It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,20

Suffice it to say there was no love lost between my bestie and my boss.

“She did it so Gideon won’t see Daisy. She doesn’t want competition,” Jennifer said and then paused. “I was waggling my brows. Did it work?”

“Umm, no,” I told her. “I don’t think much on your face is going to move for a while.”

“Right,” Jennifer said. “I’m just going to narrate my reactions for the next year.”

“Kill me now,” Heather yelled from the kitchen.

Sam thought the exchange was funny and laughed. The other dead people joined him. It was incredibly hard to not look at the specters hanging out in the same room with my oxygen-breathing friends, but I was doing a pretty good job. Thankfully, Donna the Destroyer had stopped barking at them.

“I’m not anyone’s competition,” I said, putting Donna down, now that she wasn’t so focused on my dead guests. “You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to date a lawyer.”

“Shit,” Heather said, rejoining us in the family room. “Does that mean I have no chance at all once I pass the bar?”

Shaking my head, I laughed and hugged my friend tight. “If I ever change teams, you’re my gal. I promise.”

“Well, Happy Birthday, Daisy,” Missy said, giving me a kiss on the cheek and ruffling Heather’s hair. “Forty is going to be a great year for you. I can feel it.”

I prayed I didn’t wince. Forty had not been good so far other than being with my friends and getting a puppy. It was odd that Missy would even say that. My best friend had kind of a sixth sense about things. Her fabulous kitschy bookstore was loaded with bestsellers along with books on magic and all sorts of other new-agey stuff that I constantly rolled my eyes about.

Wait. What the hell was I rolling my eyes about? I was seeing dead people.

Whatever. No one—even a person in-tune with seeing things—could be right always. Missy had missed the mark this time but I wasn’t about to correct her. My friends had only recently eased up on their worry about me losing Steve. I didn’t need them worrying about anything else. I was too much of a drain on them as it was.

“It’ll be great,” I lied with a smile. “I love all of you nutbags. Thank you for coming tonight.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” June said, giving me a warm mom-hug. “Are you coming in tomorrow morning to pick up some work?”

Damn. “You know,” I said, making a plan as the words fell from my lips. Avoiding Gideon seemed like the smartest thing to do for my mental health. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I was going with my gut. “Having Donna now, I was wondering if someone could meet me at the coffee shop and bring me a big load. That way I could take Donna into town with me.”

“Great idea,” Heather said. “I’ll do it.”

“Meet up at the bookstore,” Missy suggested. “I’ll make coffee.”

“Perfect,” I said with a sigh of relief. “I’ll meet you there at nine.”

“Be there or be square,” June said with a giggle as she and Jennifer danced out of the house.

“Is June just the cutest thing ever or what?” Missy asked with a wistful smile. “I would have killed for a mom like her.”

“Wouldn’t we all?” Heather added, following June and Jennifer out.

“See you tomorrow,” Missy said, giving Donna one last snuggle.

“Yep. Tomorrow.”

Closing the door, I pressed my forehead to the wood and sighed. The night had been fantastic until it got weird. Turning, I waved to the poltergeists seated on my couch. Donna was at Sam’s feet, looking up at him and wagging her tail like a maniac.

Having a dog was going to be interesting. Having a dog that could see dead people like I could was going to be mind-blowing.

I didn’t feel quite as crazy as I did just hours ago. I mean, I was still nuts, but maybe I wasn’t certifiably nuts.

One could always hope.

“Sam, I don’t know what you want,” I said for the fifth time as he spastically gestured.

It was now three in the morning. Dead folks had wandered in and out of the kitchen for the last few hours watching Sam try to communicate with me. It wasn’t working. The more he gesticulated, the worse I felt. I knew he needed my help, but I had no clue why.

The handless lady was far easier. I found a hand. Handless lady showed up. I glued the hand back on. It stayed… who knew?