there was a spirit or phantom haunting the place, but that it was all a fake—and then suddenly, all hell broke loose. Pretty sure that wasn’t just coincidence. It was the ghost’s way of saying, ‘Not so fast, buddy.’” She sipped her drink and eyed Jake as he struggled with that tidbit of information.
It was cute watching the methodical, logical man who dealt in life and death all the time try to come to grips with the fact that there were, in fact, spirits and ghosts and metaphysical layers to their world.
“Hmm” was all he said, and then was rescued, so to speak, when their dinner arrived.
“Oh…wow,” Vivien said as she sampled her lasagne Bolognese a moment later. “This is heavenly. I haven’t had a meal this good since I left New York. How’s yours?”
He’d ordered grilled branzino with sides of pasta aglio olio and green beans. “Pretty good. Not that I expected anything less. Pop knows where to get his Italian food.”
“I hope the osso bucco is up to snuff,” she said.
“If this is any indication, I’d say it will be. Vivien, I’m worried about you.”
She paused with a bite of lasagne halfway to her mouth. “Because of the break-ins at the theater? Or because of the ghost?”
“Because someone wants to hurt you—if not physically, then at least financially. I know Captain Longbow and Helga are working their angles, following up on their leads, but that doesn’t make me worry less.”
“I appreciate that. I’ve been thinking about this logically—pretty much nonstop. The bottom line is, someone doesn’t want the theater to open, either because it’s me or because they just don’t want the theater to open. I can’t think of any reason why either would be true—wouldn’t anyone who lives in Wicks Hollow want another successful business to keep the economy of the place going? And have what was sort of an eyesore become a viable business? And I really can’t think of any reason someone from high school would hate me so much that they’d do all these things.”
He twirled the wine glass stem between his fingers. “Is there any chance Roger Hatchard or his son are involved? Or Michael Wold or—who’s the actress? Oh, Penny someone.”
“Penny Stern, and absolutely none. None of them are even in Wicks Hollow—and aren’t scheduled to be here until the last week in August. Roger is doing this as a favor to me—”
“As a favor to his son’s girlfriend, you mean.”
Ah. So that was where this was going. “Daniel and I weren’t serious at all. I haven’t talked to him for over a week. It’s not him or Roger, Jake—it’s just not.”
He shrugged. “All right.” He relaxed a little. “But the fact remains, someone’s out to get you. First it was just scary things, then it was your car. I’m worried you might be next, VL.”
Her insides squiggled a little. She’d been trying not to think about that obvious escalation. “I’m best friends with a cop—everyone in town knows that. Plus, you saw my place—it’s practically on top of the neighbors on all sides. Everything that’s happened so far has been at the theater, so I’m inclined to think it’s going to stay focused there. But,” she added, “Helga offered Butch to me, and maybe I’ll take her up on having him stay the night.”
“That’s a good idea,” he said reluctantly. “But—and I’m just going to put this out there—you don’t have to stay alone. If you’re nervous about being alone at night.”
“I’m not, but it might be a good idea to bunk somewhere else for a night or two,” she said, feeling a mischievous grin twitch her lips. “Does your dad have an extra bed at his house?”
“What?” His eyes went wide, then he laughed. “Oh, he’d love that.”
She laughed too. “I was only joking—unless you think it would be good for him to have someone there when he gets home from the hospital. Anyway, I’m not worried about staying alone—especially if I can have Butch.”
“Well, at least put my cell number in your phone. Just in case,” he said.
“I already have your number—I mean, I still have it from NYU…unless you changed it.”
Vivien had nearly deleted it a hundred times over the years, but something had always kept her from doing so. She’d told herself it was because she wanted to know if the lying, cheating dickwad ever tried to contact her again—just so she could have the pleasure of ignoring him.
He looked surprised, but he made no comment. “It’s