Must Love Ghosts by Jennifer Savalli Page B

to the Jamesons and Richard. She was going to kill her great-uncle.
    Except he was already dead. She shivered and raced up the stairs to her bedroom. Flipping on the lights, she cast her gaze around the room. Bed neatly made. Books stacked where they should be on her end table. The bottles of perfume and picture frames on her dresser hadn’t been disturbed. No sign of Billy.
    She stepped to the middle of the room. “If you’re here,” she said in a low hiss, “knock it off. You promised.”
    No response.
    â€œThis night is incredibly important to me. You have no right to ruin my life because you’re fond of dumb jokes.”
    Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. Her grandmother always told her you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
    â€œPlease.” All she could manage was a stiff plea. “Please don’t do this.”
    A door down the hall slammed.
    Tia’s heart dropped to her knees. “Shit!”
    â€œTia? What’s going on up there?” Richard’s voice floated up the stairs, a definite note of tension evident.
    She raced back down the hall. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, and she smiled to reassure him. “Sorry about that. There’s a window open upstairs too. I’m shutting it now. Such a windy night!”
    â€œI don’t recall wind in the forecast,” she heard Cassandra say in a tone that implied the National Weather Service should personally call her if they changed their predictions.
    Tia whirled around and headed for the spare bedroom she’d turned into an office. She plucked her cell phone from its charger on her desk and called Dec.
    â€œI’m on my way to your house,” he said the moment he answered. “Billy disappeared five minutes ago.”
    Dec’s deep voice filled her with comfort, which was so ridiculous she whacked herself in the forehead. “Why is he doing this? He promised .”
    â€œI asked him that when he said he was going to visit you. He says he had his fingers crossed when he made the promise.”
    â€œOh my God, is he twelve? Dec, you have to stop him. This is going to ruin me .”
    â€œI’ll be there in two minutes. Meantime, you might want to get rid of your guests. I didn’t like the grin on Billy’s face before he vanished.”
    Dec ended the call.
    How was she going to get rid of Richard and the Jamesons? They hadn’t even finished the main meal and there was a chocolate cake very obviously sitting on the sideboard for dessert. Not to mention how awful it would be for their grant application if she hustled the Jamesons out of the house. How would she explain it to Richard?
    Her stomach pitched and rolled like a ship in a storm. She was going to be sick.
    She gasped. The stomach flu! Perfect. No one wanted to be around someone who was vomiting. Since she did feel sick to her stomach, it wasn’t as bald-faced a lie as the others she’d told tonight.
    She was halfway down the stairs when the music started. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but she recognized the song, thanks to Nana. Glen Miller’s Stardust. Tia rushed down the remaining stairs.
    The Jamesons and Richard met her in the hallway.
    Richard’s smile was brittle with tension. “Dessert in the living room? Great idea.” He ushered the Jamesons into the room before she could stop him.
    â€œI can’t abide this song,” Cassandra said, her mouth puckered.
    â€œTia, why don’t you change the music and I’ll bring in the plates?” Richard grabbed her elbow, a look on his face that said he needed to speak to her privately, but she shook him off and walked around the perimeter of the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the music. Richard stared for a moment, then disappeared back to the dining room.
    â€œWere you able to close the windows, Dr. McGarry?” Leo asked. “I don’t mean to complain, but it’s rather,