Free The Ghost of Marlow House (Haunting Danielle Book 1) by Anna J. McIntyre, Bobbi Holmes Page B

here.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I have to prove I didn’t commit
suicide. You have to help me. I can’t leave while people believe I killed
myself.”

Chapter Nine
     
    Ian and Lily had just walked into Pier
Café when they heard a man ask the waitress: “Do you think they’ll change the
name or call it Marlow House?”
    Lily stopped abruptly and stared at the
man. He was less than four feet away, his back to her as he sat at the lunch
counter. She couldn’t see his face, just the back of his gray dress shirt and his
head of shortly cut dark hair. His breakfast companion, a second man sitting
next to him at the counter, noticed Lily staring and turned around to face her,
a cup of coffee in his hand. The waitress standing behind the counter,
refilling the coffee cup of the man who’d mentioned Marlow House, glanced up at
Lily.
    “Sit anywhere,” the waitress told Ian
and Lily. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”
    “Did you say Marlow House?” Lily asked
the man in the gray shirt. He turned around to face her. Lily found herself
staring into a pair of arresting black eyes. Both he and his companion looked
to be in their early thirties. The attractive dark eyed man looked as if he was
dressed to go to the office, while his companion, an average looking fellow
with forgettable features, dull brown hair and pale blue eyes, looked like a
construction worker, dressed in worn denims and a stained blue work shirt.
    “Yes, why?” the man asked.
    “Well...ahhh…” Lily stammered. A wave of
embarrassment washed over her as the man boldly moved his gaze up and down her
body before looking her in the eyes. The fact she was with Ian did not curb his
blatant perusal.
    “My friend owns Marlow House.” Lily
almost said, I’m staying at Marlow House , but quickly changed her mind
because of how he was looking at her.
    “Really? So when does it open for
business?” the man in the gray shirt asked as he turned around completely, now
facing Ian and Lily as he leaned back against the counter. Briefly he glanced
over at Ian, before looking back at Lily.
    “Open for business? What do you mean?” Lily
frowned.
    “I was just telling them how Marlow
House is going to be a B and B,” the waitress behind the counter explained. “So
you’re a friend of the new owner?”
    “Yes, but how do you know anything about
a B and B?” Lily asked.
    “Small town,” the waitress said with a
shrug.
    “So it’s true?” the man in the gray
shirt asked.
    “Umm….well…” Lily suddenly wished she’d
kept her mouth shut. “It’s one possibility, yes.”  Without saying another word,
Lily grabbed Ian’s hand and pulled him across the diner to a booth. They sat
down, sitting across from each other.
    “What was that about?” Ian asked. Lily
glanced over at the counter; the man in the gray shirt was still staring at
her.
    “I just felt funny talking about
Danielle’s business with strangers. She gets a little annoyed with me sometimes
when I blurt things out without thinking.” Lily picked up two menus from the
end of the table and handed one to Ian.
    “So how do you think they knew?” Ian glanced
over at the two men and waitress. The man wearing the gray shirt gave him a nod
and then turned back around to the counter.
    “Probably because it is a small
town. Danielle had her attorney do all the legwork already—checking into the
legalities, lining up necessary permits and licenses. Figuring out what she
needed to do to comply with the local laws. I guess when you start doing stuff
like that it’s kind of hard to keep it a secret.”
    “So she’s got everything in place, ready
to go?”
    “Not exactly. She wanted to check out
the property personally before making the final commitment. Unless the
contractor she’s hiring to check out the house comes up with a ridiculous list
of needed repairs, it’s possible she could be ready to open within a month.
That’s of course if we work our butts off.”
    “That