Ghostly Worries (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 4) by Lily Harper Hart

asked.
    “Just that she wouldn’t settle for anyone who didn’t have a boat,” Cecelia replied. “Other than that … I’m sorry she’s dead.”
    “Okay, thanks. We’ll be in touch if we have any other questions.”
    Jared and Mel waited for Cecelia to depart the building before heading toward their car in the parking lot.
    “What do you think?” Mel asked when he was certain no one was within earshot.
    “I think that it sounds as if Rosie wanted a rich guy and perhaps she found one and got in over her head,” Jared replied.
    “That’s exactly what I was thinking, too,” Mel said. “Where to now?”
    Jared shrugged. “I think we need to look closer at her past before we can focus on her present. There might be clues there we’re missing.”
    “That’s as good a place to start as any,” Mel said. “Let’s get to it.”

Six
    J ared was exhausted when he let himself into Harper’s house that night. The house was sparingly lit and Zander wasn’t loitering around the communal living areas, but he found Harper in a tank top and cotton shorts on her bed when he entered.
    “Hey.”
    Harper lifted her face, which was bare of makeup as she readied herself to settle down for the night, and smiled. “I wasn’t sure you would make it. You’re late.”
    “Did you think I was going to leave you hanging?” Jared kicked off his shoes and stripped off his shirt before reaching for the button to his pants. “I would’ve called. I considered calling when I knew I was going to be late, but I had no idea I would be this late.”
    “It’s okay,” Harper said, resting her hands on an open hardcover book on her lap. “I was just worried you were going to be exhausted when you got here. I put a plate with pasta salad and a sandwich in the refrigerator for you.”
    Jared dropped his pants onto the floor and stepped out of them, revealing a festive pair of boxer shorts with turtles adorning them as he showed off his impressive body. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “That sounds really good. I thought about picking something up on my way here, but I was too tired.”
    “Zander made the pasta salad, but I made the sandwich.”
    “So I’ll definitely like the sandwich more,” Jared teased, narrowing his eyes as he glanced at the book. It didn’t look like a normal fiction novel. “What are you reading?”
    “It’s my high school yearbook,” Harper said, flashing a rueful smile. “Seeing Jason and listening to Zander complain about him stealing his thunder kind of made me nostalgic.”
    “Oh, is that what he stole?” Jared made a face. “Mel said Zander hated him because he stole his underwear. It made absolutely no sense. I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.”
    “That was Darrin Bonkowski,” Harper said. “He stole Zander’s underwear after gym one day.”
    “Well, I’m not sure if that makes things better or worse,” Jared said, sitting on the bed next to Harper. “I thought Jason might’ve stolen Zander’s underwear and that was weird enough. Hearing it really happened is confusing.”
    “Yeah, Whisper Cove is lovely in many ways, but it’s still a small town,” Harper said. “Don’t worry about Darrin. I stole his underwear and paid him back.”
    Jared arched an eyebrow. “How did you do that?”
    “I convinced him I wanted to go skinny dipping down at the hidden cove by the lake and he got naked first,” Harper replied, not missing a beat. “He went into the water while I pretended I was so drunk it took me forever to get out of my clothes. Then I stole his and left him there.”
    Jared barked out a laugh, delighted. “How did he get home?”
    “He walked.”
    “That’s a tough dilemma at that age,” Jared said. “I might’ve moved into the woods and become a crazy hermit guy with a beard rather than show up home in the middle of the night with no clothes.”
    “Yes, he was grounded for a month and