The Ghost's Host by Cathleen Collins

Author:Cathleen Collins [Collins, Cathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636791418
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2022-01-01T18:19:10+00:00

I looked up as I entered the building, smiling at the precarious sign creaking overhead. Alex called a greeting from the back of the bookstore, lost in stacks of newly delivered paperbacks. Adrianne had finally taken my advice and installed a new filter in the hundred-gallon tank, so the tetras and fantails were living the good life in their sparkling water, displaying all the colors of the rainbow to a young mother who pointed out the fish to her enraptured toddler. I smiled at them on the way by, heading for Adrianne’s office.

“Everybody decent?” I hollered, knocking on her door several times before swinging it open.

I’d had the misfortune of walking in on my boss and her adoring partner in the throes of passion more times than I wanted to remember, so I had taken to announcing my presence loudly and repeatedly in the hallway. Those occasions where I stumbled upon them left me feeling as damaged as I had when I’d walked in on my parents as a child. I still found myself in awe of the strangeness of the couple, opposites in every sense yet perfect for one another. The old me would have found some way to point out the flaws, but new me, the me who could finally see the beauty of it, cherished every odd inch of their relationship like a priceless work of art.

“All clear,” Adrianne’s husky alto responded. Despite the cooler fall weather, the building seemed to retain every drop of heat that ever existed, so after my trek up the stairs, I had started to sweat. Her office was still a sauna. The smell of citrus and lilies assaulted my senses, making my eyes water and my slightly crooked nose stuff up in protest.

“Blech. Why do you have to spray that stuff up here? Are you trying to cover the scent of dead bodies in the closet or what?”

“Keep it up and you’ll be the first one to join the party.” She arched a sharp eyebrow, her eyes drilling into me.

“There isn’t a closet big enough to hold me, dead or alive,” I quipped, drawing an unwilling smile to her lips despite her best attempt to remain neutral. She touched her forehead in mock frustration, covering the emerging grin and no doubt stifling the giggle that threatened to erupt.

“Did you bring it?” she asked after she composed herself.

“Bring what? Oh, calm down. Yes, I brought it. Here you go.” I pulled out from behind my back the sketch Alex had done for us. The detail was exquisite. From the books to the architecture, everything was captured with the skilled hand of a deft artist. Alex had really outdone himself with this one.

“This is accurate? All of it?”

I nodded. This was the room my sister and I had created in my mind. Adrianne touched the drawing with reverence, her eagle eye devouring every minuscule detail. She swiveled her chair back to the computer screen, tapping at the keys intently.

“Will it work?”

“Mmm-hmm. I think so.

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