October Ghosts (A Southern Romance Monthly) (5 page)

"Sure." Matt folded his arms on the kitchen counter and rested his head on them. He felt awful because he knew Margo was right. After Chloe watched that episode, she was never going to speak to him again.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked as Chloe got up after watching the
Ghost Hunt Halloween Special
.
 

She didn't ignore him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to answer just yet. She was pissed. Very pissed. And she was also embarrassed she ever considered Matthew Hunt a human being. She wanted to hit something. Preferably him. And what infuriated her more was his kiss still lingered on her lips!
 

"Chloe? You really need to stop shoving stuff into your purse."
 

Shoving stuff? She looked down to see she'd put several house rocks into her large bag. House rocks were large, fist sized stone engraved with words like "Love" or "Enjoy" and even "Laugh" engraved into them. They were big and they were hard. And she had two in her purse and one in her hand. "Oh…yeah."
 

"You were thinking of performing a bit of blunt force trauma?" He pursed his lips.
 

"Not were. Am. Oh my stars and garters!" She pulled the rocks out and stomped her foot. The crowd in front of the store had thinned out to a single van and a few reporters in yard chairs. She'd refused to open up or answer the phone. It was an impromptu day off. A Holiday leading up to Halloween, which was the next day.
 

She really didn't want to be closed on Halloween. That was her busiest time of the year. And she had a log book full of clients with appointments for readings.
 

"You can't tell me you didn't know Matt Hunt was an ass." She pointed at the computer, specifically at the paused YouTube screen. The image was of Matt, smirking at the camera. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah. I watch the show every week."
 

"And you knew he likes to make fun of and tears apart psychics and mediums?"
 

He nodded.
 

"I can't believe you want me to be subjected to that kind of treatment."

"No, no, no." Kevin stood and moved to her. "I wanted
you
to make fun of
him
."
 

"That's not the way it'll be edited, Kev, and you know it."
 

"Yeah I know. But they can't edit and change things if you don't give them what they want. Did you see the way that psychic was all dramatic? Damn girl—even I'd make fun of her. And she wasn't really reading the spirits of anything. It was like she didn't read the play book. She was an easy target."
 

Chloe sighed as she stared at him. Kevin was right. And she didn't want to admit, even to herself, that the psychic had gotten on her nerves. Even she'd made fun of the woman in her head. Someone knocked on the front door. Kevin went to the door of the office and looked out before he returned. "Just another reporter."
 

"Kevin…what exactly did you think I'd do different? And how in the hell did you think this would be good for me?"
 

"I think you would show them the truth about the Barrett House. It's why when the show called about you being their psychic guest, I immediately said you'd do it. You've lived in this city all of your life, and you would have the support of the entire town. I think you could use this as your way to solidify your position here, in this community."
 

She laughed, her spirits uplifted just a little. "You're so full of shit."
 

"Did it work?"
 

"Yeah." Chloe looked back at the computer. "I don't really get him."
 

"Me neither. I thought he was gay."
 

"Gay? Why?"
 

"You should do a Google search on him. The guy's never with women—other than the ones he works with. And the rumor mill did say he was still in the closet and maybe one day soon he'd be out."
 

Never with a woman. Really? "That's odd, because he told me about this girl he dated in college and almost married."
Yeah and that kiss wasn't one from a gay guy.
 

"Yeah." Kevin snapped his fingers. "Oh that I did read. It was in one or two of his earlier bios I read online. The chick went crazy or something and tried to have him killed."
 

Chloe's senses abruptly went on high alert. Matt mentioned that. She wanted to ask Kevin more about what he'd read, but she didn't want to bring attention to her own curiosity, or the crazy ex.
 

She would read it online, as soon as she had a moment alone. But for right now, she needed to do as much research on the Barrett House as she could before she called Matt and accepted his challenge. She wasn't going to let him get away with making fun of her. Chloe planned on taking him to task and not be a pawn in this little show.
 

Once Kevin left to grab lunch, she jumped online and looked up the Barrett House. What annoyed her was the fact she kept thinking of Matt as she searched. She kept seeing him fresh out of the shower, emotional, and so…just so damn sexy.
 

Within an hour she had enough on the Barrett House to put together her own dossier. Kevin had picked up a couple of salads and a calzone to split. She had tea in the office refrigerator so she worked while she ate. Kevin gathered her print outs and started reading.
 

When he whistled she glanced back at him, her mouth full of lettuce and tomato. "What?"

"Are you reading any of this stuff?"

"Yep." She chewed and swallowed. "The house was actually built in 1842 not long after the Primrose house was built."
 

"The what?"
 

"The Primrose House. Built by the city's founder, Roswell King."
 

"I did not know that."
 

"Yep. Very similar houses. The Barrett House is actually in the same neighborhood. The only difference is, the owner of the Barrett House was found murdered in his parlor. Along with his wife, and his two daughters." She wiped her mouth with her napkin and drank some water. "Back then, they didn't have any leads, any forensic means of testing for DNA, and no one in the city knew why someone would kill an entire family. After five years the house was taken by the bank—none of the relatives wanted it because they all feared it would be haunted—and the bank renovated it and sold it in 1865. The couple that bought it were expecting their first child."
 

Kevin skimmed through the pages in front of him. "Oh I read this. The child died of crib death and the mother committed suicide by jumping off the roof."
 

"Yeah. The grieving husband abandoned the house three months later and again, the bank had it. It sat empty for years before someone else bought it. This time it was a single guy who turned out to be a rapist. It was 1878 when he was caught and executed. The yard was dug up and several bodies were found. The bank had the house again. After twenty years the Historic Society took a look at it around 1900. It took twenty years to restore it and then they set up shop inside."

