“No slamming the door!” Cynthia shouted after her.
Sergio gathered up the cereal bowls and boxes to clear the table. The baby finished her bottle and set it down on the tray of the highchair with a loud thump.
Ethan laughed. “Like she’s just finished a good beer.”
Anna Belle regarded him thoughtfully.
“She’s always like that. I think she got it from Sergio,” Cynthia said, laughing. She set a plate of steaming tacos before Pete and another in front of Ethan. “Here you go.”
“Thanks for the meal,” Ethan said with a charming smile.
Cynthia returned it. She was obviously less suspicious than her kids.
Pete hungrily bit into a taco, almost devouring half of it. It tasted so amazing he wanted to shove the other half in after it.
A sharp intake of breath and a whispered prayer in Spanish drew the eyes of all in the room to the doorway. Innocente stood in the doorway looking furious.
“You!” she said sharply.
Then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 15
Trying to shift her purse around while searching through it, Samantha muttered irritably. Wearing a short white skirt, pink tank top, and white flip-flops with big pink stones on them, she was cutely dressed, but the dark circles under her eyes were evidence of her sleepless night. Samantha fumbled about inside her packed purse as her cat, Beatrice, regarded her coolly from the back of the sofa. The gray tabby was stretched out in a patch of sunshine, the white bib under her chin practically glowing in the light.
Finally, Samantha located her sunglasses and house keys. She held up both triumphantly, but Beatrice didn’t appear impressed. The cat closed her eyes dismissively.
“Well, fine.” Shifting the big pink bag onto her shoulder, she yanked open her front door. “I’ll be back later. Don’t scratch the couch!”
Beatrice ignored Samantha with her usual cat aloofness.
Shoving open her screen door, Samantha nearly whacked Jeff in the face as he stepped onto the porch.
“Whoa!”
“Sorry, Jeff!” She hurriedly shut the door and locked it while he took several cautious steps back onto the walkway. “I’m all crazy this morning. I slept through the alarm clock.”
“No problem. It was hard for me to wake up, too.”
Jeff gave her his usual kind smile and she hugged him tightly.
“You’re so sweet!”
“If you insist,” he answered, snuggling her.
Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she slid out of his arms, feeling self-conscious. He just smiled and held out his hand to her. Happily, she took it and they walked down the walk to his beat-up Land Rover parked at the curb.
“Did you eat anything?” Jeff asked, holding the passenger door open for her.
“I didn’t. I got up too late.”
“Good thing I snagged some coffee and some kolaches then,” he said with a grin before shutting the door and circling around to the driver’s side.
A white bag and two large coffees were nestled into the console. Samantha hungrily yanked out a kolache and took a big bite, savoring the warm bread and spicy sausage. Around her chewing, she said, “Gawd, I love you.”
Jeff grinned at her words as he drove up the street. “I aim to please.”
“You always think of everything. It’s like you’re magic or something.” She hesitated, gave him a thoughtful look, and said, “Are you magic or something?”
“Ordinary human. Boringly so,” Jeff assured her.
“Not a secret elf, or fairy, or something?”
“Nope. Human as can be. I promise.”
“I wonder what I am now,” Samantha said with a sigh.
“A fabulous and very pretty human woman with a little extra flair.” Jeff lightly touched her hand.
Unexpected tears glimmered in her eyes as she took another quick bite of her breakfast. Jeff had a wonderful way of making her feel good even when things were going horribly wrong.
Traffic was light and they made decent time driving past downtown to the walking trail encircling Lady Bird Lake. The parking lot was fairly empty near the Lamar Boulevard Bridge. They didn’t talk much as they both munched on the warm kolaches and chased the tasty breakfast down with sweet, milky coffee. Samantha enjoyed the camaraderie and her high anxiety mellowed out to a low ping in the back of her mind.
As they climbed out of the SUV, Jeff snagged two sweating water bottles from a cooler tucked behind his seat and shoved them into his messenger bag. Again, he had anticipated their needs, and Samantha was grateful. It was already humid and sticky, the bugs in the trees lining the lake humming loudly. Samantha smiled as Jeff reached for her hand when they strolled onto the path. While they waded through the humid air and enjoyed the beauty of the midmorning sun glinting off the waves, she tried to pretend this was just a nice day out together instead of a ghost hunt.
