Free Dead and Breakfast by Kimberly G. Giarratano

investor.”
    Autumn scrunched her face. She thought it funny that Liam should be harshly judged for dating Victoria, but not Autumn for being a phony and sucking up to her.
    Evelyn pressed her fingers into her eyes before sipping her coffee. “I better get back to work. These accounts are a mess.”
    Autumn took that as her cue to leave. As she turned to go, her mother asked, “Can you find Mrs. Paulson extra towels?”
    Autumn sighed. Her investigation into Inez would have to wait.
    #
    After nearly tripping over the old shovel, Timothy stumbled onto the patio with a sour expression. “I swear, your shenanigans are going to get me killed. Or worse, you’re gonna make me tear my dress shirt.”
    Liam sat on the patio chair, feet away from him, dabbing at a cut above his eye with the hem of his T-shirt.
    “Should I get the first-aid kit? Again?” Before Liam could protest, Timothy called out, “Mama!”
    Cora Newbold popped her head out the door, took one look at Liam, and emerged a moment later with a large, white handbag. She unzipped her bag and removed a clear pouch that held Band-Aids, gauze, and ointment.
    Cora was heavy-set and wearing a turquoise blouse and matching head wrap. She and Timothy shared the same dark eyes and wide nose, but Timothy’s chin ended in a point. Cora’s round face was maternal and soft, although she was no nonsense as she rummaged through the medical supplies. She gingerly lifted a dark curl away from Liam’s cut. He wondered if this was what it was like to be cared for by a mother.
    “How did this happen?” Cora’s accent was thick with the islands.
    Liam inhaled her spicy, citrus perfume. “I tripped over a shovel. There’s so much crap in the shed.”
    Cora narrowed her eyes at the blood on his forehead. “Is that so?”
    “Yes,” said Liam in a tight voice.
    Cora gave him a halfhearted nod, but Liam could tell that she didn’t believe him. “It seems that the ghost has it out for you.”
    He sighed. This again. Sure, he thought he saw a girl in the pool, but ghosts just don’t go around drowning people. Stuff like that doesn’t happen. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”
    Cora dabbed at Liam’s cut with a piece of gauze. A line of red blood bloomed on the white cotton. He winced as she applied pressure. “That’s the thing about ghosts. You don’t have to believe in them, but they believe in you.”
    She placed Liam’s hand onto the gauze and ordered him to hold still while she rummaged through the first-aid kit for ointment.
    “What does that even mean?” he asked. “They believe in you?”
    Cora twisted the cap off the bacitracin and squeezed the cloudy gel onto a bandage, which she stuck to Liam’s forehead. “My ancestors believe that spirits seek out the living when they need assistance.”
    “If this spirit needs my help, then why does she keep trying to kill me?” Liam scoffed.
    “Ah-ha!” Timothy cried out. “So you do admit that ghost girl took a swing at you with a shovel? Did she also bust your lip?”
    “I’m not admitting anything,” said Liam. “It’s crazy to think that ghosts are real. Or that they can lift heavy shovels.”
    “Hush,” said Cora with a wave. “There are presences in this house. And this one, in particular, is trying to communicate with you.”
    “Why?” Liam asked.
    Timothy examined his well-manicured nails as if they were more interesting than this conversation. “You might want to talk to Miss Autumn. She has some theories.”
    Liam rose and touched the now-bandaged cut on his head. “That’s ridiculous.”
    Cora closed the first-aid kit. “My son is right. Autumn seems very connected to the spirit world. Unlike any young person I’ve ever met. She’s a conduit for the dead.”
    Someone cleared their throat and they all froze. No one had heard Evelyn’s footsteps as she entered the patio. “Liam, did you take care of the bird?”
    “Not yet, Mrs. Abernathy. I got clocked by a ghost.” Liam glanced at