Page 55 of The Accidental Ghost

“Okay. Well, scratch that fairy tale, huh?” She sighed, gazing at a concrete gargoyle with wings. She’d heard the story about Ingrid and her gargoyle and since then, she found herself checking the eyes of the statues in Nina’s hedge maze for signs of life. “So no other powers as an elf?”

“Not as only half an elf, no. I have a little magic, but I’m not turning water into wine. Though, I’m hella good at making it rain. Sometimes it gets a little out of control and turns into a tsunami, but it doesn’t last long. Though, my mother would tell you it was a catastrophe. Mostly it’s just parlor tricks. Like I said, my father’s human. My mother’s the elf. She’s got all the powers. I just see ghosts.”

“Did you guys live in a hollowed-out tree?”

Shamus snorted. “Oh, she’s got jokes, eh? Yeah, and we made cookies. The Keeblers are distant cousins.”

Now she laughed as the snow began to fall and she admired the way it stuck to his eyelashes. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Are you close with your parents?”

Shamus’s smile was filled with warmth. “I am. My dad’s eighty now, but he’s still as spry as a twenty-year-old. My mother, well, she’s immortal, so she looks like she’s twenty. It’s kinda funny when they go out together and everyone thinks he’s her sugar daddy. But she’s actually a lot older.”

“By how much?”

“Thirty years.”

Boy, this paranormal world was nuts. “Are they happy?”

“Disgustingly so. They’re still like teenagers, always have been.”

That didn’t sound disgusting at all to her, but she acknowledged they’d grown up very differently, and his appreciation of his parents’ happy marriage might be clouded by their embarrassing affectionate moments growing up.

“I think it’s sweet.”

They sat for a moment, admiring the buttery moon and the falling snow.

“I guess now, as an adult, I can admit it’s pretty great.” He paused a second, clearly measuring his words. “So, you were engaged, right?”

“I was.”

He lifted a snow-covered eyebrow. “And?”

“And it ended because he wanted to move to Texas for a job, and I wanted to retire early and open a bookstore.”

“He didn’t support your dream?”

“No. Nothing like that. He did…as long as I dreamed in Texas.” Plucking at her bracelets, she expanded her answer. “Will was a great guy—he just wasn’t my guy, and when I realized my heart wouldn’t be broken if he went to Texas, and this job was a huge opportunity for his career, it’s the one thing I didn’t overthink. I stayed in New York, a place I love, and ended it. It was amicable, and he’s very happy there with a wife and some goats.”

“No one serious before that?”

“You mean because of my age, right? I should have had a string of lovers by now?”

“Nope. I mean, you’re obviously very choosy about picking a mate. Not a bad trait to have.”

“I guess that’s true. I’ve dated, had boyfriends here and there, but I’m not exactly a good time in terms of going out, parties and so on. I like home and a good book. A fire. Blanche curled up in my lap. A movie every weekend on Netflix.”

“Now that I’m older, I like those things, too. Especially now that I have Dale, but what I really like is a night in with a good DIY project. You name it, I want to try it. Tiling, woodwork, all of it. It kept me sane during my divorce. But it turned my little condo into a palace,” he said with so much obvious pride.

Now she measured her words. “Was your divorce contentious?”

His laugh was bitter. “To say the least. Tory was never a fan of me up and leaving in the middle of the night to help a ghost, or eradicate one from someone’s house. She knew who I was when we met and married, but as demand grew, the two of us grew further and further apart. I could have lived with that if she hadn’t taken it out on me by sleeping with our dentist. I really loved that guy.”

Ralph winced. “She cheated?”

He scrunched his face up, and even that didn’t distort his good looks. “She did. Fifteen years in the crapper, but if I’m honest, I’d begun to resent her anger. She really did know the score when we’d met.”

“Is she paranormal, too?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a wince. “Remember when I mentioned sharp teeth? She’s a fairy.”

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