Rubbing her lips together, she tried not to ruin the moment by saying anything about their true purpose for strolling along the trail. The tree boughs creaked above as the wind played in the leaves. Glancing upward, she saw a squirrel watching them pass with a thoughtful look in its beady eyes. She stuck her tongue out at it.
Jeff must have seen her because he laughed. His fingers tightened on her hand and he gave her a furtive look.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “Sure.”
“I just think you’re adorable,” Jeff confessed.
“Really?” Samantha nudged him with her shoulder. “I thought I was an annoying cartoon character.”
“Oh, you heard Eduardo say that, huh?”
“On more than one occasion.”
“He’s a coyote. They’re mischievous and moody. Just ignore him.” Jeff nudged her back.
Turning her attention forward, Samantha could see the Mopac Bridge looming ahead. Little flutters of anxiety in her tummy made her wish now that she hadn’t eaten. Beside her, Jeff seemed unaware of her sudden nervousness as he dug around in his bag.
“When we get to the walkway, I need you to wait until I take care of a few precautions.”
“Like what?”
Jeff pulled out a plastic bag with a cloth bag tucked into it. “I had this spell sent to me from a witch in Georgia awhile back. It’s a ward. It will throw up a barrier for about ten minutes.”
“Huh?
“It will make anyone coming close to it have the sudden desire to go somewhere else. If I estimated this correctly, the area of effect should cover the entire bridge.”
“What about the cars?”
“It won’t affect them. It specifically sends away people on foot. At least that’s what the directions say.” Jeff gave her a sheepish grin. “I have been dying to use one. I saw one in action a few years a back and...”
Samantha’s eyebrows couldn’t crawl up any higher on her brow. At her expression, Jeff finally seemed to understand this was not fun in her book.
He cleared his throat. “So, anyway, I’ll set this down, activate it, then we need to hurry up and find the ghost.” Jeff gave her a worried little smile. “You are ready to do this, right?”
Shrugging, Samantha stared straight ahead. No one was really out this morning, which was a relief. But it felt odd dealing with ghosts during the day, not that she would have preferred the night or early morning. It was creepy enough dealing with someone who was dead.
The warm air stirred the dry, dead leaves bordering the walk. The sound was usually soothing, but now it made her uneasy. Maybe she was just being paranoid now that she was mentally preparing herself to see the ghost again, but she was feeling watched.
“Samantha, I know this is hard for you, but we have to start figuring out exactly what you can do with your abilities.”
“I know.”
“And I’ll be here for you.”
“I know.”
“And nothing will hurt you. Ghosts can’t hurt you. You have to remember that.”
“Okay.”
“Is anything I’m saying helping?”
“Nope.”
Samantha couldn’t tear her eyes away from the footbridge sprawling across the lake tucked into the shadows of the Mopac Bridge above.
Jeff took hold of her hand again and stopped her in her tracks. Pulling her about to face him, Jeff looked down into her eyes. The warmth in them made her slightly smile. He really did care about her.
“You’re going to be okay. I will not let anything bad happen to you. I promise. A ghost can’t hurt you. They’re just a remnant of someone died. Okay?”
“Okay.” Samantha swallowed and tried to believe him.
Pressing a kiss to her temple, Jeff looped his arm around her shoulders and held her close. Lowering his chin, he rested his forehead against hers. Samantha raised her lips slightly to kiss the tip of his chin. A shiver slithered through her body, making her blush. With a little giggle, she looked away as he grinned down at her. Kissing her cheek, he cuddled her against him. He was warm, sweaty, and smelled like coffee, soap, and cologne. It was the closest she had ever allowed herself be to him and she was surprised at how comforting it was to be in his arms. Cian’s body had been cold, hard, and unrelenting in her embrace, but Jeff molded against her and she could feel his heart beating. Sudden tears filled her eyes and she drew away.