Free Annette Blair by My Favorite Witch Page B

setup and takedown.”
    “Yes and they’d charge big bucks for it, too. You’ve beenmy boss for what, three days, and I’ve worked late on all of them. What would be different about this? And for that matter, what else do I have to do?”
    “Fine, if you let me help.”
    “What, climb ladders and swing from chandeliers, like all gorillas with canes do?” She shoved his shoulder with hers to show she was joking, pleased when he shoved hers the same way, showing he’d taken her teasing as such.
    “I forgot about the cane,” he said. “Crap, I did forget about it; I left it in the library.”
    “I’ll get it. Rest the knee.”
    Kira went upstairs, grabbed his cane, heard flapping, and thought a bird had escaped the aviary, but no, two crows were landing on the windowsill. They looked at her and preened their feathers in a way that made her think they were happy. Weird.
    Two crows meant a surprise was coming, a change for the better. Joy. Mirth. Maybe that was it. Kira walked over to the window and touched it, thinking she might frighten them. But the birds touched their beaks to the tip of her finger, the glass between them. “Bye, little crows,” she said, turning away with new hope for the success her job and the ghost tour.
    A minute later she handed Jason his cane. “I think it must be a good sign for your recovery that you forgot it.”
    “I guess so.”
    “Just don’t go home and try to play hockey this afternoon.”
    “This is bad,” he said.
    “What?” she asked.
    “That you can read my mind.”
    “I wish,” she said. “Let’s go, I have a ton of paperwork waiting for me at the office.”
    “Okay, here’s the plan in a nutshell,” he said after he climbed into the Hummer beside her and turned the key. “Tell me if you agree. Canapés and champagne as people arrive, a theatrical of the ghostly prank, the cemetery tourwith our ghoulish stories at a gravestone or two, then back to the house for a dessert buffet and cordials in the drawing room.”
    “Perfect,” she said. “How about adding a live quartet in the music room, for after the cemetery, so people will feel free to dance or wander the house. We can wrap tiny white lights on the stair rail leading to the aviary.”
    “Brilliant,” Jason said, as if he should have thought of it. “With the window behind their domed cage, the mischievous birds in their natural setting, the moon and stars behind them, will add to the eerie effect. Indirect lighting, music wafting up the stairs, and a visit to the aviary should round out our ghostly evening to perfection.”
    Kira shook her head. “I can’t believe we’ve got the makings of a world-class ghost and graveyard tour at a mansion with no ghosts. Damned if you weren’t right. And don’t forget our real draw, our very own Ice Wolf, that famous kisser guy.”
    Jason checked the rearview mirror and made a right turn. “You know, I did forget about him. What was his name again?”
    Kira was sorry she mentioned his kisses, because his lips suddenly looked perfect for the job. She opened her notebook, cutting her admiration, and their conversation, short.
    Back at the office they both had paperwork to catch up on. By mutual agreement, they left their hall doors closed, and the door between their offices open.
    Sometimes they spoke, office to office, a comment, a rejoinder, but mostly they worked in companionable silence. It was nice knowing he was there, Kira thought, to bounce ideas off, or simply for a smile. Who knew the jock could be amusing?
    Her phone rang at four. It was Billy. “Shit,” she said, hanging up.
    “What?” Jason asked from his office.
    “I forgot I had plans for dinner,” Kira said. “Good thingyour grandmother suggested I keep my special events wardrobe in the dressing room off my bathroom. Always smart to be ready, Bessie said, and she was right. You don’t mind if I leave early, do you?”
    “Hell, no, you’ve earned it. Have fun.”
    “Thanks, I