All Dressed Up and No Place to Haunt Read online

  “So tomorrow morning? How about we met here at eight?”

  “That sounds perfect,” Charlotte answered.

  “Eight will be fine,” I said.

  That would give me an hour before I had to open the shop.

  “Okay, I’ll see you then.” Ken smiled again and then turned to walk away.

  “It’s good that you are going to coffee with him. There’s really no commitment that way. It’s fast. If you don’t like him, then you can drink the coffee fast and get out of there. If you like him, then you can sip the coffee.”

  I looked over at Charlotte as I shoved the keys into the lock. “Thanks for the dating advice.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said.

  “I meant that sarcastically.”

  She waved her hand. “It’s still valuable.”

  I supposed she did have a point.

  Why had I thought of Dylan when Ken had asked me to coffee? It wasn’t like we were dating. He’d never asked me out. Wind Song climbed out of her carrier. Instead of rushing to her favorite spot in the sun, she stayed beside me at the counter.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked.

  She looked at me and yawned. I prepared her food anyway and placed it on the counter. She turned her head, but still didn’t jump down from the counter.

  “Okay, suit yourself, I’ll just leave it here for you and you can eat when you want to.”

  She licked her paws and watched me as I sorted through the mail from yesterday. The bell over the door jingled, and I looked up to see if the customer had returned. Heather walked toward me with the Ouija board under her arm.

  “Why do you have that? We don’t need it anymore,” I said.

  “You never know what the cat might have to say.”

  Heather placed the board on the counter, and Wind Song moved closer to it. She touched the board with her paw.

  Heather smirked. “It looks like she wants to use it.”

  I massaged my temples. “I am outnumbered again. I guess if she wants to do it.”

  “We thought you’d see it our way.”

  “Oh, you two are talking now?” I asked.

  Heather laughed. “I guess you could say that.”

  Charlotte looked over my shoulder. “Another cat reading?”

  “She must have a message for us if she’s so excited to use the board,” Heather said as she placed the planchette down.

  “Well, I guess we’ll see about that,” I said.

  I had to admit, she did seem eager to use the board. This had better not be another message about the cat food.

  “Okay, Wind Song, do your thing.” Heather motioned.

  Wind Song meowed as if answering her. The cat placed her paws on the board. She pushed the planchette around and around, but she wasn’t stopping on anything.

  “Maybe she’s confused,” Heather said.

  “Maybe she’s trying to decide what to say,” Charlotte said.

  “Or maybe she really didn’t want to use the thing after all.”

  I was just about to give up when she stopped on a letter. It was the L.

  “Okay, what next?” Heather asked.

  She moved the thing around, and it looked as if she wasn’t going to stop again. But finally she stopped on another letter.

  It was an I. By the time she had finished picking out all the letters, she had spelled out I LIKE THE GUY.

  Heather and I exchanged a look.

  “What did that mean? Which guy?” she asked.

  Wind Song used the planchette again. Both, she spelled.

  “Both,” Heather and I said in unison.

  Then we both laughed. Charlotte even joined in our laughter. Wind Song looked up at me as if to say, what are you laughing about? At least now I knew how Wind Song felt about Dylan and Ken. If they brought her treats, she really would be in love. She would probably leave me if they brought her catnip.

  “Do you think she’s done?” Heather asked.

  Wind Song placed her paw on the board and looked up at Heather.

  “I guess that means she isn’t finished with the board,” I said.

  “I guess not,” Heather said.

  “Do you have another message?” I asked.

  Wind Song placed her paw on the planchette and moved it around the board again. She seemed to get right to the point this time. She moved with ease around the board, picking out each letter. So far she’d spelled out House. Heather and I looked at each other.

  “What does that mean?” Heather asked.

  I shook my head. “I have no idea. Something at the house, Wind Song?” I asked.

  Wind Song kept moving the planchette. I couldn’t wait to see what she was going to spell next. The next word was Around and after that she simply spelled The.

  “House around the,” Heather said.

  “I don’t think she’s done yet.”

  “This is taking forever. Can’t she do that faster? I want to know what she has to say,” Charlotte said.

  Wind Song pushed it around until she’d spelled out another word. The last word was Corner.

  “House around the corner?” Heather asked. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. There aren’t any houses around the corner.” It was a few blocks down before there were any houses. There were a few buildings that had been converted into businesses. I wondered if that was what she meant.

  “But what about the house?” I asked Wind Song.

  Once more Wind Song spelled out a word for us. BEWARE. I swallowed hard.

  “Beware of the house around the corner?” I said almost breathlessly. “That sounds ominous.”

  “Yes, it does,” Heather said.

  Wind Song didn’t move the planchette again this time. Instead, she stepped around the board and over to the dish of food. She started eating. Clearly, she’s said what she wanted to say.

  “We may never know what she meant,” Heather said.

  I shrugged. “Maybe she’ll give us another message sometime and let us know.”

  One thing I’d learned, though, was that I should listen to the cat. I didn’t know how she did what she did, but I supposed that was something I would never know.

