Free The Spirits of Christmas by Sarah Wynde Page A

and Akira’s
eyes narrowed. Was that nerves she heard in the ghost girl’s tone? Rose wasn’t
the nervous type. “I need your help.”
    *****
    “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
    “I’m sure it’ll be okay. She acts real mean, but she wasn’t
like that when I knew her.”
    “When you knew her? When she was alive, you mean?” Akira
didn’t bother to look toward the ghost seated in the passenger seat next to
her. Florida drivers were insane. She needed to keep her eyes on the road.
    “Uh-huh,” Rose responded eagerly. “She was a few years
younger than me in school, so I didn’t know her well, but she was nice enough.”
    “Nice enough. Huh.” Akira thought back to the mean old woman
ghost she’d met briefly on her first day in Tassamara. Meredith, her realtor,
had been showing Akira houses supposedly available to rent. Akira hadn’t even
been willing to go into the little lakefront cottage. The angry ghost grumbling
on the porch had made it clear that she wasn’t welcome. “Is that what they call
damning with faint praise?”
    “No, really,” Rose answered. “I’ve visited her a few times
recently. As long as you’re not planning on moving into her house, she’ll be
perfectly friendly.”
    “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” This time Akira dared a
glance at her passenger. To Akira, the ghost looked almost like a typical
teenage girl, with only her full skirt and blonde curls showing that she was
out of her own time.
    “Yes.” A little frown between her eyes revealed Rose’s
worry. “She’s determined to get rid of the new tenant.”
    Akira turned her gaze back to the road. Determined. She
didn’t like determined ghosts. She didn’t like angry ghosts, either. She
sighed. “I was supposed to be writing Christmas cards and wedding invitations
today.”
    “Zane said he’d take care of them,” Rose said.
    Akira didn’t roll her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner
of her mouth, as she tried to imagine Zane’s version of a formal invitation. It
wouldn’t be neat calligraphy, that was for sure. If she had to guess, he was
picking up the phone and calling most of the people on their list. And then
he’d tell her they were all set.
    She dropped a hand to her belly. Rose had promised there’d
be no danger from this ghost, but Akira still didn’t like the thought of taking
any chances with the baby. But she’d be careful. The slightest sign of
dangerous energy from the old woman’s ghost and she’d be back in the car and
headed away, she thought, as she pulled the car over and looked at the small
house.
    No ghost stood on the porch, but she couldn’t see any
sparkling energy either.
    She got out of the car and closed the door. Turning away
from the house, so that no one would be able to see her lips move, she said to
Rose, “You just want me to talk to the tenant?”
    “Yes,” Rose said quickly. “That’s all. Find out if she’s
willing to move.”
    “What am I supposed to tell her?”
    “I don’t know. But I’m worried that Hannah will start trying
to drive her out. She’s only held off because – well, you’ll see.”
    Akira nibbled on her lower lip before turning toward the
house. As she walked up the short path to the front door, she tried to think of
what she could say. Should she tell the truth? Or come up with a plausible lie?
    Maybe she could claim that something was wrong with the
house. Mold, maybe. Or some undetectable poison in the air, like radon gas. Oh,
or she could say that it was a former meth lab. No one would want to live in it
if they thought they were being exposed to poisonous chemicals.
    Perfect.
    Of course, the owners of the house might be angry about
losing their tenant to a lie. Would they sue her? Could they?
    She reached the porch, still trying to decide what to say.
Behind a closed screen, the front door stood wide open. A small boy crouched on
the foyer floor, a wooden train in each hand, earnestly talking to himself. “I
am spendid,