Chapter 75

Throughout the day, Sam added questions to his list of things to ask Evie. He also had another goofy idea, and ran out to an erotic video store for a couple of possibilities. She'd said she could see and hear when she wasn't visible. While he was there, he picked up a couple toys he had ideas for later in the week. His plan wasn't entirely fleshed out yet - some of that would depend on Evie's answers to his questions. He also picked up some serious groceries. He was too old to live on pizza and takeout. Besides, Sam liked to cook - and he wasn't half bad, if he did say so himself. One of the reasons he'd bought this particular house was the big, sunny kitchen.
He'd just started putting together a Thai chicken saté for his dinner when the front doorbell rang. His sister Star stood there with her husband Theo - the guy who had been Sam's best friend since college. Star and Theo had gotten married over a year ago and it had finally stopped feeling weird to Sam to think of them as a couple.
"Nice." Star shamelessly pushed past him into the living room and gazed around. "I like what you've done with this room. I saw a gorgeous green-and-white sofa with a carved wooden frame in this little antique shop Shelby dragged me to. It would look stunning in here." Shelby and Noel had also bought an old house - that's where he'd gotten the idea to buy his own, but they hadn't gone for a fixer-upper like his, and their taste seemed to run to the true Victorian style while his was more eclectic.
"I wasn't planning to fill this room with dainty antiques." He took the bottle of wine Theo handed him and stepped back to allow the other man inside. "I'm going for a different style - traditional in a way, but mostly oversized and comfy instead of spindly and elegant."
"I can see that." Theo looked around and nodded. "Place needs a dog though. I could hook you up there, if you're interested." Theo was a vet while Star, like all of the Holiday siblings, worked for the family greeting card business.
Well, that would certainly make the place less lonely. And he didn't spend the twelve-hour days in the office that he used to now that much of his work could be done from his computer at home. "What kind of dog were you thinking about? I can't stand those yappy little ones people carry around in purses."
"No, that's not the dog I'd think of for you. Actually, we have a black lab mix at the clinic that needs a new home - he's six months old and fully trained, but his owners got transferred out of the country and couldn't take him with them."
"I could handle a Labrador." The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea of having a dog. "You want me to come down to the clinic and check him out tomorrow?"
"Perfect." Theo nodded. "I think you and Ghengis will be perfect for one another."
"Ghengis?" Sam had to laugh. "Yeah, perfect."
"Is something cooking?" Star sniffed the air. "We figured you'd be busy remodeling and thought we'd spirit you off to dinner, but it smells like we're too late."
"No, you're just in time since you both like Thai. I can easily add more chicken to the pan. Come on into the kitchen and crack open that wine." Sam spared a quick moment to hope he didn't have to kick them out before midnight, but tomorrow was a workday and the newlyweds would have better things to do with their late-night hours anyway, besides hanging out with him.
While Sam cooked, Star and Theo sat at the counter, sipping their wine and chatting. Of course since Star was Sam's baby sister, she couldn't resist flipping through the stack of printouts next to his laptop.
"You have a ghost in your house? Cool." She quirked one eyebrow at Sam. "Is that why you bought it? I thought you hated seeing spirits."
Sam shrugged. "It's not my favorite thing, but this one seems pretty mellow so far. I've had glimpses of her, but she hasn't caused any problems." Except for a night of erotic dreams, that is. "And no, I didn't even think to check before I bought the house. Pretty stupid, huh?"
"Yep." Star kept reading.
Theo shook his head. "I still think I need my head examined for getting hooked up with this family. Star turned into a bunny, Noel got trapped in a magical Christmas decoration, Val got fixed up by a non-existent computer service, Summer met her husband through dreams and Sam sees ghosts." He glanced over his wife's shoulder at the photo Sam had dug up from Evie from a Charleston historical website. "At least she's a hot ghost. You could have gotten some grumpy old fat guy who smelled like cigars. Does she look like that as a ghost?" Since their college dorm had been haunted, Theo had known about Sam's ability for years.
"Yeah." Sam didn't want to talk about Evie to anyone - not even his best friend or his sister. "She seems like a sweet young thing."
"Hey, it's almost Halloween - could be it's your turn for the family magic to kick in." Star gave Sam a wicked grin. "Halloween with a sexy ghost. Maybe you're up, bro."
Not this again. Sam shook his head and turned to work on dinner. "Would kind of suck to find out the love of my life is dead, don't you think? I can talk to ghosts, but I couldn't exactly marry one."