  “That will drive me crazy now—not knowing what that cat means by ‘house around the corner.’” Charlotte hated an unsolved mystery as much as I did. She would try to coax the cat into using the board again.

  The bell caught our attention, and we looked up to see who had entered. Heather grabbed the board.

  Dylan held his hand up. “No need to hide the Ouija board from me, ladies. I know you’re using it.”

  I felt heat rush to my cheeks. And I thought all this time that we had been keeping this from him. I should have known that we had done a terrible job of hiding it.

  Heather smiled and set the board back on the counter.

  “Have you talked to any ghosts?” he asked.

  I looked over my shoulder at Charlotte. She shrugged. Dylan pointed toward the board.

  “Oh, you mean through the board?”

  He laughed. “What did you think I meant?”

  I tried to look nonchalant. “The board, of course.”

  Heather gathered up the board. “It’s time for me to get to work. I’ll call you soon, Cookie. See you, Detective,” she said on her way to the door.

  She probably didn’t want to be around if I had to explain about actually talking to ghosts. Not with the use of some board, either, but real ghosts.

  Wind Song was still on the counter licking her paws after her morning breakfast. When Dylan reached the counter, he stretched down and rubbed her back. She purred and placed her paw on his hand.

  “I think she likes you,” I said.

  He chuckled. “I like her too. I didn’t come just to see Wind Song though,” he said.

  I busied myself holding a shirt just so that he wouldn’t catch me smiling too much. Charlotte had taken a seat on the settee. She looked from Dylan to me.

  “Something
tells me he didn’t come in to buy more clothing either.”

  I thought Charlotte was right about that, although I could have used the business.

  Dylan leaned against the counter, and I couldn’t help but look up into his big blue eyes. “The reason I stopped by was to see if you’d like to have lunch with me today.”

  “Lunch today would be good,” I said.

  “It’s about time you agreed to a date with him.”

  I wasn’t sure a lunch could be considered a date. Though it was a little more than coffee. But Dylan and I had already had a meal together once. This time he’d asked me, and I hadn’t just been forced to sit with him because all the seats were taken like when we’d shared the breakfast. I guess that did make it different.

  “Good.” He smiled. “I know this great place across town.”

  “Something different than Glorious Grits?” That was almost like a real date.

  “Well, what are you going to do now?” Charlotte asked from her spot on the settee. “You have both of these handsome men asking you out and vying for your attention.”

  Now was not the time I wanted to think about that. I’d have to think about it later.

  “Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not a bad situation to be in,” Charlotte said as she studied her fingernails.

  Dylan was watching me. He followed my gaze. “I thought I saw a customer coming in.” I hadn’t been looking at the window, and he probably knew that.

  Just then the bell on the door caught our attention. We spotted Shiloh walking toward us. I wasn’t exactly happy to see her. It brought up too many memories that were fresh in my mind. I had wanted to push the memories to the back of my mind for a while.

  She had a big box in her arms and a smile on her face. “Good morning, Cookie. Hello, Detective.” Her voice was sugar sweet.

  “Good morning.” My greeting was filled with suspicion.

  I still wasn’t sure that I trusted her.

  “I brought back the clothing.”

  Dylan took the box from her arms and placed it on the counter.

  “That isn’t all of them, of course. The rest are in my car. I can’t thank you enough for all that you did for the movie. You made the cast and me look good.”

  That wasn’t what she’d said before. When she thought I wasn’t listening, she’d been critical of my clothing selections. I wouldn’t hold that against her now, I supposed. If she truly wanted to be nice now, I would put the past behind us.

  “You’re welcome,” I said.

  “She should be nice to you now after how nasty she’s been,” Charlotte said.

  “I can help you get the rest of the boxes,” Dylan offered.

  “Thanks. That’s so sweet of you.”

  I walked outside with Dylan and Shiloh, and we carried the cartons inside.

  “Everything is there,” she said. “If you want to look it over and make sure.”

  I didn’t want her to wait around while I checked out all the items. I would just take her word for it.

  “That won’t be necessary,” I said.

  Shiloh checked the time on her cell. “Well, I guess I’d better go. I have a plane to catch.”

  “See you around,” I said.

  Shiloh walked out of the shop. I had been excited for the movie crew to be in Sugar Creek. Now I was thankful that they were gone.

  “So all the film stars and crew left?” I asked.

  Dylan shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yes, they cleared out this morning. I guess Shiloh was the last to leave. What you did for Nicole was great, but I hope you never do that again.”

  “I think the murder investigations in Sugar Creek are over, so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” I cut a quick look at Charlotte.

  She winked.

  “You’re probably right, but just the same.”

  “I’ll try to stay out of it from now on.” I crossed my fingers behind my back.

  He tapped the counter. “Okay, so I’ll see you back here at twelve?”

  “Yes, that will be fine.” I wondered if my cheeks had turned red.

  He smiled again before heading for the door.

  “I’m looking forward to lunch,” Charlotte said.

  I whipped around to glare at her.

  She held her hands up. “Just kidding. I’ll stay away this time.” Charlotte laughed.

