Read Online Echoes in the Bayou by Ursula Dukes - Free Book Online Page B

return. But something told him that Ava was different,
she wasn’t all about glamour and glitz, she was down to earth and he liked that
about her.
    " The looks on the outside are a bit deceiving, but this
certainly makes up for it," she said while glancing around at the French
inspired, eclectic creole decorations. "I bet the food tastes just as
good," she beamed. "Thank you for suggesting we go out Magnus, you
were right it does feel good to get out of that house."
    Ava
savored a sip of wine and sat back in her chair. "We really need to start looking
for answers," she said to Magnus. "And I’ve got to start staging the
house, I mean you hired me to do a job for you and so far all I’ve managed to
do is stir up some very odd and very scary spirits."
    Magnus had finished his beer and directed the waitress to
bring him another.
    " We’ll start looking tonight when we get back to the
house."
    " Okay… but what about the staging? I mean let’s face it
Magnus, the house will never sell the way it is. I mean don’t get me wrong it’s
a beautiful house, it really is. But not a lot of people can afford such a big
house, so what I want to do is make it as comfortable and cozy as
possible."
    Magnus
could listen to her talk all day long; just the sound of her voice was
reassuring and melodic but he didn’t dare tell her that, not yet anyway, it was
too soon.
    " Ava I think it’s safe to say that the staging can
wait. You and I have much more important things to do than worry about what
color to paint the entranceway."
    She knew
that he was right; there was no way she’d be able to c oncentrate on decorating with ghosts running around the place. But that
led her to wonder about Gavin, he was still her boss. What would he say if she
was forced to postpone the job? She knew him well enough to know that he would
probably tell her that she wasn’t there to ghost hunt.  That she was there
to do a job. She needed to prove to Gavin that she could handle a big job like
this one, hell she needed to prove it to herself.
    "Magnus
I don’t understand what’s going on, not one bit. I mean I came here to help you
make your house look like a home and so far all I’ve managed to do was get
attacked by a ghost, and kissed by my employer." She looked at him. Did he
see heat in her eyes just then? Was it heat of desire or anger? He couldn’t
tell. 
    Lowering
her head and leaning over the table, she continued. "And let’s not forget the living history exhibit that unfolded in the
bedroom, I mean what’s next? Are we going to find skeletons under the
floorboards? Oh and I bet there are some more ghosts in the attic," she
whispered as the waitress brought over their food.  One look at the
steaming bowl of seafood gumbo set before her and that was enough to squelch
the supernatural out of her mind, for the moment anyway.
    It wasn’t
until the first bite that she had realized just how hungry she was and by the
looks of things so was Magnus. The two barely spoke while they devoured their
food.  Just as he was about to speak again, the vibration went off on his
cell phone. Looking at it, he excused himself and stepped outside. Ava took
advantage of his short absence and tried putting her thoughts in order.
    What the hell are you doing Ava ? She asked herself . I mean you’ve been here what? A day and
already you’re feeling a strong connection to this guy, and you know nothing
about him! Granted being accosted by a ghost can bring people closer but damn,
you just got dumped for Christ’s sake; give yourself some time to heal. In some weird way, being at that house and spending
time with Magnus was definitely helping her to heal. So far she had not given
Gavin or Melanie a second thought and that was what she wanted. Magnus was
nothing like Gavin, there was such gentleness to him, and that was something
that Gavin would never possess.
    When
Magnus returned to the table he informed her that he’d just gotten off the
phone with her boss,