asked.
I waved my hands. “No, no. Mr. Fine said I complain and whine.”
“Who’s Mr. Fine?” she asked.
“The guy from your house.”
Mindy groaned. “That guy’s still here? Tell him to get lost. There’s a new ghost in town. A much better ghost.” She smirked in the direction in which she thought she’d find Mr. Fine, but instead she was smirking at the opposite wall.
He rolled his eyes. “She’s such a ditz.”
I wasn’t about to tell her what he’d just said. I’d get him later for that most uncalled-for comment.
Mr. Fine took a puff of his ghostly cigarette. “Listen, Elvis. I sing, you know. Maybe you’d like to hear a song or two? I’ve been told I sound just like Old Blue Eyes.”
Oh great. Now he was harassing Elvis. “No one wants to hear you sing.” I snorted.
“What?” Mindy smacked me on the arm. “Of course we want to hear him sing. Wait. This isn’t fair. I can’t hear him.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not Elvis who said that. Mr. Fine fancies himself an artist apparently. But now that you mention it, I would love to be serenaded by Elvis.” I smiled.
I really was in heaven.
What would I do now? I had never had a ghost that I’d been this nervous around, at least not in a good way. I was doomed to act like a giddy schoolgirl around him. If ever there was a ghost I wanted to sing to me in my ear, this ghost was it. Not long ago I’d had a cranky ghost who sang to me in the mornings. She sounded like a distressed cat. No, wait, a room full of distressed cats. This was the real deal though. Elvis Presley was now hanging onto my every word.
“I’m sorry if I frightened Callahan. I try to keep my movements to a minimum, but I really wanted him to know that I was here,” Elvis said with a smile.
“Well, Callahan definitely knows you’re here now, Mr. Presley.”
He was lucky Callahan had a girlfriend who could talk to spirits. Maybe Callahan would realize that and not want to dump me for being crazy. It was a daily inner battle wondering if he’d ultimately come to the conclusion that I was bonkers.
Callahan nodded.
“And don’t worry about scaring him. Callahan’s a tough guy and not easily rattled.” I smiled as I looked at Callahan. He had been tough through all the black magic he’d been subjected to in the past few weeks.
Callahan ran his hand through his hair and nodded. “Yeah, Mr. Presley, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you came by for a visit.” Callahan talked into the air. He got pretty close to Elvis’ location though, so that was good. He didn’t seem convinced about having a one-sided conversation though.
Mr. Fine began singing his version of Love and Marriage by Frank Sinatra. It made my ears hurt as if they would fall right off my head. That or I’d rip them off and throw them at Mr. Fine.
Elvis smiled—his usual polite self. Well, what I imagined was his usual polite self since I didn’t really know him. But from what I heard he was always a perfect gentleman.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough with your audition, Mr. Fine. Save it for later, okay?” I yelled over the noise.
What was with all the singing ghosts lately? At least I’d finally found one with true talent.
Mr. Fine snorted, but thankfully stopped his caterwauling.
“I’m sorry about that Mr. Presley. I picked up another ghost, er, well, another… anyway, he’s been hanging around without telling us what he really wants.”
I knew Elvis knew that he was a ghost, but I hated to remind the ghosts of their status. It didn’t seem polite. Did I really need to rub it in? It was like when my mother reminded me that I hadn’t given her any grandbabies yet. I mean, I was fully aware that I hadn’t reproduced yet, no need to remind me.
“Please call me Elvis. I’m just Elvis to y’all.” He winked.
That was fine by me. Did I just swoon? I needed to watch myself.
“Um, you still haven’t told me why you’re here. I mean, I know you said you were here for Callahan. But why? Why not Memphis or Graceland? You just wanted to visit with Callahan?”
“I spend some time in Memphis, but I go where I’m needed. Callahan needs me.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“What? Is there something wrong? Should we be worried?” How much worse could it get for