Read Online 1 Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene - Free Book Online Page B

overcast, and the temperature was dropping. Whoever had called for snow might be right.
    She shrugged. “I found some an old necklace in one of the closets upstairs last week. Grandma said it has garnets in it, and that it had belonged to some guest who left it behind before the inn closed. Why didn’t you keep the inn open, Mommy? I know Grandma would’ve liked it. You could’ve made money, and you wouldn’t have to go out and work.”
    “Maybe. But sometimes you have to do what you can.” I smiled at her. “I’m good at my job. You know I’m not much on baking muffins and cookies, like Grandma was. I think making all that food is part of running the inn.”
    “Mommy? Will Grandma always live with us as a ghost?”
    “I don’t know for sure. Why?”
    “I was just thinking about Daddy. Why doesn’t his ghost doesn’t live with us too?”
    I couldn’t even form words to try to explain why that had happened. Even if I’d known what the difference was, I wouldn’t know how to tell her. Jacob had certainly loved her as much as Addie loved her. Life wasn’t always fair or equal.
    “What do you say we stop at the ice cream place and get a lot of hot fudge on a sundae to keep us warm?”
    Kate stared at me like I was crazy and then giggled. “If we really wanted to stay warm, we’d just get the hot fudge.”
    “I’m good with that. Let’s stop.”
    There weren’t many people at the ice cream shop. We found out why when we went inside. There was no heat in the building. The young man at the counter apologized, and offered us free topping. We got our hot fudge sundaes—with free sprinkles—and ate them in the van with the motor running so we’d be warm.
    I was happy listening to her tell me about the history of the African tribes they were studying in her class. The entire school was working toward a night of world history and culture. Each grade was learning something different that they would present to parents. Kate’s class had learned a song in Swahili, and was planning to present something about Kenya.
    These moments with her were so precious to me. I captured each one of them like a shining jewel in my memory. I wanted to be able to go over them while I kept vigil during every long night for the next eighteen years. I didn’t know what would happen after that, but I would have these wonderful memories to take with me.
    My phone rang, and I glanced at the name on the screen. It was Martin Cummings. He wanted to meet with me right away. He said it was important, and that it involved Mr. Welk’s death. That was enough for me to take Kate home, and explain the situation to Addie.
    Maybe my gut was right, and Martin had answers to those questions about why Mary Gable’s name had made Abe so angry. He might even know what my chances were of getting my heart ripped out of my chest before my twenty years was up.
    But when I went inside the old inn, Addie met me at the door to the mudroom, a grim frown on her plain, ghostly face.
    “What’s wrong?” I stopped in the doorway.
    “Get started on your homework in the kitchen, Kate,” Addie told her. “I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
    Kate went into the kitchen, muttering about always missing out on the good stuff. She put her book bag on the table, and closed the door behind her.
    “We have a problem,” Addie said.
     

Chapter Ten
     
    “What is it?” I could imagine all kinds of terrible things.
    Someone from the school had paid us a visit. The house was being torn down. Addie wasn’t going to be a ghost for much longer.
    “A visitor arrived.”
    “Okay.” That didn’t seem so bad. “Who was it?”
    “He says he’s your friend. He says his name is Lucas. We can’t have someone staying here with us! I can’t believe you didn’t know better than to invite him here!”
    Lucas. It was my turn to frown.
    How did he know where to find me? What did he want? I could imagine he wanted some repayment for saving my life. Very few people were