Page 34

I was wearing a pair of white silk stockings and some little black flats as well. Everything fit me like a glove, which surprised me a little. It was almost like the clothing was made for me. I really must be the exact same size as Garrik’s late wife—which made me think he liked curvy women.

I pushed the thought aside. I wasn’t here to date him—I was supposed to be trying to break the curse he was under. Though I had absolutely no idea how to go about doing that.

Well, maybe this Goody Albright everyone was telling me about could help me out.

“Are you ready?” Bartleby jumped down from the bed, his tail waving. “If not, hurry up—I’m hungry.”

“I am too,” I confessed. It had been a long time since Natalie’s party with all the cute little Halloween snacks. I was ready for some real food now.

“Come on.” Bartleby was already leading the way out of the bedroom. “I think Garrik is waiting for us downstairs. He’ll probably want to give us another lecture before we go.”

I privately agreed with him, but I didn’t say so out loud. After the way Garrik had saved me from the troll and then held me when I cried afterwards, I found I didn’t mind his lectures quite so much. It was still hard to believe he was a ghost—his arms felt so real and solid when they were wrapped around me and his broad, muscular chest felt so good pressed against my cheek…

There you go again—stop that! I lectured myself. I had to stop thinking about how good it felt to be held in his arms and how good he smelled. I was only going to be here for a short time, and I was certain I was never going to come back once I finally got home.

I followed Bartleby down the stairs and sure enough, Garrik was waiting there. When he looked up and saw me descending the stairs, his eyes widened and he drew in a deep breath—though I wasn’t sure how he managed to do that since ghosts don’t breathe.

“Lady Celeste, you look lovely,” he murmured as I reached the bottom of the staircase.

“Well, thank you.” I could feel myself blushing, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

“I have this for you.” He handed me a small green purse that matched my dress. It was surprisingly heavy and clinked when I took it.

“Oh—what’s this?” I looked inside and saw that it was filled with gold and silver coins. I looked up at Garrik with wide eyes. “I can’t take this! I brought my purse with me—I have my own money.”

“Which would be useless in most of the shops of Hidden Hollow,” he said, frowning. “You need the correct money if you’re going to buy yourself breakfast and do a bit of shopping.”

“Shopping?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

“I know women—or I used to, anyway,” he said. “I want you to get whatever you want. Hidden Hollow has many little shops where something might catch your interest.”

I wanted to give the money back, but I sensed this was a point of pride for him.

“Well…only if you’ll let me pay it back later,” I said uncertainly.

He frowned.

“Why should you? What use do I have for money? I cannot spend it.”

“Well…” I hesitated. “I guess you have a point, but I still don’t feel right going on a shopping spree on your dime. I mean, it’s not like you’re my Sugar Daddy.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of daddy?”

“Never mind. Thank you for the money,” I said, giving in. I promised myself I was only going to buy breakfast though—I wasn’t going to go crazy.

“I wish I could accompany you to town,” Garrik said, sounding wistful. “I would be proud to have you on my arm.” Then he appeared to realize that he was almost flirting with me because he cleared his throat and frowned. “Also, you might need someone to keep you from wandering off the road again.”

“We’ll stay on the road,” I promised, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

“I’ll keep her on the straight and narrow,” Bartleby said. “Can we go now? I’m starving!”

“Yes, just be safe—stay on the road and within the boundaries of the town,” Garrik said. “I will see the two of you later.”

As the door to Blackthorn Manor closed behind us, I wondered what Hidden Hollow held for me and if I would finally get some answers to the many, many questions I had about the strange new magical world I found myself in.

10