Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"You lied to me. And to Stone," Harper said after Sam had flipped off the camera and left.

"Harper, I'm sorry…"

"I heard them in my house. Stone heard them in the garden. But you never admitted it." Harper's tone sounded hurt.

"I didn't mean to lie. I just didn't want to confess the whole truth."

"Splitting hairs," Ricky said on a cough.

"You let Stone and me think we were crazy," Harper continued.

"I know. I didn't mean to."

"But why didn't you tell us? We're friends."

"I didn't want you to think I was crazy. Or a liar. I didn't think anyone would believe the truth, so I lied."

Pivoting, Harper turned to Liam. "You knew."

"I did." He nodded. "But it wasn't my secret to tell."

"But you believed her. So why wouldn't we? Her friends." Harper asked.

Liam laughed. "In Natalie's defense, I only believed her after there was so much evidence I could no longer deny the truth."

"You let me hire Letisha," Harper said to Natalie.

"I did try to talk you out of that. And not just because I thought she was a fake, but more because I was afraid she might be real. If anything had happened to any of the ghosts…" Natalie shook her head, remembering the horror of that night when she thought Letisha's cleansing might have worked and the ghosts were gone for good.

Gabe pursed his lips. "Aw. We love you too, Nat." When Liam scowled over the words, Gabe added, "As a friend. Of course. Don't worry, big guy. She's all yours. Promise."

The comic relief would have been appreciated if Natalie wasn't convinced she might have just lost one of her best friends. "Harper. I am so, so sorry. Tell me what to do to make it up to you and I'll do it. Anything."

Harper lifted her gaze. "Anything?"

"Anything," Natalie repeated.

"Can I write your story? If I change your name, of course."

She knew Harper well enough she should have expected this. She'd walked right into this one. But a promise was a promise.

Natalie drew in a breath. "Okay."

"And can I interview Gabe and Millie? And can they fact check my book?" Harper asked. Gone was the hurt, replaced by creative excitement.

"That's up to them." Natalie turned to face the couple.

Gabe glanced at Millie, then said, "Sure. We'd be happy to help."

"Hey, I want in on this too," Ricky said.

"I'm sure she'll take all the help she can get," Natalie assured. Then mouthed to Gabe, "Thank you."

He nodded.

"So are we done here?" Liam asked Natalie. "We can go home now?"

"You can't leave. The show's not finished until Halloween night," Alice said. "If Natalie leaves, Madame Letisha will win."

"Alice, there's no winner or loser. This isn't a competition," Harper pointed out.

"And we're not trying to take down Letisha anymore, remember?" Natalie reminded. "She helped me get away from that thing when I froze."

"Well, maybe we want to take her down just a peg. I mean she did charge me a fortune to walk around my house with some sage and chant nonsense," Harper said.

"I don't know what this show is besides a ratings grab but I do know Natalie doesn't have to be here for it." Liam scowled.

She covered his hand with hers. "I kind of want to finish what I started. Besides, I like the theater ghosts. They're fun. And oh my God, I forgot to tell you this. There's a murder mystery. Two of them were poisoned. Maybe you and I can try to figure it out, now that you're here. All of us together. Wouldn't that be fun?" Natalie glanced around.

"Solve a couple of murders for some ghosts. Sure. Why not. Not like I have anything better to do. I'm in," Alice said.

Harriet, Rick, Gabe and Millie agreed they were up for an adventure, as long as Liam got them back home directly after the show Halloween night, since they were pushing the boundaries of their geographical territory.

"Natalie!"

Natalie spun as Bobby, Evie and Vincent flew across the lobby. "Hi. What are you all doing here?"

"Who's she talking to now?" Alice asked.

"I'm assuming some new ghosts have arrived. You'll get used to it, eventually." Liam scowled.

Gabe snorted. "You never got used to it. You still get annoyed."

Liam bobbed his head. "It is annoying."

"You were attacked? The crew is all talking about it over at the theater," Bobby explained.

"I knew this place was bad news. I'm not even sure why we're here now." Evie glanced around.

"Natalie, darling, it must have been horrible. Are you all right?" Vincent asked.

Natalie nodded. "I'm fine. My posse from Mudville came to rescue me." She tipped her head at those behind her.

"Yes, so I see. I do love when we have fresh blood around, so to speak." Bobby looked the group up and down thoroughly.

"Bobby, Vinny, darlings, do you know what I'm thinking?" Evie asked, then without waiting for them to answer she said, "We have a fresh audience for our show."

"Show?" Natalie repeated.

"A number of us are, as you know, performers. We've been putting on shows for each other and for the local spirits for almost a century. But now, we could perform our show for all of you!" Vincent exclaimed.

"I love it! We have to start planning right away. We'll do it Halloween day, twelve noon. You will stay, won't you?" Bobby asked.

Natalie nodded. "I have to stay for the live show Halloween night anyway, so yes. We'll stay." She remembered the decision wasn't hers alone. "Liam, you'll stay, right?"

"If you're staying, I'm staying. There's no way in hell I'm leaving you ever again."

Bobby pressed his hand to his heart. "Swoon! Oh my God. Where can I get one of him because I want one."

Natalie smiled. "That settles it. We all stay. Ghost performance Halloween day in the theater at noon. Followed by dinner and then the live taping of the show's finale at eight. Sound good?"

She turned to the livings, realized they didn't know what she was talking about and wouldn't be able to see the ghost show anyway, so she diverted her gaze to the ghosts.

"Good?" she asked again.

"Yeah, Natalie. Sounds good," Gabe said indulgently. Then leaned in. "And when we get home we're going to talk about how quickly you replaced me with your new BFF Bobby over there."

She smirked. "You're still my number one."

"At least Liam won't worry about that one being in your life." Gabe tipped his head toward Bobby.

"No," Natalie agreed.

But as Bobby looked Liam up and down like Liam was a steak and Bobby was a starving man she decided perhaps she was the one who should worry.