I gasp. “Is that what this is about? Shep, you called an exterminator on Hazel Newton’s ghost?” My fingers slap over my lips in a hurry. I’d like to say the eggnog went to my head, but I haven’t had a single sip. Most likely, I’m still reeling from the lack of oxygen and maybe that blow to my temple.
“Ah ha!” Regina shouts. “Even Bowie here realizes it. We need to hire someone with professional credentials. I’ll have the pesky poltergeist out by the new year.”
“No,” I bark over at her. “I’ll handle it. Besides, don’t you have better things to do than chase invisible beings around this dusty old place? There are men in that ballroom, Regina—available men. I’m only going to say this once. Stay away from Shep.” I give his tie a little yank. “This one is mine.”
Regina groans hard as she shoots me a look. “I’ll speak to you both later.” She takes off just as the manor is infiltrated with a mob of Woodley’s finest.
Shep begins to step in their direction, and I pull him back.
“Holly Wright’s killer was caught.” I bite down over the smile budding on my lips. “By yours truly.” I tell him everything from Kaila and her hacking ways, to Carol and her dark confession.
“Bowie.” He touches his fingers to my neck. “I wasn’t there with you. I couldn’t protect you.”
I close my eyes a moment.
“Hazel was there.” I blink over at him. “Shep, I think I’m ready to let you in on this last intimate part of me.”
His lids hood low, and a goofy grin floats to his face. “Your cabin or mine?”
“No, not that.” A dull laugh pumps from me. “But hold onto that thought just in case.” I press my lips tightly. “Shep, what I’m about to tell you is going to be hard to believe, and it might just change the way you feel about me forever.”
He shakes his head. “No.” He dots a kiss to my lips. “I promise that’s impossible.”
My gaze hangs onto his for one final moment before our worlds change forever.
“I have a strange ability—Lola has it, too.” I hitch my head toward the ballroom. “Our Nana Rose passed down a lot more than just a few recipes. She also passed down the ability to see into the future.”
He gives a solid blink. “Okay.” He sniffs. “Did not see that coming.”
“That’s because you’re not sibylline.” I bite down hard on my lower lip, and then I fill him in on all I can—the transmundane umbrella of powers, my strange new ability to see Hazel Newton’s ghost after getting pegged in the head with a pumpkin by none other than Regina. Including the fact I keep seeing snippets into the future, and misinterpreting them every single time.
Shep swallows hard and nods. “I’ve heard strange things before, but this—wow, it’s right up there. Are you sure about this? I’ve seen you fall into that trance-like state. Maybe you’re having some kind of a petit mal seizure, or your brain is trying—”
“It’s trying to give me a hint of things to come. This little scene with you and Regina? I was privy to it last week. And I won’t lie, I thought maybe the two of you were plotting to turn me in.”
Shep pulls me close and lands a heated kiss to my ear.
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you.”
I pull back and take in this handsome man. “You believe me?”
“I don’t have a single reason not to.”
“And you’re not running me out of town or calling the men with the big nets?”
“Nope.” A look of amusement crosses his face. “In fact, it only makes me love you more.” He brushes his thumb over my lips as his expression grows serious. “I meant what I said. I love you, Bowie Binx. And if what you say is your reality, then I believe you. Do you mind sharing these visions as they happen?”
“Well, I don’t really like to call it a vision. I mean, I totally take umbrage when someone tries to classify my abilities as psychic. Technically, it would be true, but I’d like to think the big guy upstairs is giving me the heads-up on a few things.” My chest bucks with emotion. “Have I mentioned that I ramble when I get nervous?”
“Have I mentioned that I find just about everything about you downright adorable? And the fact you took down a suspect on your own tonight—as much as I want to discourage that from ever happening again, I find it alarmingly sexy.” He strengthens his grip on me. “I’m not going anywhere. So if you were hoping that a ghost or your supernatural ability to see into the future would do the trick, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Thank you.” A dark giggle brews in my chest. “So you really love me, huh?”
He nods. “Madly, deeply—wholeheartedly.”
Shep lands his lips to mine, and we drive those three little words home with our hearts, our souls, as we rise above all of the noise around us.
Shep loves me.
And I love him.
Holly Wright’s killer has finally been arrested.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, after all.
Chapter 15
Having a gift exchange among the employees at the café wasn’t my idea. It certainly wasn’t my idea to draw Regina’s name out of the hat. But it was my idea to close early on Christmas Eve—early as in three in the afternoon so that each of us could get home and start rocking around our own Christmas trees.
“All right,” I say as Thea, Flo, Regina, my sister, and Opal gather around the counter, each of us holding a gift for one another. Opal just so happens to be holding five miniature stockings. Everyone knows good things come in small packages, so I’m looking forward to her gift the most.
“Me
