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he was pretty much alone around here. This explained why he didn’t<br />

mind hanging out with some little girl who talked too much during<br />

the small amount of free time that he hadn’t promised to <strong>The</strong> End<br />

Shelf or Lark Hollow Para<strong>no</strong>rmal.<br />

In return, I told him that I was still living at home with my<br />

dad and brother and going to community college part time while I<br />

worked full time at the theater. My music taste was a little more<br />

modern, but I could appreciate movies from any era, and when I<br />

found out he loved Mark Wahlberg as much as I did, I knew we had<br />

solid ground to build upon.<br />

Eventually, he pushed back his chair, making a<strong>no</strong>ther oh-sopleasant<br />

scraping sound on the ground. Most of the people around<br />

us had cleared out of their tables, and the sidewalks around us were<br />

decidedly less crowded as well. “I hate to cut this short, but I’ve got<br />

to be up early for work tomorrow. Do you want to take my number<br />

so you can just call me or text me if you’ve got a question?”<br />

“Sure. Or we could do this again.” I pulled my phone out of<br />

my pocket and handed it over to him. He entered his number and<br />

passed it back to me. After I called him so he had mine as well, I<br />

pocketed my cell again.<br />

“I would be okay with that.” He smiled as he stood up,<br />

displaying just how tall he was as his head almost hit the umbrella<br />

over the table.<br />

“Me, too.” My head barely came up to his shoulder when I<br />

rose to stand next to him. “Thank you for answering all my<br />

questions. And for answering Gunner’s. And for hanging out with<br />

me.”<br />

“Don’t mention it, really. I’m glad to share my passion.” <strong>The</strong><br />

little white lights around the shop’s window reflected in his dark<br />

eyes.<br />

“Passion. For dead things.” I stroked a make-believe beard<br />

thoughtfully. “Maybe I should have given you a fake number.”<br />

He laughed. “Thank you for hanging out with me, Chelsea.<br />

You’re great. I’m kind of hoping you decide you want to ghost hunt.<br />

I could bring you on a case with me just to see if you like it or <strong>no</strong>t.”<br />

31

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