haunted and junk?' And I said, 'Like, the old cannery' and he was like, 'Dude! That's awesome!'"
This One-upmanship was getting out of hand. "Johnny, are you sure about this?"
"Yeah! I totally rented a bus and everything!"
I groaned. "Johnny, are you making money or losing money?"
"Losing, but hey." He held out his arms benevolently. "It's for the island. I take them over to the cannery and then we drop them all off at the festival. Badda bing, badda boom, and tada! Instant crowds!"
I sighed. Having money was still new to Johnny and he was spending it like he was scared it would disappear. "You gotta take care of yourself, Johnny. It's not your job to fix Echo's business."
He shrugged. "Whatevs. It'll be super fun! And I'm supporting an entrepreneur." He gave a little bow. "Like myself."
"Echo is not like you," I said, reaching out and taking Johnny's hand like you might do when breaking bad news to a little kid. "You've got a heart."
He laughed. "C'mon, Paige. He's a good guy. Just super serious about what he does."
"Serious doesn't mean he's a good tour guide."
"Well, this'll mix it up. Show him a different way of doing business." Johnny leaned forward. "So, like, do you want to go or what?"
I smiled and relented. "Sure."
"Okay. But, like, be forewarned, there might be ghosts."
"I'll stay alert," I promised.
I turned and walked back to Bitter Beans, flipping the sign from "Back in 5 Minutes" to "Open." Not that anyone missed me or anything. We had a couple customers, but I think everyone was waiting to come over until tonight. I took the time to text Nate that I had decided we had a date. He was completely onboard and said it sounded like a "spooktacular time." That's my man. And then I spent the rest of the time unpacking some new Halloween decorations Granny had ordered. We had some new pens with rubbery, dangling spiders on the end that wrote in white ink and some matching spooky looking journals with black pages. I grabbed a piece of blank paper to demonstrate how you could wile away the boredom by doodling out spider webs.
About an hour later, though, Granny came down from her apartment, grinning to beat the band.
"Grind up the good beans!" Granny exclaimed, coming over to give me a kiss on the cheek. "Just got off the phone with Richard and the bank, and we're one step closer to being the proud owners of Ralph's Hardware Store!"
I smiled. "Congratulations!" I said. "When do you think you'll be through all this mortgage stuff and able to move in?"
"Well, we still have to get the inspector out and go through escrow. And, of course then we have the renovations. But we are so close to the historical museum finally having its space!" Granny clapped her hands with joy. "And we were thinking that if it is ready in time, it might be a lovely place to hold our wedding."
It was almost too huge to contemplate. I gave her a great big hug. "I can't even think of a more perfect spot! I'm so happy for you!"
"We'll make sure to put free tickets to the museum in everyone's goodie bags," she joked with a wink. Granny started turning off the lights to the shop and flipped the sign to 'Closed'. "Now, shall we go over to the hardware store to say hello to Ralph and see if he wants to go out to lunch?"
"Lunch? You trying to butter him up or something?"
Granny bobbled her head noncommittally. "Well... there were those noises he was making about other interested parties – new hardware stores or offices or what-have-you."
"Madison was here talking about venture capitalists."
Granny cast her eyes to the heavens as if asking for strength. But then pulled herself back to earth. "I just want to remind him that while Richard and I might not have the deep pockets of some faceless corporation, we'll love his place like no one else."
"He would be a fool to sell to anyone but you."
"That's what I think, too," she said, grabbing her purse and throwing an orange pashmina over her tight black sweater as she stepped out the door. "Now, get out of that apron and get a wiggle on! Scoot!"
She didn't have to ask me again. I tossed the apron on a peg, smoothed my chestnut hair into its ponytail, grabbed my jacket, and raced outside.
"Ooo! There is a nip in the air!" she exclaimed as we made our way, arm-in-arm, up the road. Construction was still going on at the general store and Holly had stopped by Marnie's yarn shop to get away from the noise. They waved at us as we walked passed. I was jealous of how warm and cozy they looked. As we rounded the corner to head up the hill, another blast of wind struck us. Granny squealed and grabbed onto my arm like she was scared she was going to blow away.
"Oh, this is not going to be any fun going out into tonight," I shouted over the wind.
"Where you off to?" she asked.
I filled her in on Johnny's new tour at the cannery and how it was supposed to end at the Halloween festival.
"I don't think this is what they were talking about when people said they wanted chills!" Granny said as a gust blew her words away.
Finally, we reached Ralph's place and gladly stepped inside, the bell bing-bonging to announce our arrival.
Ralph jerked awake. He turned up his hearing aids. "What can I do for you today, Cindy?"
She walked over and stuck out her hand, "Ralph, I just wanted to stop by and say that I just got off the phone with the bank. Things are moving forward and we are so excited—"
His face darkened a little. "You sure about this? That you really want it?"
