Free Chaos in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) by Jana DeLeon

eyes and wrinkled her forehead and Jadyn waited, but after several seconds, the smelly, stained pajamas still remained.
    Helena opened her eyes. “It’s not working.”
    “What do you mean it’s not working? That’s not an option.”
    Helena threw her hands in the air. “What am I supposed to do? It’s not like there’s a set of YouTube videos on how to be a ghost.”
    “You’re not getting into my Jeep with those smelly clothes. I’d be sick before we made it a mile.”
    Helena clenched again, her face turning red with the effort, but not so much as a thread changed. “I can’t do it. It’s like I’m constipated.”
    Jadyn held in a groan. This is what you get for trying to solve Helena’s problems and make her useful.
    “Take them off,” Jadyn said.
    “What?”
    “See if you can pull them over your head and take them off.”
    Helena’s eyes widened. “All I have on under this is underwear and a sports bra.”
    Jadyn cringed. “I’ll have to manage.”
    “ You’ll have to manage? What about me? I’m not going gallivanting around in your Jeep in my underwear.”
    “No one can see you but me. I’m the only one who suffers here, but I think the fish smell would be worse.”
    Helena put her hands on her hips and glared. “You think ? Well, I used to think you were the nice one out of the bunch, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
    “As long as you change your clothes along with it, we’re good.”
    Helena clenched once more and a vein popped out on her forehead. A couple seconds later, her breath came out in a whoosh. “It’s no use. I’m broken.”
    “Then take off the pajamas or stay here. I have a job to do and can’t stand here all day waiting for divine intervention.”
    “Do I have to?” Helena whined.
    “You’ve got one minute and then I drive away, and if you try to get into that vehicle in those clothes, I will shoot you.” Jadyn knew the bullet would pass right through the ghost, but gunfire always terrified her.
    “Fine. You’re the one who’ll have to live with this.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Jadyn grumbled.  
    Helena pulled the offensive pajama top over her head, exposing the pink-and-black zebra-striped sports bra. Jadyn said a silent prayer that the underwear didn’t match but she hadn’t even gotten to the “amen” before Helena pushed the pajama bottoms down, bent over, and gave her a tent-sized view of the matching bikini underwear. She supposed she ought to just be happy they weren’t G-string.
    “What do I do with them?” Helena asked.
    Jadyn looked down and frowned. Sure enough, the pajamas were in plain view. “How is that possible?” Jadyn asked. “You created them out of thin air, and they weren’t visible before, but when you took them off, it’s like they became real.”
    Helena shrugged, jiggling her stomach rolls. “I’m just winging it.”
    Between the missing fisherman, the impending maybe-sorta-a-date dinner with Colt, and the odd vibes she picked up from Peter and Bobby, Jadyn already had more to think about than she could process. Trying to figure out Helena’s invisible then visible clothing situation would have to wait until she had far more time, energy, and patience.
    “Just toss them somewhere that no one can see,” Jadyn said.
    Helena picked up both garments, straightened back up, and flung them onto the roof of the shrimp house. Jadyn shook her head and climbed into the Jeep. A couple of seconds later, Helena hoisted herself into the passenger’s seat and Jadyn’s eyes watered.  
    “The fish must have leaked through the pajamas,” Jadyn said. “I have no idea how it’s possible, but you still stink. How in the world can a ghost take on an earthly smell?”
    “I’m not taking off my underwear. Everyone has a line and that’s mine. Besides, this is all your fault anyway…telling me to hurry. I don’t do hurry.”
    Jadyn grimaced. As if the scene in her passenger’s seat wasn’t bad enough already, Helena had to