Page 79 of An Unexpected Home

She looked up at him, a huge smile on her face. “How was your day?”

“Uninformative.”

“How is this guy a ghost?” Carly asked. “No one is that good.”

“And,” Mel added, “this is a small town. Everyone sees everything.”

“I have no idea,” he said. “It’s a puzzle.”

“To take our mind off it, we were thinking about going to get drinks,” Leah told him.

“Drinks is too tame for what we are going to do. We are going to get drunk,” Carly said.

“You in?” Leah asked.

“Absofuckinglutely,” he answered.

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By the time they got to Gayle’s, it was after nine. It wasn’t too busy considering it was Tuesday night and so they grabbed a table right upfront. Brandon went to get their drinks and when he returned Logan and Tony were with him.

“Look who I found,” he said, passing out drinks

Leah took a long sip of her beer and waved.

“Jesus, are you following me,” Mel said, “cause you know, I'm a fucking grown adult and I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not following you,” Logan sneered. “I was here first having dinner with Tony.”

“Do you guys possibly think that we can get through a night without you two bickering?” Carly sounded annoyed.

“You’re talking to me about not bickering when all you and Tony do is fight and pick at each other?” Mel asked.

Carly looked at Tony. “Can we call a truce, just for tonight?”

He nodded his head once and saluted her with his beer.

“There, done,” she said. “Now we can all get drunk in peace.”

“We’re getting drunk?” Logan asked, eyebrows raised.

“We are.” Leah motioned to the girls. “You guys can do whatever you want.”

“Rough day, huh?” Tony said to Carly.

“Rough life,” she said and downed her beer.

Leah watched as her friend got up and went to the bar to get another drink.

“She okay?” Brandon sat in her vacated seat.

“I don’t know,” Leah answered honestly. “She seems a little off today.”

Logan sat down next to Brandon and asked, “What’s up with the case?”

“Nothing new, but Tony, I talked to your dad today.”

“You did?” he asked his eyes carefully watching Carly as she made her way back to the table.

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