The Ghost of Christmas Present by Jenny Lykins Read Free Book Online Page A

and bounced off the back of the couch.
    "I'm serious, Casper. I'm new at this.
What do sick ghosts do to get well?"
    He laughed weakly and shook his
head.
    "Nothing. I should be back to normal by
this evening. See?" He displayed his arms, more visible now, like a
little boy in show and tell. "I'm getting better
already."
    She eyed him, not quite certain he was
telling her the truth, but what else could she do?
    "Okay. You just stay there and get your
strength back and I'm going to get some breakfast. Then I've got a
surprise for you."
    His eyes lit up and he sat up
straighter.
    "A surprise? I love surprises! What is
it?"
    She turned and gave him a
long-suffering look.
    "I'm not telling. And if you don't
behave yourself, I'm not going to." Good grief, her mother's voice
had just come out of her mouth. She needed to go dunk her head in
ice water. “And don’t you dare try reading my mind!”
     
    *******
     
    Jared paced in front of the window,
through the wall and onto the front porch. Back and forth. Back and
forth. Every time a flash of headlights swept across the
snow-covered road below, he zapped himself to the edge of his land
and waited to see if the car would turn up their road.
    Where the devil was she? She'd taken
the Jeep hours ago, with a mysterious smile and a light in her
eyes, refusing to offer even a hint to her activities.
    He hated surprises.
    Finally! Twin beams of light sweeping
onto their road. He whisked himself to his boundary, and the moment
her Jeep crossed his land he melted into the car.
    "What took you so long?"
    Alane jerked with a gasp, and the car
went fishtailing across the road. Once she steered her way out of
the problem, she stopped, fell back against the seat and held her
heart.
    "Criminy! Would you stop
that?"
    He barely even heard her as he scanned
the interior of the car, taking in nothing but a grocery bag and
art supplies.
    "Sorry. What's the surprise? What took
you so long?"
    She stared at him, her straight face
given away by the smile in her eyes.
    "The surprise is a great
big, loud , cow bell
to wear around your neck. And have you ever tried to make good time
on mountain roads after a blizzard?"
    She put the car in gear and continued
up the road to the driveway. Jared stared at her as she
drove.
    She wasn't serious about a cow bell,
was she?
    Before he could ponder that question
she climbed out of the car and grabbed the bags from the backseat.
He followed her into the cabin while she dropped them on a table,
then he followed her back out again.
    "You aren't serious about the cow bell,
are you? Because surely you realize I can't..."
    He forgot what he was saying as she
went to the back of the car and yanked on a rope dangling from the
top.
    "A Christmas tree!"
    Alane pulled a small, lush, magnificent
fir from the top of the car, then expertly grabbed the trunk and
headed back to the house.
    "You got this for me, didn't you? This
is the surprise! I know it is because you don't do real trees. This
is wonderful! You couldn't have picked a better gift."
    He passed through the wall and
chattered at her from the other side of the screendoor. With a
grimacing smile, she struggled at the door but couldn't let go of
the tree to grab the knob.
    He reached out his hand, focusing to
push open the door for her.
    "Don't even think about it," she
ordered from the porch. "I can get it."
    With a healthy kick to the bottom, the
door slammed hard against the frame and bounced open a little. She
hooked the toe of her boot in the opening, flicked it wider, then
pushed it all the way back with her foot. Seconds later she'd
squeezed through the doorway and stood the tree in the corner. With
a satisfied nod, she dusted off her hands and smiled up at
him.
    "I am woman. Hear me roar."
    Did she possibly know how much an
impish smile like that made him want to kiss her? He hated to think
what would happen if she ever turned a smoky, heated gaze on him.
Probably enjoy his last few seconds on earth touching her