Page 5 of The Accidental Ghost

And it wasn’t Nina’s husband Greg. He was outrageously good-looking, too, but he wasn’t this guy, with silvery-gray hair poking out from beneath his navy-blue knit cap, and a neatly trimmed beard.

This guy was like a walking fairytale prince, but rougher around the edges.

“Shamus Ransom. Good to meet you.” He extended a large, lean hand with long tapered fingers to Nina, filling up the doorway with his wide chest and long legs.

Nina took his hand and nodded, her lips thinning. “The ghost dude, right?”

He granted her a smile—a beautiful smile, if Raphaela did say so herself. Lots of white teeth against tanned skin and deep grooves on either side of his full-ish mouth.

“I prefer ghost hunter, but dude will do.” He gave the entryway and the great room a cursory glance.

Ralph’s stomach plummeted to the floor. Could he see her? He was, after all, a ghost hunter. Instantly, she hid behind a large vase in gold and black with big bunches of dried red hydrangea heads, located right by the great room entrance.

Twisting and turning one of her necklaces, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming her fear.

She’d missed the first half of the call Nina’d had with her friend George, the guardian angel (she refused to believe that wasn’t proof that upstairs existed), who’d claimed she knew someone who could help. But if he was a ghost hunter—hunter being the operative word—that meant a ghost was the prey, right?

Would he hurt her? Could he? Did he have ghost paraphernalia to exorcise ghosts? Like a ray gun that would smoke her out? Or a proton pack with a hose attached that he could shoot in her direction?

Heavens knew she’d read plenty of ghost stories in her time, but they were all fiction. Surely she couldn’t rely on what she read in books and saw in the movies. Or could she? This was really happening to her, and it was mostly happening just like in the books and movies…

Quite suddenly, after trying so desperately to get their attention, she felt very exposed. Naked, even, and she couldn’t make herself small enough.

Marty rushed to the gleaming wooden front doors, her bangle bracelets clinking together, her gleaming gold, dangly earrings quivering against her blonde hair.

“Nina,” she chided. “Be a good host and invite the man inside. It’s freezing out there.” Reaching out a hand, she offered it to Shamus Ransom, who took it with an amicable smile. “I’m Marty Flaherty, and this is Wanda Jefferson. Please, come in.”

She tugged him behind her until he was in the great room, where Nina had more than her fair share of flea market velvet paintings hanging on the walls. Elvis appeared to be one of her favorite subjects in more ways than one.

As Shamus entered the grand foyer, he landed but two feet from where she hid.

“Can we get you anything?” asked Wanda, gracious as ever, tucking her light ice-blue sweater around her torso.

Shamus shook his head. “I’m fine, thanks. Why don’t you tell me what’s been going on and why you think you have a ghost?”

Nina pointed to her plush red couch, indicating he should sit. Despite her love of Elvis and various skulls in velvet paintings, her taste in furniture and other décor, while bold and colorful, was immaculate.

“Sit,” she ordered with a point of her finger.

Wanda rolled her eyes and grated out a sigh. “What Neanderthal Nina means is, thanks so much for coming, Mr. Ransom. Our dear friend Georgina highly recommends you and your services. She said the two of you sometimes cross paths in your…work. Please, do have a seat.”

Shamus dropped down on the red couch, the rustle of his jeans the only sound.

He let his muscled legs stretch out for what looked like miles and miles in front of him before he said, “George and Dex, they’re great people. I got my dog Dale from their rescue.”

He had a rescue dog? Her heart went all soft and squishy, even if he was here to eradicate her.

Marty smiled, slapping her thighs with the palms of her hand. “Dale? Blind Dale the beagle?”

Now Shamus grinned with obvious pride, his green eyes sparkling. “That’s my boy. He’s so great. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I found them and their rescue. It doesn’t hurt that they’re paranormal, either.”

Marty grinned from ear to ear. “I volunteer there a couple of times a month. I used to walk Dale all the time. Man, he’s such a love. If I could get my hands on those bastards who did those horrible things to him in that lab and blinded him, I’d wring their pathetic necks!”

For a moment, Shamus clenched his fists, but then he relaxed. “You and me both. But he’s doing really well. He learned his way around my place in no time. He’s happy and healthy and the best friend any guy could ask for. Also, he can sniff out a ghost from a mile away. I always say it was fate that I found him. I really lucked out. In fact, I’m so happy with him, I’m thinking of going back to get Dale a friend.”

Wanda smiled with clear pleasure, her serene face lighting up. “Aren’t Dex and George the best? They’re such amazing kids. They’ve really turned that pet rescue into a true paradise for unwanted and special-needs furbabies.”

Shamus didn’t have time to give Wanda an answer. The short blue man named Arch rushed out with a tray, cups bobbling and some of those gorgeous cupcakes tempting Ralph all over again.

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