  “Thank you,” I said as I picked up the morning newspaper.

  The front-page story was about the murder. There was a picture with me in the background at the parking lot next to my car. The reporters had asked me to talk with them, but I’d declined. It wasn’t something I really wanted to discuss. Of course, the main photo was of Jessica. That picture of her face with the wild hair and mascara-covered cheeks would haunt me in my sleep. To the side was a photo of her from the movie, when she’d looked glamorous. What a stark contrast.

  I placed the paper down and looked over at Charlotte. “So it’s just you and me now.”

  She tapped her fingers on the seat. “That’s true. It’s kind of quiet. You know, without a murder to solve or anything.”

  “Well, I do have a lot of work around here to do.”

  She jumped up from the seat. “Yes, and I need to help you get more customers. There are more ads to place and blogs to post. We need to advertise a sale or special event.”

  Yes, it looked as if Charlotte wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  I busied myself with folding shirts and placing dresses on hangers. I needed to redo the window too. Wind Song had taken her place in the sun now. She was content. Everything was back to normal. Just the way that I liked it. I had pulled out a stack of invoices and settled on the stool behind the counter.

  But the bell over the door pulled me away from the work almost instantly. A customer entered. It was the brunette who had been by earlier when Ken was here. I was glad that she had returned. She had stylish brown hair that fell just to her shoulders. She wore jeans that looked expensive, with a white tank top and white sandals. Charlotte hurried toward the counter—I knew she didn’t want to miss this conversation.

  The woman scanned the entire shop within a couple seconds, then focused her attention on me again. “Good morning. I hope I’m not too early. I came by earlier and you weren’t open yet.”

  “Welcome to It’s Vintage, Y’all. You’re not too early. May I help you find something?”

  “Oh, I just wanted to come in and look around. The window display was just so fabulous that I couldn’t resist.”

  “Thank you.” My voice was packed with pride after her compliment.

  Charlotte was looking the woman up and down.

  “I’m new in town,” she said. “I just moved here last week.”

  “Ask her where she’s from,” Charlotte said as she stared at the woman.

  “I bought the beauty shop here in Sugar Creek.”

  “Really? Where did you move from?” I asked to make Charlotte happy.

  “I came from Tallahassee, Florida. That’s where I grew up. But I figured it was time for a change.”

  Charlotte held up her hand. “Oh no. You don’t just pick up and move to Sugar Creek for no reason. You need to get to the bottom of this.”

  I couldn’t ask that many questions all at once. Charlotte would have to wait. I had to ease into the questions.

  “Well, I’m going to look around,” she said.

  “Sure.” I smiled. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  When she walked away, Charlotte said, “Why didn’t you find out more about her?”

  “I will, but you have to give me time,” I whispered.

  The woman brought a turquoise and lime-green cotton Lilly Pulitzer dress up to the counter. “I just have to have this dress.”

  “Nice selection.” I took the dress from her.

  “Ask her now,” Charlotte said.

  “Oh, I forgot to ask your name,” I said as I rang up her dress.

  “My name is Brooke House.�
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  “House around the corner,” Charlotte said at the same time as I was thinking it.

  Like I said, I should always listen to the cat.

  An Excerpt from Cookie Chanel’s Fashion Blog

  Popular Fashion Pieces from Each Decade

  When shopping for vintage clothing, it helps to know the year of the fashion you’re looking for, that way you’ll be better equipped to judge its value.

  1920s: The roaring twenties was the era of the flapper and brought big changes in fashion.

  Popular items included flapper dresses, cloche hats, finger wave short hairstyles, pants, ankle strap button shoes, and stockings.

  1930s: The thirties were a time of economic struggle, but despite that, clothing was still fashionable.

  Popular items included floral feed sack dresses, suede gloves with matching bag and shoes, slinky silks, bolero jackets and fitted sweaters, and padded shoulders.

  1940s: This was another time for big change in the fashion world. With the war came the need for rationing, and that spawned creativity.

  Popular styles in the forties included jumper dresses worn over blouses and sweaters, wedge heels, wide-leg trousers, and hair snoods.

  1950s: The fifties brought a feminine and tailored look. Dresses were the most common women’s clothing worn.

  Popular items in the fifties included strapless cocktail dresses, pedal pushers, crinoline or swing skirts, pencil skirts, Bermuda shorts, Peter Pan collars, and saddle shoes.

  1960s: Many changes took place with fashion in the sixties. Different styles came into being, such as hippie and mod. The success of the space program also influenced fashion with the use of metallic fabrics and plastic.

  Popular items from the sixties included knee-high white patent leather go-go boots, miniskirts or dresses, low hipster pants, bell-bottom jeans, and tie-dye.

  1970s: Fashion in the seventies had transitions from sixties pieces and was influenced by movies and celebrities.

  Some popular items in the seventies included hot pants, platform shoes, leisure suits, and denim decorated with embroidery, colorful stitching, or other embellishments. Also popular: macramé bags, gauzy cotton dresses, gypsy tops and caftans, tube tops, crop tops—and don’t forget the bell-bottoms.