Effie felt a pang. She couldn’t imagine Bonnie giving her such a gift now.
‘I didn’t realize you librarians were so saucy,’ said Theo, filling his own cup. ‘Cheers to that.’
Effie had never before in her life been called saucy. In fact, she’d never heard the word not followed by ‘wench’. But coming from Theo, it didn’t sound rude or debasing. It sounded charming. Sweet. Sexy.
‘Nice wine,’ said Effie, sipping from her mug.
‘Wait ’til you try the dips. They’re not my handiwork, so I won’t be offended if you don’t like them. Although I do make a mean hummus.’
Effie dipped a triangle of pita into a purple dip – baba ganoush. ‘Is that so?’
‘If it requires a blender or a food processor, I’m an unparalleled talent. My protein shakes are works of art.’
Effie chuckled. ‘I see. I’m a whiz with a skillet or a baking tin.’
Theo was making inroads with the hummus. ‘Yep, mine’s better. Cakes or cookies?’
‘I do both. I actually thought about going professional for a while there.’
‘With Bobby and his family?’
She shook her head, marvelling as her new curls bobbed about. ‘No, baking was a passion of my mom’s.’
Theo regarded her quietly as her voice hitched. Ah, so he knew about Mom. One good thing about small-town life was that you never had to share your own bad news; other people did it for you.
‘I think I wanted to share in it with her. In the end I figured there was enough competition. And transitioning something from a hobby to a job can be fraught.’
‘I understand,’ said Theo, sipping his wine. ‘I’m trying to figure that out for myself at the moment.’
His green-eyed gaze broke away from hers as he reached for a pastry. ‘Actually, I had a job offer,’ he continued. ‘Back in the city.’
Effie bumped her mug, almost knocking it over.
‘Are you thinking of taking it?’ she asked, as she mopped up the wine she’d sloshed with a napkin, dreading the response.
‘I’m not sure yet. The pay’s good, but it’s not something I’m particularly excited about. I’ve done the money-making thing. Now I think I’d like to do something more meaningful.’
Effie nodded, but as she went to respond, a thud behind her made her jump.
Right into Theo, who gently held her shoulders. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Did you hear that?’ she whispered.
The hair on the back of her neck was at attention, and not just from the tension between the two of them. Because on the heels of the thud had come a high-pitched wail.
‘The ghost,’ she whispered.
‘The ghost?’ Theo repeated. He frowned as he tried to make sense of this. ‘Do you mean that pirate guy you were talking about the other day?’
Effie’s new curls flicked as she shook her head. ‘No. You’re going to think I’m mad, but something weird has been going on. Strange noises. Flashing eyes. Books being scattered all over the place.’
Theo considered this. ‘But it can’t be a ghost, surely. It could be any number of things. But not a ghost.’
‘You sound so sure,’ said Effie, ‘but I’ve been Bonnie’s sister long enough to know that not everything is easily explained.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Theo, chuckling. ‘All right, ghost it is. I wish I’d brought my vacuum cleaner. I hear they do thetrick. How about a heavy hardback or something? Just in case we need to whack it?’
‘Ghosts are incorporeal,’ Effie reminded him. Even though she had pulled the hardback-book-as-weapon move herself a few weeks back. ‘And I don’t appreciate your tone.’
