Love Overboard - By Janet Evanovich Page 0,43
her throat and belted her robe a little tighter.
“After the moaning stopped this last time, there was a definite knocking at the window- pane. And a voice called ‘Eileeeeen, Eileeeeen.’ I think it was Tess. I can’t be sure, of course, because it didn’t introduce itself, but it was calling me!”
Stephanie looked at Mr. Platz. “Did you hear it, too?”
“Yeah. I almost made a mess in my pajamas. I tell you, I’m never going back in that room.”
“Chickenheart wouldn’t get out of bed,” Eileen Platz said, throwing a vicious look at her husband, “so I got up and opened the shade. And there it was! Right in front of the window, looking right in at us as bold as could be!”
“Actually, it wasn’t looking at us, Eileen. Its eyes were closed.”
“That’s true,” she agreed, “but it could see through its eyelids. I could tell.”
Stephanie already knew the answer to the next question, but she asked anyway. “What did this ghost look like?”
“It was an old man!”
“Was he wearing a gray suit?”
“No,” Mrs. Platz said. “He had a raincoat on. One of those poncho things with a hood. It was raining, you know.”
“Like wow,” Melody said, “you really are cosmic. You must have drawn a brand-new ghost into the house.”
Melody was weird, but she wasn’t stupid. And Stephanie knew a patronizing tone when she heard it. Mrs. Platz, on the other hand, had obviously been settling her nerves with a large quantity of sherry and was willing to believe anything.
“So what happened to Mr. Ghost?” Stephanie asked. “Did he say anything else? Did he kick in your window?”
“No. He just was out there with his nose pressed against the glass, then he vanished. I accidentally screamed, and he went whooosh, straight up in the air.”
Stephanie gave Mr. Platz what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I can understand your reluctance to go back in the master bedroom. We’ll get you settled into a room on the other side of the house, and I’m sure you won’t be bothered by any more ghosts.” She directed Melody to put fresh linens on the bed in room five and asked Lucy to bring Mr. and Mrs. Platz some hot cocoa and cookies from the kitchen. She motioned to Ivan to step out into the hall. “Have you checked the widow’s walk and the cupola?” she asked him.
“Yes, but I’m going to check it again. We’re obviously missing something,” he said grimly. “This guy can’t just disappear into thin air.” He slid his feet into a pair of docksiders he’d retrieved from Stephanie’s room. “Oh yeah, and while I’m busy checking out the house, why don’t you try moving the bed away from the wall.”
Stephanie shuffled into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot heating on the stove. It had stopped raining, and the world looked fresh-scrubbed and shiny bright. It was going to be a glorious blue-sky day. She took a seat at the small kitchen table and helped herself to one of the bran muffins cooling on a wire rack.
Lucy pushed aside a small mound of fresh-chopped green pepper on the cutting board and turned to look at Stephanie. “Am I wrong, or did I see Ivan Rasmussen sauntering half-dressed from your room last night?”
Stephanie bit into the hot muffin and chewed. “We’ve become… friends.”
Lucy brought her cousin a tub of butter and a knife and took a chair across from her. “Friends? Stephanie Elizabeth Lowe, I can tell from that goofy look on your face that you guys are a lot more than friends. I thought you were saving yourself for marriage? What about your virginity?”
“Gone,” Stephanie said smugly.
Lucy groaned. “Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie. I warned you about him. He’s a confirmed bachelor.”
“I’m not so sure about that. I think he’s just not ready for marriage.” She buttered her muffin. “I’m not ready for marriage either.”
“Why not?”
Stephanie laughed. “I don’t know. Lots of reasons. I was seventeen for ten years. I have some growing up to do.”
“Looks to me as if you’re catching up fast.”
Melody swung through the kitchen door and stood at the table, studying the muffins.
“You can eat one,” Lucy said. “They’re certified pig-free.”
Melody took a muffin and sniffed it. “Hmmm.” She nibbled a small piece. “So,” she said to Stephanie, “are you sleeping with Rasmussen, or what?”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Jeez, Melody, why don’t you try being blunt?”
They stopped talking when Ivan pushed the kitchen door open. They looked at him for a second, then