Ghostly Deceits (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 3) by Lily Harper Hart Page B

while he slept.”
    “Harper … .”
    “I’m not joking,” Harper said. “Zander was very upset in the dream … and that’s why he didn’t notice when Jim kidnapped me. It was a dream, though, Jared. It wasn’t real life. I survived. We’re together. Everything is okay.”
    “I don’t want to force you to talk if you don’t want to do it,” Jared said. “I also don’t want you sweeping all of this under the rug because you think you’re being a burden … or somehow silly. You’re very strong, but it’s okay to let me take care of you if you’re upset.”
    “Is that part of those relationship rules you’re always spouting?”
    “It is,” Jared confirmed.
    “I’m honestly fine,” Harper said. “If I need you, I know where to find you.”
    “Right by your side.”
    “Right by my side,” Harper said, tilting her chin up so she could kiss the corner of Jared’s mouth. “Do you mind if we take a ten-minute walk before going back to our room? I’d like this dinner to settle before we shake it up again.”
    “I think that’s a great idea,” Jared said, tweaking Harper’s nose. “Do you want to walk down to the lake?”
    “Actually … .” Harper broke off and swiveled her head, racking her brain for a memory location before pointing toward a spot over Jared’s shoulder. “Let’s walk that way.”
    “You want to walk to the woods?” Jared wasn’t thrilled with the suggestion. “Why do you want to go to the woods?”
    “I don’t want to go to the woods,” Harper replied. “They have a family cemetery over there and I want to look at it.”
    “A cemetery is worse than the woods, Heart,” Jared complained.
    “Not this one,” Harper argued. “Zander and I saw it when we were younger and it’s only a few graves. It’s closed in by a fence with an iron gate, but it’s made up of tiny mausoleums and it has beautiful stained glass windows – at least it did ten years ago.”
    “Okay,” Jared said, giving in and taking her hand. “Let’s check out the cemetery. You know you’re going to have to give me something really special in return for hanging out with you in a cemetery, right?”
    Harper snorted. “What did you have in mind?”
    “I was hoping for another bath.”
    “Blech. I don’t want to see your nipples again. They’ll give me nightmares.”
    “I’m going to kill Zander,” Jared muttered.

    “ W ELL , it’s definitely a cemetery,” Jared said ten minutes later, his gaze bouncing around the neatly kept parcel of land. “I don’t understand what the deal is with these tiny buildings.”
    “It’s because of the lake,” Harper explained, her fingertips tracing the pattern on one of the ornate windows. “If there should ever be a flood or catastrophic weather event, the bodies would risk being washed away if they were planted beneath the ground. That’s why they have all of these mausoleums instead. The bodies are entombed above ground.”
    “That is … still weird,” Jared said, although he was less creeped out than a few minutes before. “I thought maybe they had the buildings so people could hang out in them.”
    “Like clubhouses?”
    “You’re not very cute right now, just for the record,” Jared said. “I’ve never seen anyone have an actual cemetery on their property.”
    “Harsens Island isn’t very big,” Harper pointed out. “They have a community cemetery on the other side of the island, but since the Stokes family was the richest one here, it probably made sense to have their own so they didn’t have to mingle with the little people.”
    “How?”
    Harper shrugged. “When people have money they like to spend it on weird things,” she replied. “I think cemeteries are beautiful – and I’m not just saying that because I spend so much time in them – but I wouldn’t want one on my property. I’ve seen Poltergeist, and that way leads to spooky clown dolls and trees that eat people.”
    “And you’re back to being