Granny was puzzled. "Yes. Of course. Is there... is there some sort of problem?"
Suddenly, there was the sound of people coming down the stairs. We looked over. Fred and Stan marched down the steps.
Ralph shook his head. "Whole place is falling down around my ears. Lots of work to be done." He hooked his thumb at the police officers. "Stan and Fred were telling me not to leave town or sell the hardware store until they finish their investigation."
"What investigation?" she asked.
But that's when Seaside's finest decided to get her up to speed.
Fred stepped forward. "Ralph, we're placing you under arrest for the attempted murder of Tango..." His face went blank. He pulled out his notebook. "Oh heck, I forgot to write down his last name. But Tango! The ghost hunter guy. Who did a séance here."
"I know who you're talking about," Ralph snapped.
"Well, someone cut that floorboard and we think it's YOU," accused Stan, waggling his finger at Ralph's face.
"And why would you think that?" Ralph said. It had the tone of a schoolmaster about to put an idiot child in his place.
"Your finger prints are all over the place!"
I saw Fred nervously rubbing his palms on his pants, leaving a trail of black dusting powder down the kaki-colored polyester.
"The reason my fingerprints are all over the place is because it is my storeroom!" Ralph reminded them.
"Now, don't go deflecting our investigation with your logic." He took his handcuffs out. "Now, are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"
I saw Fred cross his fingers by his side, and then mouth, "Say the hard way... say the hard way..."
Ralph got up, dusting the seat of his stool. His foul mood permeated the entire room. "I'm gitting going. And you're going to see that you're a bunch of idiots for even thinking such a thing!" He snapped. He put his keys on his counter and slid them across to me. "Mind looking after the place, would you? Lock up on your way out."
We stood, stunned, as Ralph grabbed his beat-up hat and shuffled to the door.
Stan and Fred exchanged glances, like each was trying to figure out if they should cuff Ralph or if it was okay to just let him walk himself outside. They seemed to settle on following him sheepishly.
But that left Granny and me in charge of the hardware store.
"Oh my..." said Granny. She ran her eyes around the shop nervously. "Well, I suppose we should turn off the lights and make sure the windows are closed."
I had been here enough times in the past couple weeks, I knew exactly where all the switches were. I stormed over to the wooden stairs. "This is just nuts!" I said.
"To think they would suspect Ralph!" Granny exclaimed, placing her hand on her heart in shock. "I mean, he's no ray of sunshine, but why on earth would he damage his own building? Much less try to hurt a kid like Tango?"
But, as if summoned, the door opened and Tango hobbled in. He seemed surprised to see us. "Where's Ralph?"
"I'm afraid Stan and Fred hauled him in for attempted murder," Granny primly informed him.
"Attempted murder? Of who?" Tango asked.
"Of you," Granny replied.
"What?" said Tango, taken aback. Scrambling, he spurted, "My lawyer said I needed to file a report with the police in order to get Ralph's insurance to cover my medical bills—"
Granny threw up her hands. "You got lawyers involved? Did it even dawn on you to ask Ralph to help?"
"I did!" Tango insisted, his macho voice now taking on a distinct whine. "And he threatened not to let me hold my séances here and told me to take a hike!"
Granny shook her head like she couldn't believe what the world was coming to. She rapped her knuckles on the wooden counter. "Well, I'm afraid there won't be any séances from here on out."
Tango's face went several shades of red and he stepped forward, menacingly. "What are you talking about? I've been selling tickets! I'll sue you for obstruction of my profits!"
Granny did not back down. She arranged her pashmina around her shoulders with her head held high. "Tango, you were injured, Ralph is not here, and we cannot allow you to be on the premises. Especially if you are talking about filing a lawsuit against Ralph."
"But— But—"
"Now, go off and find yourself another haunted place to haunt," she insisted. "Heck, even Echo decided to get creative and is taking his group out to the old cannery. This is not the only building in Seaside!"
That was not the answer Tango wanted. "Echo?? ECHO???" He gasped and sputtered as he tried to come up with a proper response. Finally, he blurted out, "I will OWN this place!" He clomped his way toward the front door and then spun dramatically on his crutches. "Just you wait! I will take Ralph for everything he is worth! And then won't Echo be sorry!"
And then he stomped out the door.
The cheery little bing-bong went off to let us know he had, truly, left the building.
"There goes one very angry young man," Granny said, shaking her head. "To think he would speak to us in that manner!" I could tell she wanted to say a great deal more about what she thought about him, but held it back. I'm not sure why. Probably because it's not nice to be mean to the injured. Instead, she turned to me with purpose. "Paige? Let's make sure that Echo character is wildly successful with his efforts, shall we?"