Page 41 of Mourner for Hire
He thinks for a moment, his eyes moving with his memories. “Sometimes, I—” he begins and seems to think better of it. “No, of course not,” he corrects, shaking his head.
“Me neither,” I agree. He doesn’t pick up on the sarcasm. Annabelle does and laughs uncomfortably. “Anyway, I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for your time and clarification.”
He still seems a little dazed as I leave the office, nodding a goodbye to Lynnette at the front desk.
In the freedom of the parking lot, I turn to Annabelle. “You were sleeping with your lawyer.”
Her jaw drops, and an embarrassed yet shocked squeak escapes her mouth. “That is not an appropriate question.”
I step closer. “Oh, I think it is. Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”
“It is not a crime to sleep with your lawyer, number one. And number two, the will is still the will, and you need to get over it.”
I let out a loud groan of frustration. “You are determined to make me the butt of the joke in this stupid town, aren’t you?”
“You arenotthe butt of the joke.”
She attempts to touch my shoulder, but all I feel is a cool breeze that makes goosebumps rise on my left arm.
“Just the crazy lady that moved into the beloved dead woman’s beach cottage to ruin her son’s life.”
She pulls back and crosses her arms. “That’s preemptive and rather dramatic.”
I’m too stunned to speak until my anger boils up in my chest. “A dead person is haunting me! That is not dramatic!”
“What else would you be haunted by?” she questions like I’m the one being ridiculous.
“Um, how about my past choices? My mistakes. The man I fell in love with harder than he fell in love with me. Or that one time I thought the drunk guy was assaulting a woman and I screamed at him from across the room only to find out he wasn’t,” I huff and cross my arms.
“Well, what was he doing?” she asks.
“Kissing his wife.” I shrug. “They kissed weird.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Are you in therapy?”
“Jesus! Do you have no filter?”
“I don’t have to, I’m dead.”
“Ma’am, the snark in your tone is not appreciated.”
“I don’t care.”
I turn and walk toward my car. “I’m leaving. Don’t follow.” As I open the door, I turn to face her. “Haunt your lover, Annabelle. I’m sure he’ll be happier to see you.”
I slam the door and peel out of the parking lot, similarly to Dominic a half-hour earlier. Maybe that’s what everyone does when they leave Sully’s office.
THIRTEEN
DOMINIC
Eli can’t stop laughing,only adding to my fury.
I toss the corn fritter I was about to consume back on the plate, sit back, and glare at him. “It’s not funny, Eli.”
It takes him a full twenty seconds to recover.
“It’s a little funny.” He shrugs through a breath of laughter.
