Free Ghost Betweens by E. J. Krause

said with a laugh.
    They pulled out of the driveway with no problems. That was almost too easy.

Chapter 14
     
    Neither said much on the way back to Whisper's house. The thought of walking invisible amongst the evil ghosts was almost too much to comprehend. For all he knew, most people could do it if they put their minds to it. Or maybe it had to do with what the ghost farmer called them: Ghost Betweens. Mr. Baxter had some explaining to do.
    When they pulled up in front of her house, he couldn't help but noticed how nervous she seemed. Was she afraid the ghosts might have followed them or something? Before he could ask her what was the matter, she blurted out, "Want to come in?"
    He stared at her for a second, not quite sure she had actually asked him that.
    "Sorry," she said, blushing. "You probably need to get home. It was stupid of me."
    "No, no, I'd love to come in. My mom won't be home until after eight, so it's fine."
    Relief flooded her face. "Good. We can send an email to Mr. Baxter together. Maybe he'll even give us some sort of clue about what's going on."
    "Yeah, so far he explains American History way better than this ghost thing."
    They walked up to her house with Josh's heart beating a mile a minute. He hoped her parents were nice. He hoped they liked him. And most importantly, he hoped they didn't mind Whisper inviting him in.
    The inside of the house both looked and smelled neat and clean. It didn't seem lived in yet. He supposed that was to be expected after only a week or two. No boxes littered the floors of the living room, but he could tell it was a work in progress. Nothing hung on the walls, and he guessed there'd be a few more pieces of furniture in the mostly empty room before too long.
    Whisper seemed to sense his train of thoughts. "Mom and Dad were going to get everything fixed up this weekend, but other things got in the way. Moving is hard work." She smiled. "I liked it better when I was younger. I wasn't expected to put in as much labor."
    "Yeah," he said with a laugh. "Parents certainly know how to find stuff to take up our time."
    "You said it. Mom, Dad, I'm home! I brought company!"
    A woman walked out from what Josh guessed was the kitchen. Right away there was no doubt she was Whisper's mom. They looked almost exactly alike, with just a few years difference. In fact, he might have guessed older sister if he didn't already know Whisper was an only child.
    "Hi, sweetie. Who's your friend?"
    "This is Josh from the digital camera club."
    "So this is Josh. Whisper has told us about you. It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand, and he shook it.
    "Hi, Mrs. Douglas. Nice to meet you." Whisper had talked about him? That was good news, right?
    "Are you staying for dinner? I was thinking about testing out one of the local pizza delivery places."
    He looked at Whisper to see if she'd think it was okay. When a smile greeted him, he nodded. "Sure, thank you. I'd love to stay."
    "Great. Any recommendations?"
    "Yeah, we always go to Roni Peppers. It's really good."
    "What a cute name. Yes, we definitely have to try that one."
    A new voice sounded from behind Josh. Whisper's dad. Had to be. "What's this? We've been here a week and my baby girl's already bringing home boys?"
    Whisper turned scarlet. "Daddy, don't embarrass me."
    Mr. Douglas smiled at Josh and gave him a wink. "Hi there. Sean Douglas. Did I hear you're the infamous Josh?"
    "Daddy!"
    "Uh, yeah, that would be me." They shook hands.
    "I'm teasing on the infamous part. It's just that Whisper has spoken very highly of you."
    "Daddy!"
    "What? I can't give the boy a compliment?"
    Wow, had she really said good things about him, or was Mr. Douglas teasing again? "Thank you, sir," was all he could think to say.
    "You got it, son." He turned to Mrs. Douglas. "Now what was this I heard about pizza? I'm famished."
    "As soon as I know the number, I'll order a few up. You want to look it up, dear? What's it called again, Josh? A cute name, I remember