Some Like it Haunted (A Sophie Rhodes Ghostly Romane Book 2) by Karen Cantwell Page B

frightening lust potion, but I guarantee you this is not the case for Myrtle May and me. See, Sophie, we are not in lust, we are in love.”

CHAPTER TEN

    I did not have time for ghosts in love.
    Marmi was still floating, literally and figuratively, while I cooled off. Thank goodness I’d checked my hair in the bathroom mirror. My short do had gone all askew. I ran my fingers through it like a comb and tucked the stray strands behind my ear. Phew. Close call.
    I’d barely settled into my chair when Cal stormed in full of fury. He plunked my lunch bag on the counter.
    “Trouble locating light bulbs, old chap?” Marmaduke asked.
    “Guess who just parked her car next to mine?”
    The question answered itself when Dianne pushed the door open and Rachel followed her in. I was guessing that Rachel had driven them on their shopping adventure.
    “I’ll be in my exam room,” Cal told me.
    “Cal!” Dianne rebuked him. “Where are you going? Don’t be rude. I brought you a gift.”
    “Listen to your mother, Cal,” Rachel teased.
    Marmaduke spied Rachel. Curiously, he faded from my side, reappearing at hers.
    “Mom.” Cal faced her. “Is this really necessary?”
    She pulled a sweater from her shopping bag. “The days are getting colder. I thought you could use some warmer clothes.”
    “I’m an adult. I do know how to dress myself.”
    Dianne wasn’t thwarted. She held the blue and gray argyle sweater up to his chest to eye its fit. Actually, the blue was a nice color on him. I liked it. I found myself yearning for a few Cal kisses. Thank goodness for small miracles, I thought. At least the lust spell wasn’t affecting my passion for the man I really loved.
    “And I got you something too, Sophie,” Dianne said, retrieving an unrecognizable bundle from her bag.
    Marmi was still sizing up Rachel. “That handbag dangling from her shoulder,” he said. “Maybe I’ll just give it a tug.”
    Keeping one eye on Marmi, I accepted the item from Dianne and unfolded it. “Oh,” I said with mock enthusiasm, “a sweatshirt.” I hung it up to my body. “A big, orange sweatshirt.”
    “I hope it’s not too large,” Dianne said, “it looks bigger here than it did in the store.”
    I peeked at the label. “It’s an extra large. I usually wear a small or a medium.”
    “That’s my fault,” Rachel said. “For some reason I always think of you as...rounder.”
    “Yes, well, I think someone needs to teach this fiend a lesson. And I think that someone should be me.” Marmaduke yanked hard on Rachel’s purse. She flinched and her forehead creased. “You have an awfully strong draft in here,” she said, pulling her purse tight.
    “Not enough force,” Marmi mumbled. “Let’s try this again.” He yanked harder this time and the purse visibly swung away from her body, hanging in midair.
    Rachel let out a yelp and fumbled to pull the thing back.
    By the time Dianne turned to Rachel, Marmi had released the purse. It fell back to Rachel’s side.
    “Is everything okay?” Dianne asked Rachel.
    “My, uh,” Rachel spun in a full circle, searching for something. “I just think I’ll wait for you in the car.”
    When she was gone Cal laid into his mother. “Tell her from now on she should always wait in the car. Or better yet, tell her to just stay home. I think they call it Hades.”
    “If you had treated her with more respect when you were married, you wouldn’t feel the need to disparage her so rigorously now. This is the same sort of scorn I’m hearing from your father. And speaking of your father, could you give him a call and tell him to please back off. I need some space right now to discover myself.”
    Deciding I’d had a bad enough day already, and knowing this was more of a personal issue between Cal and his mother, I picked up my lunch bag and excused myself. “I’ll be in the vision therapy room. Need to eat before our one o’clock patient.”

    Cal joined me just as I stuffed the last bite of