Free Ghost Moon by Karen Robards

adorable.’’
    ‘‘Thank you.’’ Praising Sara was the way to Olivia’s heart. ‘‘She’s a sweetie. And yes, she’s asleep.’’
    ‘‘She’s eight, isn’t she?’’
    ‘‘Mmm-hmm.’’
    ‘‘Like Chloe.’’
    Seth ruthlessly interrupted this cozy exchange. ‘‘You and Olivia can visit tomorrow, Mother. It’s late, and you need to go to bed.’’
    ‘‘Were you always this bossy, son, or is it a recent development?’’ Callie asked with dry humor, flicking a glance up at him.
    ‘‘Somebody’s got to look out for you, since you won’t look out for yourself.’’ Right hand still closed over the top rail of Callie’s chair, Seth shifted his frowning gaze to Olivia, who could have answered Callie’s question about Seth’s bossiness but refrained in the interests of keeping the peace. ‘‘Olivia will still be here in the morning—unless she intends to run off in the middle of the night again?’’
    This barb, and the look that accompanied it, brought Olivia’s chin up. For a moment she was seventeen again and under attack, and her gaze clashed with Seth’s. Then she remembered that she was all grown up now, for better or worse, and Seth had no power over her any longer. Her gaze dropped, and she smiled at Callie without deigning to answer Seth. Callie returned her smile with a gentle but humorously commiserating one of her own.
    ‘‘Mallory, are you ready to go? I’ll drive you home,’’ Seth said abruptly, his attention moving to his fiancée.
    ‘‘Anytime you’re ready, darling.’’ Mallory looked up at Seth in a melting way that told Olivia where he would most likely be spending the balance of the night.
    ‘‘Don’t you want coffee before you go, Mallory?’’ Callie asked. The welcome aroma was just beginning to fill the air.
    ‘‘Not tonight, Mother,’’ Seth answered for her, and pulled back Mallory’s chair. Mallory made a comical face at Callie, and stood up. Clearly she was more than willing to put up with Seth’s managing ways in return for his ring on her finger.
    ‘‘I’m going, too. Seth’s right, Callie: You need to go to bed.’’ Ira pushed back his chair and got to his feet.
    ‘‘If you two don’t quit mollycoddling me . . .’’ Callie glanced from Ira to her son in exasperation. Then she looked at Olivia. ‘‘Olivia, by the way, this is Ira Hayes, our local sheriff. I don’t believe you’ve met him. He moved here about a year after you left home. Ira, this is our own Olivia, about whom I’ve told you, come back to us.’’
    ‘‘Pleased to meet you, young lady,’’ Ira said with a smile and a nod. Olivia realized now that the white shirt and brown pants he was wearing were part of a uniform. The only thing missing was his badge.
    ‘‘I’m pleased to meet you, too.’’ Olivia returned his smile. From the look of it, Callie had found a boyfriend, and Olivia was glad for her. She hadn’t dated much while Olivia had been growing up. Her husband Michael had been killed in an accident at the Boatworks twenty-seven years before. She had married again, briefly, when Olivia was nine and Seth was in college, but that marriage had ended in divorce two years later. When it did, she had moved back to LaAngelle Plantation to make a home for Big John, whose wife was dying, and for Olivia, who had just lost her stepfather, Michael’s brother James. Olivia had always been fond of Callie, and Callie had tried her best to do right by her niece-by-marriage, but at going on twelve, Olivia already had the bit between her teeth. It was too late for any kind of real mother-daughter bonding between them, and Callie had finally had to settle for being an affectionate if occasionally disapproving friend.
    ‘‘Mallory . . .’’ Seth’s hand curled around Mallory’s arm above the elbow. As it did, his gaze just brushed Olivia’s face. Its coldness was enough to wither her smile. As clearly as if he’d said the words aloud, his eyes told her that