The Wolf's Mate by Emilia Hartley

Author:Emilia Hartley [Hartley, Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-16T16:00:00+00:00

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Chapter Twenty-Three

Casper stopped talking in mid-sentence. Trina was a vision in a snug green dress, skirt and hair flowing with her motion. He suddenly felt underdressed. “Damn. You look too good for dinner anywhere around here.”

She smiled, a million watts’ worth. “You look pretty good yourself. I haven’t seen you in anything but T-shirts.”

Scarlet winced at the conversation.

“You’re working late, Scarlet,” Trina said.

“I’m lingering.” She shrugged. “Nothing but non-stop video games at Laramie’s house.”

“Laramie’s boy?”

“No, Laramie and Wendy. He comes home from work and they both plop down in front of the TV playing Super Mario Odyssey. The boy just mopes around and practices some kind of doom metal guitar in the garage. You can barely hear it over the video game.” Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Where are ya’ll off to, all gussied up like that?”

“We’re having dinner at a haunted restaurant,” Casper said. “Later, we’re conducting an investigation in the national forest.”

“Dinner in a restaurant? Cass, you squeeze a quarter so tight the eagle screams.”

“This one’s on me,” Trina said.

“How romantic. I reckon.” Scarlet grabbed her purse off the kitchen island. “See ya’ll tomorrow.”

Trina’s face was tight as she watched Scarlet leave.

“You don’t like her much,” he said.

“What’s not to dislike?”

Casper hid a smile. “It’s a long haul to Troutdale from here. We should probably get going.”

“Would you mind driving? I’m still texting back and forth with my agent.”

“Fuggedaboutit. As long as you put the phone away when we get there.”

She smiled. “Deal.”

As Casper drove her SUV, they chatted intermittently between Trina’s texts on the drive to Multnomah County. As they arrived, she looked up from her phone, eyes wide. “What is this place?”

Casper eyed the looming brick building as he looked for parking. “Used to be the county poor farm. Historic society got a hold of it before it could be torn down.”

They entered, and since it was early, the hostess seated them right away. Trina took in the warm wood paneling below the murals on all the walls. Their table was near the bar. “Nice place.”

Casper ordered a beer from the onsite brewery.

“We shouldn’t drink before an investigation,” Trina said. “We need to have clear heads.”

Casper waved the thought away. “It takes forever for the sun to set, this far north. It’ll be hours before full dark. Have a glass of wine.”

“Okay, what the hell.”

They read through the menus, Casper surreptitiously looking Trina over. She looked impossibly sexy. He felt like he was having a date with a fantasy. He couldn’t say if that made it easier or harder to think about her leaving.

“So what’s supposed to happen in this haunted restaurant?” Trina put the menu down.

Casper made a face. “I dunno. Just what I heard.”

As they spoke, the glasses above the bar rattled, jingling together. The bartender’s features fell. Then he laughed and spoke to someone out of sight. “Ghost is back, Donny.”

Trina focused on the glasses. “Okay, that was something.”

“Or something else,” Casper smiled.

“What?”

He angled his head toward the back of the room.

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