Chapter 6
“Wish me luck, Shortcake,” Dahlia said as she picked up her pup and gave her a kiss.
Shortcake wagged her tail excitedly and licked Dahlia’s face with the enthusiasm of a dog who’d just been offered some rotisserie chicken.
“Thanks, girl.” Dahlia placed Shortcake in her dog bed and added, “I won’t be long. Promise.”
The dog tilted her head to the side, giving her new mom a worried look, and then she flopped down in the bed, clearly disappointed that she wasn’t invited.
Feeling guilty, Dahlia walked over to the treat drawer and pulled out a Greenie.
Shortcake came running and promptly sat, ready for her prize.
“Whoever raised you the first few months of your life did a good job, baby girl. I’m sorry you two were separated, but I promise to always be generous with love and treats.” Dahlia leaned down, scratched the pup behind the ear, and then hurried out before she caved and brought the pup with her.
It was amazing how attached Dahlia had gotten to Shortcake in the short five days that she’d had her.
To Dahlia’s delight, her new pup had proven not only to be house trained and crate trained, but she was also well-behaved and knew basic commands like sit, stay, and lay down.
There was no doubt in her mind that Shortcake’s previous owner had given her up due to some unforeseen circumstance, not by choice.
And Dahlia was determined to give the little angel the best life she could manage.
The crisp fall air had a wonderful fresh clean scent, and Dahlia took a deep breath as she pulled her sweater on and buttoned it to ward off the chill.
It was definitely a pumpkin spice kind of day.
Smiling to herself, she climbed into her Corvette and headed to town.
After stopping at Incantation Café for her latte and a pumpkin spice muffin, she walked along the cobblestone sidewalk, looking for Harlow Thane’s office.
She’d put off meeting the medium long enough.
If Dahlia was serious about hanging out a shingle for her services in this town, she wanted to talk to the one woman who was actually making a living dealing with the dead.
It didn’t take long before Dahlia was standing in front of a gothic-looking office that was made of stone and had an old weathered wooden door at the entrance.
The window had a sign that said, Harlow Thane, Ghost Hunter.
But as Dahlia stood there reading it, the letters vanished into thin air and then smoke filled the window.
After swirling around for a few seconds, new letters formed the words, Explore the World of Ghosts, Spirits, you don’t. Anyway, Mary Jane told me all about her favorite client and how he’d promised he was going to marry her and take her away from the brothel.”
“Let me guess,” Harlow said. “He never could quite commit?”
“Oh no, that wasn’t the problem,” Dahlia said.
“He got her a ring and set the date and everything. Except when he was on his way to take her to the justice of the peace, his horse was spooked by a snake and bucked him off, and her fiancé broke his leg. Mary Jane thought she was being stood up and ran off with another client. She found out two years later what really happened. By then, her husband had died in a gun fight and she was back at the brothel. Her ex-fiancé found her, bought the brothel, made her the madam, and the two of them lived happily ever after.”
“No. Way.” Harlow’s mouth fell open. “She had to have made that up.”
“Maybe she did; maybe she didn’t. But to this day, Mary Jane Peacock is the most entertaining spirit I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.
And I soaked in that tub for hours every night until my grandmother got home just to listen to her stories.
Since then, if I touch anything that’s connected to a spirit, and if they are interested in talking, they appear.
I don’t have to summon anyone or form any circles or anything.
If I don’t want to talk to them anymore, I stop touching the object. ”
“That’s… pretty incredible,” Harlow said, looking contemplative. Then she let out a small bark of laughter. “I wish my gift was that easy.”
“It’s not?” Dahlia eyed the ghost hunter with interest. Harlow was famous.
She and Cash Moses had starred on a popular ghost hunting program a while back until she’d suddenly quit and disappeared from the limelight.
No one had really known what they were up to after that, so it was a bit of a surprise to Dahlia when she learned they’d opened up a professional ghost hunting business in Keating Hollow.
“Nope,” Harlow said. “I mean, sometimes it is. Occasionally, spirits are just attracted to me and appear whenever they feel like it, but more often than not I have to use a spell to call them out or get them to appear.” Her lips twitched when she added, “But I suppose that might be because I’m trying to eradicate them, not listen to all their brothel stories. ”
“That might make a difference,” Dahlia said, nodding.