"And then they left because they said it was haunted."
 

"Yep. And there were a lot of stories that came from them, visitors, and even the maintenance group that refused to go back in. There were reports of women screaming, children crying and wanting their mommy, creepy laughter in the basement," Chloe shivered as she thought about the yuck that had cumulated in that house.
 

"And it's been empty since when?"

"Since 1930 it's been empty, but the city has refuted several petitions to have it torn down. Unfortunately it's hard to get crews to go in there and fix things. My suggestion would be to burn it and consecrate the ground. Turn it into a park or something."
 

Kevin shuffled the papers together into a stack. "A haunted park. Yay. Do you feel good enough to do this? He did give you an out."
 

"Yeah he did." Chloe turned in her chair to face him. After nearly an hour and a half of reading on the Barrett House, she was a bit overwhelmed and had thought of just calling him to tell him to find someone else. But then she'd think of the show she'd watched and felt she needed to set the reputation straight for psychics.
 

A part of her sort of knew under her skin that even if the show went in her favor, the producers would edit it to make a different story. So she was going to have to be on her best behavior and not give them any sort of soundbite to use. Which, when she thought about it, felt like it was going to be harder than going into a haunted house and not go all girlie scared.
 

Which is exactly what she started to do after she called Matt and told him she was in. Six seconds after the call she wanted to throw up. The only thing that kept her from getting sick to her stomach was the thought she was going to spend the next 48 hours with Matt Hunt.
 

Ghost hunter hunk.
 

CHAPTER SEVEN

Matt couldn't stop himself from jumping up after Chloe's call. He felt as if he'd broken through the first of several invisible barriers. He needed to get through to Chloe and let her know he wasn't the guy on the TV or on Youtube. He was a good guy caught up in circumstances beyond his control.
 

Yeah he'd noticed the anger in her tone even over the phone, and he knew she was probably doing it to prove him wrong. But he welcomed it. He
wanted
her to be there with him.
 

The fact he would be able to show her that he could be serious about the investigation was important to him. More important than anything he'd done in the past three years. He knew he was falling for Chloe—and he didn't know the first thing about her. So even though he would only be in Roswell for a few more days, it was important the she knew him.
 

The
real
him.
 

The him he'd had to hide away.
 

Cause no one wanted watch a show about a
nice
ghost hunter.
 

The front door opened and Margo came in. He was so happy he didn't even harangue her about privacy. She stopped just inside the door, her keys still in her hand. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
 

Matt jumped toward her and put his hands on her upper arms. "She said she'd do it!"
 

"Who said what?"
 

"Chloe Stohl! She just called and said she'd do it. She's meeting us at the house at two." He stepped back and checked his watch. "Oh…we need to get packed and get over there. Is the crew set up?" He turned to the living room.
 

Margo put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Wait…she said she'd do it?"
 

"Yeah. She watched the last Halloween episode and agreed to work with me. Now…I don't want to go in the direction the producers do. I want she and I to work together. No running over her, no making fun of her on a different radio channel. I won't go for that. I—"
 

Margo stepped back. "Stop it! Matt—do you hear yourself?" She pointed at the door. "The producers will pull the plug if they don't get more of the same as the last Halloween episode. You can't be the asshole hunter and then go all nicey-nice and expect watchers to go for it."
 

"Margo—I'm sorry. But I didn't want to do it last time and they edited it the way they wanted it. I want this to be a team effort—"
 

"Matt—I just spent an hour on the phone finding you a replacement. Someone who'll fit better."
 

He stopped. Oh no. "Did you find someone?"
 

The look on her face told him she hadn't. And he wasn't surprised. Since the Halloween episode he'd received more than one nasty email or postcard from psychics. Mediums. Witches. They all hated him.
 

Is that it? Do I want to work with Chloe just clear my name? Or because I really want to spend the time with her?
 

He only had to think a second.
 

I want to be with her. And I'd be willing to look the fool to do it.
 

Matt clapped his hands together. "Okay. So, we have Chloe and we need to get packed." He turned to the living room again.
 

"Matt."
 

He stopped and lowered his head. He wasn't sure why Margo was against this. He didn't turn. "What?"

"Look I didn't want to tell you, since it looked like Chloe Stohl wasn't going to do the show and we don't need you panicking. But after last night's incident, I put a call into New Orleans."
 

"New Orleans? Why?"

"I wanted to make sure she wasn't here. In Georgia."
 

His chest tightened with apprehension. He knew what Margo was going to say. His heart sank when he saw her face. "No… please tell me she's not…" Matt's breathing became rapid and he wiped at his forehead. A light film of sweat covered his skin.
 

Margo put her phone down on the coffee table and moved to him. She put her hand on his shoulder. "You need to relax, Matt. It might be she's just here visiting family." She increased her hold on his upper arms. "Matt…you need to calm down."

"She's here? Are you sure?" Matt gasped the words out. His chest tightened further as he looked at Margo without really seeing her. He tried to take air in, but couldn't. "Please…tell me that….wasn't her last night. She…she can't come that…close." He closed his eyes as he concentrated on breathing in. He became nauseous and tried to step back. He needed air…but he couldn't get air.
 

"Matt…" Margo grabbed his face with her hands. "Look at me. I need you to calm down. Where's your inhaler?"
 

His chest hurt. The harder he tried to pull in air, the worse the pain became. He almost doubled over but Margo's hold kept him on his feet. She forced him to look at her. "Mar…"