Page 11 of The Candlemaker

This wholehauntedthing started—as most of my plans do—as a joke. After months of legal shenanigans, we got word the inn was going to be listed again for sale. By then, we knew alittle more about its rightful owner, the billionaire Mr. Collins. Real estate mogul. Ruthless. A classic cold-hearted capitalist.And Lou felt…hopeless.

She’d never be able to compete with the kinds of offers Collins would get from his circle of investors. Word on the street was his commercial properties were offered privately to a select group of his associates first before they went on the market. Whether that was true or not, the inn made it onto the market, and Lou about had a panic attack.

So, I did what I always do; I promised my sister I’d fix it, and when she said there was nothing I could do, I told her if it came down to it, I would personally haunt the old rundown building to make sure no one wanted to buy it.

Well, it came down to it.

Honestly, it didn’t take much—hadn’t taken much. The first couple of buyers who’d come up to see the property…all I’d had to do was plant a few well-placed rumors about betrayal and death of Revolutionary War spies to send them running.

The last two had been more hands-on. There’d been a pretend séance as they’d arrived to look at the building. Some sneaking around to bang windows, and a few yards of fishing line to make doors slam shut. In my opinion, it was all very amateur, but somehow, it worked.

But this time…if this Mr. Fairfax wanted to tear the building down, who knew if he’d even want to take a look at the property?

If he did, well, I’d just received my first official Jamie warning.

Trespassing was illegal.

I understood that,butthe inn was abandoned. Was it really trespassing if no one lived or cared about the property? How many times had he and Kit snuck into the inn on a dare back when they were in school?

But if he didn’t want to see the building, then I’d have to find some way to talk to him myself—convince him about the ghosts.

Or there was the alternative: confront Mr. Collins.

My heart tripped. I wasn’t usually the one to back down from a challenge or confrontation. I’d been the spokesperson for myself and my sister for our entire lives. I would say something if someone in our class was teasing or bullying Lou for being quiet. I would be the one to call if we needed to make reservations for dinner or a spa day. And I would be the one to stand up to our brothers—mostly Jamie—if they were being too overbearing.

But to go toe to toe with the man standing between Lou and her dream. My stomach tightened.What if I didn’t make it better? What if I couldn’t fix it?

There was no going back once Collins knew who I was.

The wood chime at the entrance to my store dinged at the arrival of a customer, and I jumped in surprise.Crap.My eyes darted to the vial I’d just tipped onto the counter.Cinnamon everywhere. Double crap.I righted the glass as I slid off the stool and called, “Coming!”

Whoever it was didn’t respond. Most likely a new customer, since if it were family or someone from Friendship, they would’ve yelled back to me.

I grabbed a fistful of paper towels, piling them over the oil spill, and quickly mopped it up.There was no saving my hands though; they were covered in the scent, and it would take days to completely wash or wear away.

Oh well. Good thing my cinnamon candle was one of my bestsellers.

Rolling my shoulders back, I tied up all my frustrating thoughts with a wide, welcoming smile, pulled the curtain tothe side, and stepped into the front of my store and into full-blown customer service mode.

“Welcome to the Candle Cabin. I’m?—”

“Frankie.”

No.

Shit.

Why was he here?

Chapter Three

Frankie

“Chandler.”I blinked several times to confirm that he was really standing here. In my candle shop.

My eyes traveled up his height.Was he this tall yesterday?Today, he’d made an effort to dress more relaxed in dark jeans and a white linen button-down, the sleeves rolled up his forearms—his very nice, very veiny forearms—again.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out in the most ungracious way.

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