Leighann Dobbs - Mystic Notch 02 - A Spirited Tail by Leighann Dobbs Read Free Book Online

transparent. “No way, it’s too much fun here.”
    Robert Frost laughed. “It sure is. How about the other day when Mrs. Woolridge was looking in the naughty romance section and you swiped the book onto the floor.”
    Franklin Pierce laughed and slapped his knee. “I thought she was going to jump out of her saggy pantyhose.”
    My lips curled up in a smile at the image of pious old pinch-faced Mrs. Woolridge looking at sexy romances and then being surprised by a book slamming to the floor. The boys did this to my customers a lot. Apparently, they thought it was great fun. I usually had to spend a few minutes each night walking the aisles to pick up any stray books that had fallen to the floor.
    “So, if you guys know stuff, then what do you know about Bruce Norton’s murder?” 
    “Murder? There’s been a new murder in town?” Frost consulted Pierce, who shook his head.
    “We don’t know a thing about it,” Pierce said. 
    “Nope. We don’t know everything, you know,” Frost said. 
    “We’re not psychics—just ghosts,” Pierce added.
    “But I do know one thing.” Frost leaned toward me. “Van Dorn has some very nice volumes of my poems in his library. Be sure to acquire those for the store.”
    “Oh, and if there are any biographies on my life, get those, too,” Pierce added. “Books about me are so hard to find.”
    The bells over the front door tinkled and the two ghosts evaporated, leaving a wet spot on the rug. I leaned backward to look down the aisle toward the door and saw my best friend, Pepper St. Onge, scooting inside with a tray loaded with goodies from the teashop she owned two doors down balanced in her right hand. She stopped short as soon as she spotted Ranger, who was still lying in the same spot.
    “Well, hello there.” She slid the tray onto the counter and squatted to pet the dog, who ignored her.
    “Hi,” I yelled from my spot as I slid the last book into place before joining her.
    “I brought you some refreshments.” She turned concerned, green eyes on me. “I heard about what happened at Van Dorn’s and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
    “Oh, I’m fine.” I eyed the silver tray, noticing it had my favorite molasses spice cookies along with a dainty china teapot. Wisps of steam curled out of the spout of the teapot. There were two chintz teacups, a tiny pitcher of milk, sugar cubes and a row of thinly sliced lemon all perched on top of antique lace doilies on the tray.
    “You adopted a dog?” Pepper pointed to Ranger, who hadn’t moved a muscle. Some watchdog he was.
    “No. That’s Ranger, Bruce Norton’s dog. He was hanging around the … err … body. The police were going to take him to the dog pound, so I took him instead.”
    Ranger let out a pained whine at the mention of his former master’s name, pinching my heart and causing Pepper’s face to crumble with concern. She broke off a tiny piece of cookie, squatted and presented it to the dog.
    “Treat?”
    Ranger slit one eye open, sniffed, and then closed his eye without taking the food.
    “He must be in a bad way, poor thing,” Pepper said.
    “Did you know Bruce?” I asked her.
    “When I was younger.” Pepper took the tray to the couch and motioned for me to join her as she talked. “I heard he’d become quite a recluse in his old age. Rumor had it he was suffering from dementia. I didn’t know he had a dog. Are you going to keep him?”
    “No. I don’t think so. I figure I’ll see if any of Bruce’s relatives want him, and then find him a good home if not.
    Pepper scrunched up her face. “I’m not sure Bruce has any relatives. He never married. I’m not sure about brothers or sisters.”
    She got busy pouring the tea and handed me a cup. I looked into the cup, then narrowed my eyes at her. “You didn’t put anything in here, did you?
    Pepper leaned back, a smile on her face. “Of course not.” 
    Pepper had fancied herself to have a way with herbs since she was a teenager. She