Ghost Walk Read Online Free PDF Page B

only ones left in the office, which was a block from
the center of town.  The delusion of Jamie Riordan had smugly informed her that
it used to be a brothel.
    Not
that she was listening to him.
    Since
she’d regained consciousness, Grace had done her best to ignore the big,
handsome evidence of her insanity and it was clearly pissing him off.  His
gorgeous face was set in an irritated expression, as if she was the one
being unreasonable.  The man wanted to talk.  He loved to talk.  Since
she seemed to be the only person who could hear his constant talking, he kept
up a running commentary to her, whether she responded to him or not.
    And
she wasn’t responding to him.
    No
way.
    “How
much longer do you plan to tolerate this horrible woman, lass?”  He demanded as
Anita subtly mentioned that she’d had to give refunds to everyone on the
Ghost Walk and didn’t Grace think it was just a little unfair to expect
Harrisonburg to pay for Grace’s mistakes.
    Grace
pretended that he wasn’t there.  If she just ignored him, Thomas
Payne-in-the-ass (minus the Common Sense ) would just go away.  He had to.  Darn it, she refused to go crazy, again.  “I can reimburse you for
the tour admissions, Anita.”
    “Well,
I do think that would be the right thing to do.  But the guests were
also saying that you were talking to yourself.”  Anita continued in a
disapproving tone that she tried to pass off as worry over Grace’s wellbeing.  “That’s
very troubling, in light of your history.  Were you seeing things, Grace?”
    “No. 
Of course not.  I think my electrolytes were just low.”
    “That’s
it, lass.  Donea tell her anything that will get you locked up.  You’ll be of
no help to me trapped in an asylum.”
    Grace’s
lips compressed into a line, but she still didn’t acknowledge him.
    Anita
made an “umm” sound, not convinced by Grace’s denials.  “Are you sure you
weren’t experiencing anything… odd?  You’ve been under a lot of stress this
past year.  And then there’s your family’s… business.  No one would blame you
if you’re having a few… problems.”
    Faux-Jamie
scoffed at all the pointed pauses.  “See?”  He waved a dismissive (but beautifully
shaped) hand at Anita’s faux-concern and faux-sympathy.  “She thinks you’re off
your head.  Convince her everything’s alright so we can be going.”
    “I’m fine , Anita.”  Grace adjusted her icepack with a bit more force than
necessary.  Visualizing a safe and happy place was supposed to help with
anxiety, but no amount of peaceful green cornfields could stop the throbbing in
her skull.  “I just need to drink more water.”
    “I’m
sure that’s it.”  Anita obviously wasn’t sure that was it.  “It’s shaping
up to be a sweltering Independence Day, isn’t it?”  She patted Grace’s arm.  “Things
will be so hectic here over the holiday.  Take tomorrow off and
recuperate.  You can come back for the weekend, rested and ready to go.  I
think that would be best, don’t you?”  It wasn’t a question.
    Grace
ground her teeth together at the loss of a day’s pay.  “Of course.”
    Her
answer was totally unnecessary.  Anita was already moving on to her real
priorities.  “And you have a point.  With the temperatures so high, we’ll sell
record amounts of bottled water this weekend on the tours.  I’ll just go make a
note to order even more.”  She headed for her private office.  “You can get
home on your own, can’t you, Grace?”  She called over her shoulder and then
shut the door after her, without waiting for an answer.
    Grace
sighed.
    “Do
you truly plan to stay working for that harridan, lass?  Jesus, Mary and
Joseph, I’d rather be dead and I am dead.  You should grow a backbone. 
Walk out of this place and never come back.”
    On
some level, she agreed with his disapproving analysis.  This job wasn’t for
her.  She was terrible at it and very, very bad at