Read Online Who Invited the Ghost to Dinner: A Ghost Writer Mystery by Teresa Watson - Free Book Online

family would be thrilled to see you.”
    She shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”
    There was a knock on the door. “Rachel,” Richard said as he opened the door. He stopped when he saw me. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was looking for Rachel.”
    “What is it, Richard?” Rachel said.
    “There you are,” he said, coming all the way into the room. “I wanted to talk to you about the scene at the end of Act I for a minute.”
    “I better go,” I said, picking up my things. “Thank you again, Rachel. Break a leg.”
    “Thanks, and you’re welcome.”
    I left them alone, and took the bags out to my car. When I went back inside, I heard my mother calling my name from the main room. I walked in to find her standing next to my father, and I stopped to look at them for a minute. Mother was wearing a black dress, her short silver hair neatly styled in soft curls. She was gazing up at my father, who was dressed in a pair of black pants, white shirt and purple tie, with a look of pure love. After forty years, I thought it was wonderful that they still acted like newlyweds, holding hands or stealing a kiss when they thought no one was looking. I secretly hoped that when I found my true love, our marriage was just like theirs.
    Mother saw me watching them, and she actually blushed. I smiled at her as I wiped a stray tear away. “Did you need me for something?” I asked as I walked over to join them.
    “I just wanted to make sure that Mike was still joining us tonight.”
    “He told me he was this morning.”
    “Good,” she nodded, “I have a place for him and Randy with us.”
    “Who else is joining us?” I asked, noticing two other seats at our table.
    “Walt and Mother.”
    “Really? I thought Grandma didn’t like going to plays.”
    “I think she’s coming for the food, not the show,” Dad said. “When there’s pie involved, there your grandmother will be also.”
    “Are you talking about me again?” Grandma Alma said as she came in behind us. “How do you know I’m not here for the company?”
    Dad started to reply, but Mother gently placed her hand on his arm and shook her head. “Of course you’re here to spend the evening with your family,” Mother said, giving her mother  a big hug.
    “No, I’m not,” she snorted. “I’m here to see if there’s going to be a cat fight on the stage. I heard what happened at rehearsals last night.” She looked me up and down. “Don’t you look snazzy tonight? Just saw your boyfriend in the parking lot.”
    I hurried toward the front door. Mike came in just as I reached for the door, and he stopped in his tracks when he saw me. He didn’t say anything at first, just stared at me like he’d never seen me before. Finally, he moved toward me and took my hands in his. “You look…wow…you look so beautiful,” he said, brushing a loose hair off my cheek.
    “Thank you,” I said, feeling extremely shy all of a sudden.
    Randy almost ran us over as he came in. “Are you two planning to block the door all night?”
    “Sorry,” Mike said as we moved to the side.
    “You look nice,” Randy said, barely glancing at me. “Was that your grandmother I saw come in as we got here?”
    “Yes, she and Walt are inside with my parents.”
    For a minute, I thought about staying close to the front door, just to make sure that no one tried to slip past the two doormen standing on the steps outside. Namely, Susan Ingram. I just had a sneaking suspicion that she was going to weasel her way in here, and try to ruin things for Mother. Before I could make up my mind, Mike draped my arm through his, and escorted me toward our table, with Randy trailing behind us.
    By six thirty, everyone was seated at their assigned tables, and chatting with each other amiably. Thankfully, there was no sign of Susan Ingram, although I did see her husband, Joey, sitting with a group of people at the table Mac, Lillian, and I had used the previous evening. He seemed to be having a very intense