Read Online Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer Book 1): (Ghost Cozy Mystery series) by Morgana Best - Free Book Online
Authors: Morgana Best
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would be with my ex-husband, a horrible man who told horrible lies. It added insult to injury to realize he wouldn’t be alone today.
I went into the living room and saw that everyone was already awake. Opened gifts and wrapping paper covered the entire living room floor. I was normally the only early riser amongst them, so I must have slept in for ages.
“Luke insisted we all open our gifts at six this morning,” Rainbow said.
“Six?” I echoed. “But you all usually sleep in ‘til after nine.”
“Luke was excited that it was Christmas,” Rainbow said defensively.
Uncle Tim shrugged. “Yes, his loud shrieking woke us up. I don’t know how you managed to sleep through it, Prudence.”
“My son does not shriek!” Rainbow herself shrieked, before bursting into tears and running from the room. Luke ran after her, kicking gifts out of his way.
Christina put her head in her hands. “It’s started already,” she said with a groan. “Is it too early to drink?”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Uncle Tim said, handing her a wine bottle.
I looked at the large square object wrapped in Christmas paper and propped up against my wall. I smiled. It was my Christmas present to myself. I had made myself wait to open it. Mark and Victoria always sent the most thoughtful gifts. I had already opened their gifts, a huge set of organic lavender and geranium bath salts, bubble bath, and hand cream, and hidden them in my room, away from the destructive hands of Luke.
I sat down on the floor in front of my package, pulling a long sliver of paper down with me as I did. Soon I had all of the paper off and I could see the painting beneath. It was an abstract painting, mostly blues with some purple and an angry splash of red in one corner. I liked it. I liked art in general, and had one other of the same artist’s paintings hanging in my bedroom. I had settled on this one, considerably larger, for the living room.
I hung my painting and then stood back to admire it. I was fairly confident that I had hung it the right way up, though with abstract paintings it wasn’t always easy to tell. I walked past the painting but paused, looking at it. No, I didn’t think it was quite right. I pulled it off the wall, and turned it, and then hung it again.
“That’s a nice painting,” Christina said. “Are you sure it’s the right way up?”
The longer I looked at it, the less sure I was. I went to the painting and sighed. It was a perfect square, so I couldn’t even be sure that it was supposed to go only two ways. Any of the four directions might be right. I had just taken it down and rotated it ninety degrees when my phone rang.
“Hey there, old lady,” Constance said when I answered.
“Listen, if you’re going to call yourself an old lady there’s nothing I can do about it,” I said, “but if you start calling me an old lady, I might kick your butt. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Constance said. “You know, you need a man in your life.”
“I’ll have you know I had drinks with a man last night,” I said, and that was mostly true.
“Do tell,” Constance said. She obviously thought I was joking.
“Nothing to tell, really,” I admitted.
Constance laughed. “What are you doing now?”
“I’m hanging a painting. It’s my Christmas present to myself,” I said. “It’s an abstract, so it’s not easy to tell if I have it the right way up.”
After I finished speaking to Constance, I called Iris to wish her a Merry Christmas, and then I called Barbara. Now I could take some aspirin.
I had just taken two and returned to the living room when Rainbow came out. “I need to lie down,” she said, “but Luke wants to watch a movie. I’m going to leave him out here so the three of you can watch him.” With that, she pushed Luke into the room and left.
The three of us exchanged horrified glances. Luke picked up a plastic saw from his plastic tool kit, apparently a
I went into the living room and saw that everyone was already awake. Opened gifts and wrapping paper covered the entire living room floor. I was normally the only early riser amongst them, so I must have slept in for ages.
“Luke insisted we all open our gifts at six this morning,” Rainbow said.
“Six?” I echoed. “But you all usually sleep in ‘til after nine.”
“Luke was excited that it was Christmas,” Rainbow said defensively.
Uncle Tim shrugged. “Yes, his loud shrieking woke us up. I don’t know how you managed to sleep through it, Prudence.”
“My son does not shriek!” Rainbow herself shrieked, before bursting into tears and running from the room. Luke ran after her, kicking gifts out of his way.
Christina put her head in her hands. “It’s started already,” she said with a groan. “Is it too early to drink?”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Uncle Tim said, handing her a wine bottle.
I looked at the large square object wrapped in Christmas paper and propped up against my wall. I smiled. It was my Christmas present to myself. I had made myself wait to open it. Mark and Victoria always sent the most thoughtful gifts. I had already opened their gifts, a huge set of organic lavender and geranium bath salts, bubble bath, and hand cream, and hidden them in my room, away from the destructive hands of Luke.
I sat down on the floor in front of my package, pulling a long sliver of paper down with me as I did. Soon I had all of the paper off and I could see the painting beneath. It was an abstract painting, mostly blues with some purple and an angry splash of red in one corner. I liked it. I liked art in general, and had one other of the same artist’s paintings hanging in my bedroom. I had settled on this one, considerably larger, for the living room.
I hung my painting and then stood back to admire it. I was fairly confident that I had hung it the right way up, though with abstract paintings it wasn’t always easy to tell. I walked past the painting but paused, looking at it. No, I didn’t think it was quite right. I pulled it off the wall, and turned it, and then hung it again.
“That’s a nice painting,” Christina said. “Are you sure it’s the right way up?”
The longer I looked at it, the less sure I was. I went to the painting and sighed. It was a perfect square, so I couldn’t even be sure that it was supposed to go only two ways. Any of the four directions might be right. I had just taken it down and rotated it ninety degrees when my phone rang.
“Hey there, old lady,” Constance said when I answered.
“Listen, if you’re going to call yourself an old lady there’s nothing I can do about it,” I said, “but if you start calling me an old lady, I might kick your butt. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too,” Constance said. “You know, you need a man in your life.”
“I’ll have you know I had drinks with a man last night,” I said, and that was mostly true.
“Do tell,” Constance said. She obviously thought I was joking.
“Nothing to tell, really,” I admitted.
Constance laughed. “What are you doing now?”
“I’m hanging a painting. It’s my Christmas present to myself,” I said. “It’s an abstract, so it’s not easy to tell if I have it the right way up.”
After I finished speaking to Constance, I called Iris to wish her a Merry Christmas, and then I called Barbara. Now I could take some aspirin.
I had just taken two and returned to the living room when Rainbow came out. “I need to lie down,” she said, “but Luke wants to watch a movie. I’m going to leave him out here so the three of you can watch him.” With that, she pushed Luke into the room and left.
The three of us exchanged horrified glances. Luke picked up a plastic saw from his plastic tool kit, apparently a
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