The Stubborn Schoolhouse Spirit (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series) by Judy Nickles Page A

mayor-mode.
    ****
    At midnight, Mike turned the jukebox off and the lights down, and Millie played Auld Lang Syne on the battered upright they’d kept along with the tables and chairs. Penelope could tell it had been tuned.
    “You ready to go home, Daddy?”
    “Not really.”
    “I thought you said you’d had enough late nights to last you.”
    He winked.
    “And how many beers does that one make?”
    “Only two, Nellie, and that’s my limit. I swear.”
    “Well, I’m tired.” What I am is miserable. Why couldn’t Sam have stayed away? And that Marlo person is my age if she’s a day and twice as elegant. She’s twice as old as Chuck Runyon, too, but she’s got him bamboozled already.
    “Brad and I can drive Mr. Kelley home if you want to go on,” Rosabel said.
    “You sure?”
    “Not a problem, Mother,” Brad said.
    “Then I think I’ll go and…”
    The popping sound reminded her of the gunfire she’d heard the last time she was in the Sit-n-Swill, but a shower of sparks from the fireplace told her it wasn’t. A young woman sitting near the hearth screamed and jumped up, her hands brushing at her clothing like rotating turbines. “I’ve got it, folks.” Mike, fire extinguisher in hand, lunged for the fireplace where the logs were crumbling like crackers. Behind him, Bradley kicked at a few pieces glowing on the hearth.
    Before Mike could use the fire extinguisher, the fiery glow darkened like a light switched off, and a low wailing moan filled the room. In the silence that followed, everyone looked at everyone else, searching for the sound’s source. On its heels came the clipped words near Penelope’s ear, “ Rosedale Bridge in fifteen minutes.”
    Grabbing her shawl from the back of the chair, she headed for the door.
    ****
    Rosedale Bridge, the only covered bridge left in the county, rose in the moonlight like a huge cocoon, then disappeared for a brief moment as a cloud sailed across the treetops. Penelope parked her SUV a  few feet from the opening and checked to make sure her doors were locked. The sharp rap on the passenger window both startled and relieved her.
    She pressed the unlock switch, and Sam slid in. “Hi.”
    “Hi?”
    He moved across the seat and kissed her long and hard. “Happy New Year.”
    “I thought you didn’t do holidays.”
    He sighed and sat back away from her. “You’re a hard nut to crack, Nell.”
    “Is that what you’re trying to do?”
    “You look beautiful tonight.”
    “Thank you.”
    “The Sit-n-Swill has changed some.”
    “For the better, don’t you think?”
    “It’s not a biker place anymore, that’s for sure.”
    “Why are you being Tiny tonight?”
    He smiled. “I’ll let you figure that one out.”
    “Before, you said your friends thought you’d gone off of the bridge. How can you just turn up again?”
    “Different bunch.”
    “So what do you want?”
    “Just to see you.”
    “You’ve seen me.”
    “Come on, Nell, thaw out.”
    She turned her face toward the window so he wouldn’t see her struggling with tears. When his hands closed around her arms and turned her toward him again, he kissed her cheeks with soft lips. “Why are you crying?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Sometimes even the toughest operatives need some therapy after a particularly grueling assignment.”
    “I’m not an operative, and it wasn’t an assignment. You kidnapped me.”
    “I kept you and Shana alive.” His fingers threaded their way thro ugh her hair and moved down to massage her neck. “You’re really uptight.”
    “I’m tired.”
    “Of what?”
    “Of playing games with you.”
    “Can’t offer you more, Nell, not right now.”
    “Then why play at all if it’s not for…” She bit her lip, horrified at what she’d almost said.
    “For keeps?”
    She nodded.
    He moved her from behind the steering wheel so that he could hold her against his chest and stroked her hair and shoulders. “Did you ever see that old was movie with Humphrey