Tammy pushed to her feet. “I just need to put on the necklace.”
I took the pearls from her hands. “Here let me help.”
“Why are your hands shaking?” my mother asked.
I couldn’t get my hands not to shake as I placed the necklace around Tammy’s neck.
“She’s just worried about her best friend’s wedding,” Tammy said with a wink.
I smiled. “That’s true. I just want the day to go as planned.”
“Do you think it won’t go ask planned?” Tammy asked with panic edging her words.
Oh, no. I had calmed Tammy down and now I had managed to upset her again.
“Everything will be just fine,” I said.
I glanced over at the door. The ghost was gone. Oh, thank goodness. Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up just yet. Would the ghost just be waiting on the other side of the door?
Before my mother or Tammy had a chance to open the door, I hurried over. I didn’t want the ghost to surprise them. Although as far as I knew they couldn’t see the ghost, so I suppose it didn’t matter. But what if the ghost did something tricky and tried to attack them? I wanted to be the one to deal with the brunt of that rather than my mother and my best friend.
What would Brannon say about this? My boyfriend Brannon Landon was a detective with the Devil’s Moon Police Department. He was also a paranormal investigator. We went on a lot of these paranormal investigations together. I liked having him by my side for scary situations just like this one. It was always good when someone had your back.
I eased the door open. Peeking outside into the hallway, there was no sign of the ghost. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t pop up at any moment though. Thank goodness there was nothing dangerous at the moment. I just needed to keep that ghost away for a while longer.
“Are you expecting someone to jump out at you?” my mother asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, I thought I heard Matteo coming up the stairs,” I said around a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want the groom to see the bride in her dress.”
“What?” Tammy asked in a screechy voice. “Why would he come up here? He knows he can’t see me right now.”
Tammy ducked behind the gold-framed ornate floor-length mirror.
“Don’t worry, he’s not here. I guess it was someone making noise downstairs and it traveled up here.” I tried to sound reassuring so she wouldn’t needlessly worry even more.
Now I felt bad for making her panic even more than she already was
Tammy raised an eyebrow. At that moment, I knew she was suspicious of whether or not Matteo had truly come upstairs. Tammy and I had been friends for far too long for me to be able to hide something like this from her. She probably guessed that I was sensing some kind of paranormal activity. I would deny it. There was no way I would admit to seeing a ghost right now. Maybe after her honeymoon when she came back from Bora Bora, I would fess up to what I’d seen. But not right now.
“Well, we have to get down there. I’m sure your dad is waiting for you.” I motioned.
Please let the ghost stay away.
Chapter 3
As we stepped out into the hallway, a bang came from one of the other bedrooms to the right. I assumed the ghost had just wanted to get our attention. It was best that we just keep walking. However, my mother and Tammy stopped immediately, exchanging a look with me.
“What was that?” Tammy whispered.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it was someone who works here,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“No one else is up here. At least that’s what I was promised.” Tammy said. “This was supposed to be private time.”
Clearly Tammy was freaking out about this wedding stuff. I hoped she didn’t completely crack soon.
“It came from that room right over there.” My mom pointed.
Couldn’t we just let this go and get back downstairs?
I gestured with my hands. “Come on now. It’s none of our business. We have to get downstairs.”
Tammy paused before placing a foot on the first step. Would she ignore the noise or be her usual inquisitive self and go to investigate the sound? She might regret that if she came face to face with the ghost. My mother had paused too.
“Let’s go,” I whispered. “You’re getting married,
Before she even answered the sound of footsteps came from the same room where the bang had come from mere moments ago. However, Tammy didn’t go over to investigate. Instead, she stood behind me.
“What’s going on around here? Someone’s in that room, And I don’t think it’s a living person,” Tammy said as she clutched the sash on the back of my dress. “Go check it out, Rip.”
Now all of a sudden she sensed the paranormal?
“Me? Why should I check it out?” I asked.
“Because you’re brave and you do the ghost stuff,” Tammy said, nudging me on the back.
“She has a point,” my mother said.
Now my mother wanted to send me into harm’s way? What had gotten into them?
“I really don’t think we should hunt ghosts when there’s a wedding getting ready to take place,” I said.
“We still have time,” Tammy urged with another nudge. “I want to find out who’s up here.”
“You’re getting married in minutes. Who cares?”
Was she stalling because she didn’t want to get married? Maybe she was having second thoughts and wanted to be a runaway bride. It was uncharacteristic of her to want to hang around any kind of spooky activity.
“Like I said, it’s probably just an employee, but if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll go check it out,” I said, releasing a deep breath.
I dreaded doing this. However, I knew Tammy wouldn’t let this go and I had to help her make her way down the aisle. That was my job as maid of honor. Although if she really wanted to get out of this wedding, I’d sneak her out the back door and help her escape. That was what best friends were for. Something told me once I opened the bedroom door, I would encounter the ghost. Although thank goodness at the moment there was no strange feeling in the air. I just hoped that the ghost would leave us alone.
“Go on, Rip, check it out,” Tammy said with anxiety filling her tone.
If in fact Tammy had wedding jitters, I knew she would be fine. We just needed to get the wedding started. Once that happened, then I felt like things would all fall into place. All the spookiness would go away, and the day would be just perfect.
I stepped over to the door and paused. When I glanced back, my mother and Tammy urged me to open the door with a wave of their hands. It looked like I wasn’t getting out of this. I wrapped my hand around the old bronze doorknob. Pausing, I inhaled a deep breath. There was never really a way to prepare myself for encountering a ghost. I never knew if the ghost would be good or bad with their intentions. However, I was about to find out.
Slowly I twisted the knob and the door groaned loudly as I pushed. As I opened inch by inch, I practically held my breath. At this point, Tammy and my mother had bravely come over and we’re now right behind me. I wished they hadn’t done that. What if the ghost attacked? I opened the door more now and I saw nothing. No ghost, only the grand mahogany furniture decorating the room—a four-poster bed covered with a delicate white duvet, a coordinating full-length mirror in the corner of the room, and a dressing table with bench on the opposite wall. After only a couple of steps into the bedroom, I looked to my left. I saw the woman she was on the floor in an unnatural, twisted position.