A Ghostly Grave by Tonya Kappes Read Free Book Online

serious.
    â€œWhat?” Shock and awe took over. My mouth dropped. Granny wasn’t old, but was she already going senile?
    â€œI was thinking . . .” She bit her lip. Oh, I didn’t want her to think too hard, that always got us in trouble. “Since we are in-­between mayors and I have lived here all my life and have owned two businesses, I think I know what this town needs.”
    â€œWhat would that be?” I put my hands on my hips and prepared myself for the response she was about to give.
    â€œA little dose of Zula Fae Raines Payne. That is what this town needs! Vote Zula!” She pumped her fist in the air. A few people cheered her on. “See?” She gestured toward the line of people.
    â€œI think this town has gone mad,” I leaned over and whispered into Granny’s ear. “Have you had your head checked? You need your boyfriend to give you a full physical.”
    â€œI will do no such thing. I’m a Southern lady.” Granny stretched her arms out to the side, and swinging them in an upward motion, she placed them palm to palm and brought them back down in front of her chest. “Ohmmm . . .” she hummed.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Embarrassment crept up my neck and settled on my cheeks. She was old but she wasn’t old enough to lose her ever-­loving mind. “Maybe you have the Funeral Trauma.”
    â€œShh.” Granny closed her eyes. “You are knocking my balance off. Hettie Bell said this was a good exercise for my mojo.”
    â€œMojo?” I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need mojo, you need some common sense.”
    â€œZula Fae Raines Payne?” The clerk hollered out into the crowd. “You’re up!”
    â€œOh,” Granny pushed me aside, “I’ve got to run. Toodle-­oo!” Granny put her hand in the air and gave me the spirit-­finger good-­bye gesture.
    Hettie Bell was making all the old women in the community nuts with all this relaxation deep-­breathing bull crap. Granny was in no mood to hear any sort of reasoning of why she shouldn’t run for mayor and I certainly wasn’t going to waste my breath or time. Right now, my time was more valuably spent trying to figure out who killed Chicken Teater and trying to get him to the other side.

 
    Chapter 6
    N ot long after I had left the courthouse I made it back to Eternal Slumber and noticed Charlotte Rae’s car in the parking lot. I marched myself right into the funeral home and straight into her office.
    â€œCharlotte Rae.” I pushed open the door. She sat in her chair, her long red hair falling around her face and cascading down each shoulder. Her natural beauty was plagued with worry wrinkles and the look in her eyes suddenly made me feel queasy.
    â€œEmma Lee, Granny has done it again.” She shook her head. “It’s not the fact I’m getting a gazillion calls from clients who are worried we are going to dig their loved ones up—­which was your fault—­but now she’s running for mayor.” Charlotte threw her hands in the air. “If she doesn’t win over O’Dell Burns, we are going to be losing every single family on our client list.”
    â€œO’Dell Burns?” I asked.
    â€œThat is who she is running against.” Her sparkly green eyes had lost a tad tiny bit of their natural sparkle.
    â€œThat is why she’s running.” Sneaky Granny. My eyelids lowered and I scowled. “Sneaky Granny. Very sneaky.”
    How did I not figure out that Granny had an ulterior motive? She always had an ulterior motive. The only reason she gave control of Eternal Slumber to Charlotte Rae and me was because she married Earl Way Payne, who was divorced from Granny’s archnemesis, Ruthie Sue—­my first ghost, who had been sure Granny was the one who killed her. Ruthie and Earl had owned the Sleepy Hollow Inn together.
    Five years ago,